Maidenfans Best Albums of the Millennium: 2003

vote for any albums that you want to move up (read the post for details)!

  • Total voters
    15
MrKnickerbocker said:
Devin Townsend - Accelerated Evolution
This is not my first time listening to a Devin album, but it might be my last. I can recognize the quality. I hear why people like him. But, boy, do I just not get Heavy Devy. Too much wall of sound, too much droning, too much fluctuation in the vocal delivery…I don’t know. It’s not for me.
Click to expand...
This is exactly how I feel about everything I’ve ever heard by the guy. There might be a cool musical section here or there, but none of his stuff has ever clicked with me.
 
Updated Power Rankings
  1. Dream Theater - Train of Thought +1
  2. Iron Maiden - Dance of Death -1
  3. Evanescence - Fallen =
  4. Gojira - The Link +2
  5. Children of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll +6
  6. Anthrax - We've Come For You All +6
  7. Human Fortress - Defenders of the Crown -3
  8. Avenged Sevenfold - Waking the Fallen +5
  9. Devin Townsend - Accelerated Evolution +5
  10. Swallow the Sun - The Morning Never Came -5
  11. Moonspell - The Antidote -4
  12. Live - Birds of Pray -4
  13. Arctus - The Sham Mirrors -4
  14. Sonata Arctica - Winterheart's Guild -4
  15. Queensryche - Tribe =
Dream Theater narrowly edges out Iron Maiden in the first round, although this has the potential to be a real horse race. Again, I think Train of Thought is head and shoulders a better album than Dance of Death, but we'll see what happens. Dance of Death might be the first top seed to not finish first, but it also might be the worst album that is rated in the top 3 so far. Surprisingly, Evanescence holds its own at #3 with no real competition, although we'll see if that changes with a few lower tier favorites creeping toward the top.

Children of Bodom, Anthrax, Avenged Sevenfold, and Devin Townsend all got rewarded for getting a fairly large vote share despite a low seeding - they will need to collect more votes if they want to maintain their status. On the other hand, Human Fortress dropped 3 spaces but could fall further if Avenged and Devin earn more votes in the second round.

Swallow the Sun, Moonspell, Live, Arctus, and Sonata Arctica all finished with only one vote each and dropped 4 spaces each as a consequence. Queensryche's Tribe is also remaining at the bottom with just a single vote, but we'll see if that changes at any point.
 
Confeos said:
Well... Objectively you're quite right. There are probably better albums in this vein out there. But it was my pick for purely nostalgic reasons - when we bought our house some years ago, I basically had this album on repeat. Moving, renovating, tearing down wallpapers, painting, putting in new floors - this was my soundtrack that summer. Probably sounds boring, but it was an exciting, enjoyable time for us (first time homeowners). These days, I don't listen to it that much, but whenever I'm in the mood for some fun, medieval metal, I give it a spin. Also, my wife and I both think the singer at times sounds like a young, unpolished Bruce Dickinson.
Click to expand...
1753832293253.png
 
Voting for Train of Thought, We’ve Come For You All, Waking the Fallen (which I somehow missed last time) and Swallow the Sun (which I listened to today and thoroughly enjoyed).

We’ve Come For You All is such a special record. I’ve seen Anthrax exactly 4 times and all of those shows took place in less than 2 years from February 2002 to December 2003 (the final show being the taping of Music of Mass Destruction at Metro). These guys were just at the absolute top of their game for this album cycle. I distinctly remember these gigs more than twenty years later and I can’t say that about a lot of gigs.

But to the album itself: “Side A” from What Doesn’t Die through Nobody Knows Anything is one of the strongest, tightest, most invigorating stretches of songs certainly in Anthrax’s career. The songwriting and performances here are so well done, especially Bush and Charlie Benante. Just listen to the drums throughout this record. They are expertly crafted and played with so much intensity it still moves me to this day. The way Charlie and John build and release tension in these tunes is masterful.

Sadly, the back half of the album is such a head scratcher. Like a lot of their material from the late 90s, it feels like a collection of B-sides. Strap It On is truly awful. Black Dahlia is only good because of the drums. I like Cadillac Rock Box but it is such a departure from the rest of the album that it feels ridiculous. Taking The Music Back is barely a song and features Roger Daltrey for no reason. Crash is pointless.

Thankfully they recover it in the end and the final two songs are pretty good, but then they have a “secret track” of just shaking some percussion around? What were they thinking here?!

If we were just voting on a collection of songs, then my heart lies with the first half of WCFYA (yes, even over Train of Thought).
 
Train of Thought deserves this year as it’s easily one of DT’s most consistent albums. Dance of Death has three outstanding songs, a few decent ones, and a whole heap of filler (I go back and forth on whether or not this or Final Frontier is Maiden’s weakest reunion album, but it might be this).
 
Updated Power Rankings
  1. Dream Theater - Train of Thought =
  2. Iron Maiden - Dance of Death =
  3. Evanescence - Fallen =
  4. Gojira - The Link =
  5. Children of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll =
  6. Anthrax - We've Come For You All =
  7. Avenged Sevenfold - Waking the Fallen +1
  8. Human Fortress - Defenders of the Crown -1
  9. Devin Townsend - Accelerated Evolution =
  10. Swallow the Sun - The Morning Never Came =
  11. Moonspell - The Antidote =
  12. Live - Birds of Pray
  13. Arctus - The Sham Mirrors =
  14. Sonata Arctica - Winterheart's Guild =
  15. Queensryche - Tribe =
I never thought I would post a poll on Maidenfans where the only update is an Avenged Sevenfold moving into the top half.

I'm voting to keep Train of Thought on top and to move up A7X, Devin Townsend, and Swallow the Sun as I believe firmly that these belong in the top 5. I'll also try to check out Anthrax before the end of the week and make a judgment there although I haven't heard anything from the Bush era that I love.

Also voting to move Tribe up because I don't believe that it is genuinely the worst album on the list by a long shot.
 
Same votes as last time: Train of Thought, Anthrax, Waking the Fallen and Swallow the Sun.

Listened to a couple more albums today, and I think I'm done with this year...

Gojira - The Link
Mathematic rhythmic exercises with screaming. 85% of this is just not for me. Sure, they can syncopate like no one else, but the whole thing lacks any sort of emotional hook and I hate the vocals. The snare and cymbal production is atrocious. But it’s not all bad: I would listen to Indians and Embrace The World again. Dawn proves they are capable of using some semblance of melody in their playing and is enjoyable if egregious in length (also not a coincidence that one of the only good tracks here is an instrumental).

Children of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll*
I really enjoy a lot of this music. The instrumentals are fun as hell, tight enough while still feeling lively and raw, and the album is full of energy. But, shit, the vocals are just awful and the lyrics are worse. Oh well. These songs would be absolutely killer with a better vocalist and non-sophomoric lyrics. I get that being ridiculous is their thing, but it’s not mine.

*I did not finish this album.
 
Sth2112 said:
By the way, the Arcturus album The sham mirrors was released in 2002
Click to expand...
Whoops, good catch. I can't do anything about the previous year, although I went back and it was an error on my part. I am going to include the user's actual nominated album from this year, Nevermore - Enemies of Reality, when the poll resets tomorrow. It will appear in several rounds and I will give it a slightly higher seed so that it has a chance to compete.
 
LooseCannon said:
I think it's pretty clear that 2003 is just a really weak year.
Click to expand...
Overall, I guess so. To mention some other interesting albums: Rheingold, Rabbit Don't Come Easy, Watching In Silence, Valley Of The Damned, Burning Earth, Epica, Masterplan, Elements Pt. 1 & Pt. 2, Soundchaser.
 
Last edited:
It was a good year for melodic metal. Helloween did an okay album (with a good first single), and Sasca Paeth released his rock opera, very underrated
 
Sth2112 said:
It was a good year for melodic metal. Helloween did an okay album (with a good first single)
Click to expand...
Melodic metal, this. Overall it's not a strong album for me, but a couple of the songs, the very good heavy sound, the performances and some cool ideas are nice to have. Every song has something interesting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top