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

Jer said:
“Liar” is also a cool track with an extended single-breath rant that’s fun to try to sing along to.
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The song is about Chris Poland and the stuff he did while a heroin addict that had him kicked out of Megadeth (namely lying and selling band's gear to buy dope). Did you know that?
Jer said:
the signature opera vocals of Tarja Turunen, which people generally either love or hate.
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I really don't want to engage in this conversation again but as a side note: as you can easily understand I pretty much dislike Nightwish and am far from finding Tarja's singing entertaining. But man... that woman CAN SING!!!!! Hell of a voice no matter if either one likes it or not.
 
Because I can: a note on all of the Oceanborn songs.

1. Stargazers - A powerful opener and clearly a mission statement from a band with something to prove.
2. Gethsemane - A very pretty take on Christ’s night in the garden, with some really sweet piano driving it.
3. Devil & the Deep Dark Ocean - An intense barnstormer with a terrific vocal battle to make it one of the band’s most ferocious works.
4. Sacrament of Wilderness - A great example of early Nightwish’s sound, with some great guitar x synths pieces and a rather typical power metal chorus that builds in intensity as the song goes on.
5. Passion and the Opera - A strong rocker that evolves into a showcase of Tarja’s vocal prowess.
6. Swanheart - The weakest link on the record; an intriguing ballad built around some weird, almost churchy melodies for the band.
7. Moondance - An incredibly fun instrumental you just wanna dance along with.
8. The Riddler - A decent song about searching for the meanings of life, but not one of the highlights here.
9. The Pharaoh Sails to Orion - The most intense song on the record with a building vibe before it launches in on a non-stop thrill ride through the galaxies of death.
10. Walking in the Air - A beautiful cover of the Howard Blake original, where the band firmly puts their own stamp on a favorite of theirs.
11. Sleeping Sun - One of the greatest ballads in Nightwish history, inspired by an eclipse but truly being much more.
 
Perun said:
i.e. Cannibal Corpse if they fucked living people?
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Lyrically. What they do in real life is their business. It's a loose connection, but while I was reading the Dark Funeral lyrics I remembered a line from a Cannibal Corpse song: "I begin the dead sex."
 
Perun said:
Also, in case anyone's wondering, the lyrics of the last part translate to:

Apple and pear trees were blooming
Mist was floating on the river
Katyusha went out to the banks
On the steep and lofty banks

She was walking, singing a song
About a grey steppe eagle
About her true love
Whose letter she was keeping

And I think that's beautiful. <3
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If you're not aware of all the connotations, maybe.
On the other hand, this might be the dawn of a new - and happier - age indeed, a German appreciating this text for what it is, regardless.
 
I have a complicated relationship with doom metal, and most of it doesn’t work for me; but this Candlemass album is definitely in that thin slice of doom that I can appreciate. The songs are well constructed, the singing’s pretty good, and there isn’t anything weak on this record. Meanwhile this Accept album is extremely uneven, with mostly weak songwriting and bad vocals, no matter how influential it may have been. Plus, fuck Accept for eliminating Dokken’s Tooth And Nail, which outclassed it in every respect. An obvious win for Karljagnus The Dragon’s nominee here. Winner: Candlemass

This Rainbow album is miles better than the debut and much closer to being a heavy metal album, too — especially the track “Kill The King”. “Gates Of Babylon” is an obvious classic, and there’s lots of other solid to great material on here. Meanwhile we have this Iseditionist Earth album, which is their best showing so far in the GMAC, and has some nice dynamics and a few particularly cool bits here and there, but also suffers heavily from Barlow disease, weak songwriting across the board, and some rhythm section crimes here and there. Sorry, LooselKannonianaprowler 20-year-maximum-sentence, but the list nominee takes this one easily. Winner: Rainbow

C’mon, folks, let’s be honest about The Final Frontier. It’s a middle-of-the-pack Maiden album at best. The first half is mostly lame, and while the second half has some cool progressive stuff on it, it also has “The Man Who Would Be King”. Very few people think this album is a serious contender for the title, and it’s time for Space Eddie to give up on going to college and get enrolled in a nice trade school instead. He’ll be fine. It’s up against Oceanborn, which is an absolute classic of its genre that clearly outclasses the songwriting on at least half of the Iron Maiden album. And as much as it pains me to say it, Bruce’s vocal performance on TFF is one of its weak spots (with a handful of exceptions), while Tarja’s performance on Oceanborn is never short of excellent. This shouldn’t be a hard choice, and own-nominee bias makes it even easier for me. Sorry, @Collin, but my nominee is better than yours (though your dad can probably still beat up my dad). Winner: Nightwish

I certainly enjoy my fair share of masturbatory prog, and neoclassical playing makes me weak in the knees, but I also really like sleazy, biting, sarcastic, punch-you-in-the-nuts metal with copious guitar heroics. This Symphony X album is very good, despite its obvious excesses. I would vote for it over many other albums in the GMAC. But in this case it’s up against a very unique and compelling Megadeth album with a killer ambiance and a more coherent through line, and it also happens to be my personal favorite album by one of my favorite metal bands. So, sorry MrNightlampcocker .45, but own-nominee bias wins the day here. Winner: Megadeth
 
karljant said:
The song is about Chris Poland and the stuff he did while a heroin addict that had him kicked out of Megadeth (namely lying and selling band's gear to buy dope). Did you know that?
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I thought it was about Rob Halford’s sister, thus the line “your brother’s a gay singer in a stud leather band”...
 
@Magnus and I voted the same in all 4 matches again. Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!
 
I have no preference in the first grouping.

I love everything Dio touched, but I have to give it to Iced Earth's best album here. Some of those songs (Damien, Dracula) are legendary, as cheesy as they may be.

Oceanborn is far from Nightwish's strongest, but it surely beats one of Maiden's weakest.

It's a damn shame that one of Megadeth's weakest albums will probably end up beating one of Symphony X's best solely because not enough people are familiar enough with the latter band. I can't even begin to get into how staggeringly wide the gap is between these two albums' level of quality.

Diesel 11 said:
8. The Riddler - A decent song about searching for the meanings of life, but not one of the highlights here.
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I actually love this song. Part of this is due to the cheese, and part of it is due to the Riddler being my favorite Batman villain.

Note: Yes, I know that this song is not about the Batman villain. Sadly.
 
Magnus said:
If you're not aware of all the connotations, maybe.
On the other hand, this might be the dawn of a new - and happier - age indeed, a German appreciating this text for what it is, regardless.
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I did explain that I was sort of ironic about this later. :P
 
Saapanael said:
We've made a pretty significant leap in album quality if you look back at the first page. And 287 pages of replies :scared: yet, we still don't know if growling is singing or not...
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We could go another 287 and we still wouldn't know. Some questions aren't meant to be answered.

But the leap in album quality is intended. And it's not going to slow down....

League 3 Spotify Playlist
League 3 Youtube Playlist
 
TFF is a mamoth of an album, in my book it is a very serious contender even for the best Maiden album ever. People downplay just how good Starblind, Avalon and Harris' closer epic (especially live) are. The Talisman has also been voted in as the best metal song of the decade by some relevant outlet such as Metal Hammer, Livewire or whatever.

I would have loved if Smith managed to convince Harris to do a bigger production especially for the vocals. The Alchemist was also ripe to be a B-side gem because it does not fit the album, the contrast works, but it would be better if another heavy-progressive track was in instead.

This album would be considered a milestone if Maiden weren't that lazy when it comes to their studio process.
 
Detective Beauregard said:
It's a damn shame that one of Megadeth's weakest albums will probably end up beating one of Symphony X's best solely because not enough people are familiar enough with the latter band. I can't even begin to get into how staggeringly wide the gap is between these two albums' level of quality.
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Into the Lungs of Hell/Set the World Afire one of the best, if not the best 1-2 from the big4 in the 1980s.
 
Nah, fuck this. Opinions and objectivism and fact vs opinion and yadda yadda...

SFSGSW is not even in the same league as The Odyssey. I love Megadeth, I love Symphony X. This album is absolute fucking trash compared to The Odyssey. One of the worst Megadeth albums vs one of the best SX albums. Absolute, incomparable material here. Sad!
 
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Zare said:
I don't think the voice modulates at all. I would have to hear the vocal track isolated to confirm it.
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I agree. I only hear the guitars change tone while the voice maintains a consistent non-melodic growl.
 
Detective Beauregard said:
Battery + Master of Puppets
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Maybe. That’s a pretty epic 1-2 punch.
Detective Beauregard said:
Blackened + ...and Justice for All
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Nope. “Blackened” is great, but AJFA is dry and draggy.

EDIT: But why choose, when you could have the best of both worlds?
Detective Beauregard said:
Wake Up Dead + The Conjuring
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Nope. Great stuff, but neither of these touches “Into The Lungs Of Hell” at all, and “Set The World Afire” is certainly equal to or better than “Wake Up Dead”.
 
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MrKnickerbocker said:
Nah, fuck this. Opinions and objectivism and fact vs opinion and yadda yadda...

SFSGSW is not even in the same league as The Odyssey. I love Megadeth, I love Symphony X. This album is absolute fucking trash compared to The Odyssey. One of the worst Megadeth albums vs one of the best SX albums. Absolute, incomparable material here. Sad!
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I never connected with the Odyssey.
SFSGSW has a characteristic sound and ambience and aggression.

Detective Beauregard said:
I can't speak for Anthrax or Slayer because I don't care about them, but...

Battery + Master of Puppets
Blackened + ...and Justice for All
Wake Up Dead + The Conjuring

...are all far superior in my book.
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Blackened/Justice maybe. The Conjuring is not as good as Wake up Dead
 
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