GREATEST METAL ALBUM CUP - Winner: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son!

Forostar said:
Priest often failed with final songs. Strongest album closers for me are: Dissident Aggressor, Reckless, One Shot at Glory & Future of Mankind.
Apart from a few okay to fine ones, most others were among the worst of those albums.
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You've got a point here. For me the only great record closers by Priest are Dissident Aggressor, One Shot At Glory and Cathedral Spires. Steeler, Devil's Child and Defenders Of The Faith are pretty cool too. But normally the last song spans from bad to meh... and in 3 cases it's the only song I find weak/ skipable in each album (and 3 of my favorite Priest albums filled with killer tracks): Isle Of Domination in Sad Wings Of Destiny, Heroes End In Stained Class and Loch Ness in Angel Of Retribution. If these 3 songs were cut from the tracklist I would even worship more those 3 records.
 
Defenders is my 2nd favourite Priest album (behind Painkiller) but Rust in Peace is on par with Painkiller. Megadave takes the first one.

British Steel is very good, but I hold several Priest albums as better. Master of Reality is one of the best Sabbath albums. Children of the Grave one of my favourite Sabbath songs.

So the Defenders of Steel must Rust In Reality.
 
Megadeth, Black Sabbath

First matchup was hard, but Rust in Peace actually has no filler. Defenders has some weaker(ish) ongs that I still love (Love Bites and Eat Me Alive come to mind). The ending of Defenders is a bit disappointing as we all know. But those all time classics in Night Comes Down, THE SENTINEL, and Heads Are Gonna Roll more than make up for the price of admission.

On the flip side. Rust in Peace never lets up. Even the crowd decided weaker links in Poison is the Cure and Dawn Patrol still rock. In fact I love Dawn Patrol. Sometimes I just listen to that removed from the title track because it's that good of a stand alone song. I don't even need to speak of the high points because they've been discussed to death, but know I love Rust in Peace.
 
I like most British Steel songs a lot, apart from United and Living After Midnight, which are okay. Probably my 2nd fav Priest album of the eighties.
Master of Reality is probably my 2nd favourite Sabbath album of the seventies. Not a big fan of Solitude. If this wins, it's less sad than this huge defeat for Defenders.
 
Dityn DJ James said:
In fact I love Dawn Patrol. Sometimes I just listen to that removed from the title track because it's that good of a stand alone song.
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Yeah, same. In fact I’d actually say it’s better than the title track, which, while great, is probably my least favorite song outside of “Poison”. That bass is just so cool and sounds so sleek.
 
In this first match both albums have high points and low points, which I discussed last time around. While Defenders has a great first tier and a strong second tier, it still has a fair amount of filler. And compared to Rust In Peace, which is 2/3 masterpiece and 1/3 OK-to-good, it doesn’t really stack up. Sorry, Doctrollyn DJalaapie’s Jotostaringdog, but Diesianarljantaxanael FTBlackollie’s Whoozmashnightman’s choice is superior. Winner: Megadeth

Not thrilled with either album in the second match, and this is actually an interesting predicament. The Sabbath album has 2 strong songs, 2 solid songs, and the rest is pretty forgettable. The Priest album has 1 excellent song, 2 strong songs, and the rest is pretty forgettable. So, not too far off from each other overall. But in listening to the albums again, I found the Priest filler to be more appealing, and “Breaking The Law” shreds anything on the Sabbath album. So, sorry Motofed Flick, but Maxdogmatic3’s nominee takes this one. Winner: Judas Priest
 
The second tier is interesting. I think both albums technically deserve to be in the Greatest Metal Albums of All Time discussion. That is, they are two extremely popular metal albums. They both have their own merits but I think they're just a tier below all the Powerslaves and Painkillers of the metal world.

Note: this MaidenFans forum member's favorite riff of all time is in Into the Void.
 
I’m not crazy about either of the second match. Both are good albums but I’m pretty impartial. I ended up going Master of Reality because there are just too many crushing riffs. Children of the Grave alone pretty much sealed the deal for me.

Second match hurt. Defenders A side is pretty incredible, but the B side is a hodgepodge of uneven material. Give me Some Heads are Gonna Roll, pass on the rest.

Rust in Peace on the other hand is all killer no filler. It hits hard from beginning to end and is really a serious contender to win the whole thing. I know people like to hate on Dawn Patrol but meh, it’s just an interlude track. And the guitar playing... :notworthy:

Knick makes an interesting point about bands in the vinyl era front loading their albums, although I would argue that problem became exacerbated in the CD era when artists additionally put way too much material on their albums. The vinyl era at least gave artists a chance for a fresh start on the b side, so you usually got something just as memorable as the opener for the first song on side B. Or, such as in Maiden’s case, one of the singles would be on the second side. Also technical limitations such as needing a quieter song at the end of the wax really helped with album flows.
 
Dityn DJ James said:
The second tier is interesting. I think both albums technically deserve to be in the Greatest Metal Albums of All Time discussion. That is, they are two extremely popular metal albums. They both have their own merits but I think they're just a tier below all the Powerslaves and Painkillers of the metal world.

Note: this MaidenFans forum member's favorite riff of all time is in Into the Void.
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It does feel like they're competing to lose to the winner of the top match, doesn't it? But I think that makes the matchup more interesting. Clearly, Maidenfans agree that they deserve to be here, but I suspect they'd sort out near the bottom in any other matchups.
 
Forostar said:
Defenders of the Faith:
the best A side of all albums released in the history of music.
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Side A is indeed amazing... (Side B is too - if you don't count the last two songs).
Forostar said:
Strongest album closers for me are: Dissident Aggressor, Reckless, One Shot at Glory & Future of Mankind.
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For me are: ''Steeler'', ''Devil's Child'', ''Reckless'', ''One Shot At Glory'', ''Future Of Mankind'' and ''Sea Of Red'' (''Cathedral Spires'' is worth the mention too).

In contrast, Maiden's closing songs are always great.
 
Megadeth. Those are such good albums, but Rust in Peace is a perfect album if you ignore Dawn Patrol. DotF falls a bit in the second half.

British Steel I know in its entirety. Master of Reality I don't.
 
Rust in Peace. It is slightly better than Defenders, which is a bit uneven, has had a colossal impact for good reason and showcases the best guitar playing in Megadeth's history as far as I'm concerned.

British Steel. The album is positively perfect. No nonsense, all out heavy metal combined with a delicious old school roomy production. Plus, the artwork is one of the most awesome, simplistic style covers there is.
 
I think “Sea of Red” is an interesting song to end on myself. It ends so suddenly that it makes you wanna start the album over again because the flow back into the title track works tremendously well. I’ve been wondering for a while if that was intentional on Priest’s part.
 
Super handy round. Although my Aunty Priest Bias is strong at this stage, I probably would have voted for a Boyzone album if Priest were up against one.
Children of the Grave is better than anything Priest ever did. In my (correct) opinion. Although, I enjoyed Priest live more than Sabbath the one time I seen each of them. Maybe I have strong Priest Confusion as opposed to Aunty Priest Bias.
 
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