MindRuler
Ancient Mariner
Your hate against The Band That Kicked Armored Saint Out Of The GMAC is pretty deep.
GREATEST METAL ALBUM CUP - Winner: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son!
- Thread starter LooseCannon
- Start date
Your hate against The Band That Kicked Armored Saint Out Of The GMAC is pretty deep.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
It is a hate that shall endure...
Confeos
Game time started.
Neither album in the first pairing did much for me. Oranssi Pazuzu was strange, psychedelic, but very original I suppose. Gojira, on the other hand, was much more straightforward and not exactly breaking any new ground. Still, I think I’d prefer listening to the latter, so Gojira gets my vote.
Joe Satriani is good, albeit preferably in smaller doses – there’s only so much you can do with strictly instrumental music before it becomes monotone, in my honest, subjective opinion.
'Til the day I die I will defend "Death Magnetic" as the only good thing Metallica has done since "The Black Album" (even if it isn’t perfect, stuff like "My Apocalypse" is still pretty bad). So yes, Metallica gets my vote.
"Tales from the Twilight World" is a great album, and would’ve won in any other pairing this round. However, against an album like "Jailbreak", abundant with great, classic material, it’s simply a lost cause. Thin Lizzy might not exactly be metal (at least not until "Thunder and Lightning"), but their influence on bands like Maiden is undeniable. Voting for Thin Lizzy.
"Ashes of the Wake" is the only Lamb of God-album I'm somewhat familiar with, and it's decent enough. Definitely some solid material and playing there. Faith No More is terribly inoffensive and simply not for me. Lamb of God gets my vote.
Joe Satriani is good, albeit preferably in smaller doses – there’s only so much you can do with strictly instrumental music before it becomes monotone, in my honest, subjective opinion.
'Til the day I die I will defend "Death Magnetic" as the only good thing Metallica has done since "The Black Album" (even if it isn’t perfect, stuff like "My Apocalypse" is still pretty bad). So yes, Metallica gets my vote.
"Tales from the Twilight World" is a great album, and would’ve won in any other pairing this round. However, against an album like "Jailbreak", abundant with great, classic material, it’s simply a lost cause. Thin Lizzy might not exactly be metal (at least not until "Thunder and Lightning"), but their influence on bands like Maiden is undeniable. Voting for Thin Lizzy.
"Ashes of the Wake" is the only Lamb of God-album I'm somewhat familiar with, and it's decent enough. Definitely some solid material and playing there. Faith No More is terribly inoffensive and simply not for me. Lamb of God gets my vote.
Oranssi Pazuzu is definitely interesting and different. Musically they are doing some really interesting things, but I am not sure it is bound up in a package I quite enjoy. Gojira is doing stuff I find more palatable and enjoyable - I could listen to this again, but I'm not sure I'll return to Oranssi Pazuzu for some time, if at all ever.
One of the greatest guitarist albums of all time versus a sub-standard Metallica album? Satch.
Jailbreak is fine, Blind Guardian is better.
Solidarity with @MrKnickerbocker. Not Faith No More.
One of the greatest guitarist albums of all time versus a sub-standard Metallica album? Satch.
Jailbreak is fine, Blind Guardian is better.
Solidarity with @MrKnickerbocker. Not Faith No More.
karljant
Ancient Mariner
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
I have a nominee up in the next round, and this time it’s Wanderer On The Edge Of Time from German prog metallers Mekong Delta.
This is a really eclectic album with classical guitar tracks, grinding instrumentals, and elements of Dream Theater, 70s Genesis, progressive thrash, and more. The tracks blend and cut into each other as a series of connected vignettes, so listening to an individual track or two can’t really give you a representative picture of the album — it’s best consumed as a whole, from start to finish (sadly I couldn’t find an uninterrupted full album link on YouTube). I shared more detailed thoughts in the random album reviews thread if anyone is interested.
The sample track I chose for this round is “The 5th Element (Le Bateleur) // Movement 2”, which has more of a Dream Theater feel to it, and some awesome extended soloing toward the end. If you’d like something thrashier, try “The Apocalypt - World In Shards (La Maison Dieu) // Movement 3”. If you want some sitar and a more digestible song structure, try “King With Broken Crown (Le Diable) // Movement 4”. If you want a taste of the instrumentals on offer, try “Intro - Concert Guitar” or “Ouverture”. But really, like I said before, this album is best consumed as a whole.
It’s up against W.A.S.P.’s The Headless Children, which is a solid album, but nothing great. The songwriting and musicianship of the Mekong Delta album are on a completely different level, IMO, though the odd time signatures and varied styles throughout the album may make it a bit less immediate for a new listener.
Wanderer On The Edge Of Time is probably my favorite album of the 2010s, and I hope you like it too.
This is a really eclectic album with classical guitar tracks, grinding instrumentals, and elements of Dream Theater, 70s Genesis, progressive thrash, and more. The tracks blend and cut into each other as a series of connected vignettes, so listening to an individual track or two can’t really give you a representative picture of the album — it’s best consumed as a whole, from start to finish (sadly I couldn’t find an uninterrupted full album link on YouTube). I shared more detailed thoughts in the random album reviews thread if anyone is interested.
The sample track I chose for this round is “The 5th Element (Le Bateleur) // Movement 2”, which has more of a Dream Theater feel to it, and some awesome extended soloing toward the end. If you’d like something thrashier, try “The Apocalypt - World In Shards (La Maison Dieu) // Movement 3”. If you want some sitar and a more digestible song structure, try “King With Broken Crown (Le Diable) // Movement 4”. If you want a taste of the instrumentals on offer, try “Intro - Concert Guitar” or “Ouverture”. But really, like I said before, this album is best consumed as a whole.
It’s up against W.A.S.P.’s The Headless Children, which is a solid album, but nothing great. The songwriting and musicianship of the Mekong Delta album are on a completely different level, IMO, though the odd time signatures and varied styles throughout the album may make it a bit less immediate for a new listener.
Wanderer On The Edge Of Time is probably my favorite album of the 2010s, and I hope you like it too.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
Have you no sense of decency, Senator Knickerbocker...?! LOL.
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Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
This is one of those rounds where the roulette wheel is cruel. Jailbreak and Tales are by far the best records of this bunch.
We have a tie! Can I get a hero?
srfc
Ancient Mariner
There has to be one somewhere in this town.
Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
Lampwick 43
Barstool Warrior
Gojira
Metallica
Blind Guardian
Faith No More
Metallica
Blind Guardian
Faith No More
We had two heroes! Not sure who the other one is but Lampwick with the save!
I've posted this a few times
We now have an answer to the age old question: Gojira defeats (Oranssi) Pazuzu in a head to head match. That's it for Oranssi Pazuzu, and the Frenchmen next face Pentagram.
Joe Satriani wins what was a back and forth battle between his shredding and Metallica. The American thrash legends are back in League 2.
Thin Lizzy led for quite awhile, but Blind Guardian roared back to win at the last minute. Blind Guardian next meets Fight.
Faith No More continues their extremely deep minnow run by fairly handily eliminating Lamb of God from the GMAC. We'll see how they fare against Tiamat next.
Joe Satriani wins what was a back and forth battle between his shredding and Metallica. The American thrash legends are back in League 2.
Thin Lizzy led for quite awhile, but Blind Guardian roared back to win at the last minute. Blind Guardian next meets Fight.
Faith No More continues their extremely deep minnow run by fairly handily eliminating Lamb of God from the GMAC. We'll see how they fare against Tiamat next.
Ulver - Bergtatt (1994) How it got here List entries: n/a Maidenfans Nominators: @Magnus | |
| League 10 - Match 25 | vs. |
Judas Priest - Nostradamus (2008) How it got here List entries: n/a Maidenfans Nominators: @Night Prowler Previous Rounds: League 12: Defeated Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti 16-10. League 11: Defeated Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies 14-8. |
Death - Leprosy (1988) How it got here List entries: n/a Maidenfans Nominators: @phantomoftheicarus | |
| League 10 - Match 26 | vs. |
Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow (1975) How it got here List entries: Metalstorm 49 Previous Rounds: League 15: Defeated Crimson Glory - Crimson Glory 12(ET)-11. League 14: Defeated Tony MacAlpine - Maximum Security 20-3. League 13: Defeated Powerwolf - Lupus Dei 21-8. League 12: Defeated Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation 14-12. League 11: Defeated HammerFall - Crimson Thunder 20-2. |
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Iron Maiden - Virtual XI (1998) How it got here List entries: n/a Maidenfans Nominators: @Niall Kielt | |
| League 10 - Match 27 | vs. |
Borknagar - The Olden Domain (1997) How it got here List entries: n/a Maidenfans Nominators: @Magnus Previous Rounds: League 12: Defeated System of a Down - Hypnotize 15-9. League 11: Defeated Helloween - Gambling With the Devil 12-10. |
Mekong Delta - Wanderer on the Edge of Time (2010) How it got here List entries: n/a Maidenfans Nominators: @Jer | |
| League 10 - Match 28 | vs. |
W.A.S.P. - The Headless Children (1989) How it got here List entries: Metalstorm 42 Previous Rounds: League 15: Defeated Savatage - Edge of Thorns 12-10. League 14: Defeated Warlord - And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun 15-5. League 13: Defeated Enslaved - Vikingligr Veldi 22-5. League 12: Defeated Pantera - The Great Southern Trendkill 18-8. League 11: Defeated Fear Factory - Obsolete 15-8. |
srfc
Ancient Mariner
Ulver - Intro drumming is a rip off of Killing Fields by Slayer, melody riff is quite nice, as is the Stone Roses (!) style vocal, solo pretty good, I usually moan about the drumming in this style of music but this guy is pretty good, yes it's busy but he's not stepping on the songs toes, acoustic breakdown is nice as is the classic metal style section that follows it. Bit muffled production is my main complaint
Judas Priest - opinion given before
Priest with the win, harsh on Ulver as I'd have backed them against many that have been in the game
Death - I know Pull the Plug from this record. Death Metal is not for me, but this earlier stuff is more stomachable for me
Rainbow - opinion given before
Rainbow with the win
Iron Maiden - Maiden's worst album for me. It still has some stuff I like, Clansman, The Angel and the Gambler, Futureal and Como Estais Amigos are all good, When Two Worlds Collide is pretty good apart from the corny words and Educated Fool is ok too. But Lightning Strikes Twice is rubbish, particularly the words, you get the impression that they are intended to be a metaphor for some sort of personal tragedy or something but they are actually just a literal description of a storm. And Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger is Maiden's worst ever song.
Borknagar - opinion given before
Maiden with the win
Mekong Delta - not a big fan of progressive stuff, I don't think they weird groove helps this song at all, the vocal is pretty good and the riff is ok, but I'd be more invested in a head nodding beat
W.A.S.P. - opinion given before
W.A.S.P. with the win
Judas Priest - opinion given before
Priest with the win, harsh on Ulver as I'd have backed them against many that have been in the game
Death - I know Pull the Plug from this record. Death Metal is not for me, but this earlier stuff is more stomachable for me
Rainbow - opinion given before
Rainbow with the win
Iron Maiden - Maiden's worst album for me. It still has some stuff I like, Clansman, The Angel and the Gambler, Futureal and Como Estais Amigos are all good, When Two Worlds Collide is pretty good apart from the corny words and Educated Fool is ok too. But Lightning Strikes Twice is rubbish, particularly the words, you get the impression that they are intended to be a metaphor for some sort of personal tragedy or something but they are actually just a literal description of a storm. And Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger is Maiden's worst ever song.
Borknagar - opinion given before
Maiden with the win
Mekong Delta - not a big fan of progressive stuff, I don't think they weird groove helps this song at all, the vocal is pretty good and the riff is ok, but I'd be more invested in a head nodding beat
W.A.S.P. - opinion given before
W.A.S.P. with the win
JudasMyGuide
The resident reactionary recalcitrant
Hoo boy.
Okay, from the first pair I pick Ulver. They are much more interesting than a late-era Priest. I don't even hate Nostradamus (though it's certainly bloated), on the contrary, I respect them for taking risks (same with DT and The Astonishing), at least bigger risks than Maiden ever did. But Ulver are one of the bands in that "sort-of-black-metal" paradigm that really speaks to me.
As for the second, I kinda like Death, but not really the first two albums. I don't hate Leprosy or anything, it's just that I discovered the band through Symbolic and these early albums, seminal as they may be, are not really enjoyable. On the other hand, their last one is also kinda iffy, so let's just say that Death are a hit-or-miss band whereas the Rainbow debut is infinitely more consistent. Loved it on my first listen 16 or so years ago, love it now. Probably still my favorite album with Dio.
Now the third pairing gets tricky. You know when I talked about the "sort-of-black-metal" bands that I like? Why, Borknagar are definitely among them and I like them a lot. Thing is, to me they get better with age. I mostly like them from cca Empiricism on, with the pinnacle being Winter Thrice. On the other hand I checked the votes and VXI seems to be winning - although there's not enough people here who would actually like it. I mean it, everybody and their brother talks shit about the record and suddenly it's supposed to be great? I smell Maiden bias, a huge one. Now I've always liked the record, first of all - as I've mentioned many times before - I like Blaze and from a certain point of view I like him more than Bruce. VXI definitely showcase more of that side of his that doesn't fit Maiden well, but it also has some great tracks (Futureal, Amigos, Clansman, Educated Fool) and the hated ones (mainly Stranger and Gambler, I guess) I don't mind as much as other people seem to do. In fact, my biggest ire of the record would be probably Lightning (with that stupid chorus where Blaze can't really fit all the words at the chosen velocity... "maybe lightning chwa-CHWA!") and the production is lacking, but I really like it. Honestly. No Maiden bias - cross my heart.
As for the last ... well, Jer did a plead last time with some nice write-up about the Mekong Delta, whom he nominated. As for me, he didn't even have to - first of all, I really like Mekong Delta and everything they did. Second of all, their opponent is WASP and I'm not sure how much would the Mekong Delta album have to suck for me to not pick it. 'Cause when I want a song as an ambience for a biker meeting with them all taking turns on the resident already-somewhat-aged biker chick, downing 'em by the keg, playing throwing games with engines and crankshafts, arm-wrestling and mud fighting and burping out the alphabet, I'll take some good music to that, I dunno, ZZ Top or Lynyrd or Blackfoot or something. Don't need no friggin' Saxon or WASP or shit like that.
Okay, from the first pair I pick Ulver. They are much more interesting than a late-era Priest. I don't even hate Nostradamus (though it's certainly bloated), on the contrary, I respect them for taking risks (same with DT and The Astonishing), at least bigger risks than Maiden ever did. But Ulver are one of the bands in that "sort-of-black-metal" paradigm that really speaks to me.
As for the second, I kinda like Death, but not really the first two albums. I don't hate Leprosy or anything, it's just that I discovered the band through Symbolic and these early albums, seminal as they may be, are not really enjoyable. On the other hand, their last one is also kinda iffy, so let's just say that Death are a hit-or-miss band whereas the Rainbow debut is infinitely more consistent. Loved it on my first listen 16 or so years ago, love it now. Probably still my favorite album with Dio.
Now the third pairing gets tricky. You know when I talked about the "sort-of-black-metal" bands that I like? Why, Borknagar are definitely among them and I like them a lot. Thing is, to me they get better with age. I mostly like them from cca Empiricism on, with the pinnacle being Winter Thrice. On the other hand I checked the votes and VXI seems to be winning - although there's not enough people here who would actually like it. I mean it, everybody and their brother talks shit about the record and suddenly it's supposed to be great? I smell Maiden bias, a huge one. Now I've always liked the record, first of all - as I've mentioned many times before - I like Blaze and from a certain point of view I like him more than Bruce. VXI definitely showcase more of that side of his that doesn't fit Maiden well, but it also has some great tracks (Futureal, Amigos, Clansman, Educated Fool) and the hated ones (mainly Stranger and Gambler, I guess) I don't mind as much as other people seem to do. In fact, my biggest ire of the record would be probably Lightning (with that stupid chorus where Blaze can't really fit all the words at the chosen velocity... "maybe lightning chwa-CHWA!") and the production is lacking, but I really like it. Honestly. No Maiden bias - cross my heart.
As for the last ... well, Jer did a plead last time with some nice write-up about the Mekong Delta, whom he nominated. As for me, he didn't even have to - first of all, I really like Mekong Delta and everything they did. Second of all, their opponent is WASP and I'm not sure how much would the Mekong Delta album have to suck for me to not pick it. 'Cause when I want a song as an ambience for a biker meeting with them all taking turns on the resident already-somewhat-aged biker chick, downing 'em by the keg, playing throwing games with engines and crankshafts, arm-wrestling and mud fighting and burping out the alphabet, I'll take some good music to that, I dunno, ZZ Top or Lynyrd or Blackfoot or something. Don't need no friggin' Saxon or WASP or shit like that.
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
This Ulver album is actually pretty cool. I like the atmosphere and I like the predominantly clean vocals. The blast beat stuff and the few patches of black metal vox aren’t great, but this album was definitely on the higher end of the black metal albums I’ve slogged through so far in the GMAC, and if it were up against a weaker opponent I probably would have voted for it. Unfortunately, I’m one of the few people that happens to like Nostradamus a lot, so this one is a pretty easy choice in the end. Sorry, @Magnus, but I have to go with @Night Prowler ’s choice here. Winner: Judas Priest
This Death album has predictably terrible vocals, and the songwriting isn’t on the same level as some of the band’s previous material in the GMAC. There are cool riffs and bits peppered throughout the songs, but there’s also a lot of cacophonous stuff that doesn’t really work for me. While not a big fan of the Rainbow debut, I’m once again forced to vote for it. Sorry, @phantomoftheicarus. Winner: Rainbow
@Niall Kielt, I don’t really know where to start here. Virtual XI is a travesty, the absolute nadir of Iron Maiden’s catalog, and the only studio album of theirs that I could honestly say is a bad album overall. The production stinks, most of the songwriting stinks, and the performances are lackluster. If some other band had released this record, I can’t imagine many people would give it a second thought today, other than to say what a sad garage band ripoff of Iron Maiden they tried to be. I’m trying to wrap my head around how this could possibly make someone’s top 25 metal albums of all time and I’m at a complete loss. Please allow me to unreservedly, enthusiastically, full-throatedly endorse @Magnus ’s black metal opponent here, which outclasses Virtual XI in every respect except perhaps the vocal performance (and that’s still a close call). Winner: Borknagar
...and I will obviously vote for my own nominee in the last match, for reasons previously discussed. Winner: Mekong Delta
This Death album has predictably terrible vocals, and the songwriting isn’t on the same level as some of the band’s previous material in the GMAC. There are cool riffs and bits peppered throughout the songs, but there’s also a lot of cacophonous stuff that doesn’t really work for me. While not a big fan of the Rainbow debut, I’m once again forced to vote for it. Sorry, @phantomoftheicarus. Winner: Rainbow
@Niall Kielt, I don’t really know where to start here. Virtual XI is a travesty, the absolute nadir of Iron Maiden’s catalog, and the only studio album of theirs that I could honestly say is a bad album overall. The production stinks, most of the songwriting stinks, and the performances are lackluster. If some other band had released this record, I can’t imagine many people would give it a second thought today, other than to say what a sad garage band ripoff of Iron Maiden they tried to be. I’m trying to wrap my head around how this could possibly make someone’s top 25 metal albums of all time and I’m at a complete loss. Please allow me to unreservedly, enthusiastically, full-throatedly endorse @Magnus ’s black metal opponent here, which outclasses Virtual XI in every respect except perhaps the vocal performance (and that’s still a close call). Winner: Borknagar
...and I will obviously vote for my own nominee in the last match, for reasons previously discussed. Winner: Mekong Delta