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

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Manowar - Into Glory Ride (1983)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Perun
League 10 - Match 11vs.
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Nuclear Assault - Game Over (1986)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Magnus
Previous Rounds:
League 13: Defeated Living Colour - Vivid 19-7.
League 12: Defeated Star One - Victims of the Modern Age 17-10.
League 11: Defeated Evergrey - Hymns For the Broken 11(ET)-11.
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AC/DC - The Razors Edge (1990)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Travis The Dragon
League 10 - Match 12vs.
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Sabbat - Dreamweaver (1989)

How it got here
List entries: n/a
Maidenfans Nominators: @Magnus
Previous Rounds:
League 13: Defeated Pantera - Far Beyond Driven 14-13.
League 12: Defeated Soen - Tellurian 18-10.
League 11: Defeated Anthrax - For All Kings 12-10.
 
Rainbow - I'm a big fan of the Dio era, but don't have much inclination to listen to any other line up. I've never heard this album but obviously I, like everyone else, know Since You've Been Gone but I've never been a huge fan of it, I don't like the keys on it nor the gear change chorus. I also know All Night Long from a compilation album, it's an alright track but the lyrics are pathetic even for the standards of the time.

Sanctuary - Intro sounds good a bit like Queensryche, main verse decent, there's a touch of Overkill off the vocal in the chorus, solo good too, pretty good overall but maybe lacking something a bit idiosyncratic

Sanctuary with the win

Cynic - Music sounds ok but not mixed great, everything's louder than everything else, vocal ok bar the silly noises, drumming is good it's very busy but kind of tastefully done

Ayreon - Intro ok, vocal alright, heavy guitar sounds good, not keen on the subject matter

Ayreon with the win, neither doing a lot for me

Manowar - Good god that intro is excruciating. Where are the guitars in the mix? Otherwise not the worst as Manowar goes, I don't have this album but the track sounds quite similar to the mood of a few tracks on Battle Hymns which I think is an ok album.

Nuclear Assault - opinion given before

Nuclear Assault with the win

AC/DC - One of the first albums I ever owned as this was out when I was getting into music, so I'm quite fond of it, and even without the rose tinted glasses I think it holds up, the second best album from the Brian Johnson era. Thunderstruck, the title track, Moneytalks and Fire your Guns are all great AC/DC tracks, Shot of Love is the AC/DC equivalent of Judas Be My Guide, the rest of the tracks are all decent. The sleazy tracks, Mistress for Christmas and Got You by the Balls, are terrible lyrically, even by AC/DC standards, but they still are interesting musically

Sabbat - opinion given before

AC/DC with the win
 
Post-Dio Rainbow is terrible and boring. I have no love for Warrell Dane, but Sanctuary it is.

Cynic was actually really interesting, but The Source is absolutely brilliant.

Third match feels like a Cheesevivor round. I cannot vote for Manowar. Nuclear Assault it is.

Voting for
the metal album
Sabbat in the last match.
 
Perun said:
Oh my god, now I'm always going to be the guy who nominated the album with that cover. :facepalm:
Click to expand...

There's always the way cooler dark faced Conan like dude reedition cover. Looks like Loose pushed you under the bus... :D :p

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Cynic v. Ayreon has a lot of proggy wankery going on. I think I like Aryeon a little bit better, but not interested in owning either. Pretty incredible vocalist, whoever that is, sometimes he sounds like Russell Allen and sometimes like Hansi Kursch.
jk

I remember liking Sanctuary well enough in an earlier round, but I didn't love this track. I agree with the sentiment that Rainbow dropped off in quality after Dio joined Sabbath, but Down To Earth has some very good hard rock on it, including Since You Been Gone, which is a top-5 Rainbow song for me, and deep tracks like Eyes of the World and Lost in Hollywood. Also, though he isn't Ronnie, Graham Bonnett is still an outstanding vocalist in his own right. I need to give this album a bit more attention, I think, so I will vote for Rainbow this round. In fact, I don't own this album, and I am now going to buy it as a result of this game. The only other record in this game that led to a purchase so far is ...

Nuclear Assault. I dig this band/album.

AC/DC is the clear preference in the last round. The Razor's Edge was a nice return to form, and is their last classic album (IMO).
 
Hadn’t heard this Rainbow album before, and it’s got about 3 1/2 great songs on it (“All Night Long”, “Since You Been Gone”, “Danger Zone”, and parts of “Lost In Hollywood”), but the rest is filler. Graham Bonnet sounds great here. Meanwhile, this Sanctuary album has its quirks, especially with some of the vocal parts, but the quality of the music is more consistent. This one is close, but in the end I have to go with @Whooten ’s nominee. Sorry, @Poto. Winner: Sanctuary

This Cynic album is pretty sweet prog metal until the completely unnecessary supporting death vocals come in. Boo. Ayreon is also quite good, but without any fecal matter in the creme brulee. Still a surprisingly close one, but @Lampwick 43 ’s choice wins the day. Sorry, @karljant. Winner: Ayreon

This Manowar album has terrible production and is pretty cheesy, though it has a few nice moments here and there. The Nuclear Assault album is better in almost every respect, though its production also leaves a lot to be desired. Sorry, @Perun, but @Magnus ’s nominee is the clear winner here. Winner: Nuclear Assault

This last one surprised me. I don’t think I’d actually listened to The Razor’s Edge all the way through before, and while it has a few throwaway tracks, it also has a lot of pretty great material with some mild experimentation that sets it apart from your average AC/DC retread. It didn’t blow me away or anything, but it significantly exceeded my expectations. As much as I like Martin Walkyier, and as good of an album as Dreamweaver is for its style, in the end if I’m honest I have to go with @Travis The Dragon ’s choice. Sorry, @Magnus. Winner: AC/DC
 
First clash brings us Rainbow featuring Bonnet and Powel (both performing in stellar way) in a total "Purplerization" of the band by its mentor. And although there's nothing wrong with Down To Earth (except perhaps a couple of hollow poppy songs) it sounds like recycled Deep Purple. Of course that, if you can go pass that fact and you're strong into 70's hard rock cuts, then Eyes Of The World, No Time To Lose, Lost In Hollywood or Danger Zone will surely make your day. But I think the whole thing really pales when compared with Sanctuary's sophomore.

Then comes Ayreon's second to last album and I must stress once again that IMO the Dutch composer has made way better records in the past and (despite his undeniable composing qualities) how boring the whole thing turns out to be. On the other hand we have Traced In Air: the first release by Cynic in 15 years. The band claims that once their debut was out they pledged only to release its follower if it was on the same level. And if one is aware of how impactful and awesome was Focus (the band's debut) then you'll understand why it took 15 years for these dudes to pull this absolute masterpiece (and man did they stick to their pledge). Nunc Stans serves as an immersive intro through q crescendo that is abruptly cut by the soothing and clean initial notes of The Space For This. From the get go you notice that the particular way the band processed their Jazz/ Fusion/ Prog influences (as well as the use of Vocoder although with way less gain) is still there although in a less heavier fashion and when the whole thing starts to tick with full strength it's frightening how amazing, beautiful and well played/ composed this damned thing explodes. I mean if you know the band's repertoire it's unnecessary to say that Masvidal, Malone or great late Reinart are firing at all cylinders because no matter what they do they always are. The twists and turns this track takes are mainly based in a contrast of proggy harmonies and fusion complexity that somehow render the whole experience an easy listening taste but nonetheless full of detail. That same typology can be found on the equally Jazz metal infused The Unknown Guest and King Of Those Who Know while Evolutionary Sleeper, Integral Birth and Adam's Murmur are a bit more intense and Prog metal prone. Nunc Fluens wraps the whole thing with a ship calmly and slowly disappearing in the horizon leaving behind a monster of a record. And IF YOU'RE DISTURBED BY THE FEW GROWLING BACKING VOCALS, you may wanna try the 2019 remaster (where Masvidal simply muted them all). I simply love both versions. So yeah... an easy win for Cynic.

Comes the 3rd match and in all honesty Into Glory Ride may be one of Manowar's worst initial albums and one that began turning them in a Spinal Tap like parody. And no, I'm not talking solely about the the cover (my eyes bleed a bit every time I look at it). Battle Hymns was much more in a "let's do heavy metal inspired not so much in on Frazetta's illustrations but more about things that represent the metal universe" direction and this lack of compromise rendered some enjoyable tunes to bang your head to like Metal Daze or Manowar as well as the epic Battle Hymns. Sure there were already corny aspects but in this second LP these dudes really took 'em to another level. First there's a cringy obsession regarding the "testosterone filled heavy metal battle narrative" while in their debut this concept was mixed with way less bellicose lyrics. Take for instance the moaning intro of Warlord (what is this?) that give way to a completely forgettable track with Secrets Of Steel following the same route. But even drowned in this ocean of cheese one can find some good tracks: Gloves Of Metal is a strong anthem, Hatred is a heavy as hell slow grinder and Gates Of Valhalla follows the same epic structure Battle Hymns did in their previous album (although in a less stellar fashion). But then the last two tracks try to replicate that very same formula and (besides conveying a repetitive and boring taste to the remainder of the record) fail while sounding as great as the aforementioned track. So there you go... A really forgettable sophomore for the band. The only thing Into Glory Ride will be forever reminded for is perhaps Gloves Of Metal and its atrocious cover. Fortunately Hail To England would prove to be a much better effort in every single aspect (and yes... also including the absence of photos of thong wearing men in its cover). Game Over is a way more balanced and overall better record in its genre so I'll go with Nuclear Assault.

Finally the The Razor's Edge and like or not this well known record by the Australian Hard Rockers starts with a blast. Yes, I know it's overplayed as hell but fact is Thunderstruck has an impressive crescendo, a sing along arena feeling that ranks among the best tracks of its genre and it's overall really well composed. Fire Your Guns follows and man... the band seems to wanna make a huge comeback with their first album in the 90's: strong, fast paced rock n' roll that keeps you engaged throughout the whole track. Money Talks is much more radio friendly and although I kinda dislike it must admit it's a really well crafted typical AC/DC song. But IMO the absolute be(a)st here is the title track: a strong and somehow sinister and rare Heavy Metal song by the band that when its chorus kicks in will make your head bang no matter if you like the band or not. And then I really don't know what happened but seems like the inspiration expired completed and all we've got left till the end of the album are absolute generic AC/DC generic songs. And it's a pity given the high note of the stretch the album opens with. So there's no way this will beat an absolute unique masterpiece as Sabbat's Dreamweaver.
 
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karljant said:
And IF YOU'RE DISTURBED BY THE FEW GROWLING BACKING VOCALS, you may wanna try the 2019 remaster (where Masvidal simply muted them all).
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Thanks for the tip, I might actually pick up the remixed version because I really liked what I heard outside of the stupid death growls...
 
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