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

[Diesel 11]

60. Redeemer
Average Score: 6.83/10
The Redemption Of William Black 6/11

The final song from our TROWB stint here, "Redeemer" is a solid album opener and managed to topple some pretty decent songs to make it into the Top 60. It wasn't enough, alas, but no one hated the song (though few loved it at the same time). It's merely a solid track.

Comments:

An excellent way to begin the final album in Blaze's Trilogy. As it narrates the part of the story where someone steps in to take control of the world, Blaze and the band do an excellent job setting up the rest of the album.

A choral story intro breaks into an OK verse with some iffy phrasing. The pre-chorus is better, but the chorus is barely there. The more driving guitar under the second verse makes it come alive a little more. The first solo is overly busy and directionless, and the second is kind of boring and directionless. Maiden-by-the-numbers interlude. Sudden ending. Blaze's tone was uneven through most of the song, and aside from a couple of guitar bits this is pretty uninspired. I guess it's serviceable enough.

Cool intro - I like how it explains the events that has happened between Endure and Survive and this album. Unsurprisingly it isn't good news; the only person William Black was starting to grow attached to has been murdered, so the tone is set for more conflict. Musically, this song has a nice riff, decent verses (I especially like the second verse with the variation in the guitar pattern), but the chorus is a bit of a letdown.

Another solid opening track by Blaze. It would have benefited from an actual chorus, though.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

60. Redeemer
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 6/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Jer]

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

I would bet money that it won’t make the top 10, much less the top 3; and I’m fairly confident it won’t even make the top 20.

But then we may all be dead before the countdown gets that far, so we may be left hanging...!

 

[Diesel 11]

I would bet money that it won’t make the top 10, much less the top 3; and I’m fairly confident it won’t even make the top 20.

How much, Jer?

 

[Diesel 11]

59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
Average Score: 6.86/10
Endure And Survive 4/10

I was the only big fan of this song, it seems, but like a lot of the recent ones, no one hated it at the same time. We're nearly fifty songs in and it's made it this far, so "Dawn Of The Dead Son" has a lot to be thankful for. It's still not a MaidenFans favorite, though, but it's right up near the 7/10 mark, and that's good enough.

Comments:

There we go. This song knocks it out of the park with an excellent performance from Blaze and all involved, featuring a great chorus and lyricism to boot.

A choral story intro breaks into a sweet melodic lead. The verse is pretty strong, though Blaze is a little uncontrolled there. The chorus isn't very good, but the lead guitar accompaniment toward the end helps. Nice interlude, but it's cut and pasted directly from "The Clansman". Backing vocals help the final chorus a little, but not enough. Blaze sounds really good on the high notes toward the end, though. Nice denouement. Another strong song brought down by a weak chorus.

I like the choral parts on this one, both in the intro and in the chorus. The ascending/descending guitar work reminds me a bit of "God of Speed" from Promise and Terror, in a good way. Some decent stuff overall.

I'm not really a fan of the intro, and the chorus isn't all that spectacular, but the guitar work is superb.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
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 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 6/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Jer]

How much, Jer?

Well I won’t bet you anything because you already know the answers...!

 

[Diesel 11]

58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
Average Score: 6.88/10
Promise And Terror 3/11

Whew, long fuckin' title. The first of the P&T "Tragedy" suite also sets up another 4-way tie, with three songs from Promise And Terror and one from Infinite Entanglement. This one loses out for lack of a ten and only one 8, and while it's a very emotional song, for many it has some serious flaws which should not be overlooked and that drags it down. Long titles don't necessarily secure a winning song.

Comments:

A heavy piece of music backs the second part of the suite, which tackles pain. And it does it very well. The verses are rather messy, but in a way that works - they accurately sum up the pain and desperation of one who has lost what he cherished. And the chorus - is awesome.

After Blaze has described the loss he felt in the previous song, the anger is now building up as he is experiencing pain like never before. I can fully understand how it's hard not to be angry at everyone and everything, and the aggressiveness of the song is definitely a reflection of this. However, I feel the music itself could've been a bit stronger - the tempo changes are nice, though.

We roll right into this midtempo groove. Blaze struggles through an overly busy verse, then we get a nice melodic lead. Hard pause and back to the icky verse. Hey, this pre-chorus is good! The chorus is decent, but not very catchy. Another round of verse through chorus and we get a decent aggressive interlude followed by a pretty good solo. The variant half-a-capella verse is marginally better.

The music is quite strong, but MAN, those verses are rough.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
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 3/11
Infinite Entanglement 3/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 6/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

Well I won’t bet you anything because you already know the answers...!

Lol! Any guesses on which songs will make the Top 10, and where "While You Were Gone" will end up?

 

[Diesel 11]

57. Human
Average Score: 6.88/10
Infinite Entanglement 4/12

The second song in this tie leaves us now because it has no 10 and only one 7. "Human" is my least favorite song from the original Infinite Entanglement album, so I'm okay with where it ended up. Once again, no haters, but at the same time, no gigantic fans of it. Merely solid if not one of the classics.

Comments:

"Human" is a bit of a step down from the quality of the first two songs, but it isn't bad, just weaker. The bad production that this album is criticized for is on display here, as the drums in the verses sound terrible. Blaze is also not too great there, but he succeeds on the chorus, the last of which is legitimately great. Decent song but should've been better.

A nice ascending riff kicks into a so-so verse. Blaze is off-key here, and his phrasing stinks. The chorus tries to be catchy, but doesn't quite get there. Blaze is thankfully back on key for the next verse. Very nice guitar interlude followed by a good but pointlessly busy solo.

For me this is the weakest track here, and once again it's most of all let down by the production. The chorus is the highlight, but it's nothing special.

Very nice rockin' tune. It's not groundbreaking or anything, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
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 3/11
Infinite Entanglement 4/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 6/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

56. 1633
Average Score: 6.88/10
Promise And Terror 4/11

An epic song about Galileo, "1633" is a bit of a different song for Blaze but it's successful enough. Again, no real detractors, no huge fans, but it's done a nice job of sticking around in the countdown, even though it featured in the "Worst Song Ever" game here on MaidenFans. Been a long time since those days...

Comments:

With 1633 they have chartered new territory. I love those more complicated rhythms. Also Blaze is really good with those fast vocals.

The only thing terrible about [1633] is the production.

1633 [is] lacklustre, rather than just straight up garbage.

A longer song, "1633" narrates the story of a scientist who comes to the conclusion that what was taught under The Church is false and that the sun is the center of the universe. This obviously results in some sweat, because the leaders consider those beliefs heretical. It tackles the subject very well, IMO, and the song remains interesting throughout its run. The best part is the "and so we turn" bit, which, I feel at least, is the chorus from "The Educated Fool" done right. Very good song.

A personal favourite of mine; back when the album came out I was by coincidence reading a lot about Galileo Galilei, so naturally I took an interest to this song. The cool bass-intro is followed up by some simple but great riffing, and the ending to the song ("And so we turn...") is epic.

Nice bass intro with guitar accents. The guitarist is pretending to be James Hetfield again. Blaze sounds good on the verse, but he seems lower in the mix for some reason. I like the thick harmonies on the rhythm guitars. Not big on the chorus ("in holy flame"). Some phrasing problems on the second verse. I like the bass-driven interlude. WTF is with this bridge? Blaze sounds uncontrolled and shitty here. This variant pre-chorus sounds a bit better, but Blaze's melody clashes with the guitars. Nice solo & harmonized interlude! Ooh, I like the "and so we turn" part! More icky chorus and we're done. Yet another song with great music, but bad vocal elements that drag it down a lot.

Again, I'm not in love with the vocals. The music is definitely interesting though, especially the bass. It seems like the production on this album isn't as good as it could have been.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
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 4/11
Infinite Entanglement 4/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 6/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

55. Letting Go Of The World
Average Score: 6.88/10
Promise And Terror 5/11

I think we can all agree that this song would be better without the "Fight! Kill! Fuck! Eat!" section, but that otherwise it's more or less solid. The second song from the P&T suite to exit, it's also the highest of the current tie, managing to beat its rivals via three 8 votes.

Comments:

We next move on to grief. "Letting Go of the World" is a very desperate song, and another very personal one for grief. I don't think it quite nailed everything, but it did a very good job nonetheless. The "fight - kill - fuck - eat" bit is cool but may have been better used in another song. I dunno. It is strong overall though.

Another strong song. The grief really shines through here, and once again the calmer parts work very well. The "fight, kill, fuck, eat" is just bad, unfortunately, so it drags the score down for me.

A nice clean arpeggiated intro with sweet harmonized acoustic accompaniment. Blaze sounds OK here, still having some phrasing issues. Things get heavier and Blaze gets less controlled. Not a fan of the vocal line mostly doubling the guitar here. Strong melodic solo! Ew, this bridge is terrible. A random aggressive guitar breakdown leads into a better aggressive interlude. WTF is with the "fight, kill, fuck, eat" part? Another good aggressive interlude leads into a strong solo. The final title lyrics sound pretty good too. But in the end, sadly, another case of strong music brought down by bad vocal choices.

Without the "fight! kill! fuck! eat!" nonsense this song easily a 9/10. As it stands, it has to be downgraded.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
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 5/11
Infinite Entanglement 4/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 6/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

54. Kill And Destroy
Average Score: 6.89/10
Tenth Dimension 6/12

Gotta say, I was surprised to see Tenth Dimension's "true" opener outside of the Top 50. I for one like it quite a bit, but it didn't even end up in the 7's arena with the average score. Ah well, at this stage it's tough anyhow. Someone actually gave it a 3, but enough people who actually did like it managed to pull it up higher and save it from an earlier exit.

Comments:

IMO his best vocal performance is on the Kill and Destroy song. That kicks major ass.

Kill & Destroy should've won.

The 'true' opener begins with a crashing bang as the riff kicks in, picking you up and throwing you on your back. This song is heavy as fuck. The production is insane, the guitars are thrashy but remain heavy metal, Blaze sounds great; really the only thing I dislike are the drums, but I try not to let them ruin my appreciation of the rest of the song as a rule. And really, this is a very good song.

A proper album opener; bangin' riff, driving rhythm and great chorus. The verses are a a bit weak, the solos are definite highlights.

Nice beefy riff. Not a big fan of the vocal melodies on the verse and pre-chorus, but the chorus is catchy enough. OK melodic break, at least until the weird harmonized bit. Has an OK solo followed by a better one. Some weird vocal harmonies here. Uneven overall.

Decent rocker. Nothing to write home about.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
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 6/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12
Promise And Terror 5/11
Infinite Entanglement 4/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 6/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

53. The Hunger
Average Score: 6.91/10
Silicon Messiah 3/10

Another tie, this time two Silicon Messiah tracks that happen to be the final songs before we hit the 7's range. "The Hunger" has never been a favorite of mine from the album, but it's decent as a part of the entire thing, not so much on its own. It loses out for lack of a 9 vote.

Comments:

I like the doomy vibe of this one; the verses are almost haunting! The chorus could be a bit better though. Here the long, drawn-out ending actually works very well.

The first of the album's true epics hits the scene. "The Hunger" is one of the first Blaze songs written about Blaze's loneliness, feelings of not quite fitting in with society, and etc. that will pop up more frequently as his solo career progresses. I don't think he quite nailed it here yet; there's certainly a lot to like in this song, but overall it's not quite his best work and there are several songs better than it.

Another nice clean intro, but Blaze is totally off the notes here. Nice crunchy part. Off-key Blaze is back, and the phrasing sucks. The pre-chorus ("living on the outside") is OK. The queasy part in the middle is interesting. Decent solo. The vocal bridge would be pretty strong if Blaze's timbre was consistent, but it's not. Hmm, I guess that "ruled by the hunger" part after the pre-chorus was supposed to be the chorus? Great, now the outro is ripping off the outro of Queensrÿche's "I Don't Believe In Love". Sigh.

Not among the best works I've heard from him. This song had a lot of potential, but the execution was really just... meh. I'm not quite sure what's actually wrong with it; maybe it's the lyrics, as they aren't as deep as Blaze tried to make them. I don't know, for me, it's a song that's just... there, y'know? I don't love it, I don't hate it... but I don't dislike it either.

Really cool atmosphere and some more strong music.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
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 3/10
Tenth Dimension 6/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12
Promise And Terror 5/11
Infinite Entanglement 4/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 6/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

52. Evolution
Average Score: 6.91/10
Silicon Messiah 4/10

If we were voting again, I'd have given "Evolution" a higher score, because it's awesome. The opening riff, the fantastic verses, the wonderful pre-chorus, and that weird-yet-no-anticlimactic real chorus - it's all great. It's managed to stay alive in our countdown for quite a while, and is the final song under a 7/10 score, so it's done a fairly fine job all-told. Wish it was in the Top 50, but it's close enough.

Comments:

One of the lesser songs on the album. Verses and pre-choruses are good, the chorus a bit weak, and the ending drags on for too long.

If "Ghost" wasn't enough to show what this album would be like, then the burner that is "Evolution" likely did. Absolutely monstrous in execution, it isn't as good as the first track but it is undeniably strong at the same time. While I still don't know what the chorus is, the "age of machines" bit is awesome and I like the ending piece it has.

I really don't like the rhythm guitarist's choices with the riffs. Verse is OK. Pre-chorus is sort of catchy, but has weird phrasing and obvious vocal cut & paste. WTF is with this non-chorus ("the evolu-u-tion")? The solo sounds like an outtake from Kirk Hammett's wah-laden Black Album sessions, and the final groove feels like they're trying to be Metallica and failing.

It's a seamless transition between the previous track and this one. It actually took me about 3 and a half minutes (I know, almost the entire song) to realize that I wasn't listening to "Ghost In the Machine" anymore. Anyway, one of the best opening duos I've ever heard on an album; "Evolution" manages to match the quality of its predecessor (if not exceed it) with strong, heavy riffs, a catchy chorus and great lyrics.

Kinda cool. Nothing too special, but diggable.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
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 4/10
Tenth Dimension 6/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12
Promise And Terror 5/11
Infinite Entanglement 4/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 6/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Jer]

52. Evolution

Meh, good riddance.

 

[Jer]

Lol! Any guesses on which songs will make the Top 10, and where "While You Were Gone" will end up?

I think “While You Were Gone” will wind up somewhere around the #10 spot, though it deserves better.

I’m sure we’ll see stuff like “Stare At The Sun”, “Born As A Stranger”, and “Ghost In The Machine” in the top 10. “Samurai” seemed to be pretty popular. “Meant To Be” should be up there. “Together We Can Move The Sun” seemed to appeal a lot to some people. Maybe “Escape Velocity”, “Human Eyes”, and “Smile Back At Death”? Seems like “Life And Death”, “Regret”, and “The Tenth Dimension” should be in the ballpark too.

At any rate, I don’t think “Eagle Spirit” is going to find any oxygen to breathe up there.

 

[Diesel 11]

Human Eyes

Just left us about ten songs ago. Otherwise some interesting thoughts and we’ll see how it pans out.

 

[Jer]

Just left us about ten songs ago.

Oops. In fairness, that was like 2 1/2 weeks ago...

 

[Kalata]

57. Human

Wow, this song should have been in the top 20 - brutal riff.

 

[rideon77]

Kill and Destroy should have been a top 10 song to me

 

[Diesel 11]

51. 18 Days
Average Score: 7.00/10
The Redemption Of William Black 7/11

What is it with the 7/10 score and gigantic ties? It happened in the Adrian countdown and the curse is back for round two as six Blaze songs met their fate here at the threshing floor. "18 Days", a pretty cool song featuring a duet between Blaze and Liz Owens, loses out, as it has only one 7 vote, and thus ends our wait as the Top 50 commences - now!

Comments:

Apparently the backing vocals in this song were done by a Liz Owens, and since they sound a lot like the ones in Part II, I may have been off in my assumptions. Still, they work very well and back Blaze quite nicely. Good song.

A clean riff supports an overstuffed verse with bad phrasing. The duet pre-chorus is interesting, but not very strong. Pretty good solo section. Ooh, this duet chorus is pretty neat! Now we get a duet version of the verse, but the phrasing still sucks. Nice wind-down ending.

A clean intro leads into a great, rhythmic verse, and Blaze is sounding pretty good here. The chorus features female vocals, but like "Remember" from Endure and Survive I don't think the voices fit that well together. The solo and the various guitar breaks are nice, and the clean middle part works good.

Pretty solid song. The female vocals are a nice touch.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

51. 18 Days
52. Evolution
53. The Hunger
54. Kill And Destroy
55. Letting Go Of The World
56. 1633
57. Human
58. The Trace Of Things That Have No Words
59. Dawn Of The Dead Son
60. Redeemer
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 4/10
Tenth Dimension 6/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 6/12
Promise And Terror 5/11
Infinite Entanglement 4/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 7/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)