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

[Jer]

Mmmmm... Still prefer the cheese rant by @Magnus .

Revel in the stink, @karljant.

I do find it hilarious that Tales From The Twilight World survived challenges from great albums like Yngwie’s Marching Out and fucking Led Zeppelin IV, but ultimately lost to a very mediocre Iseditionist Earth album. Maybe that Zeppelin victory used up all its remaining mojo.

Anyway, Blind Guardian, Yngwie would like to say:

You are a loser, and it’s such a shame
That you’re not Q or Alex Jones
‘Cos Jon is right wing, he’ll march all over you
And by his bear spray you will cry​

 

[MindRuler]

You are a loser, and it’s such a shame
That you’re not Q or Alex Jones
‘Cos Jon is right wing, he’ll march all over you
And by his bear spray you will cry​

I like to add:

You´ve unleashed the fookin´ fury
You know just that you did
Now don´t be a whimp and come here
So I can smash you down into the pit

 

[LooseCannon]

Annihilator turns Dusk to Dust. Emperor's back in League 3.
Testament knocks Kamelot out of the GMAC. It's Skid Row next.
Iced Earth ends the longest active GMAC run by knocking out Tales. Blind Guardian returns in League 3.
Pearl Jam dethrones Manowar, who are done in the tournament. We'll see how they fare against Death.

I do find it hilarious that Tales From The Twilight World survived challenges from great albums like Yngwie’s Marching Out and fucking Led Zeppelin IV, but ultimately lost to a very mediocre Iseditionist Earth album. Maybe that Zeppelin victory used up all its remaining mojo.

I believe exhaustion has something to do with it. Also, I think The Dark Saga is a truly great album, and it seems some people agree. So you know. Opinions.

 

[LooseCannon]

Running Wild - Death or Glory (1989) How it got here List entries: Metalstorm 25 Maidenfans Nominators: @Forostar
League 4 - Match 25	vs.
Immortal - At the Heart of Winter (1999) How it got here List entries: n/a Maidenfans Nominators: @Dityn DJ James, @Saapanael, @Whooten Previous Rounds: League 6: Defeated Entombed - Left Hand Path 19-8. League 5: Defeated Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil 22-8.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Opeth - Ghost Reveries (2005) How it got here List entries: Metal Kingdom 61 Maidenfans Nominators: @Cornfed Hick, @Mosh, @Saapanael, @The Flash
League 4 - Match 26	vs.
Gamma Ray - Land of the Free (1995) How it got here List entries: n/a Maidenfans Nominators: @Forostar, @Jer Previous Rounds: League 6: Defeated Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow 16-15. League 5: Defeated Sabaton - The Art of War 15-14.

 

[LooseCannon]

Nightwish - Once (2004) How it got here List entries: Rolling Stone 89 Maidenfans Nominators: @Diesel 11, @FTB
League 4 - Match 27	vs.
Judas Priest - Firepower (2018) How it got here List entries: n/a Maidenfans Nominators: @Collin, @Kalata Previous Rounds: League 6: Defeated Alice in Chains - Facelift 23-8. League 5: Defeated Iron Maiden - The X Factor 16-15.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Symphony X - V: The New Mythology Suite (2000) How it got here List entries: Metal Kingdom 63 Maidenfans Nominators: @LooseCannon, @MrKnickerbocker
League 4 - Match 28	vs.
Dream Theater - Black Clouds and Silver Linings (2009) How it got here List entries: n/a Maidenfans Nominators: @Midnight, @Saapanael, @The Dissident Previous Rounds: League 6: Defeated Deep Purple - Burn 17-14. League 5: Defeated KISS - Destroyer 18-13.

 

[Diesel 11]

Fuck, Nightwish has gotten the short end of the stick again. Firepower is amazing, but Once is mind-blowing. Every single song is expertly crafted, the tracklist flows tremendously well, and “Ghost Love Score” may be the best song ever written. To me Nightwish is like taking the brilliance of Iron Maiden and bringing it to the next level. Once is their Powerslave.

 

[LooseCannon]

Honestly, I'm not sure who I'll vote for in the first and third pairings. I'll be picking Gamma Ray over Opeth, but I suspect I'll be in the minority.

But that last one. Symphony X's best album and one of the best prog metal albums of all time versus an underwhelming Dream Theater offering. V is a sweeping epic, a concept album done right, with broad musical strokes and attempts at lietmotif, incredible guitars and keys, great drumming, and the best vocalist in the business at the literal apex of his game. When I reviewed this album the lowest rank I gave to a song was like 8.5/10. It's amazing and deserves to move on.

 

[Diesel 11]

But that last one. Symphony X's best album and one of the best prog metal albums of all time versus an underwhelming Dream Theater offering. V is a sweeping epic, a concept album done right, with broad musical strokes and attempts at lietmotif, incredible guitars and keys, great drumming, and the best vocalist in the business at the literal apex of his game. When I reviewed this album the lowest rank I gave to a song was like 8.5/10. It's amazing and deserves to move on.

Yeah, this. The entire album works as one unit, one work of art. It feels like one 60 minute song split into 13 chapters. It’s not perfect, but some of the band’s best songs are on it, Russell brings his best performance, the story is pretty cool and it’s their most coherent record to date. The lows aren’t even lows. I’d give it a score of 95%, it’s really that good.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Yeah, or, you know, a lot of bloat, segues, bizarre concept, admittedly some of the best short tracks they ever did (Evolution, Fallen, Fool's Paradise), but also some of the most tedious long ones (Communion, which is mostly just trying to recapture that original Accolade magic; Egypt with its wack falsetto "chorus" moments) and a lot of cheese.

11/10, in short.

Spoiler

 

[LooseCannon]

denotes sarcasm and giving someone a hard time. Based on the content of that post, I can't tell if you're ninjaing the first paragraph or the ranking.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

The latter. I'm rather serious about the former.

 

[LooseCannon]

The latter. I'm rather serious about the former.

Thanks for clarifying.

Pull your head out of your ass, then.

a lot of bloat

Completely nonsense. Every song moves the story forward. There's barely a single wasted moment, unless you call the spaces where they explore the music to be "bloat".

segues

Yes, stories move to different locations, this is standard in concept albums, and indeed, any storytelling method.

bizarre concept,

You're seriously suggesting that an alternate mythology is "bizarre" in heavy metal, a world where some concepts include a dystopian future drug used to murder people, interactions with the devil, vikings raiding pirates, and whatever the fuck Dio is singing about in Holy Diver?

Communion, which is mostly just trying to recapture that original Accolade magic

There are similarities, as if a band with an established canon is calling into it. Hmmm....

Egypt with its wack falsetto "chorus" moments

We're going to go after "chorus" moments in metal now as if that's suddenly whack? In power influenced prog?

lot of cheese

All metal has cheese, so, you know.

Honestly - do you think you're better than people who like this album because of your "evolved" opinions? Every time you step in it feels you have to belittle people's opinions and put them down. You come in, dick a-waving, stating your opinion (which is exactly as stinky as everyone else's) as fact, by smearing your asshole over everyone's face to try to mark your territory. Here comes Judas with his divine opinion.

Have some fucking respect, seriously. It's one thing to come in and say "you know, I don't really like this album as much as you do, because I find these things to be true for me. It's another to waggle around your opinion like it's a fact. So you don't get it. That's good, say that. But have some fucking respect for people without trying to shit all over what they like.

That goes for every self-absorbed person who thinks that others are wrong or bad. If you would all learn to showcase your opinions politely and with a little grace, maybe you'd get a little more respect.

I'm so sick and tired of it. If you feel the need to crap on something, just don't. Just say it's not for me. Or "it's too cheesy for my tastes", or other things people say when something's not their cup of tea. This cup was designed so people could talk favourably about things they love, that maybe others don't, so you'd get a chance to see what your forum members value and enjoy, and maybe find something new to enjoy yourself.

 

[The_7th_one]

Running Wild
Gamma Ray
Judas Priest
Symphony X

 

[Saapanael]

Judas ain’t the only one at fault here. There’s several posters who come here all negative-like round after round. Judas hasn’t been bothering me much but that could be because I’ve ignored many of his posts.

And if I had a dollar for every time somebody calls Black Clouds an underwhelming DT album...

 

[Saapanael]

What I really came here to say is that this is one heck of a round. Go Ghost Reveries!

 

[LooseCannon]

There’s several posters who come here all negative-like round after round.

I did broaden my rant to say that. Just be respectful.

And if I had a dollar for every time somebody calls Black Clouds an underwhelming DT album...

Honestly, I like it more than many other DT albums - but I am not exactly a DT fan. Critically, it was considered underwhelming, and that was the way I was trying to speak from. Sorry aboot that.

 

[Jer]

I'm so sick and tired of it. If you feel the need to crap on something, just don't. Just say it's not for me. Or "it's too cheesy for my tastes", or other things people say when something's not their cup of tea. This cup was designed so people could talk favourably about things they love, that maybe others don't, so you'd get a chance to see what your forum members value and enjoy, and maybe find something new to enjoy yourself.

I understand the point you’re making here, but I do think it’s a bit naive to expect a kumbaya environment when you structure it as a competitive elimination event determined by public voting. People are going to lobby for their preferences to curry favor in the votes, and then air their grievances about the results. When they see patterns of results that seem ridiculous to them, they’re going to talk about it, probably in animated fashion.

I think it’s implicit that people are stating opinions unless they clearly say otherwise. And I think there’s a huge, meaningful difference between saying “X is garbage” vs. “if you like X you’re an idiot”. Also, if someone can’t handle hearing that someone else hates something that they personally love, I have to wonder why they’re discussing these sorts of things in a public forum in the first place.

Should everyone sugarcoat their opinions and tone down their comments to avoid ruffling feathers, or would people prefer to have an authentic, unfiltered discussion? Both have their pros and cons. I personally find more value in honesty than in politeness. And I thought I was already being conciliatory by hiding my negative comments about extreme vocals so I could remain honest without damaging those with weaker constitutions.

 

[LooseCannon]

I challenge the false dichotomy you seem to have created. You can both express your true, honest, heart-felt opinion that is not a positive one towards the art offered while simultaneously being respectful towards the persons whom hold true, honest, heart-felt opinions that are entirely the antithesis of yours.

Quite frankly, this has been suggested to you as well in the past, Jer, and you've ignored that and continued to traverse down this path with faux ignorance, as if your opinion and the manner in which it is delivered belongs on a holy plinth that cannot be challenged. I am going to tell you right now that if I love something, and you keep wagging in my face that you think it's shit and crap, it's entirely normal for someone to feel like their opinions aren't valuable to you as a person. And if you don't value someone's opinions as much as you demand they value yours implicitly, they are not going to like you very much.

Gonna be honest - the fact that you hid your deliberately vile comments and deride those who don't like them as having "weak constitutions" directly indicates what I'm trying to say - you want your opinions to be respected fully, but you don't listen to the opinions and feelings of others, because your opinions have to be treated as quite holy and divine. Now, I know that you don't take it personally if I say your favourite thing is shit but you do sure as fuck get worked up over it (see the video game thread).

To be honest, when you started spoilering your comments on extreme vocals, your reviews lost exactly none of their authority, but became entirely more pleasing to read, even though I am far from a growls stan. They were far less exhausting, but they were still authentic. It was obvious if you didn't like something, and it was obvious why.

Like, I get that you want your opinion to fly free and be honest and stuff. But when that opinion is negative - and especially when it is established, it just comes off as being a Jer-k who doesn't respect his fellow forum members. I know for a fact that I am not alone on this.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

I've seen just as much shit thrown at a lot of the stuff I genuinely love and and even could argue for the quality or truthfulness of. Not just albums - a lot of things in general, but albums, too. Never was butthurt about it, never expected anyone else to be.

You and Diesel stated - as a fact - that it's a great album, I stated - as a fact (and also I did so as a Symph X fan in general) - it's not. If this is your response, I think I've overstayed my welcome.
Won't be bothering anymore.

 

[Mosh]

In other words, it’s not what you say but how you say it. Have a different opinion, but if you’re going to sit on a high horse while you spout it, don’t be surprised if people aren’t nice in return.