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

I really like what I’ve heard from Baroness. I own and enjoy two albums and have been meaning to dig deeper but have never gotten around to it. So Red is new to me. No song in this game made a better first impression than this teaser track. Really great stuff.

I actually listened to most of Naked City. If my wife had been around she would have taken a sledge hammer to my speaker. What a glorious mess. Train wreck stuff that lurched from bad to good in ten second bursts but was always fascinating. Can’t say I liked it, but it sure was interesting. Against inferior competition it may have got my vote.
 
in Living Colour is the second hard rock act of the 90s to pop up here where I didn’t mind their hits, but never really invested any time to dig beyond. To like this genre you have to willing to embrace the cheese factor. But to me, Manowar never seemed self-aware or skilled enough to enjoy on an ironic level. In Living Colour wins.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
than Manowar's entire album (which is also recorded poorly)
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Not meaning to invalidate your opinion, but there actually is a legitimate reason for the poor recording. They rushed writing and recording the whole album within a few weeks to make up for a British tour they had to cancel. It's hard to believe nowadays that Manowar of all bands would do that sort of thing, but those were different times.
 
mckindog said:
To me, Manowar never seemed self-aware or skilled enough
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We'll have to agree to disagree with the skill thing, but as far as self-awareness goes, Ross the Boss has said in recent interviews that there was a high degree of self-awareness and self-irony in the band at that time. He left when he felt that was no longer the case in the late eighties.

Speaking of which, I am well aware that I'm coming off like a Manowar fanboy right now, which I most certainly am not. -_-
 
Eye hate god is the musical equivalent of wallowing in filth. I guess some people find artistic merit in that. Horrible, repulsive waste of time. Isis was ponderous with bad singing. The sludgy groove was OK And it didn’t take much to win this match.
 
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Perun said:
We'll have to agree to disagree with the skill thing, but as far as self-awareness goes, Ross the Boss has said in recent interviews that there was a high degree of self-awareness and self-irony in the band at that time. He left when he felt that was no longer the case in the late eighties.

Speaking of which, I am well aware that I'm coming off like a Manowar fanboy right now, which I most certainly am not. -_-
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My opinion may be coloured by my teenage lack of awareness back from when I first encountered them.
 
Perun said:
Not meaning to invalidate your opinion, but there actually is a legitimate reason for the poor recording. They rushed writing and recording the whole album within a few weeks to make up for a British tour they had to cancel. It's hard to believe nowadays that Manowar of all bands would do that sort of thing, but those were different times.
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Cancelling a British tour is serious stuff and amends must be made. It's almost enough to get you tutted at. No band can withstand that.
 
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Skid Row - that's a solid album of high gloss rock/metal. I absolutely agree that 18 and Life is by far the best written song, but I do think this band has a great sound and consistent style here. However, in terms of personal preference, I'm voting for Lamb of God as I got more enjoyment out of a full album of this style. So much energy and a darker sound and subject matter.

I can't get into Baroness at all. Is this aimed at stoners? Altogether bizarrely laid back and not to my taste at all. Then I listened to Naked City. Never again, no thanks. What is that? Short bursts of experimental noise with jazz thrown in? So Baroness it is.

Living Colour make a decently entertaining, if middle-of-the-road rock album. I find a lot more fun in Cheesevivor favourites Manowar. Tacky muscle-bound heroics all round. And yes, it does sound like it was hastily recorded in a barn in Essex.

I can appreciate Isis' effort, somewhere between doom and ambient, very dark, moody and discordant. I'd most likely have this on as background music, though. In some ways they remind me of Katatonia, although a whole lot heavier. I don't mind Eyehategod either, although I like the almost punky vocals less, and for all I like the chunky guitar sound, I find the tracks are actually quite hard to differentiate, they sound incredibly similar.
 
Brigantium said:
Cancelling a British tour is serious stuff and amends must be made. It's almost enough to get you tutted at. No band can withstand that.
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They seemed to have a few hickups when it came to involving the fine art of understatement in expressing their appreciation for Britain, though.

220px-ManowarHailtoengland.jpg
 
Skid Row - great record, I won't repeat a lot of what's been said already in the thread, but I don't think anyone's mentioned Bach's voice so far. I think musically they had a bit more of an edge than their hair metal peers, but Bach's voice put them miles ahead, the best voice so far featured in the game and it's not even close.

Lamb of God - not a fan of these, mainly because I'm too old for them :lol: I think they're better than a lot of their peers but the vocals and some of the other more extreme influences aren't for me. I've actually seen them 2 or maybe even 3 times in support slots, I might have given them a vote if they were up against a band I wasn't a fan of.

Skid Row with the win.

Baroness - not for me, sounds like 90's throwback to bands I didn't like then.

Naked City - video link won't play so I looked it up on youtube. Lasted a few seconds. Can't take this stuff seriously

Baroness get the win by default

Living Colour - listenable but won't be rushing out to buy the album

Manowar - have a couple of Manowar albums, the first one is a decent record as is most of Kings of Metal, never heard this one before. the track here is good enough to get them the win, but with Manowar you are likely to be rocking out one minute and then in tears laughing a minute later. If I had no other Manowar I'd probably give the whole album a listen, and maybe I still will, but I have a feeling I know exactly what I'll get already

Manowar raise their fists in triumph!

Isis - was okay til the vocal. Does no one sing anymore? Someone should tell these bands if you all growl then no one has any individuality.

Eyehategod - I thought it was Hand of Doom for a second. Not bad again apart from the vocal, but the vocal is a deal breaker.

I'd much prefer to listen to Eyehategood than Isis but neither are up to too much.
 
After listening to all on offering:

Skid Row over Lamb of God. I cannot for the life of me, having seen Lamb of God live and listened to an album in the last 24 hours, remember a single thing about them musically. They are the most forgettable act I've heard aside from the Raven Age.

Baroness over Naked City. Jesus, what the fuck Rolling Stone?

Living Colour over Manowar. This one was hard, so hard, but Vivid is an incredible album in its style that is more than just one track. But the one track - what a track. Manowar is so much fun and it's hard to vote against fun, I will always have a tough time voting against fun.

Isis over Eyehategod. Ihateeyehategod.
 
LooseCannon said:
I cannot for the life of me, having seen Lamb of God live and listened to an album in the last 24 hours, remember a single thing about them musically. They are the most forgettable act I've heard aside from the Raven Age.
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Laid to Rest is a fantastic song imo. Are you sure that you can't remember its chorus or main riff?
 
Three of the four pairings are already decided so I will just vote in the one close pairing - Living Colour vs. Manowar - and I don't have time to listen to the full albums so I'll just base my vote on the songs LC provided.

I have never taken Manowar seriously and 'Blood of my Enemies' seems fairly mediocre by the standards of the bands who they inspired. I've heard the Living Colour song on the radio many times recently and it's significantly more memorable and enjoyable. If these two songs are representative of their respective albums then there's only one album I'd like to hear more of - 'Vivid' by Living Colour.

Until watching that video I had no idea that Living Colour are/were all black guys. I'll try to remember to listen to more of them.
 
38 albums from the Rolling Stone list were not nominated elsewhere.
4 Loudwire albums are solo.
11 Metal Rules albums.
40 Metalstorm albums.
11 DigitalDreamDoor albums.
49 Metal Kingdom albums.

So yeah, there is some disparity between the lists and Maidenfans.
 
Saapanael said:
Every time I see DigitalDreamDoor, I have to think whether it's an online list or a user.
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It's a pretty Maidenfans-adjacent list! But still some good stuff in it. Unlike Rolling Stone, which definitely has a guy or two on that article who love weird experimental bullshit.
 
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