Cat Milk Supreme
Ancient Mariner
Ha ha, exactly how I would describe most country music
Maidenfans Album Club: Purest of Pain - Solipsis
- Thread starter LooseCannon
- Start date
DJ James
A coma stole my name.
All-fucking-right! I've been wanting to re-listen to that Grave Digger album for awhile now. Also, I've listened to the title track off Pile of Skulls a few times but never dove into the whole thing. And Symbolic is one of my most beloved death metal albums from the 90's (He came, he saw and acknowledged. Some good, some bad, opinion: dangerous!)
DJ James
A coma stole my name.
@LooseCannon any update on when next album will be unveiled?
SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
There was one question in this thread that piqued my interest since reading it and it was this one. So naturally I had to look up how Saxon actually looked on their 1988 Destiny tour aaannnd....It's actually not that bad. They certainly don't look too glam. I'd say Maiden looked about the same in '86-'87 and '88. Well except for the Saxon drummer, I don't know what the f*** he is wearing.
DJ James
A coma stole my name.
Holy hell Biff looks bored out of his mind.
SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
There appears to be people in the audience who knows the words to the song so at least there's some Saxon faithfuls left. Bad time to be bored though, this is a home show!
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
The look is glam or Bon Jovi style, the drummer in Motley Crue style or WASP the rest just they had no style.
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
Today, we bid farewell to Destiny, by Saxon. This 1988 album represented the end of a change for the NWOBHM stalwarts, and they would return to their roots with the next album. Maidenfans.com had some difficulty with this album - most commentators were not fans, and some were downright savage to the album. We agreed the point of this album was to target the US market, although Saxon fell far short of that mark. Even the stronger Saxon fans here admit this album isn't one beloved by the fanbase.
That being said, there was positive things said about a few tracks. The majority agreed that Red Alert was a decent song, perhaps marred by the synths added for this glam metal experience, but still at its core a proper Saxon song. There was general like for the Christopher Cross cover, as well. However, the remaining tracks were considered quite samey, a uniform sound that became fairly indistinguishable by album's end. The production was technically better than previous Saxon albums, but this slight uptick was lost in the clash of synths. Certainly unique in the body of Saxon's work, and Maidenfans agrees that is for the best.
The next album, in the theme of Metal in the 1990s will be:
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Iced Earth, 1998
Thanks to @Cornfed Hick for the nomination!
Iced Earth was one of the bright spots in the 1990s, a band slowly rising to prominence. This was their last studio album of the decade, although not their last album - the lauded Alive in Athens would come out in 1999, showing Iced Earth at their peak. Yet this album was probably their best regarded studio album ever, capping off an excellent four album run that began with Night of the Stormrider. If Destiny was 1980s metal at its low, this album very well might represent its best, almost to the band's detriment. Jon Schaffer's unrelenting attempts to recover the late 90s magic crippled the band heavily when he decided to go back to this album's material, until he finally found Stu Block and started building the band up again.
As you consider this album, please also answer this question: Is Iced Earth correct to continually attempt to recapture these glory days?
The next theme (it may not be monthly if we go through the discussion in appx 2 weeks, which is fine): 2019 to date. Please nominate an album that was released in 2019 that you think the forum should discuss in more detail. There will be a second retrospective on 2019 in January, so don't worry if there's an album coming up that you haven't heard yet!
My nomination: Amon Amarth - Berserker
That being said, there was positive things said about a few tracks. The majority agreed that Red Alert was a decent song, perhaps marred by the synths added for this glam metal experience, but still at its core a proper Saxon song. There was general like for the Christopher Cross cover, as well. However, the remaining tracks were considered quite samey, a uniform sound that became fairly indistinguishable by album's end. The production was technically better than previous Saxon albums, but this slight uptick was lost in the clash of synths. Certainly unique in the body of Saxon's work, and Maidenfans agrees that is for the best.
The next album, in the theme of Metal in the 1990s will be:
Something Wicked This Way Comes - Iced Earth, 1998
Thanks to @Cornfed Hick for the nomination!
Iced Earth was one of the bright spots in the 1990s, a band slowly rising to prominence. This was their last studio album of the decade, although not their last album - the lauded Alive in Athens would come out in 1999, showing Iced Earth at their peak. Yet this album was probably their best regarded studio album ever, capping off an excellent four album run that began with Night of the Stormrider. If Destiny was 1980s metal at its low, this album very well might represent its best, almost to the band's detriment. Jon Schaffer's unrelenting attempts to recover the late 90s magic crippled the band heavily when he decided to go back to this album's material, until he finally found Stu Block and started building the band up again.
As you consider this album, please also answer this question: Is Iced Earth correct to continually attempt to recapture these glory days?
The next theme (it may not be monthly if we go through the discussion in appx 2 weeks, which is fine): 2019 to date. Please nominate an album that was released in 2019 that you think the forum should discuss in more detail. There will be a second retrospective on 2019 in January, so don't worry if there's an album coming up that you haven't heard yet!
My nomination: Amon Amarth - Berserker
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I want people to participate with every album, even if it's dogshit.
People have different carrots. I will listen to Bathory and Grave Digger and participate with aplomb.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
I’ll throw in Rammstein’s new Untitled record.
I was planning on listening to an IE album soon anyway; I’ll switch in this one and see how it goes.
phantomoftheicarus
Bleeding Freak
I knew you'd beat me to it
I'll nominate Dream Theater's Distance Over TimeListening to the IE album now
Ariana
Black-and-white leopard
Something Wicked This Way Comes may not be my favourite IE album (this honour goes to Horror Show), but it's an absolute masterpiece. It's very dynamic and varied, and even the weaker songs sound pretty good in the context of the album. One thing that makes the album special is that all of the slower songs on it are extremely good. I'm not usually a fan of (power) ballads, but those on Something Wicked... all deserve love.
Melancholy was the first IE song I ever heard, followed by Watching Over Me, and it may sound odd, considering my general dislike for soppy songs, but they actually made me an IE fan. Incidentally, my daughter loved them both too, especially the latter, so we could both belt it out together in the car, had it not been for the fact that she won't ever let me sing.
Apart from these two, the highlights on the album for me include Consequences and Blessed Are You (some really tasty sop), as well as My Own Savior, which I love despite some eyebrow-raising lyrical content there; and 1776, which could have been longer. I wish metal bands would make more instrumentals in general.
Last but not least, the crowning achievement of the album and some of IE's finest in general: the Something Wicked trilogy, which finishes off the album with a flourish and an epic touch that leaves you wanting more. I feel this one sentence isn't really doing justice to the trilogy, but if I were a poet, I wouldn't be wasting my precious words on writing useless metal reviews anyway. My personal favourite here is Birth of the Wicked - love the atmosphere, the lyrics, the solo and most of all - the chorus. Pure brilliance.
Obviously, not all of the songs are perfect. For instance, Burning Times and Stand Alone are both very solid (first time) songs, but unfortunately suffer from some repetitiveness and I'm not sure how impressive they sound in isolation.
The lower echelon includes Disciples (whose chorus is very catchy nonetheless), and Reaping Stone (which reminds me of some other band very much but I can't figure out which one).
In conclusion, I find Something Wicked... a very well thought-out and executed album, with decidedly more highs than lows. I love the songwriting and Barlow's vocals are completely out of this world.
Melancholy was the first IE song I ever heard, followed by Watching Over Me, and it may sound odd, considering my general dislike for soppy songs, but they actually made me an IE fan. Incidentally, my daughter loved them both too, especially the latter, so we could both belt it out together in the car, had it not been for the fact that she won't ever let me sing.
Apart from these two, the highlights on the album for me include Consequences and Blessed Are You (some really tasty sop), as well as My Own Savior, which I love despite some eyebrow-raising lyrical content there; and 1776, which could have been longer. I wish metal bands would make more instrumentals in general.
Last but not least, the crowning achievement of the album and some of IE's finest in general: the Something Wicked trilogy, which finishes off the album with a flourish and an epic touch that leaves you wanting more. I feel this one sentence isn't really doing justice to the trilogy, but if I were a poet, I wouldn't be wasting my precious words on writing useless metal reviews anyway. My personal favourite here is Birth of the Wicked - love the atmosphere, the lyrics, the solo and most of all - the chorus. Pure brilliance.
Obviously, not all of the songs are perfect. For instance, Burning Times and Stand Alone are both very solid (first time) songs, but unfortunately suffer from some repetitiveness and I'm not sure how impressive they sound in isolation.
The lower echelon includes Disciples (whose chorus is very catchy nonetheless), and Reaping Stone (which reminds me of some other band very much but I can't figure out which one).
In conclusion, I find Something Wicked... a very well thought-out and executed album, with decidedly more highs than lows. I love the songwriting and Barlow's vocals are completely out of this world.
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SixesAlltheway
Ancient Mariner
Keep on nominating them Bathory gems.
Magnus
currently discounted
Not in the 2019 category, alas.