Full disclosure, I was unable to find
Reise, Reise on YouTube in a form that would play in the U.S., so I wound up listening to a live version instead. Regardless, every time I’ve listened to Rammstein it’s never really grabbed me. Maybe bits and bobs here and there, but I am clearly not their target audience. While
Dance Of Death is a weaker Iron Maiden album, I would still choose it over this Rammstein record. Sorry,
@Diesel 11, but I have to go with
@Black Wizard ’s choice here.
Winner: Iron Maiden
This Primordial album has most of the same pros and cons of the band’s previous entries in the GMAC — interesting grooves and nice atmosphere, but iffy singing, songwriting getting in a rut, and completely unnecessary blast beats and black metal vox in places. That said, one big difference is that this album has two killer songs on it — “Stolen Years” and the amazing “To Hell Or The Hangman”. Those two songs are better than anything on
Counterparts, by far — but on balance, the Rush album is more consistent in quality. This one was actually pretty close, and I feel bad voting against yet another
@Magnus nominee, but I think
@matic22 ’s choice is a slightly better album overall.
Winner: Rush
This Amorphis album is a great blend of Celtic folk and synthy metal with mostly clean vocals, but also with a little bit of crappy glass gargling thrown in for bad measure. This is another album crying out desperately for a growl-free remix, because most of what’s here is great. I’ve commented on the Primordial album a few times, and I’ve voted both for it and against it, but this time it’s up against a tougher opponent. Sorry again,
@Magnus, but I have to go with
@Spambot ’s nominee this time.
Winner: Amorphis
This final round is really painful — a clash of two heavyweights, who in my estimation are Rush’s third and fourth best studio albums overall. Both albums are great, with some excellent tracks and no duds to be found.
Hemispheres has the excellent “La Villa Strangiato”, as well as the great epic title track and the similarly great “The Trees”.
Permanent Waves has the stone cold classic “The Spirit Of Radio”, the excellent “Freewill”, and the great “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Entre Nous”. In the end I think the songs with the longest running time on
Hemispheres are slightly stronger than the songs with the longest running time on
Permanent Waves, and that tilts the scale ever so slightly in the direction of the earlier album. Sorry,
@mckindog, but I have to go with
@Midnight ’s choice here.
Winner: Rush - Hemispheres
