GREATEST METAL ALBUM CUP - Winner: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son!
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What's wrong with that album?
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
And what’s not metal about it?
karljant
Ancient Mariner
Metallica's black album is a personal hate of mine. Not because it's an atrocity of any sorts but because it followed a line of three excellent records (especially its predecessor) and mainly due to some songs that became some of the so called band's hymns that I simply can't stand. But don't get me wrong: the black album has some great stuff. First and foremost The God That Failed, intense, heavy and well composed this dark tune based on James' private life real events is something. My Friend Of Misery has a really interesting brooding ambiance and features some great bass lines, Through The Never's hypnotic stop and go riffs and breaks are also really good and Struggle Within surely does feature a tiny bit of that And Justice For All dynamics and harmonies although quite watered down. Of Wolf And Man is a bit basic but still enjoyable and I'll go as far as admitting Enter Sandman is a pretty well crafted radio metal song even though the word overplaying is something that fails by miles to portray the exposure of this song. Well so far so good. Some great tracks, not as flashy, brilliant, bulky or intricate as in the last three albums but still holding their own in some really solid way. But then there's the rest... and there's where things go south.
Let's start by the one that annoys me the least: Nothing Else Matters. There's nothing wrong with it: it's based in a simple somber/ melancholic melody. But the song seems to ask to go somewhere else and it never happens and it renders it absolutely boring. Than there's Holier Than Thou, Sad But True and Don't Thread On Me: a triad of easy listening heavy metal songs I absolutely think are as hollow as commercial metal can be. If Enter Sandman still has that crescendo and groove (although eventualy with some extra "outside the band inspiration") these three songs always sounded to me like the epitome of nullity. But what's worst than that? Taking this mold and adding it some weak ass sounding mellow refrain on The Unforgiven or trying to do it with some third class Kashmir crumbs all over it in Wherever I May Roam. Man... do these two songs wreck my nerves! And it amazes me how overrated they are (seeing a good amount of fans puting them on the top echelon of Metallica's tracks).
So there you have it. In sum the tracks I detest really stain the entire picture to a point it's third to last on my Metallica rank only ahead of the leftover fest of ReLoad and the abomination that is LuLu. IMO it is beaten by the overall predictable Death Magnetic, the lack of coherency of the uneven Load or even the aberration of a production and nonsensical riff repetition of St. Anger (although both the title track and Shoot Me Again are 1000 times worst than everything in the black album still). And although it features a handful of good tracks fact is as an album I really dislike the damn thing. Perhaps it's also because it kinda became the standard to the over hyped commercial metal album. Anyway I'll easily go with Annihilator.
Two great albums. On The Crimson Idol Blackie saw himself on his own and raised his goals high by giving wings to his The Who/ Townshend worship and aspiring to built a record under the premise: "what Quadrophenia would sound like if it was metal". Such ambition after the band breaking up (this album was initially intended to be released as a solo project) had "disaster" spelled all over it. Not that Blackie wasn't a crafted song writer (which he proved to be and then some in the previous album) or that he didn't manage to gather the right personnel to perform his vision (Kulic and Banali are two monsters) but fact is everything pointed out the man was biting more than he could chew. Well so it seemed... and it seemed WRONG.
Because The Crimson Idol is nothing short of an amazing and emotional conceptual journey and a rich and varied sonic experience. Focused on the story of a young man that leaves a dysfunctional family and moves to the city to become a rock superstar, portraying his rise to fame and fortune but at the same time how it never managed to fulfill the true void he bears inside, the concept is somewhat predictable. But its narrative is so in the flesh, the metaphoric characters are so well shaped that it really hits you hard. And if some passages lack a bit of depth (like Hold On To My Heart that is an important part/ message of the whole thing) overall the damn thing is top notch. Painful passages such as I Am One or The Invisible Boy to the sordid realities of Chainsaw Charlie and Doctor Rockter as well as Arena Of Pleasure are pumped with first class Heavy Metal adrenaline while the drama and despair of The Idol alongside 3 songs I consider to be pivotal to the plot (the album's overture, it's closer as well as The Gypsy Meets The Boy) function with extreme precision as cinematic anchors that made an absolute success out of an album that had everything to fail.
To put it simple and clear: one hell of an album and personal achievement to Mr. Lawless (since there's a lot of personal stuff in the plot). And if this record came out 3 or 4 years earlier I think it would have been even more revered than it is today. So once again... Slave To The Grind is a huge leap and a great album I trully love as well but it's no Crimson Idol... so this one goes to WASP.
Let's start by the one that annoys me the least: Nothing Else Matters. There's nothing wrong with it: it's based in a simple somber/ melancholic melody. But the song seems to ask to go somewhere else and it never happens and it renders it absolutely boring. Than there's Holier Than Thou, Sad But True and Don't Thread On Me: a triad of easy listening heavy metal songs I absolutely think are as hollow as commercial metal can be. If Enter Sandman still has that crescendo and groove (although eventualy with some extra "outside the band inspiration") these three songs always sounded to me like the epitome of nullity. But what's worst than that? Taking this mold and adding it some weak ass sounding mellow refrain on The Unforgiven or trying to do it with some third class Kashmir crumbs all over it in Wherever I May Roam. Man... do these two songs wreck my nerves! And it amazes me how overrated they are (seeing a good amount of fans puting them on the top echelon of Metallica's tracks).
So there you have it. In sum the tracks I detest really stain the entire picture to a point it's third to last on my Metallica rank only ahead of the leftover fest of ReLoad and the abomination that is LuLu. IMO it is beaten by the overall predictable Death Magnetic, the lack of coherency of the uneven Load or even the aberration of a production and nonsensical riff repetition of St. Anger (although both the title track and Shoot Me Again are 1000 times worst than everything in the black album still). And although it features a handful of good tracks fact is as an album I really dislike the damn thing. Perhaps it's also because it kinda became the standard to the over hyped commercial metal album. Anyway I'll easily go with Annihilator.
Two great albums. On The Crimson Idol Blackie saw himself on his own and raised his goals high by giving wings to his The Who/ Townshend worship and aspiring to built a record under the premise: "what Quadrophenia would sound like if it was metal". Such ambition after the band breaking up (this album was initially intended to be released as a solo project) had "disaster" spelled all over it. Not that Blackie wasn't a crafted song writer (which he proved to be and then some in the previous album) or that he didn't manage to gather the right personnel to perform his vision (Kulic and Banali are two monsters) but fact is everything pointed out the man was biting more than he could chew. Well so it seemed... and it seemed WRONG.
Because The Crimson Idol is nothing short of an amazing and emotional conceptual journey and a rich and varied sonic experience. Focused on the story of a young man that leaves a dysfunctional family and moves to the city to become a rock superstar, portraying his rise to fame and fortune but at the same time how it never managed to fulfill the true void he bears inside, the concept is somewhat predictable. But its narrative is so in the flesh, the metaphoric characters are so well shaped that it really hits you hard. And if some passages lack a bit of depth (like Hold On To My Heart that is an important part/ message of the whole thing) overall the damn thing is top notch. Painful passages such as I Am One or The Invisible Boy to the sordid realities of Chainsaw Charlie and Doctor Rockter as well as Arena Of Pleasure are pumped with first class Heavy Metal adrenaline while the drama and despair of The Idol alongside 3 songs I consider to be pivotal to the plot (the album's overture, it's closer as well as The Gypsy Meets The Boy) function with extreme precision as cinematic anchors that made an absolute success out of an album that had everything to fail.
To put it simple and clear: one hell of an album and personal achievement to Mr. Lawless (since there's a lot of personal stuff in the plot). And if this record came out 3 or 4 years earlier I think it would have been even more revered than it is today. So once again... Slave To The Grind is a huge leap and a great album I trully love as well but it's no Crimson Idol... so this one goes to WASP.
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The Dissident
Ancient Mariner
Slave to The Grind deserves better, but The Crimson Idol is a masterpiece
Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
Well, you can call me crazy, because I'd like it if the Premiership had only two matches in the same period. Every league has forced us to make choices that are more and more difficult, and it's all going to come to a head over there. The extra time would allow us to sort our emotions out and properly decide what albums we're going to vote for.
(Also, most of us will probably want to give these albums another listen or two before deciding; they are our favourites, after all.)
srfc
Ancient Mariner
Metallica - Much the same as Appetite for Destruction in that it's overrated and the best stuff is on side A. Nothing Else Matters is great but the rest of the second side are average enough stuff. It sounds fantastic but really the good stuff on side A isn't on a par with the good stuff from earlier records, the best track the Unforgiven is great but it's no One, Puppets or Creeping Death.
Annihilator - opinion given before.
Metallica with the win, I'm not familiar with Alice in Hell enough to give it such a big scalp.
W.A.S.P. - I feel the choice of track here is going to crucify this album, Hold on to my Heart is a great track but I'm not sure we have the right audience here for a tender ballad, I nominated Chainsaw Charlie ( Murders in the New Morgue)
so please check this out before writing off the rest of the album. This is my joint favourite non Maiden album. The concept is fantastic and well done, I read online someone make the observation that it's ironic that the album was kind of swept under the carpet by Grunge as the story might as well have been fortelling Kurt Cobain's life. The use of recurring musical motifs is great and all the songs hold up as individual tracks. Some of the spoken word bits are a bit corny but that's it as far as flaws go. Listen to the whole album as it's a the Who-style rock opera, but if you're really just looking for a quick fix, The Invisible Boy, Arena of Pleasure, Doctor Rockter, The Idol, and the Great Misconceptions of Me are the go tos, for an even quicker fix, The Titanic Overture is a quick blast of all the motifs.
Skid Row - opinion given before
W.A.S.P. with the win
Motley Crue - The best Crue record, Looks That Kill, title track and Bastard all great, rest about as solid as you're going to get from Motley.
Iced Earth - opinion given before
Motley Crue with the win
Mercyful Fate - surprised this has no nominators, would have been very near my list. King is obviously an acquired taste but suits the subject matter perfectly. Tons of classic riffs but I was blown away by the arrangements, you're never sure when a change is going to happen or when you're expecting one something completely different happens.
Death - opinion given before
Mercyful Fate with the win
Annihilator - opinion given before.
Metallica with the win, I'm not familiar with Alice in Hell enough to give it such a big scalp.
W.A.S.P. - I feel the choice of track here is going to crucify this album, Hold on to my Heart is a great track but I'm not sure we have the right audience here for a tender ballad, I nominated Chainsaw Charlie ( Murders in the New Morgue)
Skid Row - opinion given before
W.A.S.P. with the win
Motley Crue - The best Crue record, Looks That Kill, title track and Bastard all great, rest about as solid as you're going to get from Motley.
Iced Earth - opinion given before
Motley Crue with the win
Mercyful Fate - surprised this has no nominators, would have been very near my list. King is obviously an acquired taste but suits the subject matter perfectly. Tons of classic riffs but I was blown away by the arrangements, you're never sure when a change is going to happen or when you're expecting one something completely different happens.
Death - opinion given before
Mercyful Fate with the win
karljant
Ancient Mariner
They didn't. And it's not pop... it's just easy listening (which I think is somewhat of a compensation to the complexity of AJFA). Despite resulting in a huge commercial success I think it was blatantly not Metallica's goal to "go all in for the big dollar" with the black album. My beef with it is a different one as it is easy to understand in my post.
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karljant
Ancient Mariner
karljant
Ancient Mariner
In this round we have the metal record that sold the most copies ever versus a thrash classic, a savage hard n' heavy blaster versus one hell of a conceptual one man effort and one of the most pre thrash influential works versus a death metal state of the art opus. And what we're left for the other matchup? Make up brainless glam metal versus MacFarlane's Spawn concept half baked stuff. Really? Well my life is way better without any of those records. Nonetheless if I'm forced to choose it's still an easy pick: despite not giving a shit about it give me comics metal any day of the week. Iced Earth.
Melissa versus Individual Thought Patterns. Great... another excellent record that will go off the board no matter what's the result. Melissa alongside Mercyful Fate's debut EP are among those records which huge influence on various metal genres is hard to estimate. It combines a strong Zeppelin inspired base infused with the harshest side of the NWOBHM edge and is built upon a dark motive, musical direction and atmosphere. And quality wise, it's stupid good on every level possible.
Evil is an exciting and strong opener followed by the brilliance, catchy hooks and groove of Curse Of The Pharaohs. And while Into The Coven gives us a little breather with its intro when that mid tempo stomping gets going you start to headbang even against your will. At The Sound Of The Demon Bell is where the Zeppelin roots are more evident but the final stretch of the track reveals itself to be a muscular heavy metal rumble. Speaking of heavy Black Funeral and its relentless pace follows, simply one of my favorite tracks from the lot. And what better way to close the album with than throwing at us two absolutely rich, varied, and energizing epics in Satan's Fall and the title track, sealing this classic piece of metal with a myriad of twist and turns without losing grip of the listener's attention for a single second? This is by all numbers a classic (although my favorite record by the band, Don't Break The Oath, was yet to come) and deserves 100% the praising it gets.
Nevertheless, and despite not being as much influential, Individual Thought Patterns is also absurdly well played, groundbreaking and daring... I simply love the record. And when it comes to pick just one I have to give my vote to Death.
Melissa versus Individual Thought Patterns. Great... another excellent record that will go off the board no matter what's the result. Melissa alongside Mercyful Fate's debut EP are among those records which huge influence on various metal genres is hard to estimate. It combines a strong Zeppelin inspired base infused with the harshest side of the NWOBHM edge and is built upon a dark motive, musical direction and atmosphere. And quality wise, it's stupid good on every level possible.
Evil is an exciting and strong opener followed by the brilliance, catchy hooks and groove of Curse Of The Pharaohs. And while Into The Coven gives us a little breather with its intro when that mid tempo stomping gets going you start to headbang even against your will. At The Sound Of The Demon Bell is where the Zeppelin roots are more evident but the final stretch of the track reveals itself to be a muscular heavy metal rumble. Speaking of heavy Black Funeral and its relentless pace follows, simply one of my favorite tracks from the lot. And what better way to close the album with than throwing at us two absolutely rich, varied, and energizing epics in Satan's Fall and the title track, sealing this classic piece of metal with a myriad of twist and turns without losing grip of the listener's attention for a single second? This is by all numbers a classic (although my favorite record by the band, Don't Break The Oath, was yet to come) and deserves 100% the praising it gets.
Nevertheless, and despite not being as much influential, Individual Thought Patterns is also absurdly well played, groundbreaking and daring... I simply love the record. And when it comes to pick just one I have to give my vote to Death.
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Jer
'Til Tomorrow
The black album is a polarizing entry in the Metallica discography for good reason. It has immaculate production, catchy choruses, and James Hetfield’s best vocal performance by far. It’s also incredibly dumbed down compared to their previous work, way too repetitive, has a laughable number of “woahs” and “yeah, yeahs”, and Kirk Hammett’s never-ending abuse of the wah pedal is obscene. It also fully brought the casual frat boy fans into the mix, which perverted the otherwise special status of 80s Metallica fans who knew about this awesome band and had them all to themselves, only to see them compromise what made them special in exchange for ridiculous amounts of money and fame. Needless to say, it was a weird time to be a Metallica fan. Anyway, this Annihilator album clearly has superior guitar work from top to bottom — that’s not in dispute. If this were the Greatest Guitar Album Cup, I’d vote for Annihilator in a heartbeat. But we’re considering the full album experience here, and on that front Annihilator has some problems, because the vocals are a disaster, the songwriting is uneven, and it’s up against one of the best-produced metal albums of all time. If you listen to Metallica without comparing it to the band’s previous work, it’s a very good but simplistic metal album with a number of great songs on it, and it sounds amazing. And in this case I think that’s enough to prevail. Sorry, @Perun, but I’m going with @MrKnickerbocker ’s choice here. Winner: Metallica
This W.A.S.P. album was a surprise given the sound of the band’s earlier work. There’s a depth and maturity of songwriting here that you wouldn’t expect from them, though it still has the recognizable overwrought vocals and sometimes silly lyrics from Blackie Lawless. I can’t say that the entire album impressed me, but there’s nothing bad on here, the conceptual approach works well, and there are a number of great epic tracks on offer, especially the closer, “The Great Misconceptions Of Me”. I should definitely spend some more time with this album. It’s up against a Skid Row album that’s pretty strong and consistent, and arguably punchier, but I think the depth of the W.A.S.P. album and its higher highs make the decision straightforward here. Sorry, @Yax, but I’m going with Thrall Dissifcelt’s choice this time. Winner: W.A.S.P.
This Mötley Crüe album is the band’s best, and it was in consideration for my own top 25 but ultimately lost out to better offerings from Dokken and Ratt. The music is a bit simplistic, but the songwriting is great for what it is, and there are some cool guitar bits and memorable vocal lines throughout. “Red Hot” and “Knock ‘Em Dead Kid” are a bit weaker, and the cover of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” is kind of pointless; but the rest of the album is pretty great, with classics like the title track, “Looks That Kill”, and “Too Young To Fall In Love” alongside strong deep cuts like “Bastard” and “Danger”, plus some cool interludes. While this Iseditionist Earth album has better production and a little more flair in the guitar work, its songwriting is fundamentally weak and the Crüe album is far more memorable. Sorry, Noose Proxy, but @Travis The Dragon ’s nominee takes this one. Winner: Mötley Crüe
Hadn’t heard this Mercyful Fate album before (other than the bits in the Metallica medley on Garage, Inc.), and it was a very pleasant surprise. Somehow it manages to have one foot firmly rooted in 70s hard rock and the other firmly rooted in 80s metal, which makes for a potent combination of textured songwriting with guitar heroics. King Diamond’s voice is polarizing, but it works well enough with the material here, and I definitely want to listen to this album some more. While this Death album has some cool music, I’m not on board with the vocals and I think Death already had better albums in the GMAC, so the decision here is pretty easy for me. Sorry, @karljant, but the list nominee gets my vote. Winner: Mercyful Fate
This W.A.S.P. album was a surprise given the sound of the band’s earlier work. There’s a depth and maturity of songwriting here that you wouldn’t expect from them, though it still has the recognizable overwrought vocals and sometimes silly lyrics from Blackie Lawless. I can’t say that the entire album impressed me, but there’s nothing bad on here, the conceptual approach works well, and there are a number of great epic tracks on offer, especially the closer, “The Great Misconceptions Of Me”. I should definitely spend some more time with this album. It’s up against a Skid Row album that’s pretty strong and consistent, and arguably punchier, but I think the depth of the W.A.S.P. album and its higher highs make the decision straightforward here. Sorry, @Yax, but I’m going with Thrall Dissifcelt’s choice this time. Winner: W.A.S.P.
This Mötley Crüe album is the band’s best, and it was in consideration for my own top 25 but ultimately lost out to better offerings from Dokken and Ratt. The music is a bit simplistic, but the songwriting is great for what it is, and there are some cool guitar bits and memorable vocal lines throughout. “Red Hot” and “Knock ‘Em Dead Kid” are a bit weaker, and the cover of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” is kind of pointless; but the rest of the album is pretty great, with classics like the title track, “Looks That Kill”, and “Too Young To Fall In Love” alongside strong deep cuts like “Bastard” and “Danger”, plus some cool interludes. While this Iseditionist Earth album has better production and a little more flair in the guitar work, its songwriting is fundamentally weak and the Crüe album is far more memorable. Sorry, Noose Proxy, but @Travis The Dragon ’s nominee takes this one. Winner: Mötley Crüe
Hadn’t heard this Mercyful Fate album before (other than the bits in the Metallica medley on Garage, Inc.), and it was a very pleasant surprise. Somehow it manages to have one foot firmly rooted in 70s hard rock and the other firmly rooted in 80s metal, which makes for a potent combination of textured songwriting with guitar heroics. King Diamond’s voice is polarizing, but it works well enough with the material here, and I definitely want to listen to this album some more. While this Death album has some cool music, I’m not on board with the vocals and I think Death already had better albums in the GMAC, so the decision here is pretty easy for me. Sorry, @karljant, but the list nominee gets my vote. Winner: Mercyful Fate
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
The Black Album is overplayed, overrated and overhated. It’s a great, simple metal album. It sounds better than 90% of other records. Alice In Hell is really good, but it’s not Metallica
Slave to The Grind is an amazing album. Sebastian Bach’s vocals are astounding. WASP is fine, but no Skid Row
The Dark Saga is kinda boring, but still has some of their best material. I despise Motley Crue and their fake singer. Iced Trump-Made-Me-Do-It
Final battle is tough. I prefer Mercyful Fate’s music style to Death. However, I hate both singers. Whereas I simply don’t like Chuck’s vocals, I cannot take King Diamond seriously in literally any regard. So, Death
Slave to The Grind is an amazing album. Sebastian Bach’s vocals are astounding. WASP is fine, but no Skid Row
The Dark Saga is kinda boring, but still has some of their best material. I despise Motley Crue and their fake singer. Iced Trump-Made-Me-Do-It
Final battle is tough. I prefer Mercyful Fate’s music style to Death. However, I hate both singers. Whereas I simply don’t like Chuck’s vocals, I cannot take King Diamond seriously in literally any regard. So, Death
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
Annhilator
W.A.S.P.
Motley Crue
Mercyful Fate
W.A.S.P.
Motley Crue
Mercyful Fate
Whooten
Ancient Mariner
The 'lica' part