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

[Diesel 11]

50. Solar Wind
Average Score: 7.00/10
Infinite Entanglement 5/12

A fairly simple song from the first Infinite Entanglement album kicks off our Top 50 - and we aren't even halfway through this album's tracks! "Solar Wind" beat a lot of tough competition to get this far, but ultimately falls here because it has no 9 vote. Still, a good job overall.

Comments:

Another good song follows on in the form of "Solar Wind". Everything sounds good, Blaze and the music work well together, but it's not quite as outstanding as other songs.

A straightforward riff gets some over-the-top lead support. An OK verse leads into a pretty good pre-chorus. Hey, this chorus is nice! The extended solo is pretty good too. A chorus reprise morphs into a nice outro. Solid, catchy stuff.

The imagery in this one gets me every time, beautiful stuff. Once again I wish for heavier guitars that could do the riffs justice, but yet again the chorus comes to the rescue. The "eagle"-part is also very memorable.

Very strong.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

50. Solar Wind
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 5/12
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.)

 

[Shmoolikipod]

I really really love The Truth Revealed but it's SO not top 5 in Tenth Dimension and it's not better than any of the songs between 58 to 52 maybe except Human. Kill and Destroy and the 3 PaT tracks should be so so much higher as well, along side other tracks that have fallen before (The Path & The Way, End Dream, Madness and Sorrow and the Launch).

The Truth is One and the truth is that it's not bad to the point of have the same ranking as a simple intro!

And as I'm writing Solar Wind, one of the best tracks on Infinite Entanglement is gone. What a mess, I bet The Truth Revealed will beat Time to Dare and Stranger to the Light just because!

 

[Diesel 11]

49. God Of Speed
Average Score: 7.00/10
Promise And Terror 6/11

A little over half of Promise And Terror's songs have made their exit now. "God Of Speed" is a motorcycle anthem that I come back to quite a bit - love that pre-chorus! - and thus I'm fairly satisfied that it made it to the Top 50. It falls away now thanks to having only three 8 votes.

Comments:

The string of good songs continues with Track 4. A very strong song with a lot to love; the chorus and solo actually remind me of the Maiden version of "That Girl".

Remember how Bruce has reminded everyone of his passion for fencing with quite a few songs? Well, judging by this song and one on The King of Metal that we'll get to eventually, Blaze definitely has a thing for motorcycles. The lyrics here could also have a deeper meaning of living in the moment, but I have no doubt Blaze was picturing racing down the open roads when he wrote this. Anyway, it's actually a pretty good song with fine performances from both the band and Blaze himself.

This opening riff is pretty slow given the title of the song. OK, here comes a higher speed lead. Unfocused verse, though Blaze sounds good here. Sparse pre-chorus and a really lackluster chorus (though the harsh rhythm guitars at the start of the chorus are kind of interesting). Very nice melodic solo followed by a cool speedy one. Hey, here's an interesting aggressive riff! (Production fail when the second guitar comes in.) This bridge is pretty good, though Blaze misses some notes. More snoozy chorus, and then we get a pretty good ending. This song almost changed my mind in the second half, but in the end I think I still have to round it down.

A fast paced song with some nice riffs, as you would expect based on its name. Nice solo too.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
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 6/11
Infinite Entanglement 5/12
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.)

 

[Diesel 11]

I really really love The Truth Revealed but it's SO not top 5 in Tenth Dimension and it's not better than any of the songs between 58 to 52 maybe except Human. Kill and Destroy and the 3 PaT tracks should be so so much higher as well, along side other tracks that have fallen before (The Path & The Way, End Dream, Madness and Sorrow and the Launch).

The Truth is One and the truth is that it's not bad to the point of have the same ranking as a simple intro!

And as I'm writing Solar Wind, one of the best tracks on Infinite Entanglement is gone. What a mess, I bet The Truth Revealed will beat Time to Dare and Stranger to the Light just because!

Yeah, I was surprised "The Truth Revealed" hadn't already made its exit, so I went and checked where it actually ended up.... suffice to say you won't be thrilled.

 

[Diesel 11]

48. At The End Of The Day
Average Score: 7.00/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 7/12

After a period of inactivity, The Man Who Would Not Die returns with its second half of material. "At The End Of The Day" could have easily made it into the Top 30, had someone not given it a 2, which ended its run in the countdown early. It lost out in the tie for receiving no 10 votes. R.I.P.

Comments:

THIS! THIS SONG!!! This is how it's done! It isn't too long, but it's epic in scope and holds more power than almost all of the other songs combined. Great lyrics, great performance, and the guitars are legitimately good.

Ah, this is better. Again a very moody song with simple but well-done riffs, and a good performance from Blaze. Somehow the lyrics really resonate with me too.

Nice clean intro. Blaze is missing notes again. The verse is so-so, but the chorus is better. I really like the harmonized rhythm under the solo, as well as the solo itself.

Great performance by Blaze.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
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 7/12
Promise And Terror 6/11
Infinite Entanglement 5/12
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.)

 

[Diesel 11]

47. Prayers Of Light
Average Score: 7.00/10
The Redemption Of William Black 8/11

The Redemption Of William Black (Infinite Entanglement Part III) returns again to announce that a mere three songs from its tracklist are left. Will it be the next album to take its bow? We'll see! "Prayers Of Light" features Chris Jericho guesting on it, but that isn't enough to save it in the long run. It loses out for lack of a 9 vote, though someone did give it a 10.

Comments:

Really like the new single "Prayers of Light".

Chris Jericho of all people guests on this track, but I'm not a Fozzy fan so it means little to me. Good song, a heavier follow-on from the previous song and it bests it in every way.

A spoken word intro breaks into an appealing uptempo riff. Decent verse. OK chorus with more bad phrasing. Decent bridge. Bridge reprise for the outro. Not boring, but not particularly good either.

Finally some really good stuff! Uptempo, uplifting and, thankfully, an amazing chorus. Chris Jericho guesting is cool, even though he's only doing the spoken word and (I think) a bit of backing vocals. The "now you stand and fight"-bit is inevitably cheesy as hell, but it doesn't affect the overall score for me. The variations on the final chorus works really well too.

A bit of a fun, cheesy song. Nothing too special.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
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 7/12
Promise And Terror 6/11
Infinite Entanglement 5/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 8/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

46. Smile Back At Death
Average Score: 7.00/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 8/12

And the winner of the 7/10 tie is "Smile Back At Death", a TMWWND track about a gladiator. It did quite well in the upper half of the voting scale, but enough detractors (myself included) kept it from getting as far as it could have otherwise. I do love the "Let me go home" bit, but the rest is a bit of a mess IMO, so I'm satisfied that it only landed here.

Comments:

"Smile Back at Death" is just fantastic.

Sigh... I wish I liked this song more. The "let me go home!" bit is really awesome and the solo is fantastic, but the rest of the song is boring and the "gladiator protector" thing is outright terrible. So much potential wasted in a song that takes 7 minutes to do almost nothing.

A very simple but very powerful riff opens this one, and Blaze basically takes us on a journey through the movie Gladiator. Definitely one of the best songs on the album, everything seems to fit very well together. Favourite moment is the middle part, where the band slows down and Blaze narrates as if he's standing right in the Colosseum himself. Great song.

I was about to praise this part as well! So powerful. Such a haunting, threatening calm guitar and then that distorted guitar and bass drum beat join. Possibly the best moment of the whole album.

A simple but aggressive rhythm kicks this off with a nice melodic lead. Blaze sounds much better here. Strong verse, still giving that In Flames feel. The sparse pre-chorus is a bit odd, and Blaze misses a note or two on it. Choruses 1 and 2 ("gladiator, protector") are OK, though the vocals are a bit uncontrolled through those sections. Nice softer interlude, though Blaze sounds a little weird on the whispery part. The louder section is a bit uneven, but the final extended vocal note sounds great. Really strong solo, love the neoclassical stylings! Nice punchy finish. Another song with great music that's brought down a bit by vocal performance issues.

I had high expectations for this one based on the 7:38 run time, but unfortunately not much seems to happen in that time. It's still a pretty decent song all things considered, but it is a clear step away from something that can be considered "great".

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
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 8/12
Promise And Terror 6/11
Infinite Entanglement 5/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 8/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

Alright @Jer , I'll be keeping score here. The songs you guessed could make the Top 10:

1. While You Were Gone
2. Stare At The Sun
3. Ghost In The Machine
4. Samurai
5. Meant To Be
6. Together We Can Move The Sun
7. Escape Velocity
8. Human Eyes
9. Smile Back At Death
10. Life And Death
11. Regret
12. The Tenth Dimension

That's two down, ten to go. Let's see what happens!

 

[Jer]

Alright @Jer , I'll be keeping score here. The songs you guessed could make the Top 10:

LOL, why do I feel like you wouldn’t be doing this unless I’m going to wind up being almost completely wrong...?

Also, I want to be clear that my personal top 10 would be quite different from those guesses...

 

[Diesel 11]

LOL, why do I feel like you wouldn’t be doing this unless I’m going to wind up being almost completely wrong...?

Also, I want to be clear that my personal top 10 would be quite different from those guesses...

 

[Diesel 11]

Also, I want to be clear that my personal top 10 would be quite different from those guesses...

Ooh, that's more interesting. What would that list be?

 

[Diesel 11]

45. Will To Win
Average Score: 7.10/10
Blood & Belief 3/10

God, it's been forever since we saw this album, and now it's got two songs back-to-back in another tie. "Will To Win" is one of my favorite songs from the album, but there's some really big competition now that we've reached the Top 50, so I'll accept the #45 ranking and move on. Good enough for Dieselwork.

Comments:

An uplifting, inspiring song about pursuing your goals when everyone seems against you, this track shows the Blaze band truly firing on all cylinders and I like it a lot. One of the best songs on the album. Usually I'm not really sold on songs that utilize profanity, as I feel it's a cheap cop-out unless it adds to the song or can be done well, but this one I do think actually did it well.

This could've been one of the highlights of the album, but to me, it feels like it's missing something. Like a decent meal that lacks that truly special flavour. The verses are brilliant, the chorus is merely okay.

Pretty good driving riff. Blaze is off key again, but the verse is OK otherwise. So-so pre-chorus. The chorus is decent, but kind of cheesy. There are a few badly whiffed notes here. The aggressive bridge is pretty good, as is the harmonized interlude that leads into a strong pair of solos. Decent quick ending. More performance issues here, but this gets enough done.

Decent enough, but nothing that's really all that memorable or special.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
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 3/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 8/12
Promise And Terror 6/11
Infinite Entanglement 5/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 8/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
Average Score: 7.10/10
Blood & Belief 4/10

"Tearing Yourself To Pieces" was one of the first non-Silicon Messiah solo Blaze songs that I ever heard, and while it didn't leave a big impression on me at first, it's grown on me a bit, not enough to become a favorite, but enough to be an enjoyable track. It beat "Will To Win" via a 10 vote.

Comments:

Not one of the most memorable songs Blaze has released but nonetheless an enjoyable listen, though it's taken me some time to come around to it. The only part I'm not big on is the "tell yourself a lie, you will live a lie" bit, but it isn't enough to hold back the song much.

After four incredibly strong tunes this one is a letdown. An uninspired melody/riff leads into a song that never really seems to go anywhere.

A queasy, reverby intro builds into the main riff. I like the off-kilter feel. Blaze sounds good in the opening, but has some control issues during the verse. Pretty good pre-chorus, but I'm not really a fan of the chorus ("tell yourself a lie"). An OK first solo breaks into a much better second one. Ooh, I like the vocal harmonies on the final verse. Nice extended outro.

A slight dip in quality after the 4 very strong songs that started the album.

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
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 4/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 8/12
Promise And Terror 6/11
Infinite Entanglement 5/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 8/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Jer]

Ooh, that's more interesting. What would that list be?

As of today my personal top 10 would probably look something like this:

1. While You Were Gone
2. The Truth Revealed / Meant To Be
3. Life And Death
4. Escape Velocity
5. Regret
6. The Tenth Dimension
7. Already Won
8. Human Eyes
9. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
10. Stranger To The Light

 

[Forostar]

3. Life And Death

 

[Diesel 11]

43. While You Were Gone
Average Score: 7.11/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 9/12

Well.... I'm really sorry @Jer , but "While You Were Gone" did not make the Top 10 after all. Actually, it didn't even make the Top 40! Most people liked this homage to Blaze's wife to some extent, with Jer being its most vocal fan, but a vote for 5 and a vote for 2 were all that were needed to throw it way down low in the countdown. Without the 2, it would've been just outside the Top 20. Without both the 5 and the 2, it would have made the Top 10 itself. But alas, it did receive those votes, and that's something beyond my control. Sorry, "While You Were Gone" has left the building. R.I.P.

Comments:

At last we've got a better song again. You can tell this is a very personal song for Blaze; the album was written after the death of his wife and this song deals with his loss in a pretty impressive way. Blaze's vocals are much better on this song, and while I don't particularly like the guitar here I do think it's a step up from most of the album. Blaze really sings with a passion and the way he holds the note twice when he sings "while you were goooooooone!!" is awesome. As a whole, I think it's good enough, but do something different for that riff and it could be even higher.

Obviously a very personal song for Blaze, this one could've felt right at home on the Blood and Belief-album. The moody feel throughout is done well, but Blaze's perfomance is a bit hit-and-miss - amazing at times, lacking at others.

More In Flames style riffing. Ooh, nice soft section! Blaze sounds good here. Lyrics are kinda cheesy. Nice long note! The more aggressive verse sounds good. Pretty strong pre-chorus. Great melodic solo! I really like this extended guitar interlude. Damn, Blaze actually sounds great here! Very nice reprise of the soft section to end the song. OK, Blaze, you officially kicked my ass with this one!

Damn. What a phenomenal performance by Blaze.

“While You Were Gone” is Blaze’s best track, period.

Blaze’s best solo song and vocal performance.

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

1. While You Were Gone

Votes:

Spoiler

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

Overall:

Spoiler

43. While You Were Gone
44. Tearing Yourself To Pieces
45. Will To Win
46. Smile Back At Death
47. Prayers Of Light
48. At The End Of The Day
49. God Of Speed
50. Solar Wind
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 4/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 9/12
Promise And Terror 6/11
Infinite Entanglement 5/12
Endure And Survive 4/10
The Redemption Of William Black 8/11
Bonus tracks 6/6 (5.65/10 avg.)
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

1. While You Were Gone
2. Stare At The Sun
3. Ghost In The Machine
4. Samurai
5. Meant To Be
6. Together We Can Move The Sun
7. Escape Velocity
8. Human Eyes
9. Smile Back At Death
10. Life And Death
11. Regret
12. The Tenth Dimension

Three down, nine to go.

 

[Shmoolikipod]

You see this is the exact kind of bs I was talking about. WYWG ends up beneath so many mediocre songs (The World is Turning The Wrong Way) because someone thought he's voting for Crack in the SYStem.
On the upside Tearing Yourself to Pieces really grows and I think this is a very respectable spot for it!

 

[Night Prowler]

46. Smile Back At Death

43. While You Were Gone

 

[Jer]

43. While You Were Gone

Pretty sure I took a wrong turn and wound up in the Blaze blasphemy thread...

 

[Diesel 11]

Pretty sure I took a wrong turn and wound up in the Blaze blasphemy thread...

Right turn, wrong destination.

EDIT: Much tamer response than I was expecting, TBH.