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

In a time of less Metallica adoration, this is how it went in a 2013 game in which more than 200 albums took part, hosted by @mckindog:

Ride the Lightning did a bit better than Accident of Birth, but Master of Puppets did not come close.
Chemical Wedding ended above all 'tallica. Also more love for Moving Pictures by Rush.

TOP 10 (Non-Maiden edition)
1. Painkiller
2. Moving Pictures
3. Heaven and Hell
4. Chemical Wedding
5. Ride the Lightning
6. Screaming For Vengeance
7. Accident of Birth
8. Defenders of the Faith
9. Sin After Sin
10. Rising

TOP 10 (Iron Maiden)
1. Somewhere in Time
2. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
3. Powerslave
4. Piece of Mind
5. The Number of the Beast
6. Brave New World
7. A Matter of Life and Death
8. The X-Factor
9. The Final Frontier
10. Killers

TOP 10
1. Somewhere in Time
2. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
3. Powerslave
4. Painkiller
5. Piece of Mind
6. Moving Pictures
7. Heaven and Hell
8. Number of the Beast
9. Chemical Wedding
10. Ride the Lightning
 
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Also remember that Metallica, for lack of a better comparison, are more or less something similar to the metal Beatles - although they didn't invent the genre (and so didn't the Fab 4), they codified it in the eyes of the general public and they are definitely the metal band for many people, they have a brutal appeal (even a melodic one), they took risks and progressed a lot throughout their career (more than most bands in this very cup ever thought about), people know and do care about every single individual who played there, they used to aim really high (the first 4-5 albums are brutally ambitious, if you look at it honestly) and their overall importance to not just one subgenre, but to metal as a whole is absolutely huge (and now I'm talking again also about how known they are and how popular they made the genre - yes, Sabbath and Priest are more important as pioneers, but remained in a niche market, so to speak).

(don't take it too seriously, I could make the Fab Parallel even with Ozzy-era Sabbath - for the time period and for the musical sensibilites and personalities in the band, take this all with a grain of salt).

I tended to overlook them a lot lately, especially because nowadays Lars is a shitty drummer and Kirk is a shitty lead player and they're all mostly assholes and they haven't put out anything really consistent since... well, ReLoad (or maybe Beyond Magnetic). But also because of this very cup I came back to those early recordings (now with gigs from the vaults, on the reissues) and I absolutely get why they got as big as they did. The spirit, the untrivial melodic sensibility, the sense of scope - these all might have evaporated (or at least seriously diminished) throughout the years, but even a (comparatively) weaker album of the time that Puppets is I still have no problem accepting as the epitome of metal. Side A in particular, from Battery to Sanitarium, is (nearly) perfect.

I like AOB for a Bruce album, and actually even beyond that. But for example stuff like Welcome to the Pit I picked out as an example of diversity, but I personally hate the track. Man of Sorrows and Arc of Space are way too over-melodramatic, and while I like both (the latter significantly more than the former) I need to be in the mood for it.

And yes, the whole album, it's all Bruce's voice, it's all Bruce's lyrics and attitude and that makes it more of a niche piece of art for me. The only stuff on AOB that would speak to me as strongly as the highlights of Puppets is probably only Aquarius and Omega. Mainly just the former. And yes, I played Aquarius 100 times, maybe, at one time. But Battery and Master of Puppets (or Ride the Lightning, or And Justice...) I played probably five times more. There was a time when I played just Battery and Ride the Lightning throughout the whole day. And I still listen to it and it still gives me thrills.
 
Also, I realized - and I probably knew it before this very cup, but it was only in the back of my mind - there's little any given music can do to turn me off it more and more effectively than its fandom can.

Anyone else gets the sentiment?
 
Master of Puppets is a much more critically acclaimed album, with great songs and a profound cultural impact. It stands head and shoulders above AoB, which is a very fine album in itself. Send me to a deserted island and only these two to choose from to listen to I just might vote AoB, but in the context of the competition, no way.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
Also, I realized - and I probably knew it before this very cup, but it was only in the back of my mind - there's little any given music can do to turn me off it more and more effectively than its fandom can.

Anyone else gets the sentiment?
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Yeah, I fully agree. Also, I see that my favourite albums have nothing to do with what is perceived as "classic". Out of those remaining in the game, I probably find three to be really great.
 
Yax said:
Master of Puppets is a much more critically acclaimed album, with great songs and a profound cultural impact. It stands head and shoulders above AoB, which is a very fine album in itself. Send me to a deserted island and only these two to choose from to listen to I just might vote AoB, but in the context of the competition, no way.
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Voting for the more cultural, more classic album appeal?
That is not the point of this game.

That's not voting and see what's going on here, that is no Maidenfans poll.

The point is: Choose your favourite. That is a desert island album rather than "what is popular worldwide".
I wonder if people played this game the wrong way (hello @srfc, hello @JudasMyGuide anyone else)? Yeah sorry, but I think it is wrong.

*shakes head in disillusion, not understanding that some people tend to do this, rather than voting the album they themselves like more*
 
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Like I wrote in my second post, I voted for the album I myself like more.

BUT I also wrote about the objectively describable stature of the band, which might help explaining why it’s winning - usually stuff that’s influential must be liked by someone, doesn’t it?

Of all metal t-shirts I guess I ever seen someone in a Puppets one the most. I don’t think the people do it just because of the influence.

There was a time when Metallica was the band for a whole generation - I myself am too young for that, but I knew people who got into metal thanks to them, who tattooed Nothing Else Matters or One lyrics on their arms etc. I'd say they affected and impacted more people generally than Maiden have and definitely more than Bruce had.

Doesn't mean I'm voting for them because of it, but it might help people who seem to fail to understand it to do so, that is why the fuck would more people cherish it. Why they're winning even on a Maiden forum.
 
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JudasMyGuide said:
Also, I realized - and I probably knew it before this very cup, but it was only in the back of my mind - there's little any given music can do to turn me off it more and more effectively than its fandom can.

Anyone else gets the sentiment?
Click to expand...

I reckon there's tons of people who share that sentiment, and maybe I did a bit when younger, now that I'm older budweiser ;) I think it's a stupid sentiment.

Are Slayer's fans morons for the most part? Yes. Do I interact with any of them outside of a Slayer gig. No.

Forostar said:
Damn, have more people played this game the wrong way (hello @srfc, hello @JudasMyGuide anyone else)?
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Not me no. If I voted for an album it's because I liked it more, maybe if I couldn't pick between the two I might have given consideration to the cultural impact.
 
srfc said:
I reckon there's tons of people who share that sentiment, and maybe I did a bit when younger, now that I'm older budweiser ;) I think it's a stupid sentiment.

Are Slayer's fans morons for the most part? Yes. Do I interact with any of them outside of a Slayer gig. No.
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Nah, I'm talking more about "something is genuinely great, but the fandom blows it so annoyingly out of proportion it forces me to take it down a peg". That kind of thinking. In fact it influences how do I listen to the stuff, because I can't get out of my head how fanatical adoration it gets and it makes me notice its flaws all the more.

Sentiments - here meant as instances of feelings, rather than opinions - are rarely clever by definition, so I don't really mind you finding it stupid, I guess.
 
Forostar said:
Voting for the more cultural, more classic album appeal?
That is not the point of this game.

That's not voting and see what's going on here, that is no Maidenfans poll.

The point is: Choose your favourite. That is a desert island album rather than "what is popular worldwide".
I wonder if people played this game the wrong way (hello @srfc, hello @JudasMyGuide anyone else)? Yeah sorry, but I think it is wrong.

*shakes head in disillusion, not understanding that some people tend to do this, rather than voting the album they themselves like more*
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I get to choose my own reasons. I decide why an album is my favorite. You have yourself referred to popularity as a criteria when it suits your narrative on what’s the correct vote or not. And puppets is a far better album in any case.
 
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Yes I explained popularity at times, but never voted for an album when I would like the opponent more (certainly as in desert island album), unless it's an impactless vote (e.g. voting for an album that is bound to lose, out of pity or something).

Voting for what worldwide is historically/culturally the most popular is one of the sheepiest forms of bias ever, totally against what a poll of personal preferences is about and outright ridiculous.
 
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What is ridiculous is how you constantly question how people vote. Just make your greatest albums list since you obviously just want the result to mirror your opinion. And I said I might vote for AoB. Might. Purely out of Maiden bias.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
It’s almost like...it’s possible for an album to be incredibly influential and widely acclaimed while also being the album you prefer. :innocent:
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And the albums that are incredibly influential and widely acclaimed must have definitely acquired that stature solely by some clandestine, nefarious means. :innocent:
 
Of course I question someone's voting behaviour when I see a rave about everything else, then says one album is his desert island album, and votes for the other one. It's incredible.
 
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