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The Great Collection Rediscovery |
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adg211288 
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Black Metal, Prog/AG Teams Joined: 05 Nov 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 22293 |
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 Posted: 14 Aug 2020 at 4:49pm |
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Must say, I'd really forgotten just how good Dream Theater are (my dislike of Awake aside). I lost interest in them largely over the last decade with The Astonishing being like a final nail in the coffin, though I am feeling inclined to see how that album holds up after a few years. I've been really digging them again today though, which is why I ended up doing four in a row for this blog. I expect I'll be spinning most of these again sooner rather than later.
They'd probably be much higher on my Last.fm stats if most of my DT listening hadn't been during 2007-2009, before I joined the site.
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Vim Fuego
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Death, T/S/G, Grind, VA Teams Joined: 05 Jul 2015 Location: Canterbury, NZ Status: Offline Points: 6618 |
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Posted: 14 Aug 2020 at 5:18pm |
I reject your rejection!
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adg211288
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Posted: 15 Aug 2020 at 6:52am |
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Artist: Dream Theater
Album: Black Clouds & Silver Linings Old Rating: 4.5/5  Verdict: Probably the most underrated album of Dream Theater. There has always, since it was released in 2009, been a faction of fans who will tell you that Black Clouds & Silver Linings is no good. Well I say that those people should have got onto the retailer they bought their copies from - they were obviously given the wrong album. One of Dream Theater's best releases. New Rating: 5/5
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adg211288
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Posted: 15 Aug 2020 at 6:58am |
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Artist: Iced Earth
Album: Night of the Stormrider Old Rating: 5/5  Verdict: I did actually listen to this one during the first 100 albums of this project, but I wasn't focusing on every album I own at that point. Night of the Stormrider is my favourite main Iced Earth album, despite preferring the vocals of Matt Barlow or Stu Block. Most of the songs here are also found with Matt singing on Days of Purgatory but there's a few missing from that collection, which has always meant that the only way to listen to the concept album in its entirety has remained this original. Maybe that's for the best come to think about it, this is a classic USPM/thrash album that wouldn't have deserved to be overlooked by being able to piece together a complete Barlow version. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288
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Posted: 15 Aug 2020 at 9:38am |
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Artist: Dream Theater
Album: A Dramatic Turn of Events Old Rating: 4.5/5  Verdict: Until recently this was the most recent Dream Theater album I'd bought as I'd never got around to picking up the self-titled (I liked that one but thought it a by the numbers DT album) and disliking The Astonishing. This though, is a great progressive metal album. A couple of tracks maybe not as strong make it a step down from Black Clouds & Silver Linings, but it's a fine start to the post-Portnoy era of the band. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288
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Posted: 15 Aug 2020 at 11:33am |
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Artist: Ayreon
Album: 01011001 Old Rating: 5/5  Verdict: 01011001 really hit the spot for me in 2008 with The Human Equation not having clicked yet. These days I do have to say that album has won out over this one (with Electric Castle still being the king), but I still like 01011001 a lot. Comatose may just be Lucassen's best non-metal song. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288
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Posted: 16 Aug 2020 at 5:02am |
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Artist: Dream Theater
Album: Systematic Chaos Old Rating: 4/5  Verdict: I always felt like Systematic Chaos, Dream Theater's first new album since I started listening to them, always had a rather lukewarm reception that I didn't understand at the time, but now do. It's a solid album, but not the most consistently exciting material they've put out and is one of the few times a Dream Theater album just seems to stick around for too long. One of their weaker efforts, though not bad either. Luckily they'd hit it out of the park with it's follow-up. New Rating: 3.5/5
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adg211288
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Posted: 16 Aug 2020 at 5:51am |
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Artist: Dream Theater
Album: A Change of Seasons Old Rating: 4/5  Verdict: If this EP was just the title track it would be a 5/5. However there are also four live covers which are mostly medleys and are mostly all throwaway filler. And I also don't generally like live releases anyway. New Rating: No Change.
Edited by adg211288 - 16 Aug 2020 at 6:56am |
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Bosh66
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Sludge, MC, HC, Post-Metal & Noise Rock Joined: 14 Feb 2013 Location: Bolton, Lancs Status: Offline Points: 25645 |
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Posted: 16 Aug 2020 at 6:08am |
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Systemic Chaos is one of the few DT albums I still play regularly, along with Train of Thought , Six Degrees and Black Clouds. Always thought it an excellent album. Many disagree.
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adg211288
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Posted: 16 Aug 2020 at 7:01am |
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Artist: Kvist
Album: For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike Old Rating: 5/5  Verdict: If you're going to be a one album wonder you could do worse than to be Kvist. I was lucky enough to find a copy of this is a Cash Converters some years ago. One of a few black metal records I got at that time and certainly the gem of the bunch. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288
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Posted: 16 Aug 2020 at 11:36am |
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Artist: Epica
Album: The Holographic Principle Old Rating: 5/5  Verdict: Objectively I think this has to be Epica's most accomplished release. They just keep pushing where symphonic metal can go, getting more complex and never compromising on their extreme elements when their contemporaries get increasingly poppy instead. As expected The Divine Conspiracy has won through as a favourite from the Epica albums I own on this run, but this is a very close second. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288
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Posted: 18 Aug 2020 at 6:20am |
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Artist: Rebellion
Album: Shakespeare's Macbeth - A Tragedy in Steel Old Rating: 3.5/5  Verdict: This would be a very solid debut for Rebellion if they hadn't taken the MacBeth adaptation too far with the use of narration, sometimes plonked right in the middle of a song, disrupting the album's flow every damn time. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288
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Posted: 19 Aug 2020 at 9:02am |
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Artist: Epica
Album: The Solace System Old Rating: 4.5/5  Verdict: I sometimes forget I've got this EP when I'm on an Epica kick. This is six leftovers from The Holographic Principle sessions and perhaps better serves to really highlight just how good that album is than to be based off its own merit, but it's still a very good release in and of itself. I really should spend more time with it. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288
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Posted: 19 Aug 2020 at 10:43am |
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Artist: Anubis Gate
Album: Andromeda Unchained Old Rating: 5/5  Verdict: While Anubis Gate is definitely a band I could do with balancing my ratings out on instead of so many automatic five stars (I do love them though), there's absolutely no way that Andromeda Unchained would get such a drop. It's my second favourite by the band, only topped by it's follow-up, which is one of my favourite albums of all time (and current holder of most played on Last.fm). This is a very close second place to that one though. New Rating: No Change.
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666sharon666
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Posted: 19 Aug 2020 at 12:55pm |
I miss Jef Bertels art on newer Ayreon releases. I don't mind The Source's cover but I don't like the Transitus one at all.
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adg211288
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Posted: 20 Aug 2020 at 3:09am |
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Artist: Star One
Album: Space Metal Old Rating: 4/5  Verdict: Arjen Lucassen is actually a bit of an oddity as a metal artist in that the more focused on metal he gets the less interesting the resulting release usually ends up. Space Metal, his first Star One album, is a prime example of that: solid work but less varied than delivered with Ayreon or his solo album Lost in the New Real and not as out and out progressive. This is a fun little album from him but far from his best work. The second one though is considerably stronger. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288
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Posted: 20 Aug 2020 at 6:50am |
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Artist: Katatonia
Album: Brave Murder Day Old Rating: 4.5/5  Verdict: I think it would be exaggerating if I said I was a fan of Katatonia. By and large this band just does not appeal to me. However I really like their early death-doom metal albums. For me, Brave Murder Day is the stronger one of the two, though I may be bias because it has Mikael Åkerfeldt on lead vocals making it an appealing release for the Opeth fan as much as anything. I have heard a couple of their later releases according to my Last.fm stats for the band, but for some reason I haven't rated those releases either on here or RYM and I can't remember a thing about them, which says enough I think on how I feel about Katatonia after this point. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288
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Posted: 21 Aug 2020 at 4:59am |
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Artist: Evilfeast
Album: Elegies of the Stellar Wind Old Rating: 4.5/5  Verdict: Okay so this one has more of a wintertime listening vibe to it than a summer one, but it's hard to not be entranced by Evilfeast's take on atmospheric black metal. Some really nice ambient and symphonic parts here. It's the only Evilfeast album I currently own. I should definitely try to at least hear more of them. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288
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Posted: 23 Aug 2020 at 11:38am |
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Artist: Cauldron Born
Album: Born of the Cauldron Old Rating: 5/5  Verdict: A powerhouse USPM album, Born of the Cauldron is sadly not as well known as the giants of USPM that it should be counted amongst. Sadly physical copies are also very rare. I lucked out with getting mine and it doesn't look any easier to obtain (at least over here, it did get a US/Can reissue in 2018 by the looks of it). This is one USPM album that genre fans shouldn't be overlooking though. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288
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Posted: 25 Aug 2020 at 3:04am |
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Artist: Enchant
Album: Blink of an Eye Old Rating: 3.5/5  Verdict: I have been trying on and off for years to find a true appreciation for Enchant. I like singer Ted Leonard in other ventures such as Thought Chamber and Spock's Beard, but his main band has never really clicked for me even after picking this one up. This re-listen didn't change anything. New Rating: No Change.
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adg211288 wrote: