BLAZE: The Rankings (Completed... At Last)

[Jer]

84. Blackmailer

Average Score: 5.89/10

I was just listening to this song again and thinking about how low it placed. If you tune out the vocals, this song kicks ass — the band is absolutely killing it, essentially laying down a Rust In Peace era Megadeth track with more melody and guitar harmonies. The only thing dragging it down is Blaze’s questionable lyrics and vocal performance.

This is pretty much the case with both of the Bermudez brothers albums (TMWWND and PAT). It’s a shame that Blaze wound up being the weakest link in his own band, and then had the gall to fire them and crank out the abortion known as The King Of Metal afterward. And because I’m not really into melodeath I can’t get into the Bermudez brothers’ Under Threat band, either. Oh well.

EDIT: Not sure why the forum software keeps splitting that into two separate quotes, but when I fix it and save it, it just splits them up again. Weird.

 

[Lampwick 43]

So I've gone through the entire countdown so far, listening in order to every song that has appeared so far, and I just have to say that Russian Holiday and Nothing Will Stop Me are far, far too low.

 

[Diesel 11]

68. The Launch
Average Score: 6.58/10
Silicon Messiah 2/10

It may not be the lowest-ranked Silicon Messiah song on the countdown, but @Lampwick 43 was a mere spot off when he guessed where "The Launch" would land. This is a cool short little song that a lot of people see as a throwaway track, but I like it. Great chorus, great music, good stuff all around. Of course then there are people like @Number 6 ...

Comments:

It's awesome!

This one never did much for me either. It's definitely more enjoyable than "Reach...", but as far as speedier songs go, there are far better ones from Blaze.

It may be the shortest song on the album, but don't be fooled - "The Launch" should not be underestimated or overlooked, as it can hold its own among the giants this album holds. Fast-paced with some great guitarwork, it features some great Blaze vocals and an absolutely fantastic chorus. Short, but oh-so sweet.

Hmm, this harmonized bit sounds like early Maiden. Oh fuck, the verse is "Man On The Edge" again! Goddamn it. The chorus is underwhelming. Great solo followed by a good one. Blaze is out of key again. This is just sad.

...and here I thought "Born As a Stranger" sounded like "Man On the Edge"... The verses here are a complete rehash of the (far superior) Maiden song, the chorus is underwhelming (to say the least), and the lyrics are just awkward. Nope.

Yeah, I can definitely hear the "Man on the Edge" similarities in this one. The song really doesn't do much for me overall, though.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 2
9 - 3
8 - 2
7 - 1
6 - 2
5 - 0
4 - 1
3 - 0
2 - 1
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 2/10
Tenth Dimension 5/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 5/12
Promise And Terror 1/11
Infinite Entanglement 2/12
Endure And Survive 3/10
The Redemption Of William Black 1/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Kalata]

68. The Launch

Way too soon.

 

[Diesel 11]

67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
Average Score: 6.67
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12

Another TMWWND track falls. I like this song a lot, but apparently it was a bit too 'grinding' on a lot of our voters. Sad.

Comments:

Well I was waiting for this album to begin... to get good, that is. And... is it finally doing just that? From the opening alarm clock and the build-up which culminates in a fantastic chorus, this song is really so much better than much of the album. Everything here sounds good - Blaze, the guitar... I like this song.

Strange intro, but it actually progresses into a very nice tune. The chorus is definitely the highlight of this one.

Nice aggressive, melodic riff. WTF is with these lyrics and the disconnected verse? The chorus is much better, but the phrasing kinda stinks. Eww, some badly missed notes here. Decent harmonized interlude, very good solo. OK rhythmic break, good second solo. Another decent harmonized section.

Very solid tune. I'm not in love with the lyrics, but that's only a very minor complaint in the grand scheme of things.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 1
8 - 3
7 - 2
6 - 1
5 - 1
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 1
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 2/10
Tenth Dimension 5/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12
Promise And Terror 1/11
Infinite Entanglement 2/12
Endure And Survive 3/10
The Redemption Of William Black 1/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

66. Madness And Sorrow
Average Score: 6.75/10
Promise And Terror 2/11

Promise And Terror has been doing quite well in our countdown so far, being the last album to have more than one song on the list. Let's see if it can keep this up. "Madness And Sorrow" is the album's second track, and while I like it, no one really thought it was a stand-out. It loses a tie with #65 thanks to no 9 votes. Shouldn't think there'll be much "madness and sorrow" over its loss.

Comments:

A speedy second track, heavy but still lead by a melody. Blaze sounds great on here too, and while it's not as strong as the first song it's still a very good listen.

I needed to listen to this one a few times before I really "got it", as I didn't care much for it when I first heard the album. Now it has grown on me a bit; the riff is pretty cool, the solos are great (I think I read that Wolfsbane's guitarist did a guest appearance on this?)

Driving, Megadeth-ish main riff. Ooh, the rhythmic bits under the verse are cool! Blaze sounds good on the verse. Hmm, the grunted part of the pre-chorus sucks (though the title lyric sounds nice), and the chorus is kind of a jumbled mess. A couple of great solos followed by a good one. Nice Metallica-ish ending. This is another song with mostly great music, but the vocal choices bring it down.

I can dig the music here, but I'm not a fan of the vocals at all.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 0
8 - 2
7 - 3
6 - 2
5 - 1
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 2/10
Tenth Dimension 5/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12
Promise And Terror 2/11
Infinite Entanglement 2/12
Endure And Survive 3/10
The Redemption Of William Black 1/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

65. Stars Are Burning
Average Score: 6.75/10
Infinite Entanglement 3/12

The lowest actual song on Infinite Entanglement, this one still did rather well, overall. "Stars Are Burning" is a nice little song with no votes below a 5 - no one hated it. Beat "Madness And Sorrow" by a couple of 9 votes, too. Still, merely in above-average territory here.

Comments:

In Stars are Burning, the riff is very reminiscent of a Maiden song. Anyone else think so? Don't remember which one.

Stars has a great chorus (as does most songs on the recent Blaze albums).

The metalness returns, but this time it feels a little quiet due to the production - but I don't mind it because it still doesn't sound bad. "Stars Are Burning" has great verses and an interesting kind of chorus, and everything works together quite nicely.

A melodic, midtempo riff leads into a pretty good verse that's plagued by bad phrasing. The chorus is OK. I like the vocal harmonies on it. A boring interlude leads into a nice solo with harmonized parts. Christ, the phrasing on this verse is horrible, and Blaze sounds much less controlled this time through. Nice outro based around the title lyric. My EARS are still BURNing from THAT terriBLE phrasing.

I feel this track had a lot of promise, but doesn't ultimately deliver, without being a bad song. I think the chorus is good, as is the main riff - it's just that the rest of song doesn't really do much for me.

Here's another really great song. I can't even explain why I like it so much, but everything about it just seems to work perfectly.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 2
8 - 0
7 - 2
6 - 2
5 - 2
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 2/10
Tenth Dimension 5/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12
Promise And Terror 2/11
Infinite Entanglement 3/12
Endure And Survive 3/10
The Redemption Of William Black 1/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Jer]

Sometimes in life you just have to make postings
To get the countdown to where it should be
And don't be afraid to gain sight of the forum
And make a post just because you believe
Type your first letter on your iPhone
It's your next chance to face the unknown
Take a leap of faith
A leap of faith
A leap of faith
Take a leap of faith
A leap of faith
A leap of faith ​

 

[Diesel 11]

64. The Dark Side Of Black
Average Score: 6.80/10
The Redemption of William Black 2/11

Promise And Terror has been doing quite well in our countdown so far, being the last album to have more than one song on the list.

It seems that I misspoke - the third album of the trilogy has been doing even better, as "The Dark Side Of Black" is only its second song in the countdown. We'll see how far this goes. No real detractors and no real fans put it firmly in the above average territory.

Comments:

A good song but it feels like a bit of a rehash of previous stuff.

Goddamn it Blaze, you're doing "Man On The Edge" again! The pre-chorus charts its own course and is better. The chorus doesn't quite work for me. An aimless, overly busy solo turns into a nicer harmonized bit. The "whoah-oh" part is anemic. Nothing particularly bad here, but nothing particularly good, either.

Wow, for a moment I almost thought I'd put on "The Launch" from Silicon Messiah by mistake! This one is vastly superior though - a bit cheesy at times, but very catchy indeed. I'm digging the power metal-esque chorus a lot, actually. More nice guitar-work too.

Quite enjoyable, actually.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 0
8 - 2
7 - 1
6 - 1
5 - 1
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 2/10
Tenth Dimension 5/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12
Promise And Terror 2/11
Infinite Entanglement 3/12
Endure And Survive 3/10
The Redemption Of William Black 2/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Jer]

I’m glad that the “Man On The Edge” clones are all dropping like (lord of the) flies. I imagine that “Born As A Stranger” will be the last of the clones standing, and it probably deserves to be since it has a great chorus.

 

[Diesel 11]

I’m glad that the “Man On The Edge” clones are all dropping like (lord of the) flies. I imagine that “Born As A Stranger” will be the last of the clones standing, and it probably deserves to be since it has a great chorus.

There are two of them in the Top 20 (if I'm remembering the ones you pointed out correctly), so this remains to be seen. Hopefully you won't be too disappointed!

 

[Diesel 11]

63. The First True Sign
Average Score: 6.83/10
The Redemption Of William Black 3/11

For whatever reason, five TROWB songs came back-to-back in a row, and outside of "The Dark Side Of Black", they ended up tying with an average score of 6.83. "The First True Sign" ends up losing this for reason a single 8 vote, though I think it could've been a little higher than some of the other songs from the album. But that's just me.

Comments:

Things are really starting to heat up in the plot. "The First True Sign" isn't quite outstanding, but it's a pretty strong song overall.

Chanting underpins a strong higher-register verse. The chorus is pretty good. Nice solo. Strong bridge. Good Maidenesque interlude. A chanting reprise closes things out.

I'm not sure I like that main riff! Otherwise it's a fine song; the low chanting is cool and interesting enough and the chorus is the best one on the album so far.

This one is a little better, but still no where close to being great.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 0
8 - 1
7 - 4
6 - 0
5 - 1
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 2/10
Tenth Dimension 5/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12
Promise And Terror 2/11
Infinite Entanglement 3/12
Endure And Survive 3/10
The Redemption Of William Black 3/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[LooseCannon]

I feel like I should sue Diesel for stealing my list idea & formatting.

 

[Diesel 11]

62. Human Eyes
Average Score: 6.83/10
The Redemption Of William Black 4/11

IIRC, this was in the running for my least favorite song from the Trilogy, with a heartfelt performance from Blaze, but nonetheless and quite bland song overall. It's important to the story, yes, but drags on for far too long. Enough people saw it differently, though, bringing it up to land a couple spots outside of our Top 60.

Comments:

An emotional and building song, this is exactly the kind thing I'd normally love, but here it feels a little less inspiring. I think Blaze repeats the same singing technique too often and the chorus is overlong. It's still good, but the negatives overpower it enough to bring it down.

A nice acoustic intro leads into a nice verse, again with phrasing problems. Blaze sounds good here, if a little loud for the music. The second chorus with electric backing works pretty well. The solo's kind of boring. Nice driving version of the verse. The continuing build-up works great through the third chorus. Nice soft reprise to wrap things up. Almost everything here works well, and the structure is nice.

The album's token ballad, which unfortunately is not as strong as "Eating Lies" or "What Will Come". It doesn't go anywhere, though the solo is decent enough. I've gathered from other comments that people think Blaze is sounding particular good on this one, and I agree to some extent. I'm just not a fan of the chorus.

A pretty good ballad featuring a strong performance by Blaze.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 0
8 - 3
7 - 0
6 - 2
5 - 1
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 2/10
Tenth Dimension 5/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12
Promise And Terror 2/11
Infinite Entanglement 3/12
Endure And Survive 3/10
The Redemption Of William Black 4/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

I feel like I should sue Diesel for stealing my list idea & formatting.

Yep, you inadvertently created the MaidenFans Rankings. Good job!

 

[Diesel 11]

61. Immortal One
Average Score: 6.83/10
The Redemption Of William Black 5/11

A fairly decent short rocker - also from Part III of the Trilogy - makes its exit just outside of the Top 60. "Immortal One" is, the like other songs that tied at 6.83, not bad, just not as good as others to come.

Comments:

The Redeemer begins his reign, and Blaze and the gang make a damn fine metal tune out of it. Great stuff.

A spoken word story intro breaks into a decent verse with more questionable phrasing. The extended pre-chorus is OK. The dissonant chorus is interesting. Sweet solo. Abrupt ending.

I like this one. It's pretty heavy and the symphonic touches are nice, especially in the verses. What I assume is the pre-chorus is fine too, but the chorus is a bit of a letdown. Blaze is so far in full repetition-mode for the first couple of songs ('Arry, your legacy lives on ).

I can't say that I'm a fan.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 1
8 - 0
7 - 3
6 - 1
5 - 1
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

61. Immortal One
62. Human Eyes
63. The First True Sign
64. The Dark Side Of Black
65. Stars Are Burning
66. Madness And Sorrow
67. Waiting For My Life To Begin
68. The Launch
69. Fight Back
70. End Dream
71. Robot
72. Remember
73. Reach For The Horizon
74. Destroyer
75. The Day I Fell To Earth
76. Nothing Will Stop Me
77. Land Of The Blind
78. Faceless
79. Serpent Hearted Man
80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Silicon Messiah 2/10
Tenth Dimension 5/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12
Promise And Terror 2/11
Infinite Entanglement 3/12
Endure And Survive 3/10
The Redemption Of William Black 5/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Confeos]

I feel like I should sue Diesel for stealing my list idea & formatting.

If you claim that you had retired from the list-making business and weren't aware until recently that Diesel has been using your ideas without giving you credit, Barry McKay is your man!

On topic: With the exception of "The Dark Side of Black", these recent Part III-tracks are the weakest ones on the album (and the trilogy as a whole) anyway, so I'm not surprised they're out

 

[Confeos]

@Diesel 11?

 

[Diesel 11]

I’ll try to update over the weekend. I’m away from my laptop again for a few days.

 

[rideon77]

I hope Eagle Spirit will be in the top 3! What a great song to end that great trilogy!