GREATEST METAL ALBUM CUP - Winner: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son!
- Thread starter LooseCannon
- Start date
They always sound very, very angry. When they don't, I enjoy them much more, but that always feels like you are liking "Pantera that doesn't sound like Pantera".
Magnus
currently discounted
Being a black metal fan, I obviously don't mind bands sounding very, very angry. Unfortunately, to me, Pantera always sound very, very fake, and I also blame them, partially at least, for that "nu metal" abomination. Sue me.
Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
That album was already in the game (it lost to King Diamond's Conspiracy)
karljant
Ancient Mariner
Have mentioned how I'm not into Skid Row's debut enough times by now. MMXX is a bit on the same vein than it's predecessor... that being a bit heavier Dream Theater a la Train or Thought or Systematic Chaos and although it's not as good as those two albums it's still enjoying enough to give my vote to Sons Of Apollo.
Then we have two really good albums. Red is really something and it came ll this way by merit. But now it faces arguably the first death metal record ever (it's between this one and Seven Churches). And although I think only one of the initial Death albums has the same quality than later ones (namely the fabulous Leprosy) Scream Bloody Gore features a plethora of great passages in songs like Zombie Ritual, Infernal Death, Sacrificial, Denial Of Life or Torn To Pieces. Sure the lyrics are hilarious as they seem straight out of a B series horror movie but even in this straight forward formula Chuck already reveals how much of a clever riff composer he is. So yeah... Death.
On our third contest we have Angra's 5th album and it's precisely in this record where they start to lose my attention. Hey... they're still great musicians but this record is a great example how songs can be complex yet poor compositions. IMO (and alike everything the band put out after this record) this is a massively boring Prog Power Metal album that seems to go nowhere with its forced melodies and "just-for-the-sake-of-it" technical adorns. On the Other hand I really love Vivid so it's an easy vote for Living Color.
Finally Macalpine is one hell of a virtuoso but... yeah. It's the same as other virtuosos it's a cool experience and I'm sure some people play this stuff to exhaustion in their speakers. Not my case. So my favorite is obviously the ultra angry and yet groovy Far beyond Driven, one of Pantera's best records.
Then we have two really good albums. Red is really something and it came ll this way by merit. But now it faces arguably the first death metal record ever (it's between this one and Seven Churches). And although I think only one of the initial Death albums has the same quality than later ones (namely the fabulous Leprosy) Scream Bloody Gore features a plethora of great passages in songs like Zombie Ritual, Infernal Death, Sacrificial, Denial Of Life or Torn To Pieces. Sure the lyrics are hilarious as they seem straight out of a B series horror movie but even in this straight forward formula Chuck already reveals how much of a clever riff composer he is. So yeah... Death.
On our third contest we have Angra's 5th album and it's precisely in this record where they start to lose my attention. Hey... they're still great musicians but this record is a great example how songs can be complex yet poor compositions. IMO (and alike everything the band put out after this record) this is a massively boring Prog Power Metal album that seems to go nowhere with its forced melodies and "just-for-the-sake-of-it" technical adorns. On the Other hand I really love Vivid so it's an easy vote for Living Color.
Finally Macalpine is one hell of a virtuoso but... yeah. It's the same as other virtuosos it's a cool experience and I'm sure some people play this stuff to exhaustion in their speakers. Not my case. So my favorite is obviously the ultra angry and yet groovy Far beyond Driven, one of Pantera's best records.
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srfc
Ancient Mariner
Sons of Apollo - wow an album from this year with a nomination from Lampwick, talk about confidence! Intro sounds good, just looking at the video (had it open in a different tab for my first comment d'oh!), I saw these before at a festival, Billy Sheehan, Richie Kotzen and your man from Dream Theatre, I enjoyed them then but could have sworn they had a different name? Pretty good stuff.
Skid Row - opinion given before
Skid Row with the win, tough luck for Sons of Apollo as it's a lot more interesting than a lot of what's been in the game but it's up against an album I like a lot
Death - I like this more than their other album, I don't like death metal but this and the early Obituary stuff that's been in the game have the sort of production I can almost get on board with
Baroness - opinion given a few times
I'm going to go with Death for this one, I'm not sure why, mainly because I think Baroness should probably have clicked with me given the retro vibe and they just haven't
Angra - ten a penny Power Metal, I'm not a fan of the genre, if you told me this was the semi-hit Dragonforce had I'd probably believe you
Living Colour - not for me
I know I made some derogatory comments there but I'm going to give Angra the vote, it's not as original as Living Colour (or at all) but I'd still be more likely to listen to it
Tony MacAlpine - if this guy has toured with either Vai or Satch then I'm sure I seen him playing second fiddle for them, this stuff is probably even more ten a penny than Power Metal, in fairness I'm sure if I knew a lot about music theory I could understand why what they are doing is good but I don't
Pantera - opinion given before, like I said before I don't really like the album but I'm Broken is great
Pantera with the win
Skid Row - opinion given before
Skid Row with the win, tough luck for Sons of Apollo as it's a lot more interesting than a lot of what's been in the game but it's up against an album I like a lot
Death - I like this more than their other album, I don't like death metal but this and the early Obituary stuff that's been in the game have the sort of production I can almost get on board with
Baroness - opinion given a few times
I'm going to go with Death for this one, I'm not sure why, mainly because I think Baroness should probably have clicked with me given the retro vibe and they just haven't
Angra - ten a penny Power Metal, I'm not a fan of the genre, if you told me this was the semi-hit Dragonforce had I'd probably believe you
Living Colour - not for me
I know I made some derogatory comments there but I'm going to give Angra the vote, it's not as original as Living Colour (or at all) but I'd still be more likely to listen to it
Tony MacAlpine - if this guy has toured with either Vai or Satch then I'm sure I seen him playing second fiddle for them, this stuff is probably even more ten a penny than Power Metal, in fairness I'm sure if I knew a lot about music theory I could understand why what they are doing is good but I don't
Pantera - opinion given before, like I said before I don't really like the album but I'm Broken is great
Pantera with the win
srfc
Ancient Mariner
Well, the upcoming one is IV. I suspect Danzig might not survive.Shit I thought it won. It should have
srfc
Ancient Mariner
Did I nominate that? It would have been the one from them I'd have picked if I did.
You did not.
I'm actually ready to vote now.
Skid Row has some epic songs, and then a lot of boring crap. Sons of Apollo is incredibly interesting and the album has been listened to 3x since I started working on the post this AM.
Baroness is more my speed than this Death album, but I fully expect Scream Bloody Gore to win and be around for awhile.
Living Colour have a unique, groundbreaking album. Angra has generic power metal album 45.
And I just don't like Pantera. Sorry @Ariana. Plus I really enjoyed, if not loved, the Tony album. Tony MacAlpine.
Skid Row has some epic songs, and then a lot of boring crap. Sons of Apollo is incredibly interesting and the album has been listened to 3x since I started working on the post this AM.
Baroness is more my speed than this Death album, but I fully expect Scream Bloody Gore to win and be around for awhile.
Living Colour have a unique, groundbreaking album. Angra has generic power metal album 45.
And I just don't like Pantera. Sorry @Ariana. Plus I really enjoyed, if not loved, the Tony album. Tony MacAlpine.
I'm Canadian, I'm always sorry. Especially when there's no need.
They get lumped in with the 'too commercial/not real metal' category I think. If it's any guide, Paul has liked them for years and took a lot of convincing to listen to most metal.
karljant
Ancient Mariner
Pantera was simply put one of the few heavier mainstream bands that didn't jump on the the Nu Metal bandwaggon. Sepultura did it, Machine Head did it, Anthrax did it, and so on... hell even Metallica and Fear Factory took a hint or two from the damned trend.
Plus Pantera have nothing to do with Nu Metal's creation. The riffage influence of those bands comes straight from bands like Helmet alongside a tid bit of Faith No More, hip hop and some sparkles of Sepultura's Chaos AD guitar here and there. Pantera? No. Simply, no. And I feel free to speak about this. Although I like Pantera and recognize their impact, I surely think they're somewhat overrated. Proof being I didn't pick any of their albums on my list.
As for sounding very fake... I can see where you're coming from. And in a good amount of songs I agree with you. Like Walk... come on! You can't take that thing seriously. That reeks of though guy wanna be. Or even We'll Grind That Axe, Fucking Hostile, Uplifted, 5 Minutes Alone and some others. But then there's really pissed off and dense material that sounds really honest (especially when it goes personal) Suicide Note, Living Though Me, It Makes Them Disappear, I can't Hide, Hollow, The Great Southern Trendkill, 25 Years, Shedding Skin, Shattered, Throes Of Rejection and many more are really sincere IMO.
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Jer
'Til Tomorrow
While MMXX is a weaker album than Sons Of Apollo’s debut album, it’s still an entirely respectable slab of prog metal that wipes the floor with all the filler on Skid Row. The best songs on Skid Row’s album are probably better than the best ones on MMXX, but consistency and musical meat win the day here. Good call, @Lampwick 43 . Winner: Sons Of Apollo
This Death album isn’t as good as the previous one in the competition, but it’s got some nice riffage and the vocals are in the “bad, but tolerably bad” space. I’m still not thrilled with the Baroness album, but it’s got more texture and depth to it, so I’ll give it the nod. Winner: Baroness
Hadn’t heard this Angra album before, and it’s a mixed bag. There’s some brilliant guitar playing on here, and occasionally some nice songwriting, but there’s also a lot of power-metal-by-the-numbers happening, along with some really low-rent choirs that wind up sounding like a garage band knockoff of a Luca Turilli track. Also this singer sounds good sometimes, but lapses into a weaker version of Michael Kiske at other times, and there’s something a bit flaccid about his delivery here, though that’s not atypical for Angra. The Living Colour album feels punchier and more honest on most of the tracks to me, and while it’s not a blowout by any means, I think I’d rather listen to Vivid. Winner: Living Colour
This last match-up is no contest — there is literally more musical value in the first minute of the first song on the Tony MacAlpine album than there is in the entire running time of the Pantera album. Winner: Tony MacAlpine
Oh, and Phil Anselmo might be a Nazi, too.
This Death album isn’t as good as the previous one in the competition, but it’s got some nice riffage and the vocals are in the “bad, but tolerably bad” space. I’m still not thrilled with the Baroness album, but it’s got more texture and depth to it, so I’ll give it the nod. Winner: Baroness
Hadn’t heard this Angra album before, and it’s a mixed bag. There’s some brilliant guitar playing on here, and occasionally some nice songwriting, but there’s also a lot of power-metal-by-the-numbers happening, along with some really low-rent choirs that wind up sounding like a garage band knockoff of a Luca Turilli track. Also this singer sounds good sometimes, but lapses into a weaker version of Michael Kiske at other times, and there’s something a bit flaccid about his delivery here, though that’s not atypical for Angra. The Living Colour album feels punchier and more honest on most of the tracks to me, and while it’s not a blowout by any means, I think I’d rather listen to Vivid. Winner: Living Colour
This last match-up is no contest — there is literally more musical value in the first minute of the first song on the Tony MacAlpine album than there is in the entire running time of the Pantera album. Winner: Tony MacAlpine
Most of it is yelling, growling, and uninteresting chugging to my ears. It’s like they’re just trying to sound pissed off, and any musical considerations are secondary. There are some deep tracks where they let up on this a bit and sound like a D-list Metallica instead, and I guess there’s a rare ballad here or there, but I can’t find a reason to care. Every time their trash came up on the radio or MTV I changed the channel. They would always turn up and ruin any decent run of metal music on one of those outlets. Blecch.
Oh, and Phil Anselmo might be a Nazi, too.
MindRuler
Ancient Mariner
The first one is a tough one. Sons Of Appolo (I'm not using the abbreviation here 
) is right up my alley and I'm a huge fan of another Skid Row album: Slave Tho The Grind.
When it comes to Death, the band that is, I much prefer their later and much more melodic progressive stuff. Baroness was a pleasant surprise, this short song sounds very interesting and makes me wanting to hear more from them.
Angra vs. Living Colour is another tough one! I like both bands but Angra has a better album (Holy Land) than this one and it would have crushed Vivid.
The last one is easy peasy lemon squeezy: Tony McAlpine. I've never been a Pantera fan (probably never will) and Far Beyond Driven is far beyond my spectrum.
) is right up my alley and I'm a huge fan of another Skid Row album: Slave Tho The Grind.When it comes to Death, the band that is, I much prefer their later and much more melodic progressive stuff. Baroness was a pleasant surprise, this short song sounds very interesting and makes me wanting to hear more from them.
Angra vs. Living Colour is another tough one! I like both bands but Angra has a better album (Holy Land) than this one and it would have crushed Vivid.
The last one is easy peasy lemon squeezy: Tony McAlpine. I've never been a Pantera fan (probably never will) and Far Beyond Driven is far beyond my spectrum.
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