Maidenfans Album Club: Purest of Pain - Solipsis
- Thread starter LooseCannon
- Start date
| Band | Album | Nominator |
| Amon Amarth | Berserker | LooseCannon |
| Rammstein | Untitled | Diesel 11 |
| Dream Theater | Distance Over Time | phantomoftheicarus |
| Buckethead | Sigil Soundtrack | Dityn DJ James |
| Arch / Matheos | Winter Ethereal | Night Prowler |
| Grand Magus | Wolf God | Perun |
Let's get some more nominations, people! I can decide this one with a d6, which is the most common of dice!
That sounds more like a history book written by Lewis Carroll or a live album by Annihilator.
I agree the album has a low point, but that's not Consequences. It's rather the follow-up sequence of My Own Savior and Reaping Stone. Neither are terrible songs, but they are certainly the weakest on the album.
Schaffer literally thinks he does so, since he is one of the people who thinks "politics" means "partisanship". He has stated that in interviews.
Cat Milk Supreme
Ancient Mariner
I nominate Fornaldarsagor by Manegarm
I would agree that those songs are also weak. In fact, I would say it's a much stronger album if you strip that entire segment out, although I kinda like Reaping Stone, I do admit it is a weaker song.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
'Something Wicked This Way Comes' is the first Iced Earth album I ever bought. In fact, I remember coming home with the CD and looking through the booklet while a very exciting Six Nations Rugby match between France and Ireland was on the TV - @Niall Kielt will be sad to be reminded that France won. It is probably Iced Earth's most accessible album, but not their best, with the album heavily populated with short songs. From the first ten songs only two exceed five minutes in length, but the closing three songs which form the 'Something Wicked' trilogy feel a bit more ambitious.
The opening track, 'Burning Times', is one the great Iced Earth songs and also one of the best Metal album openers of all time. There are three songs which I find broadly similar and unremarkable, namely 'Stand Alone', 'My Own Savior' and 'Reaping Stone'. I feel like these songs are an attempt at rewriting 'Violate' from the previous Iced Earth album, 'The Dark Saga', but in a more accessible way - an accusation that can be levelled at Jon Schaffer for several more songs in Iced Earth's discography. The softer songs are slightly more memorable, particularly 'Watching Over Me' and 'Melancholy (Holy Martyr)', although my interest in the former has cooled over the years. Overall I'd assess the pre-trilogy songs as Jon's attempt at making an album full of crowd-pleasing classics and, while it definitely doesn't fall flat on its face, it certainly missed the mark a bit, especially when one considers the preceding Iced Earth albums.
The 'Something Wicked' trilogy itself is classic Iced Earth, showcasing the best of Matt Barlow's vocals and the wackier side of Jon's imagination. In later years Jon's imagination got the better of him and he sort of shat on this trilogy by expanding the concept into two albums (between which he changed singer) which certainly did fall flat on their faces. Those albums don't take anything away from the greatness of this trilogy, but it's a shame that Jon wasted his time with it.
For the 2019 album I hereby nominate 'The Atlantic' by Evergrey.
The opening track, 'Burning Times', is one the great Iced Earth songs and also one of the best Metal album openers of all time. There are three songs which I find broadly similar and unremarkable, namely 'Stand Alone', 'My Own Savior' and 'Reaping Stone'. I feel like these songs are an attempt at rewriting 'Violate' from the previous Iced Earth album, 'The Dark Saga', but in a more accessible way - an accusation that can be levelled at Jon Schaffer for several more songs in Iced Earth's discography. The softer songs are slightly more memorable, particularly 'Watching Over Me' and 'Melancholy (Holy Martyr)', although my interest in the former has cooled over the years. Overall I'd assess the pre-trilogy songs as Jon's attempt at making an album full of crowd-pleasing classics and, while it definitely doesn't fall flat on its face, it certainly missed the mark a bit, especially when one considers the preceding Iced Earth albums.
The 'Something Wicked' trilogy itself is classic Iced Earth, showcasing the best of Matt Barlow's vocals and the wackier side of Jon's imagination. In later years Jon's imagination got the better of him and he sort of shat on this trilogy by expanding the concept into two albums (between which he changed singer) which certainly did fall flat on their faces. Those albums don't take anything away from the greatness of this trilogy, but it's a shame that Jon wasted his time with it.
For the 2019 album I hereby nominate 'The Atlantic' by Evergrey.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Nominating Megadeth's The System has Failed.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
That's not a 2019 album.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Oh lord. Sorry.
But wasn't Death nominated here also? That person must've meticulously read the rules, like I did.
But wasn't Death nominated here also? That person must've meticulously read the rules, like I did.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
I know that Sixes attempted to nominate Bathory at first, but it wasn't counted.
SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
Magnus was the one who nominated Bathory. I nominated Death - Symbolic for the 90s.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
Yeah that was a reply to Magnus nominating Bathory that he deleted afterwards 
None of us had seen that 2019 was the category next.
None of us had seen that 2019 was the category next.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
I nominate I, The Mask by In Flames.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Honestly, other than Dream Theater, none of the bands I really like have released anything worthy this year (and yeah, I'm counting Berserker).
phantomoftheicarus
Bleeding Freak
Well after God knows how long I finally got round to writing up my thoughts about this IE album. It's taken me a while because I just don't like Iced Earth. Maybe it's similar to my situation with Lamb of God, where I find the music fine on paper yet boring and unattractive, but I'm not really sure. Nonetheless, this album was certainly higher than my expectations, and I can't say I didn't like the album.
Firstly, I'll start off by saying that I was one of those in the boat of assigning the power metal label to IE. Now, I'm not in any way a fan of power metal, not at all, so when I hit play for this album I was pleasantly surprised by what I was hearing. The guitar work in Burning Times was good, and it didn't appear cheesy or goofy like I had been expecting. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with Barlow as a vocalist, but I can't throw any meaningful praise at him either. I paid particular attention to 1776 as it has been discussed in particular here, and I thought it was alright, good riffs and guitar work, but again it just wasn't quite clicking with me.
The things I enjoyed most about this album was the very beautiful openings to songs like Melancholy, Reaping Stone and Blessed Are You. I really like openings like that, so they did stick out and appeal to me. It is a slight shame the songs did speed up, but I understand why and i can't think of any other alternative to the way they were structured.
I don't really have much to say for this album as you've probably noticed, and it's just because it doesn't sit with me. It sounds silly because I have no real qualms with the album, indeed it think there's some quite good moments. But maybe to me it just sounds generic and a bit boring - there's nothing bad going on here but nothing spectacular or groundbreaking either in my eyes. My opinion and expectation of Iced Earth has definitely been changed, and I can see myself exploring their discography a little more, but I in no way at all am calling myself an Iced Earth fan.
I also cannot attempt to answer LC's question, as I virtually no idea on the band's history or further discography, so I can't comment.
Firstly, I'll start off by saying that I was one of those in the boat of assigning the power metal label to IE. Now, I'm not in any way a fan of power metal, not at all, so when I hit play for this album I was pleasantly surprised by what I was hearing. The guitar work in Burning Times was good, and it didn't appear cheesy or goofy like I had been expecting. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with Barlow as a vocalist, but I can't throw any meaningful praise at him either. I paid particular attention to 1776 as it has been discussed in particular here, and I thought it was alright, good riffs and guitar work, but again it just wasn't quite clicking with me.
The things I enjoyed most about this album was the very beautiful openings to songs like Melancholy, Reaping Stone and Blessed Are You. I really like openings like that, so they did stick out and appeal to me. It is a slight shame the songs did speed up, but I understand why and i can't think of any other alternative to the way they were structured.
I don't really have much to say for this album as you've probably noticed, and it's just because it doesn't sit with me. It sounds silly because I have no real qualms with the album, indeed it think there's some quite good moments. But maybe to me it just sounds generic and a bit boring - there's nothing bad going on here but nothing spectacular or groundbreaking either in my eyes. My opinion and expectation of Iced Earth has definitely been changed, and I can see myself exploring their discography a little more, but I in no way at all am calling myself an Iced Earth fan.
I also cannot attempt to answer LC's question, as I virtually no idea on the band's history or further discography, so I can't comment.
Are we feeling like this discussion is reaching an end?
Yes