GREATEST METAL ALBUM CUP - Winner: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son!
- Thread starter LooseCannon
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karljant
Ancient Mariner
Ihsahn and company already offered us some really interesting displays of their musical mastery in their debut. And Anthems is much more than a confirmation. Interludes apart (all of them truly amazing), songs such as Thus Spake The Night Spirit, Ensorcelled By Khaos, The Loss And Curse Of Reverence and especially With Strength I Burn are sparkled with really well designed details and creative musical twists and overall the arrangements are really well put together. So it's not by accident that Anthems is considered by many the best Symphonic Black Metal album ever done (and to some even the best Black Metal album) and the best effort by the band. Nevertheless it's not my case. Be there no doubts: I seriously praise the load of work and compositional wit that Anthems carries but there's still a far too linear approach when it comes to tempo (namely fast as hell during too much time) rendering it too much saturating to my taste and that kinda overwhelms some of their more subtle aspects. And although there are some purely symphonic, experimental, technical and melodic passages here and there they're still easily located sections on the songs themselves or interludes and not an integral part of their body of work as it would turn out to be in their following two records (IX Equilibrium and Prometheus) where the band enlarges their musical horizons and are by far my favorites. To sum it up I think Anthems deserves all the praise it gets. But it isn't still quite the multi faced beast that the late Emperor I love turned out to be. So I can say I like Alice In Hell more and give Annihilator my vote.
If I was forced to the torture of listening to Kamelot frequently, I'd surely be canonized and given an halo for my holy resilience. Testament.
Well... The days of thrashy Iced Earth seem to be over by now and these dudes seemed to embrace this absolutely mundane Heavy/Power Metal with a bit of aggression here and there. Furthermore they make a record based on... comic character Spawn. Well as boring as the album sounds at least it isn't nearly as terrible of an adaptation as the movie. Still Jon and company can follow the example of the record's main character and go to hell for softening and dampening their sound this much. Blind Guardian by miles.
Last clash is a curious one. If you asked me what's the best record I would answer Ten. It's by no means perfect in my opinion but almost every song is either a really well composed and exciting rocker or a truly beautiful chilled and deep tune that seemed to aged quite well. On the other hand Kings Of Metal is the epitome of Heavy Metal cheese with a handful of laughable lyrics and a few truly weak songs (Pleasure Slave and Kingdom Come) and some WTF/ pretentious moments (Crown And The Ring, Warrior's Prayer or the strange adaptation of Flight Of The Bumblebee). But truth be told: when this record hits it hits hard! The opening sequence with Wheels Of Fire and the title track is simply impressive. Heart Of Steel's crescendo is also really well composed and the album closes as strong as it started with Hail And Kill and my favorite Blood Of The Kings. So yeah... Once again I'll repeat: listening to this record is quite hard while taking in account the tons of cheese I have to ignore. And I consider Ten to be a superior Rock album. But my vote goes to Manowar since a) this is a metal game b) the strong songs on Kings of Metal are truly powerful even covered with layers of olive oil and cheese and c) working as a reinforcement of the last point it features Wheels Of Fire and Blood Of The Kings.
If I was forced to the torture of listening to Kamelot frequently, I'd surely be canonized and given an halo for my holy resilience. Testament.
Well... The days of thrashy Iced Earth seem to be over by now and these dudes seemed to embrace this absolutely mundane Heavy/Power Metal with a bit of aggression here and there. Furthermore they make a record based on... comic character Spawn. Well as boring as the album sounds at least it isn't nearly as terrible of an adaptation as the movie. Still Jon and company can follow the example of the record's main character and go to hell for softening and dampening their sound this much. Blind Guardian by miles.
Last clash is a curious one. If you asked me what's the best record I would answer Ten. It's by no means perfect in my opinion but almost every song is either a really well composed and exciting rocker or a truly beautiful chilled and deep tune that seemed to aged quite well. On the other hand Kings Of Metal is the epitome of Heavy Metal cheese with a handful of laughable lyrics and a few truly weak songs (Pleasure Slave and Kingdom Come) and some WTF/ pretentious moments (Crown And The Ring, Warrior's Prayer or the strange adaptation of Flight Of The Bumblebee). But truth be told: when this record hits it hits hard! The opening sequence with Wheels Of Fire and the title track is simply impressive. Heart Of Steel's crescendo is also really well composed and the album closes as strong as it started with Hail And Kill and my favorite Blood Of The Kings. So yeah... Once again I'll repeat: listening to this record is quite hard while taking in account the tons of cheese I have to ignore. And I consider Ten to be a superior Rock album. But my vote goes to Manowar since a) this is a metal game b) the strong songs on Kings of Metal are truly powerful even covered with layers of olive oil and cheese and c) working as a reinforcement of the last point it features Wheels Of Fire and Blood Of The Kings.
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Magnus
Pica Serdica
"Grandfather, tell me a story. Oh, all right, go and get your storybook. No, no, not one of those. A real story! A real story?"
Some decent songs nevertheless, (Hail, hail, hail and kill), and memories.
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
The first track on this Emperor album was fucking great, and I had high hopes until the second track kicked in and I was transported into a cacophonous black metal hellscape instead. There are several moments of coherence peppered through the rest of the tracks where there’s some vocal harmony and cool atmosphere, but so much of this is just mindlessly fast drumming and shrieking that it renders the whole thing pointless. While the Annihilator album is definitely a mixed bag, @Perun ’s nominee still takes this one easily. Winner: Annihilator
Kamelot has always struck me as just a bit too polished and fake, and that’s why I haven’t gotten into them much — but The Black Halo, while still overly polished and sometimes cheesy, has a little more edge and authenticity than the band usually musters. Everything here sounds really good, and the songwriting is generally strong too. Compared to an uneven Testament album, this is a pretty straightforward choice. Sorry, Whantotemofthepicarus, but @MrKnickerbocker ’s nominee takes this one. Winner: Kamelot
More Iseditionist Earth. This one sounds a little more subdued than the other GMAC entries, but still busts out the fireworks from time to time. Barlow sounds really good half the time and really terrible the other half of the time. The half-shouted, hammy, and falsetto stuff is just cringe-inducing. As usual, Schaffer tries to Make Guitar Great Again, and while he makes the libtards cry with some cool leads and nice riffs, once again the songwriting hates America by being consistently weak, and the songs are never elevated beyond a collection of mostly strong raw materials. Meanwhile, this Blind Guardian album is pretty solid, and it definitely has stronger songwriting and singing, and it somehow managed to beat Led Zeppelin IV, so who am I to challenge the election results? Sorry, NooseCanyoner, but one of your DNA donors @Night Prowler won’t let you tread on his choice. Winner: Blind Guardian
Dear god, this Manowar album may literally be the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. WTF am I listening to? No, really — is there supposed to be any redeeming value here? I truly don’t get this at all. (And I thought I listened to some cheesy shit!) Sorry, Kalatiana, but your identical half-sister Arickampa 10 demonstrates much better taste here. Winner: Pearl Jam
Kamelot has always struck me as just a bit too polished and fake, and that’s why I haven’t gotten into them much — but The Black Halo, while still overly polished and sometimes cheesy, has a little more edge and authenticity than the band usually musters. Everything here sounds really good, and the songwriting is generally strong too. Compared to an uneven Testament album, this is a pretty straightforward choice. Sorry, Whantotemofthepicarus, but @MrKnickerbocker ’s nominee takes this one. Winner: Kamelot
More Iseditionist Earth. This one sounds a little more subdued than the other GMAC entries, but still busts out the fireworks from time to time. Barlow sounds really good half the time and really terrible the other half of the time. The half-shouted, hammy, and falsetto stuff is just cringe-inducing. As usual, Schaffer tries to Make Guitar Great Again, and while he makes the libtards cry with some cool leads and nice riffs, once again the songwriting hates America by being consistently weak, and the songs are never elevated beyond a collection of mostly strong raw materials. Meanwhile, this Blind Guardian album is pretty solid, and it definitely has stronger songwriting and singing, and it somehow managed to beat Led Zeppelin IV, so who am I to challenge the election results? Sorry, NooseCanyoner, but one of your DNA donors @Night Prowler won’t let you tread on his choice. Winner: Blind Guardian
Dear god, this Manowar album may literally be the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. WTF am I listening to? No, really — is there supposed to be any redeeming value here? I truly don’t get this at all. (And I thought I listened to some cheesy shit!) Sorry, Kalatiana, but your identical half-sister Arickampa 10 demonstrates much better taste here. Winner: Pearl Jam
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
I really, really don't care about either album in the first match. Annihilator is less annoying, I guess.
I love Kamelot and I like Testament. This is one of Kamelot's best albums versus a classic, but nowhere near my favorite Testament album.
Another vote for Jon fucking asshole Schaffer cause I'll still take a classic Iced Earth album over Hansi any day.
I cannot take Manowar seriously. I also don't like Pearl Jam, but at least they're very serious.
I love Kamelot and I like Testament. This is one of Kamelot's best albums versus a classic, but nowhere near my favorite Testament album.
Another vote for Jon fucking asshole Schaffer cause I'll still take a classic Iced Earth album over Hansi any day.
I cannot take Manowar seriously. I also don't like Pearl Jam, but at least they're very serious.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Pearl is not my jam but Manowar's music is a meme. As a band affair I like them more, they care about the fans and tour their asses around without earning $.
JudasMyGuide
Ancient Mariner
What, seriously? Blind fuckin' Guardian (and Tales to boot!) are losing to ICED EARTH? WHAT THE FLYING FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS FORUM? Seriously, get help, guys.
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
To me Tales from the Twilight World is their strongest and best album of Blind Guardian and I don't understand the passion for Iced Earth but is totally respectable.
Agent's Orange by Sodom lost against Iced Earth so I'm not surprised that Blind Guardian loose this time.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
On second thought, I might have voted for Blind Guardian. I have a sort of prejudice of boredom when it comes to BG but some of their stuff kicks more ass than the Iced Earth power ballads.
Saapanael
Ancient Mariner
@JudasMyGuide for a moment, I sincerely thought that your new profile pic is the cover of Anthems to the Welkin at Dust (sic).
I forgot to change it, then I stopped caring.
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
Very similar colors and shadowings.
karljant
Ancient Mariner
Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
Not in the mood for Black Metal, so Annihilator.
Kamelot, though both bands weren't particular. Kamelot just had better sound.
I much preferred Horror Show to this. I find that I generally prefer their more power metal songs than the thrash ones... Some nice songs but less my sound. Voting Blind Guardian though I'm totally fine with it finally going away.
And Manowar to avenge Tenth Dimension
Kamelot, though both bands weren't particular. Kamelot just had better sound.
I much preferred Horror Show to this. I find that I generally prefer their more power metal songs than the thrash ones... Some nice songs but less my sound. Voting Blind Guardian though I'm totally fine with it finally going away.
And Manowar to avenge Tenth Dimension