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

Hey, I agree with you that Painkiller is awesome (and along with Sin After Sin and Defenders quite probably my favourite JP album), but even after all those years I still couldn't get the appeal of Metal Meltdown, Between the Hammer and the Anvil and - duh - Battle Hymn (though that doesn't count) and I usually skip those nowadays. Plus the a capella opening of All Guns Blazing is... specific.
 
Forostar said:
"Flame Thrower"
Click to expand...
The weakest song on the record, but it’s still a lot of fun and the riff is quite roaring.
Forostar said:
"Spectre"
Click to expand...
A dark song with really slinky guitar work that hits hard.
Forostar said:
"Traitors Gate"
Click to expand...
A building intro leads to one of the most heavy-hitting riffs in their whole discography and it never lets up after. The instrumental section is full of twisting and turning knock-out punches.
Forostar said:
"No Surrender"
Click to expand...
Short but fucking sweet. A catchy heavy metal single with no weak points.
Forostar said:
"Lone Wolf"
Click to expand...
A really underrated, darker, bluesier song that’s still heavy as fuck. The lyrics are also pretty interesting, and I interpret them to be about gun violence in America. Regardless though it’s one of the ‘hidden gems’ of the album.
Forostar said:
"Sea of Red"
Click to expand...
A really beautiful acoustic song that turns into a heavy, grandiose finale. The guitar is on fire in the bridge and I love those choirs.

I dunno, this stretch of the album is as good as any other stretch. Whereas Painkiller starts with three great songs, a pretty fun song in “Leather Rebel”, then gets silly with “Metal Meltdown”, finds its footing again with “Night Crawler”, has some weak points in BTHATA, has “Touch of Evil” which depends on my mood, and finishes with “One Shot at Glory”, which isn’t as inspiring as it tries to be.

I still thing it’s a great album, but not nearly on the same level as Firepower. But that’s just my opinion, which I must’ve forgotten to specify in my previous post.

Also oops I did age them a bit. My bad.
 
Most of it’s great but there are certain points where the melody gets weird for me. After the chorus, for instance.
 
Diesel 11 said:
The weakest song on the record, but it’s still a lot of fun and the riff is quite roaring.

A dark song with really slinky guitar work that hits hard.

A building intro leads to one of the most heavy-hitting riffs in their whole discography and it never lets up after. The instrumental section is full of twisting and turning knock-out punches.

Short but fucking sweet. A catchy heavy metal single with no weak points.

A really underrated, darker, bluesier song that’s still heavy as fuck. The lyrics are also pretty interesting, and I interpret them to be about gun violence in America. Regardless though it’s one of the ‘hidden gems’ of the album.

A really beautiful acoustic song that turns into a heavy, grandiose finale. The guitar is on fire in the bridge and I love those choirs.

I dunno, this stretch of the album is as good as any other stretch. Whereas Painkiller starts with three great songs, a pretty fun song in “Leather Rebel”, then gets silly with “Metal Meltdown”, finds its footing again with “Night Crawler”, has some weak points in BTHATA, has “Touch of Evil” which depends on my mood, and finishes with “One Shot at Glory”, which isn’t as inspiring as it tries to be.

I still thing it’s a great album, but not nearly on the same level as Firepower. But that’s just my opinion, which I must’ve forgotten to specify in my previous post.

Also oops I did age them a bit. My bad.
Click to expand...
I have not forgotten your review of Painkiller, Diesel. That hacked in pretty hard. If that's what you think, fine. But I think you may suffer somewhat of "new metal in my time is cooler than stuff that was done before".
You can accuse me of "old metal is cooler than later stuff", but Painkiller. is. the. template. Metal embodied.
 
Forostar said:
Come on. Every song great? Lone Wolf for example?

Click to expand...
The only song that just reaches the status of "good" to me is Children of the Sun. The rest are just that - Great. I think the album as a whole falls slightly below Painkiller. Slightly.

And 99% of the metal community thinks Firepower is a great record, one of Priest's best, but hey, who cares.

:p
 
Last edited:
At the end of the day, this is a classic metal board so this all makes sense.

Match 1 shouldn’t be this close in literally any way. But Running Wild is classic metal, so Dream Theater and their far superior album are only barely pulling ahead.

Bruce is winning Match 2 and should be.

I love Firepower. It is the second greatest Priest record ever made, IMO, but it has absolutely no right to be beating a superior Dream Theater album this much.

The only way you could get me to vote against Brave New World is by putting up next to Symphony X, who, again, have the superior album here. BNW is my Maiden album. It is the album that broke the band for me and I will always have it as my number 1 or 2 Maiden pick. But, objectively, V is superior.
 
Some of us you are prog metalheads rather than (heavy) metalheads so yeah, that way there is the unavoidable handicap of not liking most albums in this game.
 
Yax said:
The only song that just reaches the status of "good" to me is Children of the Sun. The rest are just that - Great. I think the album as a whole falls slightly below Painkiller. Slightly.
Click to expand...
I think I make it my third favourite Priest album, after Stained Class and Painkiller.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yax
I have nothing bad to say about Firepower, it's my second favorite JP album too. Took me a while to decide between that and Awake. Painkiller on the other hand is head and shoulders above them both.
 
Come on, this is no contest. Firepower is like the successor of Painkiller, but it's NOT Painkiller! Painkiller has highs to compete with the highs on Awake, Firepower has great songs but none of them are at the level of A Mind Beside Itself, The Mirror, Scarred... Or Painkiller, A Touch of Evil, One Shot at Glory...
 
Forostar said:
But I think you suffer from "new metal in my time is cooler than stuff that was done before".
Click to expand...
You really think I suffer from... whatever that is?

I can think of maybe three or four bands that formed after 2000 that I consider myself a fan of. My favorite Iron Maiden album is from 1984. Most of the big names of ‘modern metal’ sound blah to me. I genuinely don’t know how you would reach that conclusion if you knew anything about me. I listen to music from all different decades and my favorite albums range from the ‘60s to the 2010s. If you also think that old stuff can’t be bettered, why is Painkiller your favorite album and not Elvis’ Christmas Album? Must be because you suffer from “new music in my time is cooler than stuff that was done before”.

Forostar said:
Some of us you are prog metalheads rather than (heavy) metalheads so yeah, that way there is the unavoidable handicap of not liking most albums in this game.
Click to expand...
Oh shut the fuck up.
 
Forostar said:
Slightly. Unbelievable man.
Click to expand...
Well yes. That's the beauty of Priest's discography. They don't run with the same Motörhead or AC/DC formula all the time. If a crossover between Heavy and Speed metal, all out assault was what I was looking for, then no, Firepower wouldn't be it. But it stand stall on its own merits.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top