King Diamond appreciation thread

Great music, especially the trio Abigail-"Them"-Conspiracy. All albums that I've heard are good, but for some reason I have never enjoyed The Eye as much as everyone else seems to. I enjoy the music that came after the first five albums too, especially the two new ones. Give Me Your Soul... Please was a step down in quality concerning the story, but in musical terms I think it was very good. Puppet Master seemed very good also, but since I've heard it only a couple of times I can't really judge it rightfully.

The nineties seem a bit underrated, although it didn't continue the pure awesomeness of the first few albums, the music was in no means bad. I haven't heard The Graveyard, and I've heard the Spider's Lullabye only a couple of times, but they're a lot better than what people generally state. I'm very fond of the House of God also, it has a really tight atmosphere that sucks you deep into the story if you're in the right state of mind. HoG reminds me a bit of The X-Factor by Iron Maiden, for they both reveal their true strength only when you listen them completely focused and have time to dive in to their atmospheric soundscapes.

And yeah, Mercyful Fate is awesome too, the first two albums are legendary and I liked In the shadows very much too. Besides these three I've only heard 9, which I didn't enjoy that much because it steers more towards a heavier and darker sound.

His vocals are definitely an aquired taste.

I much prefer the 80s albums too (I include "The Eye" among those).

I am also a big MF / KD fan since the beginning when they seemed to be constantly in Kerrang magazine. I would never be without Melissa, Abigail & Them on my mp3 player. An album that has not been mentioned yet that is worth hearing is my fave outwith the early albums - Abigail II. It even has a cool cover.

Let us not underestimate Time. That album is great.

I would rather say that In the Shadows and Time (both) are a step down from the first two Mercyful Fate and the first five King Diamond albums. I really don't hear a major difference in quality between ...Shadows and Time to be honest. Both contain a few stellar songs and a couple of truly King Diamond-calibre masterpieces (Is That You Melissa? and Time, respectively). 

Egypt, My Demon, The Mad Arab, the rendition of Return of the Vampire with Lars on drums (his last truly good performance imo - check how Ghost has stolen the chorus of that song in their song Ritual, the one with the Symphony of Destruction riff! *wink*), The Old Oak (that one would be an epic if it was recorded with the 84 lineup, or the Abigail one...). All great metal songs, so unique both in sound and composition style, it just goes to show you what an unbelievable entity King Diamond is for metal music. And there are plenty more to be found throughout his MF/KD careers after, unfortunately scattered. 9 has a few dynamites as well (3rd fave in the post-84 stuff), Sold My Soul is a catchy gem for example, with that special KD flavor in the vocal lines (that aaaaahhhh-aahhh stuff!) to give it an edge. 

I was a big fan of King Diamond back in the 80's, especially Abigail and Them but more recent albums have passed me by. I notice later albums aren't that highly rated here but I'm curious to check some of them out.

^ Thanks for the recomendations. great review of Voodoo by the way, I'm going to check that out next. I agree, Mickey Dee is awesome. Whilst he really drives Motorhead and they couldn't have a better drummer he's underused and doesn't get to display the chops he's capable of. 

I saw KD at Copenhell in 2013 (I think). That was probably the best show in the history of that festival.

And, regarding KD's more recent output, I think most of it is pretty good. I don't mind the more compressed production or the more traditional drumming style.