For younger fans: what was big in metal during Blaze era

srfc

srfc

Ancient Mariner
I found this list on another forum. It's an end of year top albums list as declared by Metal Hammer, from 1997 I believe. I think it serves as a good example of how out of sync Maiden were with what the UK press at the time deemed to be the future of metal.

I'm not posting this here to mock anyone who likes these albums, or even to suggest that everything on it is rubbish. But I think it's striking how little of it has stood the test of time, whereas Maiden can bust out Sign of the Cross, and steal the show with it, on their current tour.

(I've no idea if this list is in any order)

Feeder - Polythene
Entombed - To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth
3 Colours Red - Pure
Foo Fighters - The Colour And The Shape
Deftones - Around The Fur
Radiohead - OK Computer
Paradise Lost - One Second
Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land
The Verve - Urban Hymns
Faith No More - Album Of The Year
Sick Of It All - Built To Last
Misery Loves Co. - Not Like Them
Strapping Young Lad - City
Metallica - Re-Load
Kerbdog - On The Turn
Green Day - Nimrod
Reef - Glow
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes - Have A Ball
Oasis - Be Here Now
Life Of Agony - Soul Searching Sun
 
Never heard of 3 Colours Red before, but that album's sounding pretty good. Cheers for bringing it to my attention. :ok:
 
Edington said:
Never heard of 3 Colours Red before, but that album's sounding pretty good. Cheers for bringing it to my attention. :ok:
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They were on the bill in 2003 when Maiden played Donington, They wouldn't be my cup of tea but they were far better than a lot of the other bands on the bill that day.
 
In continental Europe the popular bands were more of the power metal variety: Helloween, Gamma Ray, Stratovarius, Running Wild, etc. AC/DC and Metallica were obviously big too.

On a side note, Helloween were as good as Maiden when I saw them together in 1996 and wiped the floor with Maiden when I saw them together again in 1998.
 
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Collin said:
That comment is deserving of an Angry Face. In fact, it may have been the most deserving comment on the site of such an honor.
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Nahhhhh. I think the Deftones album has remained popular and obviously Ænima too, but whether they’re good is a different story. (I don’t listen to Deftones much so i couldn’t say, but Ænima ain’t what it’s cracked up to be.)

OK Computer is like just randomly thrown in there and everything pales in its presence. Isn’t it considered one of rock’s greatest records? It’s pretty damn good.
 
srfc said:
I found this list on another forum. It's an end of year top albums list as declared by Metal Hammer, from 1997 I believe. I think it serves as a good example of how out of sync Maiden were with what the UK press at the time deemed to be the future of metal.

I'm not posting this here to mock anyone who likes these albums, or even to suggest that everything on it is rubbish. But I think it's striking how little of it has stood the test of time, whereas Maiden can bust out Sign of the Cross, and steal the show with it, on their current tour.

(I've no idea if this list is in any order)

Feeder - Polythene
Entombed - To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth
3 Colours Red - Pure
Foo Fighters - The Colour And The Shape
Deftones - Around The Fur
Radiohead - OK Computer
Paradise Lost - One Second
Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land
The Verve - Urban Hymns
Faith No More - Album Of The Year
Sick Of It All - Built To Last
Misery Loves Co. - Not Like Them
Strapping Young Lad - City
Metallica - Re-Load
Kerbdog - On The Turn
Green Day - Nimrod
Reef - Glow
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes - Have A Ball
Oasis - Be Here Now
Life Of Agony - Soul Searching Sun
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Metal Hammer and Kerrang started to suck since 1993 because all that shitload of bands, many of them no metal at all
 
The_7th_one said:
Metal Hammer and Kerrang started to suck since 1993 because all that shitload of bands, many of them no metal at all
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I think the problem was that to keep up wholey with the metal scene around then, you had to really dig into the "underground" and keep up with all the shit going on in Europe at the time. However, that wasn't interesting to mass market in the US that wanted to consume """"""metal"""""" at the time.
 
KidInTheDark666 said:
More than half of those I've never even heard of.
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I was there at the time and I never heard of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.

A lot of that stuff is pop/mainstream, and arguably a far better quality of pop/mainstream music than the metal that's in the list, if you're into that kind of thing.

Feeder - Polythene
Radiohead - OK Computer
Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land
The Verve - Urban Hymns
Green Day - Nimrod
Reef - Glow
Oasis - Be Here Now

Reef were a kid of one hit wonder band as one of their songs was used on an ad for the Sony Mini Disc, while the rest of those band were huge mainstream bands, although Feeder aren't remembered too much these days.

Kerbdog were an Irish band, I'm not aware of too much by them but they were a poppy/grunge style band. Their main man is now a radio dj. I believe their first album is considered good, but the album on the list is their "difficult second album".

The only albums I own on the list are Reload and Album of the Year, and to be honest although I like both bands, I wasn't keeping up with them in 1997 and only bought them later, and have barely listened to both albums more than a few times.

Which Metal albums have stood the test of time from that list?

I'm not a fan of Strapping Young Lad but I believe that is considered a good album, is there anything else? I know Entombed are considered a good band but I've never heard of that album before?
 
I didn’t think Entombed were much revered after Wolverine Blues.

EDIT: As in, the stuff they released afterwords wasn’t as good as their first three albums.
 
Also, I hate the Deftones and Nu Metal in general, but obviously I can't deny that that album is considered a landmark of the genre.
 
I don't really know why Be Here Now is on there, because I think the general consensus at the time was that it was a huge step down from the previous 2 albums and no one really liked it, but I wasn't around at the time so I can't say for sure. Oasis is also 50 million light years away from anything to do with heavy metal. Probably just Metal Hammer cramming as many big names in there as possible
 
srfc said:
Kerbdog were an Irish band, I'm not aware of too much by them but they were a poppy/grunge style band. Their main man is now a radio dj. I believe their first album is considered good, but the album on the list is their "difficult second album".
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Bruce has mentioned really liking Kerbdog a few times.
 
phantomoftheicarus said:
I don't really know why Be Here Now is on there, because I think the general consensus at the time was that it was a huge step down from the previous 2 albums and no one really liked it, but I wasn't around at the time so I can't say for sure. Oasis is also 50 million light years away from anything to do with heavy metal. Probably just Metal Hammer cramming as many big names in there as possible
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At the time, Kerrang and Metal Hammer were sucking up to them, Lars Ulrich was saying that Oasis were the best band in the world etc., I think at the time the inclusion of these bands was part cynical attempt to expand their readership, and part ideaological crusade to distance themselves from 80's heavy metal.
 
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