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

I like Van Halen and I like 1984.
Somebody explain to me why it is rated so much higher than the rest of their catalogue, because I don’t see it.

I find it unfortunate that the voting pattern for some has evolved from choosing the better album to choosing the most metal album. Mostly because it seems like no one here can fully agree on what metal is.

I guess a fierce sense of being other has always been part of the mystique.
 
mckindog said:
I like Van Halen and I like 1984.
Somebody explain to me why it is rated so much higher than the rest of their catalogue, because I don’t see it.
Click to expand...
  • No stupid cover tracks.
  • Great hooks.
  • More variety due to the use of synths.
  • All killer, no filler.
Fair Warning is almost as good, but I think there’s a dropoff in quality when you go beyond those two albums.
 
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Not to mention, the album rocks hard. Panama, Drop Dead Legs, Girl Gone Bad, House of Pain, all fantastic classic Van Halen rock songs and no synths. The massive success of Jump (and to a lesser extent I’ll Wait) makes people over-exaggerate the poppiness of 1984 imo. It’s still Van Halen as a guitar driven band and EVH’s playing is as fantastic as ever. Alex also really shines on that album in particular.
 
Van Halen - The best VH album, obviously most will know Jump, Hot for Teacher, maybe Panama, but I'm particularly fond of I'll Wait. Top Jimmy, and forgotten last two tracks, Girl Gone Bad and House of Pain are great too. Drop Dead Legs is the weak spot but really that's only in comparison to everything else.

Iron Maiden - opinion given before

Van Halen with the win, similar to when I voted for Show No Mercy over the Final Frontier, I probably like the Maiden record more but being objective 1984 is the more rounded album and has the bigger hits.

UFO - I don't have this album but am familiar with Too Hot to Handle, Lights Out and Love to Love from the live album, which are all brilliant, especially Love to Love

Ghost - opinion given before

Ghost with the win, maybe it might have been in more trouble if I was more familiar with Lights Out, but I'm a bigger Ghost fan and probably would have voted the same way.

Motorhead - An album I have, and I saw them on this tour. Haven't listened in a good while, I must dig it out again, but I remember it being pretty solid, I generally prefer their later stuff to the original line up, even if the original line up has all the hits.

Amon Amarth - opinion given before, Grand Magus does this viking stuff far better

Motorhead with the win

Celtic Frost - not for me

Rush - opinion given before

Rush with the win
 
It looks like the Play Classics crowd has gotten in to vote against the non-standard stuff. Curious what happens here.
 
1984 and To Mega Therion losing is going to be a big shame. Van Halen were, in my eyes, the most successful commercial rock or metal act before the genesis of Thrash metal and the explosion of hair metal. And this is for two reasons, and the first one's not even that important. Firstly, they sold a lot of albums. Secondly, those guys just sounded killer. I mean 1984 is a killer album. Excellent guitar driven rock/metal, rockin tracks that still get me moving today like Panama, I'll Wait and Top Jimmy, and some of the best musicians mainstream rock had to offer. Sure, other classic bands like Boston, Foreigner, Bachman Turner Overdrive, REO Speedwagon, etc sold a lot of albums too, and were successful in their own right, but I just don't go back and listen to their albums and songs and go, 'wow this is killer' like I do with Van Halen.

To Mega Therion is one of those albums that I voted for moreso out of respect and recognition for their influence. Tom G Warrior is a legend, and it took the heavy metal community a few years to even pump out something even close to what Celtic Frost was doing in 1985. Circle of the Tyrants and The Usurper absolutely kill.
 
Unlike other Van Halen albums never liked 1984. Especially Jump and Panama. Iron Maiden take this one by default.

Then two albums I don't care much about. Gonna go with UFO: Electric Phase is cool tune and it features some great guitar from MS.

Amon Amarth brings another chapter on their Mello Death/ Viking metal while Inferno is without shadow of doubt one of the most exciting (if not the most exciting) late recordings by Motorhead.

Finally we have two hugely influential albums although I kinda think both of them are a bit overrated quality wise. Don't get me wrong: they're still good and absolutely pivotal. But when it comes to 70's Rush I prefer 2112. As for T. G. Warrior and company To Mega Therion is normally cited as the zenith of their Dark/Thrash/Proto-Death early era but I always preferred Morbid Tales (not to mention Hellhammer). Nevertheless this album features Necromantical Screams, a song so creepy and so well penned it's worth the whole record alone. So yeah... I'll go with Celtic Frost.
 
Maiden
Ghost
Motorhead
Rush

Pretty Straightforward. I'm surprised Ghost isn't very competitive, though. They always seemed to be quite popular around here.
 
Voting for Ghost because I nominated it, but Lights Out is pretty great too.

Also voting for Rush, but I think I need to pick up that Celtic Frost record.
 
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Curious to see how badly Motorhead is smashing Amon Amarth here. I'd blame it on the "anti-harsh vocal gang", but hell, Lemmy's vocals are just about as harsh as Johan Hegg.
 
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