Ah.. words...
Writing good reviews isn't easy, that much is true.
GREATEST METAL ALBUM CUP - Winner: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son!
- Thread starter LooseCannon
- Start date
Writing good reviews isn't easy, that much is true.
Confeos
Game time started.
Match 1:
I wasn’t familiar with Rage at all before this. I was actually a bit surprised to discover “Black in Mind” is their ninth studio album, as I find a certain youthful naivety about the songwriting, the kind that I would expect from one of a band's first offerings. The singer sounds like a gruffier version of Rolf Kasparek, and I think the music finds a nice balance between thrashy riffs and melodic choruses. All in all, I must say this was a pleasant experience - one of the best albums in this round.
Body Count doesn’t really appeal to me. I feared I was in for an album full of generic metal riffs and rap, which sounds like something out of my worst nightmare, but luckily, it wasn’t THAT bad. It still came across like a disjointed mess of songs hastily put together by a bunch of people, who suddenly decided to make some metal. Nah, I’m not a fan.
Rage wins by a large margin.
Match 2:
Despite it being done oh-so-many times by so many acts about now, it still sparks my interest whenever I see an album with a number of guest vocalists – if only for the sheer amount of talented people put together on a single record. There’s a solid bunch of names on “Moonglow”, so it’s a shame it ends up being slightly forgettable in the end – the production and the music itself at times sounds like a metalized version of Meat Loaf, yet without the really catchy and classy hooks. I can’t say I’m impressed, but I did enjoy it nonetheless.
If there’s one thing that has become very clear to me, it is that Phil Anselmo needs some serious good music to be somewhat tolerable. I like me some Pantera from time to time, but they don’t rank highly on my favourite artists, and neither the songs nor the musicians in Down come even close to Pantera’s level. So in other words, when the music doesn’t quite hit home with me, it just becomes even clearer how annoying Anselmo’s voice is.
I’m voting for Avantasia, solely because they have an album I wouldn’t mind listening to again in another matchup.
Match 3:
Arya is another first for me; they seem to be getting a lot of praise here. I can easily see the similarities between them and Maiden – the guitar playing is nice in particular – but they come across as pretty faceless. Decent and enjoyable, but without really standing out. I won’t have any complaints whatsoever with giving them another chance in the future.
I’ve listened to a little bit of Virgin Steele in the past and liked it, so I had some degree of expectations going into this album – I must say, pretty much all of them are met. This is the kind of power metal I enjoy; great riffing, pounding drums, soaring melodies and catchy choruses. The interludes are nice, too. If I should make just one complaint, it would be that the singer’s voice isn’t THAT good (he sounds kinda like Eric Adams of Manowar, but with less power), but it’s such a minor thing.
Virgin Steele is the clear winner for me.
Match 4:
Heavenly is another band I’m already familiar with – I discovered them through their album “Virus” some years ago, and liked it quite a bit. “Dust to Dust” is evidently made from the same exact formula; speedy power metal sprinkled with multilayered vocals and symphonic elements. I’m absolutely entertained through it all, great album.
On the other hand, if you ask me, Helloween wore out its welcome more than a handful of records ago. I used to listen to them a lot, but lost my interest after the third "Keeper..." album. The posted track also embodies a particular pet peeve of mine – any song with the word “metal” in the title makes me cringe. In fact, most of the song titles on “7 Sinners” are hilariously bad, but then again, I didn't expect much different from Helloween. The music itself is still straightforward metal – inoffensive at best, despite the meaty, modern production.
Helloween fails to reignite the spark; Heavenly on the other hand offers a solid release, so they take this one home.
I wasn’t familiar with Rage at all before this. I was actually a bit surprised to discover “Black in Mind” is their ninth studio album, as I find a certain youthful naivety about the songwriting, the kind that I would expect from one of a band's first offerings. The singer sounds like a gruffier version of Rolf Kasparek, and I think the music finds a nice balance between thrashy riffs and melodic choruses. All in all, I must say this was a pleasant experience - one of the best albums in this round.
Body Count doesn’t really appeal to me. I feared I was in for an album full of generic metal riffs and rap, which sounds like something out of my worst nightmare, but luckily, it wasn’t THAT bad. It still came across like a disjointed mess of songs hastily put together by a bunch of people, who suddenly decided to make some metal. Nah, I’m not a fan.
Rage wins by a large margin.
Match 2:
Despite it being done oh-so-many times by so many acts about now, it still sparks my interest whenever I see an album with a number of guest vocalists – if only for the sheer amount of talented people put together on a single record. There’s a solid bunch of names on “Moonglow”, so it’s a shame it ends up being slightly forgettable in the end – the production and the music itself at times sounds like a metalized version of Meat Loaf, yet without the really catchy and classy hooks. I can’t say I’m impressed, but I did enjoy it nonetheless.
If there’s one thing that has become very clear to me, it is that Phil Anselmo needs some serious good music to be somewhat tolerable. I like me some Pantera from time to time, but they don’t rank highly on my favourite artists, and neither the songs nor the musicians in Down come even close to Pantera’s level. So in other words, when the music doesn’t quite hit home with me, it just becomes even clearer how annoying Anselmo’s voice is.
I’m voting for Avantasia, solely because they have an album I wouldn’t mind listening to again in another matchup.
Match 3:
Arya is another first for me; they seem to be getting a lot of praise here. I can easily see the similarities between them and Maiden – the guitar playing is nice in particular – but they come across as pretty faceless. Decent and enjoyable, but without really standing out. I won’t have any complaints whatsoever with giving them another chance in the future.
I’ve listened to a little bit of Virgin Steele in the past and liked it, so I had some degree of expectations going into this album – I must say, pretty much all of them are met. This is the kind of power metal I enjoy; great riffing, pounding drums, soaring melodies and catchy choruses. The interludes are nice, too. If I should make just one complaint, it would be that the singer’s voice isn’t THAT good (he sounds kinda like Eric Adams of Manowar, but with less power), but it’s such a minor thing.
Virgin Steele is the clear winner for me.
Match 4:
Heavenly is another band I’m already familiar with – I discovered them through their album “Virus” some years ago, and liked it quite a bit. “Dust to Dust” is evidently made from the same exact formula; speedy power metal sprinkled with multilayered vocals and symphonic elements. I’m absolutely entertained through it all, great album.
On the other hand, if you ask me, Helloween wore out its welcome more than a handful of records ago. I used to listen to them a lot, but lost my interest after the third "Keeper..." album. The posted track also embodies a particular pet peeve of mine – any song with the word “metal” in the title makes me cringe. In fact, most of the song titles on “7 Sinners” are hilariously bad, but then again, I didn't expect much different from Helloween. The music itself is still straightforward metal – inoffensive at best, despite the meaty, modern production.
Helloween fails to reignite the spark; Heavenly on the other hand offers a solid release, so they take this one home.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Body Count
Avantasia
Virgin Steel
Helloween
This was by far the most enjoyable round for me so far.
Avantasia
Virgin Steel
Helloween
This was by far the most enjoyable round for me so far.
karljant
Ancient Mariner
That's a bit cliche. Now this is how you do it: "to present a cabal textual representation of one's opinion regarding the analysis of the many phenomena that compose reality - in this particular case recorded acoustic manifestations of art - is far from being an achievable goal regarding the majority of those who take such endeavor. And should this be taken as fact although in reality it's a somewhat subjective (yet tangible) purpose to attain"
Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
GMAC0006 is resolved. Thanks for reporting.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Body Count bring a fitting soundtrack for actual -and unfortunately ongoing- events which are outside people their comfort zones as well.
Therefore: an important band.
Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
True, but the profanity is still a thing - it's why there's no chance of my listening to them. "Holy Smoke" and "Take No Prisoners" are already outside my comfort zone.
Profanity isn't bad in and of itself. In fact, it's delightfully liberating to swear in the right circumstances.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
You're fucking right you dickhead.
Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
True, but I'm not a fan of it. It's fine in writing, but audio is harder.to ignore.
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
There are actually studies suggesting it's healthy because it provides stress relief.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Every good song needs a couple of F-words.
Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
The Maiden and Priest catalogues would beg to differ.
For Metallica, due to unrelated reasons, the albums with the most profanity tend to be my least favourite (plus the issue of blasting Hardwired around my little sister).
Yeah I'm not going to challenge it too much more, but I think you might wanna dig deeper on some self reflection there bud.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Yeah, it was a joke. I wouldn't mind if there was a little bit of swearing in Maiden's or Priest's songs, but it's true that it definitely doesn’t fit the tone of their music. When it comes to Metallica and James Hetfield, I think it fits.
Nail that Fokker, kill that son!
Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
...and then you have Alestorm.