The Great ALEVIVOR Sleeps At Last... WINNERS!

Vote for your LEAST favorite song!


  • Total voters
    5
  • Poll closed .

Diesel 11

As you scream into the web of silence...
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We are here to drink your beer
And steal your rum at the point of a gun
Your alcohol to us will fall
'Cuz we are here to drink your beer!
Lads and lasses, welcome to the first ever ALEVIVOR! We will be going through the entire discography of Alestorm and leave out nothing - cover songs are included - in this epic quest to find the most perfect pirate metal tune from the most perfect pirate metal band!

This survivor will be run a little differently from most of them. The way it works is a little simpler:
  • We start with the first album(s).
  • When we've whittled down the list to [around] 10 songs, the next album enters the game.
  • This continues right up to the end, in which we reach the Top 10.
That's pretty much it. We're starting with Alestorm's debut, Captain Morgan's Revenge, and, just for fun, I'm also including the songs from the Battleheart EPs in this round as well - those that weren't re-released as Alestorm songs later on, at least.

Round 1:
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  • The Glorius Battle
  • Journey Man (Korpiklaani cover)
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  • The Curse of Captain Morgan
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  • Over the Seas
  • Captain Morgan's Revenge
  • The Huntmaster
  • Nancy the Tavern Wench
  • Death Before The Mast
  • Terror on the High Seas
  • Set Sail and Conquer
  • Of Treasure
  • Wenches & Mead
  • Flower of Scotland (The Corries cover)
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  • Weiber und Wein
  • Heavy Metal Pirates

@Lampwick 43 @Confeos @JudasMyGuide @Black Abyss Babe and @ anyone else - it begins! Yarrharrr!
 
Battleheart
  • "The Glorious Battle" - I like this a lot. There's little to note because it's just an instrumental, but it creates a great amount of atmosphere and I'm really into that.
  • "Journey Man" - A very nice cover. Short but sweet. There's a lot of stuff that Alestorm would perfect in years to come, but it still sounds great nonetheless.
Terror on the High Seas
  • "The Curse of Captain Morgan" - Another pretty cool instrumental. Seems to have been re-used to create some of bits in "Captain Morgan's Revenge" (the song). I like it.
Captain Morgan's Revenge
  • "Over the Seas" - The first official "Alestorm" song is kickass. Love it.
  • "Captain Morgan's Revenge" - Alestorm would have better songs, but there's something truly great about this epic tale of woe. I wouldn't be surprised if it makes it to the Top 10.
  • "The Huntmaster" - Another pretty cool song. Lots of great guitar work in here.
  • "Nancy the Tavern Wench" - After the speedier stuff we just went through, it's understandable that they'd throw in a slower song here. I don't necessarily like this as much as I know some people do, but it's still a very enjoyable piece.
  • "Death Before the Mast" - Fun song, but not as good as the preceding ones.
  • "Terror on the High Seas" - Another fun song, but too "Venom"-ish. I'm not a big fan of the vocals, but the chorus is nice.
  • "Set Sail and Conquer" - The synth sounds like Maiden's Somewhere In Time. I love that, but the rest sounds pretty uninspired.
  • "Of Treasure" - I like this acoustic track a lot, actually. A true sea shanty kinda thing.
  • "Wenches & Mead" - Probably the most "fun" song on the entire album.
  • "Flower of Scotland" - I know some people dislike the vocals here, but I like it. Very nice cover.
Leviathan
  • "Weiber und Wein" - Literally just "Wenches & Mead" but in German. And I like it, but mainly as a novelty piece. I can stick with the original song.
  • "Heavy Metal Pirates" - Most lackluster song here.
Voting for "Journey Man", "The Curse of Captain Morgan", "Death Before the Mast", "Terror on the High Seas", "Set Sail and Conquer", "Weiber und Wein", and "Heavy Metal Pirates".
 
This is going to require some careful thought - I'll have to re-listen to the album and come back tomorrow (and check YouTube for those Battleheart songs - I don't actually think I've ever heard them). In the meantime, @Diesel 11, thank you very much for going to the trouble of putting this together :).
 
Firstly I would like to point out that I deliberately didn't have the forum open when I made this list, so as not to be informed by Diesel's already expressed preferences, but somehow I've come up with an almost identical list (it honestly is a coincidence).

Only difference is: I couldn't choose between "The Huntmaster" and "The Curse of Captain Morgan" because I really like both - so I'm only voting for six.

Also interesting to note is that the only member of the current lineup to appear on "Captain Morgan's Revenge" is Christopher Bowes. Elliot hasn't arrived yet so there is only the keytar played by Christopher, Dani Evans is playing the bass at this stage, guitars are played by Gavin Harper (who didn't make it to the next album) and the drummer is a sessioner, Migo Wagner. The sound is not entirely settled yet but they are already recognisable.
 
One thing I discovered which was sad: the original Battleheart drummer, Graham Motion, died in 2006 after falling off a bridge. He was only 20 years old, and the band was just starting to gain popularity... sad jams.
 
It begins! Yay! I'll revisit the first album (and have a listen to the other tracks) and give a proper review in a few days :)
 
Battleheart
  • The Glorious Battle - Atmospheric. A fitting way to begin the journey through Alestorm's discography. I really like it.
  • Journey Man - Nah, not a fan. It's fine that they try doing covers from time to time, but it's just not interesting. Vote.
Terror on the High Seas
  • The Curse of Captain Morgan - Essentially just the middle part of Captain Morgan's Revenge as an orchestral piece. Should almost be on the next Pirates of the Caribbean-soundtrack! It's a great melody, but obsolete now it's been incorporated into an actual song. Vote.
Captain Morgan's Revenge
  • Over the Seas - Not their best opener, but a great way to open the album, and truly one of the better songs on the debut.
  • Captain Morgan's Revenge - This is it; we've found the best Alestorm-song - end of the survivor! In all seriousness, it's definitely my favourite tune by the Scottis pirates - so damn catchy and an amazing chorus!
  • The Huntmaster - A good song, but nothing too special. I like the tempo/rhythm-changes in the solopart.
  • Nancy the Tavern Wench - And so we head into slower territory with another fine song. This one is so much better live - listen to one from "Live at the End of the World", it completely buries the studio verson.
  • Death Before the Mast - The first of three faster songs, this one is pretty bland with uinteresting riffs. Vote.
  • Terror on the High Seas - A bit better than the previous one, I like the chorus. I still suspect it to be gone soon though.
  • Set Sail and Conquer - Over the Seas part 2? They sound pretty much alike, but the former is a lot stronger than this one. Vote.
  • Of Treasure - This is good, I really dig the folky feel. Not too long either, it works very well.
  • Wenches & Mead - Great tune! Perhaps the most catchy song on the album after the title track, the chorus easily gets stuck in my head.
  • Flower of Scotland - Another cover, another completely boring song. Vote.
Leviathan
  • Weiber und Wein - Just... unnecessary. Vote.
  • Heavy Metal Pirates - It definitely has a firm place in Alestorm history as one of the first ones they wrote, and (if I'm not mistaken) the one that made them realise they should stick with the pirate theme. However, it isn't that good, and the vocals in particular are terrible. Vote.
 
Captain Morgan is one hell of a debut album. Alestorm really make their presence known right from the start, and never look back. Captain Morgans Revenge and Wenches & Mead are absolute classics, and I also really love Set Sail and Conquer, although I seem to be in the minority on that last one. :(

Voting for all the Battleheart stuff, mostly due to the terrible production, + Death Before the Mast, Weiber, and Heavy Metal Pirates.
 
Captain Morgan's Revenge was a seminal event when it came out. It's hard to picture it now, but people were talking about nothing else then. This was before bands like Sabaton or Powerwolf had their breakthrough, and it was essentially the first "gimmick" album to become a mainstream success in the metal world. When I saw them in Wacken in 2008, the tent where they played basically burst, and it was a perfect opening for the festival, with Maiden following straight away. Alestorm were bigger than Sabaton then! Everybody knew these guys weren't really good musicians, but the party atmosphere of their gigs at the time was enough to carry them.
At the same time, I knew that this band wouldn't ride the same wave of success for long. I expected the pirate theme would get stale after the second album, and thought they would be better off emphasising the "Scottish" aspect of their image and improving their musical skills, both of which they never really did. I enjoyed the second album, but I also expected the band to drop into obscurity at the time. I don't know if I can say my predictions were right, but I definitely lost interest eventually. But we'll always have the summer of '08...
 
The only album where the band really took a dive, IMO, is their most recent one, No Grave But The Sea. Then again, that’s to be expected, because Sunset on the Golden Age is one of the greatest albums of all time, and the one where they truly nailed their sound and songwriting.

I’ll update as soon as @JudasMyGuide gets a chance to vote.
 
He probably meant one of the greatest albums of all time released by a band with pirate vocals, which is correct :P
 
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