The Greatest Metal Song Cup - Part II, Round 3, Matches 67-72

[JudasMyGuide]

I agree with NP though. Heaven and Hell is an all time great, maybe the best of all the Sabbath albums, but the other two are not very good at all. Meanwhile, with the exception of Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die, all Sabbath albums with Ozzy are classics and it's easily their best work. Ozzy just fit the band better. Even the reunion album, 13, is better than the reunion album they made with Dio (although I'm not crazy about either).

And even Ecstasy has You Won't Change Me, which is awesome and unironically one of my favourite songs by them, the Beatlesque It's Alright and Dirty Women, which was really enjoyable live.

But I agree the last two albums aren't really classics.

 

[Mosh]

I was actually going to make a slight exception for Never Say Die. There are at least 3 or 4 songs I can get into there. Couldn't get into anything on Technical Ecstasy though.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Well, I actually had You Won't Change me on the shortlist of nominations for this very cup. Good thing I eliminated it, I suppose

 

[Confeos]

The Ozzy albums are the definitive Sabbath albums for me. Other than Maiden, I can't think of any band that can match the run from the debut to Sabotage in terms of pure quality. That being said, I love the other periods of Sabbath almost as much, and I would rank all the Dio- and Tony Martin-fronted albums above Ozzy's entire solo output (with Blizzard as a notable exception).

As for the matter of Nightwish, I'm first and foremost on Team Tarja, but both Anette albums are excellent as well. I can't say anything bad about Floor, but I do feel bad for her - it's a real shame that Tuomas hasn't given her any good material to work with yet.

 

[LooseCannon]

I agree that Heaven & Hell is the one timeless Dio Sabbath album. I also think it's the best Sabbath album overall. Is it the most timeless, no. I like the big stuff with Ozzy but I tend to think that it was getting long in the tooth pretty quickly, and the back couple albums are pretty meh. I think Ozzy's solo stuff and Ozzy's Sabbath stuff will do great in the tournament. You don't see a lot of Ozzy Sabbath because it has tons of noms and is all over the group stage.

 

[Diesel 11]

To be clear, if you were to ask me who my favorite singers are, Dio would be higher on the list than Ozzy. He had such a powerful, mystical voice, almost grandfatherly in his storytelling, that it's hard not to like him. Legendary for a reason.

But if you asked me who I'd rather listen to, I honestly would have to say Ozzy. I don't go out of my way to spin his stuff usually, but his solo material was absolutely massive to me when I was younger. On a late night while I was driving home with my dad, "Crazy Train" came on the radio and the sheer magic of Randy Rhoads's guitar and Ozzy demented wailings was absolutely one of the biggest eureka moments for me. It was part of my journey that began with The Beatles and then Led Zeppelin and has (to date) concluded with Iron Maiden. I was always drawn further into the heavier side of rock, whether that was the fuzzed-out "Revolution" guitar or the banshee shrieks of "Immigrant Song", and Randy's suave yet intense playing absolutely wowed me.

But it's one thing to have great players all around you and not deliver the goods yourself. But Ozzy has such an incredibly unique voice and it cuts right through the mix and ends up bringing the entire thing together. Is he the most talented singer out there? No, I don't think anyone can argue that. But could any other voice really pull forth the raw heaviness and despair of a song like "Black Sabbath"? Or walk the thin line between agreement and pity on "Mr. Crowley"? Or synchronize with Randy's guitar on the line "Mental wounds not heeeeealing, life's a bitter shaaaame..."? I don't think Dio could have pulled it off. Dio was great about being the spectacle. Ozzy knows he's not the spectacle (of course being zapped out on drugs helps), and he's not trying to be the spectacle. He lets his players play, and he does exactly what he needs to do, and brings with him an air of darkness all his own.

 

[Diesel 11]

"Becoming" is a killer Pantera song. I am quickly realizing that I like Pantera way more than I thought I did, and that you people are nuts. ST's track was more dynamic than it seemed at first, but still didn't go anywhere interesting. Those vocals sucked.

As this forum's greatest King Diamond defender I regret to inform you that I'll instead be defending Ozzy Osbourne today. "Eye of the Witch" is fine but by this point the magic was starting to run a little thin. This performance also isn't as dynamic as King often is, which is why it's crazy that a lot of people are digging this more than shit on Abigail. Anyway, "Diary of a Madman" is a goddamn classic, Ozzy expertly plays the role of a lunatic as orchestral flourishes build up alongside one of Randy Rhoads's best guitar works. The climax after the bridge with that riff coming down gives me chills.

"Mirror Mirror" is a solid song. Not too sold on the chorus but the rest of it is great. I'll be fine with it winning but I have fonder memories of "Cum on Feel the Noize" so I'm voting Quiet Riot.

Annihilator, duh. Look, "Spit Out the Bone" is one of Metallica's best tracks of the past 25 years, but "Alison Hell" is a goddamn classic. Jeff Waters's guitarwork is so fucking crisp, and there are so many twists and turns to this track. It's awesome, one of the best thrash tunes of all time by far. Anyone who criticizes the vocals of Randy Rampage needs to simply go have sex, eat a pizza, and stay up till 3 a.m. because y'all just have no FUN.

"God Save the Queen" is a classic. I prefered Nightstalker though.

I'm voting for Nightwish because "Storytime" is awesome (again, some of y'all need to have some fun every now and then, Jesus Christ). That said, Dark Moor was not at all my thing at the start but I ended up having a thoroughly enjoyable time by the end. Good stuff.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

The first match is tough because I don't really care for either of these tracks, but Pantera's is groovier and hits harder.

The music in Ozzy's song is killer, but it can't save it from Ozzy himself. Yes, I know he's up against an arguably worse vocalist, but at least King Diamond embraces the cheese (I think). This is also the best I've heard him sound, and the music in this one keeps me engaged the entire time.

The Quiet Riot song has a cool bass line and solo but is far too glammy for me, while Def Leppard's track has this cool mysterious groove that I, like, totally dig, man.

Annihilator have a solid and often technical track here, but up against Metallica's best '80s-not-actually-from-the-'80s song it stands no chance. When I first heard Spit Out the Bone, I was as surprised as everyone that James Hetfield and his backing band would end such a mostly midtempo average album with a killer tune like this. So yeah, 'tallica all the way.

Night Stalker wins this match by default, since I can't stand punk. This kind of dirty, dingy midtempo rock isn't normally my thing, but this song isn't bad.

Dark Moor have an incredibly cliche power metal effort here with the constant running double bass and vocals with no depth. I'm apparently one of the few who loves the Imaginaerium album, and this is a catchy little track from it. Nightwish all the way. (The Dark Moor song would win if it were up against the Sex Pistols).

 

[Jer]

Def Leppard's track has this cool mysterious groove that I, like, totally dig, man.

 

[____no5]

I like the ritual I'm starting to have with this thread, usually I have a listen to YouTube links before I go to sleep, sometimes I have time to comment sometimes not. If I'm mobile, I listen to Knicker's Spotify previews.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

I can't help but agree with my wifey's assessment after hearing Amaranth done by Floor as "it's like replacing a butterfly with a bulldozer".

I completely agree with this. There are some songs that Floor blows out of the water (see Ghost Love Score), but most of the Anette-era stuff is not in her wheelhouse.

Am I going to hear the entirety of Imaginaerum before we're finished?

If it were up to me, yes.

Straightforward power metal just fails to capture my attention.

That's because once you've Symphony X'd, you can't go back.

You might also be pleasantly surprised by “Another Hit And Run” from the same album:

I liked the other track better, but this is also quite solid.

With that logic, yeah, Franks Wild Years is awesome, but it would be even more awesome if it was re-recorded with Dio vocals!

We all know you'd listen to it.

Dio is a better singer, but Black Sabbath was much better during the Ozzy era.

Gotta disagree there. The music during those first two Dio albums was powerful, energetic, melodic, and fun - which I'll take over the stoner grooves of the Ozzy era any day. Obviously I agree on the singing, though. Ozzy's drug-addled brain needed to play "follow the riff" with his vocal lines like a blind squirrel trying to find his acorn, whereas Dio comes flying out of the gate with horns risen and takes no prisoners.

Haha, I just watched that movie and it's obviously rubbed off on me a bit.

 

[LooseCannon]

Didn't get my votes in as I got distracted by the hockey game, but no ties so no tiebreaks needed. Update tomorrow AM.

 

[MindRuler]

Knicker's Spotify previews.

Yup, they´re quite handy!
I´d like to thank @MrKnickerbocker for making these previews every round. Much appreciated man!

 

[Kalata]

They certainly have different strengths and weaknesses, that's why I still hope there's going to be a reunion with all three vocalists one day à la Helloween.
I spent about 5 minutes on this during my lunch break, so don't judge it too harshly, but I would love seeing this live:

She Is My Sin (Tarja)
Noise (Floor)
Dead to the World (Tarja + Floor)
The Poet and the Pendulum (Anette)
Amaranth (Anette)
Planet Hell (Floor on Marco vocals, Tarja on hers)
Sacrament of Wilderness/Crownless (Tarja)
Nemo (Tarja)
The Islander (Floor on Marco vocals, Anette doing the backing ones)
I Want My Tears Back (Floor + Anette)
Élan/Alpenglow (Floor)
The Last Ride of the Day (Anette)
Beauty and the Beast (Tarja)
Ghost Love Score (Floor)

Dark Chest of Wonders (Tarja and Floor)
Bless the Child (Tarja and Anette)
Wishmaster (all three)

That would be so awesome. With Marko too.

My take:

Spoiler

1.Dark Chest Of Wonders (all three)
2.She Is My Sin (Tarja)
3.Elvenpath (verses - Anette, chorus - Tarja and Floor)
4.Amaranth (Anette)
5.Shudder Before The Beautiful (Floor)
6.Nemo (Tarja)
7.Noise (Floor and Anette)
8.The Riddler (verses - Floor, chorus - Tarja)
9.Beauty Of The Beast (all three)
10.I Want My Tears Back (Anette and Floor)
11.End Of All Hope (Tarja and Anette)
12.Élan (verse - Tarja, chorus - Floor and Anette)
13.The Poet And The Pendulum (all three)
14.Slaying The Dreamer (Tarja and Floor)
15.Bless The Child (Tarja)
16.Storytime (Anette and Floor)
17.Ghost Love Score (all three)
Encore:
18.Ever Dream (Tarja)
19.Last Ride Of The Day (Anette and Floor, Tarja on backing vocals)
20.Wishmaster (all three)

Frankly, I would love this so much.

 

[Kalata]

Floor is capable of incredibly light, breathy vocals. She's actually far breathier than Anette, who has more of a consistent "bell" tone to her voice. The reason Floor is great, despite being a bazooka during live performances, is her versatility. She can be light and breathy, she can belt, she can do opera, she can growl - she's a Swiss Army Knife.

Anette has a great sound and she exists purely within that sound, with very little room to stretch outside of it.

I agree.

Ozzy just fit the band better.

Also, since this is mainly about Ozzy's solo work, I will take a lot of that over Dio's solo work as well. We're talking about cornerstone Metal albums here and it's definitely one of the weird Maidenfans quirks that Ozzy era Sabbath and Ozzy in general isn't that well regarded around here.

Ozzy is best for BS. I prefer his solo career (at least the early albums) a bit more.

Dio's first 2/3 solo albums are timeless metal classics.

Other than Maiden, I can't think of any band that can match the run from the debut to Sabotage in terms of pure quality. That being said, I love the other periods of Sabbath almost as much, and I would rank all the Dio- and Tony Martin-fronted albums above Ozzy's entire solo output.

As for the matter of Nightwish, I'm first and foremost on Team Tarja, but both Anette albums are excellent as well. I can't say anything bad about Floor, but I do feel bad for her - it's a real shame that Tuomas hasn't given her any good material to work with yet.

For me, no band has Maiden's first 7 albums quality. Other than that, I agree with you.

There are some songs that Floor blows out of the water (see Ghost Love Score), but most of the Anette-era stuff is not in her wheelhouse.

Yeah, when a certain song is written with one vocalist in mind, in most cases it won't fit the other vocalist. I wouldn't say most of the Anette-era stuff though.

Gotta disagree there. The music during those first two Dio albums was powerful, energetic, melodic, and fun - which I'll take over the stoner grooves of the Ozzy era any day.

This.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

I like the ritual I'm starting to have with this thread, usually I have a listen to YouTube links before I go to sleep, sometimes I have time to comment sometimes not. If I'm mobile, I listen to Knicker's Spotify previews.

Yup, they´re quite handy!
I´d like to thank @MrKnickerbocker for making these previews every round. Much appreciated man!

Glad to help! It’s a nice little ritual indeed.

Do you each have Spotify? Those previews link to full playlists for members. It’s how I listen to each song in full after every update.

 

[____no5]

Do you each have Spotify? Those previews link to full playlists for members. It’s how I listen to each song in full after every update.

I don't as Spotify is not as travel -friendly as Apple Music plus you need VPN from China, plus a couple more reasons. Good to know though, a valid reason to buy a subscription!

 

[TheMercenary]

Can't wait for the next round.

 

[LooseCannon]

did this fucking thing eat my post?

 

[LooseCannon]

Turns out that Suicidal Tendencies will laugh tomorrow with their win over Pantera. Ozzy can write in his diary that today he lost to King Diamond. Def Leppard's eyes work better than Quiet Riot's ears, it seems. Metallica choked on the bone, instead of spitting it out, as they lose to Annihilator. The Queen died, Sex Pistols, on my fucking birthday to make matters worse. Night Stalker. And there's no story about a new world as Nightwish wins their matchup handily.

---

Part I, Round 34, Matches 199-204​

Play In Round	Match 199​	Sanctuary Division​
Metallica - The Thing That Should Not Be	vs.​	Testament - More Than Meets the Eye​
Popoff 500	Nominators​	@Spambot​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Play In Round	Match 200​	Sanctuary Division​
Septicflesh - Dark Art	vs.​	Bolt Thrower - The Killchain​
@Wogmidget	Nominators​	@DJ James​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Play In Round	Match 201​	Sanctuary Division​
Sonata Arctica - FullMoon	vs.​	Stratovarius - Hunting High and Low​
@DJMayes	Nominators​	@DJMayes​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Play In Round	Match 202​	Somewhere in Time Division​
Carcass - No Love Lost	vs.​	Sentenced - Fields of Blood, Harvester of Hate​
Popoff 500	Nominators​	@Magnus​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Play In Round	Match 203​	Somewhere in Time Division​
Theatre of Tragedy - Lorelei	vs.​	Paradise Lost - Ghosts​
@MindRuler	Nominators​	@Night Prowler​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Play In Round	Match 204​	Somewhere in Time Division​
Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade	vs.​	Beastie Boys - Sabotage​
VH1 40	Nominators​	Radio EHS 100​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​