Metal Music Reviews from martindavey87

CLOUDSCAPE Cloudscape

Album · 2004 · Progressive Metal
Cover art 3.56 | 8 ratings
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I’ve had this album on my playlist for quite a while now, mainly because I just couldn’t think of anything in particular to say about it! ‘Cloudscape’ is the self-titled debut album by Swedish progressive metal band, uh, Cloudscape. Released in 2004, this sounds very typical of bands in this genre, but with an emphasis on strong writing, melody, and catchy hooks.

The band members are all excellent musicians, and I particularly love the blending of melodic keyboards and heavy, crunchy guitars. And this album has that in abundance, as well as powerful vocals, interesting lyrics, and a fantastic production. There isn’t anything overly unique about this band, but that’s fine. Not every album needs to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes good music just speaks for itself.

Admittedly, with that said, at one hour in duration, the album does drag a little at times, with some of the songs sounding kind of similar to one another. But on the other hand, some of them are absolutely fantastic! ‘As the Light Leads the Way’, ‘Witching Hour’, ‘Everyday is Up to You’, ‘Under Fire’, ‘Out of the Shadows’ and ‘Slave’ are all amazingly well written songs, and should be more than enough to satisfy any progressive metal fan.

TIME REQUIEM Time Requiem

Album · 2002 · Power Metal
Cover art 3.18 | 3 ratings
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‘Time Requiem’ is the 2002 self-titled debut album by Swedish progressive power metal band, Time Requiem. Formed by keyboard player Richard Andersson, the band plays a style very typical of progressive metal, with a strong neoclassical influence, and an emphasis on powerful vocals and fantasy-themed lyrics.

The most prominent aspect of Time Requiem’s music is shredding, and it comes in boatloads! Andersson and guitarist Magnus Nordh are absolute beasts on their instruments, furiously ripping up the chromatic scale at every opportunity. It makes for some lavishly flavoured riffs and colourful solos, but sadly it does get a little repetitive after a while.

Most of the songs are very strong and well-written, but also rely on similar tropes. At times, they sound very reminiscent of other bands, such as Symphony X, Dream Theater and Stratovarius. But if you can accept a group wearing its influences on its sleeves, then you might just enjoy tracks such as ‘Watching the Tower of Skies’, ‘Time Requiem’, ‘Milagros Charm’, ‘Visions of New Dawn’, ‘The Aphorism’ and the absolutely psychotic instrumental, ‘Brutal Mentor’.

‘Time Requiem’ can be challenging to sit through in one go, especially if you’re not keen on the sheer technicality of the music, but perseverance and repeated listens can be rewarding. Over time, the album grew on me, and while the band offers nothing new or unique, this is a very solid debut, and I’m excited to hear where things will go with future releases.

KISS Alive!

Live album · 1975 · Hard Rock
Cover art 4.36 | 31 ratings
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‘Alive!’, released in 1975, is the first live album by legendary American rock band, KISS. It’s often cited as their best album, period, and is the definitive summary of their music and legacy on one recording. So why do I feel like it’s a bit overrated?

Barely two years into their career, it’s impressive that this is the bands fourth release, and with three albums to draw material from, there’s a wealth of songs for their live shows. The problem is I’m just not really into those first few albums.

Don’t get me wrong, I love KISS. But my love of KISS pretty much starts from what would be their next studio album and onwards (that album being the fantastic ‘Destroyer’). Yeah, the live versions of those original songs sound better, and “how KISS are meant to be heard”, but mostly, those songs still don’t really do much for me.

That’s not to say that I don’t like this album, because I do. Despite the cheesy dubbed crowd noises, there’re still some great performances on here. Songs like ‘Deuce’, ‘Strutter’, ‘Hotter Than Hell’, ‘Cold Gin’ and ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ probably sound better here than they would on their studio recordings, but then, that might also be because I rarely, if ever, listen to the studio recordings.

‘Alive!’ is no doubt regarded as a classic album, and sometimes considered one of the greatest live albums of all time, and that hyperbole may be the very reason why I feel it isn’t. I think it’s good, maybe even very good, but one of the all-time greatest? Sorry, to any KISS fans reading this, but no. Not for me. Just a “good” live album, but one that I’m not likely to listen to that often.

EXTREME Extreme II: Pornograffitti

Album · 1990 · Funk Metal
Cover art 3.95 | 40 ratings
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‘Extreme II: Pornograffitti’ is the second album by American hair metal band, Extreme. Released in 1990, it came out at a time when there was a sense of change in the air. While grunge hadn’t yet completely taken over the world, there was certainly a feeling that a lot of the glam and party antics of the 80’s were becoming dated, which is unfortunate for this Boston quartet, as they had just released what could arguably be considered their best album.

I’ll never understand why hair metal was on such a decline back then, with energetic showmen traded for angsty introverts and flashy guitar solos traded for three chords. Perhaps people were just sick of the image of it all, or just not being able to relate to the lyrics? But regardless, the musicianship was still truly spectacular. For Extreme in particular, praise must go to guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, whose absolute ferocity on the guitar is insane, and vocalist Gary Cherone has an incredible and charismatic voice that totally fits the funky shred style of the riffs.

And I won’t leave out drummer Paul Geary and bassist Pat Badger, who are absolutely solid as a rhythm section, providing plenty of groove and funk.

There’s an absolute abundance of hits on this album, but particular highlights for me include ‘Decadence Dance’, ‘Get the Funk Out’, ‘It (‘s a Monster)’, ‘When I’m President’, the frantic shred-fest that is ‘He-Man Woman Hater’, soft ballad ‘More Than Words’ (which was actually a massive hit for the band), as well as the title track itself. But in all honesty, this album is just non-stop banger after banger, and if you can shake off the 80’s glam stigma, this is an incredible album, and an essential addition to every rock or metal collection.

PITCHSHIFTER Industrial

Album · 1991 · Industrial Metal
Cover art 2.46 | 4 ratings
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I first got into Pitchshifter when I heard the song ‘Genius’ on the soundtrack to ‘Mortal Kombat: Annihilation’ way back in the late 90’s. I loved that song back then, and very quickly got into albums like ‘Deviant’, ‘PSI’ and ‘www.pitchshifter.com’. I enjoyed their energetic industrial style and their rebellious attitude, and these were very impressionable on a young, teenage me.

But then it came time to delve into their back catalogue and check out their debut album, and… what the hell happened here?!

Gone is the industrial energy and rebellious anthems, and in their place, is some sludgy, grimy, death metal nonsense. Not that I really have anything against sludge or death metal for the record, but I just find this album plods along at a very slow, very dull, and very repetitive rate. The incoherent vocals, indistinguishable guitar riffs and mechanical drum machines do nothing for me.

And I tried. I really did. I had this on my playlist for a little while and gave it multiple listens, but absolutely nothing is sticking. I just find myself constantly bored and wanting to listen to any one of the bands later releases, which I know they’ll go on to release some true industrial gems. So with that said, this will retire to the CD shelf, most likely to never be played again, but kept because my collector OCD dictates that it needs to stay with the rest of my Pitchshifter collection.

CKY Volume 1

Album · 1999 · Alternative Metal
Cover art 3.66 | 3 ratings
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‘Volume 1’ is the 1999 debut album by American alternative rock band, CKY. Through their ties to the TV show Jackass (the drummer is Bam Margera’s brother), the band were synonymous with the skater scene around the turn of the century, and had somewhat major success due to a particular hit of theirs.

That hit is ’99 Quite Bitter Beings’. I have never in my life been a skater (I can’t even stand on one without getting all wobbly!), but back in my teenage years, I had a lot of friends who were skaters, and EVERY single hooded-topped, baggy-trouser-wearing one of them liked this song.

Fast forward approximately 20 years, and it’s time to dig into this album and give Camp Kill Yourself a proper chance, and I must say, I’m actually surprised how much I enjoy this album. There’s a lot of very interesting guitar riffs, emphasised even more by their choice of sound, with heavy low-ends, making for some very intriguing writing. The lyrics are mostly tongue-in-cheek, but are catchy and infectious.

Overall though, this is just a solid, hard rocking album. The instrumental work is very good and fairly unique for this kind of band, and with tracks like ‘Rio Bravo’, ‘Lost in a Contraption’, ‘Disengage the Simulator’, ‘My Promiscuous Daughter’ and of course, ’99 Quite Bitter Beings’, there’s an abundance of tasty guitar riffs and captivating ideas that makes me regret waiting so long to properly check this band out.

ANTHRAX Among The Living

Album · 1987 · Thrash Metal
Cover art 4.34 | 97 ratings
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Released in 1987, ‘Among the Living’ is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Anthrax, and is hailed by fans as one of the genres greatest albums. Much like the other members of thrash metal’s “big four” (look ‘em up if you don’t know), Anthrax were at this time, riding an upward trajectory of both creative and critical success. Their previous outing, ‘Spreading the Disease’, solidified them as one of metal’s most promising bands, and this follows on exactly from where they left off.

With the same line-up of musicians, having toured and played together for a number of years now, it’s no surprise that everyone is firing on all cylinders here. The twin-guitar assault sounds even tighter than before, with rapid-fire thrash riffs that refuse to slow down. The bands tongue-in-cheek approach is here in spades, in particular with vocalist Joey Belladonna’s performances, sometimes serious, oftentimes humorous, all the time impressive. All the ingredients for a great Anthrax record are here.

The production sounds good for its time, though nothing overly remarkable, it sounds pretty much as you’d expect an 80’s thrash album to sound, and it holds up well to this day. With fist-pumping anthems such as ‘I Am the Law’, ‘Indians’, ‘Caught in a Mosh’, ‘Among the Living’ and ‘Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)’, there’s an abundance of Anthrax classics here, helping make ‘Among the Living’ an essential album that belongs in every metal fans collection.

AEROSMITH Aerosmith

Album · 1973 · Hard Rock
Cover art 3.61 | 38 ratings
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Released in 1973, ‘Aerosmith’ is the self-titled debut album by American hard rockers, Aerosmith. Showcasing a young band with a whole bundle of confidence and potential, this is hard rock in a similar vein to bands such as KISS, AC/DC or The Rolling Stones. No gimmicks here though, just solid songwriting and loads of energy.

The production on this album is good for its time, and holds up well. Vocalist Steven Tyler isn’t hitting the high notes like he does in later years, not yet anyway, but you can certainly hear the passion and charisma in his voice. The bands sound is still pretty grounded in the blues, having not taken on that harder edge just yet. But again, it’s all good, and we all know what’s coming over the next few years. Or decades.

Overall, this is just a good, solid rock album. At barely 36 minutes in duration, ‘Aerosmith’ absolutely flies by, and tracks like ‘Make It’, ‘Mama Kin’, ‘Walkin’ the Dog’ and early, huge hit for the band, ‘Dream On’, make it a worthy addition to any hard rock collection.

FAITH NO MORE Live At The Brixton Academy

Live album · 1991 · Alternative Metal
Cover art 3.17 | 14 ratings
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As far as live albums go, ‘Live At the Brixton Academy’ can only be rated as “okay”. Released in 1991, this comes off of the success Faith No More had with previous studio outing ‘The Real Thing’. You can certainly feel the energy radiating from the band, with confident and charismatic performances, especially by vocalist Mike Patton, but sadly, the sound is far from brilliant, and as such, I think most fans are better off just listening to the studio albums.

There’s also not really much here to entice repeated listens. They play the songs, the crowd applause, Mike Patton says something, onto the next song. The set list is pretty good, with all the major hits present, but again, overall, there’s just nothing particularly memorable about this disc.

One best kept for die-hard Faith No More fans. And even then, I doubt many of them listen to it that often.

FAITH NO MORE The Real Thing

Album · 1989 · Funk Metal
Cover art 3.97 | 90 ratings
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Released in 1989, ‘The Real Thing’ is the third studio album by alternative metal band Faith No More, and is notable for being the first to feature vocalist Mike Patton. With former frontman Chuck Mosley gone, it’s the addition of Patton that helped the Californian’s truly find their sound and establish themselves as a huge name in the rock and metal world. A certain hit single didn’t hurt, either.

Further pushing the boundaries of where they could take their music, Faith No More’s chemistry as a band really started to pay dividends here. Blending metal, funk, and even pop and disco elements, with a variety of singing, rapping and growling, the band really hit a creative high with their unique sound and unique singer.

Of course, the main focal point of ‘The Real Thing’ is arguably the bands most well-known song and their biggest hit, ‘Epic’. A song that still garners endless radio rotation to this day! Along with ‘Epic’, there are other great tracks, such as the energetic ‘From Out of Nowhere’, the funky ‘Falling to Pieces’, the heavy ‘Surprise! You’re Dead!’ or the title track itself. Though, I must admit I do feel halfway through the album there’s a decline in quality. While the songs are easy enough to sit through, I generally find them quite passable.

Still, overall, this album is regarded as a classic, and rightfully so. It really put Faith No More on the map as mainstream superstars for a short time, and while their brief flirtation with commercial music wouldn’t last long, this record still holds up pretty well to this day, and definitely belongs in the collection of every rock and metal fan.

DEF LEPPARD On Through The Night

Album · 1980 · NWoBHM
Cover art 3.70 | 41 ratings
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Released in 1980, ‘On Through the Night’ is the debut album by legendary British metal band, Def Leppard. It thrust the Sheffield rockers into the upper echelon of what was known as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and along with bands such as Iron Maiden and Saxon, helped revitalise the stagnating metal genre and carry it into the 80’s, where it would reach all new heights of success and popularity.

This however, is a very different band to the one that would become worldwide megastars just a few years later. Switching stadium anthems for a more traditional heavy metal sound, the writing here is raw, but the energy and passion amongst the members is very palpable. From one intense hard rocker to the next, this album doesn’t let up with its blistering, nonstop guitar riffs and early precursors to what will become the bands trademark sing-along choruses.

Highlights include some early Def Lep classics, such as ‘Rock Brigade’, ‘Rocks Off’, ‘Hello America’, ‘It Could Be You’, ‘Sorrow is a Woman’ and ‘Answer to the Master’, each one giving us a taste of what this band is truly capable of. With a great production and its iconic cover art, there’s no doubting this is a solid debut album, and while it may not be the bands best or most famous work, it’s still a worthy addition to any rock or metal collection.

DEICIDE Deicide

Album · 1990 · Death Metal
Cover art 3.95 | 33 ratings
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‘Deicide’ is the 1990 self-titled debut album by Florida-based death metal band, Deicide. I can admit prior to listening to this, that I’m not the biggest death metal fan. I’ve dabbled in it here and there, but mostly find it just too aggressive. But over my years of dipping my feet in the water, there’s been a handful of bands that I “didn’t mind”.

Decide is one of them.

Well, at least, I thought they were. Because this, their debut album, does nothing for me.

I’ve given it multiple spins, hoping that something will catch on, but it’s just not happening. Glen Benton and his motley crew are all more than competent musicians, but none of these songs stick with me. Just endless, mind-numbing guitar riffs that offer nothing other than the usual chugging away on the bottom string, with guttural, aggressive death metal vocals to boot.

I’m sure Deicide were one of those bands I “didn’t mind” for a reason. Maybe they just needed time to evolve, mature or develop their sound a bit more. Perhaps, rather than reviewing their albums in chronological order, I’ll pick something from a few years later, when they’ve established themselves and “found their groove” so-to-speak. Or perhaps I should just put the death metal down and go back to listening to some Yes or Nickelback.

Sorry Decide fans. This one’s just not for me.

PAPA ROACH Getting Away With Murder

Album · 2004 · Alternative Metal
Cover art 2.50 | 6 ratings
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After 2000’s hugely successful ‘Infest’, and it’s follow-up, 2002’s ‘Lovehatetragedy’, Papa Roach, like many, shifted their sound away from the dying nu metal subgenre, and became more grounded in hard rock or post grunge (or whatever style all the nu metal bands became once the fad died down). It was around this time that I lost touch with Papa Roach, a result of my own musical tastes changing, so I was keen to revisit these superstars from my teenage years to see what they’ve been up to since I left off.

‘Getting Away With Murder’ sees Papa Roach do away with a lot of the metal elements in their music, with the most notable being that the guitars don’t quite sound as edgy or aggressive. There’s less focus on rapping vocals, and the lyrical content itself is nowhere near as bleak or angst-ridden as before. The songs are a lot more poppy and radio-friendly, with vocalist Jacoby Shaddix displaying more singing ability than he’d done on previous releases.

But none of this is a detriment. Sure, it’s not quite the same Papa Roach that caught everyone’s attention by ‘cutting their life into pieces’, but there’s still some good, well-written rock songs that show a band maturing and evolving. I might have been disgusted at this change back in 2004, but now, I can see it for what it is. And I’m glad to be making up for lost time.

‘Take Me’, ‘Getting Away With Murder’, ‘Scars’, ‘Blood (Empty Promises)’ and ‘Be Free’ (which features an amazing vocal performance) are all great radio rock songs that demonstrate the band changing with the times whilst still maintaining a high quality of writing. And while ‘Getting Away…’ is far from their best work, it’s still a solid album which definitely has its share of unforgettable tracks.

KAMELOT One Cold Winter's Night

Live album · 2006 · Power Metal
Cover art 4.29 | 8 ratings
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Released in 2006, ‘One Cold Winter’s Night’ is a live album by progressive power metal band Kamelot, recorded earlier in the year whilst touring in support of their absolute masterpiece, ‘The Black Halo’.

Coming off of the success of their most highly revered and ambitious release, it should come as no surprise that everyone in the band is in peak form here. The playing is absolutely fantastic by everyone, and you can really sense how energised and passionate the band members are. Praise in particular to vocalist Roy Khan, who is just blasting each song as heard on their studio counterpart note-for-note.

The set list, as you’d expect, is stellar, featuring pretty much every major fan favourite, with plenty of focus given to material from ‘The Black Halo’, ‘Karma’ and ‘Epica’. Oh, and speaking of Epica, there’s a guest appearance by Simone Simons, giving us a spine-tingling duet with Khan for ‘The Haunting’.

With a crystal-clear sound, excellent set-list and unforgettable performances, this really is a remarkable live album, which truly belongs in every Kamelot fans collection.

THE BLACK MAGES The Black Mages III: Darkness And Starlight

Album · 2008 · Progressive Metal
Cover art 2.14 | 3 ratings
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The Black Mages is an instrumental progressive metal band formed by Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu, renowned for his work on the Final Fantasy video games. While I’ve never actually played the games, I can appreciate video game music, and consider the Black Mages’ first album an absolute masterpiece. Their second album was a very strong follow-up, and so it’s unfortunate that their third album falls a bit flat.

Released in 2008, Uematsu and his motley crew had 21 years of video game lineage to take inspiration from, but with their third release, ‘Darkness and Starlight’, I think it just goes to show that what works as background music in a video game doesn’t necessarily work as a metal song.

And it’s a shame, because in theory, this isn’t much different than the previous two albums, except the magic just isn’t there anymore. The excitement and energy that made the first album so fantastic seems missing, like they’re just going through the motions now.

The playing and production, as always, is exceptional, and there’s a few highlights, including ‘Opening: Bombing Mission’, ‘Neo Exdeath’, ‘Distant Worlds’, ‘Assault On the Silver Dragon’ and closing track ‘Life (in Memory of Keiten)’, but in all honesty, these songs are still fairly passable, and I’d much rather just listen to either of the previous two records. In addition, the only vocals on this album feature in the title track, a 15-minute Japanese prog metal opera, which, I might add, is one of the most horrendously boring and long-winded songs I think I’ve ever heard.

Overall, this isn’t a terrible album, but I really think at this point the band has used up all the best ideas from the franchise, and since they called it a day shortly after, I think they knew that too.

NIGHTWISH Century Child

Album · 2002 · Power Metal
Cover art 3.62 | 34 ratings
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After a slow and steady upwards trajectory over the course of three releases, it seems that with 2002’s ‘Century Child’, their fourth studio album, Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish have refined their sound, and taken a huge step up in both critical and commercial success.

Treading the thin line between power metal and symphonic metal, the band have really hit their stride with this album, sounding more inspired and more confident than ever. With a strong emphasis on the symphonic and operatic elements, as well as additional male vocals to compliment Tarja Turunen’s voice, ‘Century Child’ has a much more well-rounded sound than its predecessors.

With great instrumental performances and an excellent production that really gives the music a rich, vibrant sound, there really aren’t many faults with this release, other than a couple of filler tracks, it’s all pretty stellar.

And with some absolute bangers such as ‘Dead to the World’, ‘End of All Hope’, ‘Bless the Child’, ‘Slaying the Dreamer’, the underrated ‘Feel For You’ and the obligatory symphonic metal band cover of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, ‘Century Child’ displays a band who have really established themselves as one of the top bands of their genre, and is an album that belongs in every metal fans collection.

NINE INCH NAILS Pretty Hate Machine

Album · 1989 · Non-Metal
Cover art 3.71 | 37 ratings
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Released in 1989, ‘Pretty Hate Machine’ is the debut album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Mostly written and recorded by singer and instrumentalist Trent Reznor during down-time whilst working at a studio, it would become an influential and pivotal album in the early days of industrial rock, and in particular, industrial metal.

Seemingly years ahead of its time, ‘Pretty Hate Machine’ sees a blend of rock and electronic elements fused to create a very harsh, gritty and bleak-sounding album. The angst-ridden vocals convey despair and anguish, while atmospheric keyboards create moods of desperation and isolation. This album is heavy, yet danceable!

With early hits including the infectious ‘Head Like a Hole’, ‘Terrible Lie’, ‘Sin’, ‘Kinda I Want To’, ‘Sanctified’ and ‘Down in It’, there is no shortage of potential here, and it’s easy to hear that even on early releases, you know that Nine Inch Nails are destined for bigger things.

RUSH Caress of Steel

Album · 1975 · Hard Rock
Cover art 3.84 | 97 ratings
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I knew early into my love affair with Rush that I was mainly a fan of their 80’s synth-heavy era. As a long-time prog fan, I gravitated to albums like ‘Grace Under Pressure’, ‘Moving Pictures’ and ‘Signals’. That’s not to say I disliked the bands more hard rock material, I just had a firm belief of what my preferences were. So, going through the bands discography from the start, 1974’s self-titled debut is a solid hard rocker that holds up today, but after that, it’s been all downhill so far.

1975’s ‘Fly By Night’ didn’t really do much for me, and sadly, neither does this, the bands third studio album, ‘Caress of Steel’.

Which is a shame, because Rush are one of my favourite bands, and the trio of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart have created some absolutely stellar albums over the years. But there’s just nothing about this one that clicks with me. There’s a couple of decent tracks, such as ‘Bastille Day’ and ‘I Think I’m Going Bald’, but I’m really not likely to listen to any of these by choice.

And to top it off, the Canadian’s make their first foray into full-on progressive rock territory, with two tracks reaching durations of almost 13 and 20 minutes respectively, but holy hell these tracks are boring! I absolutely struggle to keep listening without losing interest, oftentimes forgetting it’s even the same song I’m listening to.

And sadly, that’s ‘Caress of Steel’. As much as I love Rush, this album just isn’t resonating with me, and since their next studio album is a firm, prog classic, I think it’s time to move on to that one…

DEMONS & WIZARDS Demons & Wizards

Album · 2000 · US Power Metal
Cover art 3.69 | 21 ratings
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Released in 1999, ‘Demons & Wizards’ is a power metal collaboration between Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth, and Hansi Kürsch of Blind Guardian. Any band featuring two such prominent names within the power metal community could be amazing, and this SHOULD be amazing, but sadly, it fails to live up to its full potential, leaving us with something that sounds exactly as you’d expect; Iced Earth music with Blind Guardian vocals.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the problem is that this is just so damn average. There’s plenty of high-energy metal thrashing, galloping guitar riffs, epic orchestrations and Gregorian chants (like, who asked for these?), but amongst all of that, there’s only a number of truly memorable songs.

There’s no doubting that tracks like ‘Heaven Denies’, ‘Poor Man’s Crusade’, ‘My Last Sunrise’, and ‘Fiddler On the Green’ have all the makings of power metal classics. But the rest, well, they’re all pretty forgettable. And it’s a huge shame, because this had the potential to be an absolutely classic album, but sadly, for whatever reason, it’s not.

RED CIRCUIT Haze of Nemesis

Album · 2014 · Progressive Metal
Cover art 3.00 | 1 rating
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‘Haze of Nemesis’ is the third album by German progressive metal band Red Circuit. It was released in 2014, five years after its predecessor, and follows on exactly where the band left off, with plenty of explosive, high-energy tracks, centred around massive sounding guitar riffs, atmospheric keyboards and the incredibly powerful voice of renowned Sri Lankan singer, Chity Somapala.

Unlike the bands previous two outings though, ‘Haze…’ does seem a bit samey after a while. That’s not to say it’s bad, but this sounds almost identical to everything the band has done before, and the seeming lack of variety does get a repetitive.

Still, it’s not all bad, as there are some absolute bangers here. ‘Oceans Apart’, ‘My Lonely Heaven’, ‘Serpent’s Smile’, ‘Believing a Lie’ and a cover of Peter Gabriel’s ‘Digging in the Dirt’ are all fantastic reasons to give this album a chance. And with a great production that really makes every song sound absolutely huge, there’s no denying that, although the band stick to their established formula, they do it very well. So why change what isn’t broken?

KISS Rock And Roll Over

Album · 1976 · Hard Rock
Cover art 3.74 | 32 ratings
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‘Rock and Roll Over’ is the fifth studio album by legendary American rockers KISS. Impressively, it’s their sixth release (including a live album) within two and a half years, and follows on from ‘Destroyer’, an album that quite literally changed my life. However, impressive feats aside, this is very much KISS, by-the-numbers.

That’s not to say this isn’t a good album, in fact, this is oftentimes considered by fans to be one of their most popular releases. And after the creative peak of ‘Destroyer’ and the success of 1975’s ‘Alive’, KISS were really on top of the world. But for me personally, I guess when you’ve heard one KISS song, you’ve heard them all, it’s just a matter of how many of them I like. And while ‘Rock and Roll Over’ has its fair share of great tunes, it also has a number of fillers.

Tracks like ‘I Want You’, ‘Take Me’, ‘Calling Dr. Love’, ‘Hard Luck Woman’ (which could easily be a Rod Stewart song) and ‘Ladies Room’ sees the classic line-up of Stanley, Simmons, Frehley and Criss at their sleazy best, coming out with such gems as “put your hand in my pocket, grab hold of my rocket”, but hey, that’s what we expect from KISS, and on that, they deliver.

Overall though, while ‘Rock and Roll Over’ is a decent enough album, and with a duration of barely 32 minutes, it’s not exactly difficult to sit through. It’s just that I think there’s much better KISS albums out there. But still, this is KISS in a nutshell, and if you’re a fan of the band, then this is certainly a worthy addition to the collection.

MAGNUM Chase The Dragon

Album · 1982 · Hard Rock
Cover art 4.14 | 12 ratings
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Back in 2002, I had a sampler CD with an issue of Classic Rock magazine, upon which there was a song on there that had a beautiful piano intro, followed by some dramatic but powerful vocals, and plenty of big, epic guitar riffs. That song was ‘Sacred Hour’, and it introduced me to British AOR band, Magnum.

Admittedly, I’ve never been the biggest Magnum fan, and they’ve only ever been a small blip on my musical radar. After checking out their discography, I found their first album to be a pleasant surprise, though its follow-up, the creatively-titled ‘Magnum II’, was pretty disappointing. So it’s good to hear that with their third album, 1982’s ‘Chase the Dragon’, the band are back on track.

Following in the same vein as their previous outings, the British quintet don’t stray too far from their established formula, mixing classic hard rock and progressive rock elements, with plenty of keyboard-driven riffs mixed in with a healthy dose of pomp and cheese. This is top notch dad rock at its finest.

The songs here are pretty solid, and the musical performances are of a high standard, in particular, vocalist Bob Catley is really belting it at times, and guitarist Tony Clarkin and keyboardist Mark Stanway have excellent chemistry together. The production is also very good, though very typical I suppose, of 80’s hard rock.

With highlights such as ‘Soldier of the Line’, ‘The Spirit’, ‘The Teacher’, bonus track ‘Down to Earth’, and the aforementioned rock ballad ‘Sacred Hour’, ‘Chase the Dragon’ is just a straight-up good album. I’m sure the band will improve with later releases, but this is none-the-less a worthy addition to the collection.

PEARL JAM Ten

Album · 1991 · Heavy Alternative Rock
Cover art 4.22 | 78 ratings
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‘Ten’ is the debut album by hard rock band Pearl Jam. It was released in 1991, during grunge’s heyday, and with the help of a number of hit singles, it sold in its millions, rocketing the Seattle band to superstardom, and becoming one of the most influential bands (and albums) of the early 90’s.

But for all the accolades and praise this album receives, I find it to be more of a mixed bag. The first half in particular, are all absolute bangers, and arguably some of the bands best material, as well as some of the most famous rock songs to come out of the first half of the decade. But the rest, well… they’re not terrible… but they’re not overly exciting either.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re not bad, and the album as a whole still flows quite nicely. But the first half gives you the likes of ‘Evenflow’, ‘Once’, ‘Alive’, ‘Why Go’, ‘Black’, and of course, mega hit ‘Jeremy’, basically, some of the best hard rock songs of their time. The second half just feels like background music. A lot of the energy and grungy angst is gone, and replaced by what feels like chilled out, elevator music. Special mention to funky bonus track ‘Dirty Frank’, while slightly unusual, is embarrassingly catchy!

Overall though, the good on this album outweighs the bad, making this an all-round solid debut. Its status as one of the all-time greatest might be slightly hyperbolic, but yet, it HAS held up for all these years, and despite the filler tracks, it’s still fairly easy to listen to all the way through.

FOZZY Boombox

Album · 2022 · Heavy Metal
Cover art 3.00 | 1 rating
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‘Boombox’ is the eighth studio album by American hard rockers Fozzy. Released in 2022 and coming off of the huge success of their 2017 release, ‘Judas’, the band, who have been on a constant upward trajectory since their 1999 conception, have played it pretty safe with this one, and followed in the same vein as their previous album.

The brainchild of wrestling superstar Chris Jericho (the best in the world at what he does), and Stuck Mojo mastermind (and my hetero man-crush) Rich Ward, I don’t think anyone back in 1999 would have expected the band to still be around doing this as long as they have been. But they’ve overcome comedy cover band antics, being named after one of the Muppets, and being more than simply “Chris Jericho’s band” to become a very legit, very authentic group of musicians.

But while the last few albums have been absolute bangers, it feels with ‘Boombox’ the songs just aren’t all up to par. And I don’t mean that to sound horrible (and I don’t want to make the list!!!), because Fozzy are one of my all-time favourite bands! Literally every album they’ve released has been of exceptional quality, and while this one certainly has its moments, I do find myself preferring to go back to any of their previous outings instead.

Still, the likes of ‘Sane’, ‘Nowhere to Run’, ‘I Still Burn’, ‘My Great Wall’ and ‘Purifier’ are all remarkable songs, and with an excellent production and a pretty sick sleeve artwork, this is still a very solid album. And while it may not their best, it’s still definitely worth owning for rock and metal fans, and plenty worthy of the name Fozzy.

METALLICA Fan Can 2

Promos, fans club and other releases (no bootlegs) · 1997 · Thrash Metal
Cover art 3.00 | 1 rating
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Amidst the live albums and endless bootlegs, singles b-sides and bonus tracks, there are absolutely countless numbers of live recordings and releases by Metallica. And ‘Fan Can #2’ is literally no different than the thousands of others.

Seeing as this was exclusive to fan club members, meant to be a limited collectors item, don’t expect the most definitive track list of all time. We get the likes of ‘One’, ‘Fade to Black’, ‘Wherever I May Roam’, a portion of ‘Master of Puppets’ as well as a mistake-laden ‘King Nothing’, which the band jokingly start again after messing up the intro, but by 1997, you know that any Metallica live release that fits on one disc is going to take a few shortcuts.

Overall, this is a nice little collectable for fans though. Sadly I don’t have the accompanying VHS, only the CD, and it’s not likely I’ll ever go back to listen to it. But regardless, it’s still a worthy addition to the collection.

BLIND GUARDIAN The Forgotten Tales

Boxset / Compilation · 1996 · Power Metal
Cover art 3.59 | 13 ratings
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‘The Forgotten Tales’ is a 1996 compilation album by German power metal band Blind Guardian. Rather than a retrospective look over their five-album career (at that point), this gathers up all the loose ends, in particular, singles b-sides and bonus tracks from various different releases, but of course, there’s a number of new recordings too. Varying from covers, acoustic renditions and live recordings, it’s quite a mixed bag, but it’s very definitely Blind Guardian through and through.

The covers in particular, are all pretty fantastic. Paying homage to the likes of the Beach Boys, Mike Oldfield, Queen, Little Richard and Uriah Heep, these are unlikely artists to cover, but the Germans have stamped their sound all over them, and truly made these songs their own.

There are also live and orchestral versions of some Blind Guardian classics, and again, these work wonderfully. Especially considering the themes of the music, they really add a new depth to the bands writing and ability to tell stories.

Overall, this might be a bit hit-or-miss for casual listeners, but for die-hard Blind Guardian fans this is an absolute treat. Tracks like ‘Surfin’ USA’, ‘Mr. Sandman’, ‘Barbara Ann’ and ‘To France’, as well as new renditions of ‘Bright Eyes’, ‘Mordred’s Song’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ are all excellent reasons to get this album. And while the band would delve into more ambitious, progressive territory after this release, this works as a great bookend at that point of their career.

LINKIN PARK Somewhere I Belong

Single · 2003 · Nu Metal
Cover art 2.00 | 1 rating
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The lead single off the bands second release, ‘Meteora’, ‘Somewhere I Belong’ reassured us all that Linkin Park could indeed follow up their debut with another fantastic album. Beautiful verse melodies, great vocals, catchy lyrics, this is a great song, and helped the bands second album go on to become arguably the peak of nu metal.

I rate it two though, simply because CD singles are obsolete, and as much as I like ‘Step Up’ and ‘My December’, I’ve lost count of how many singles and EP’s I have with some version or another of these songs on them.

NIRVANA Bleach

Album · 1989 · Heavy Alternative Rock
Cover art 3.21 | 30 ratings
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Two years prior to becoming one of the biggest bands on the planet, and giving us one of the most famous and recognizable albums in history, grunge rockers Nirvana released ‘Bleach’, their 1989 debut.

While it’s noticeable that this album is much more raw and gritty than its successors, there’s no denying the quality and sincerity in the writing. The band is already laying the foundations for what’s to come, not only in their own work, but for the whole grunge scene. But sadly, underneath the solid writing and musical performances, a lot of the songs do get a bit repetitive after a few listens.

The production is pretty rough, mostly at times sounding like it was recorded by a bunch of amateurs in their garage, but then, I guess that’s what appealed to a lot of grunge fans. It’s not too overproduced or polished, and I guess it suits the grittiness of the music. And while the record feels a bit samey after a few songs, I suppose there are a number of highlights worth mentioning. ‘Blew’, ‘About a Girl’, ‘Mr. Moustache’ and ‘School’ are all pretty decent tracks. But in all honesty, I don’t think I’ll ever really go out of my way to listen to any of them.

As a whole, ‘Bleach’ isn’t a bad album, I just don’t think it’s particularly memorable either. It’s clear to see what direction Nirvana were going in, and how they would have stood out in the late 80’s music scene amongst all the rock and pop acts. But ‘Bleach’ just isn’t for me. And since their next output will become one of the most famous albums in history, I think I’ll just listen to that instead.

NIGHTWISH Wishmaster

Album · 2000 · Power Metal
Cover art 3.68 | 50 ratings
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Released in 2000, ‘Wishmaster’ is the third album by Finnish symphonic metal band, Nightwish. It comes two years after its predecessor, ‘Oceanborn’, and pretty much continues in the same vein. At this point the band was just beginning to break into the mainstream, and it’s easy to see that the strength and quality of their writing was garnering them a bigger and better reputation with metal fans.

The musicianship on this album is fantastic, with particular praise going to keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen and guitarist Emppu Vuorinen. The chemistry between these two is exceptional, with plenty of intense guitar riffs and a flurry of complex keyboard melodies blending together with ease. And amidst it all, singer Tarja Turenen’s operatic vocals suit the style of music perfectly.

‘The Kinslayer’, ‘She is My Sin’ and the title track, ‘Wishmaster’, are all absolutely fantastic songs, and could easily rate as some of my Nightwish favourites, and the rest of the album is filled out nicely with the likes of ‘Crownless’, ‘Fantasmic’ and ‘Wanderlust’. Other than one or two fillers, the album flows effortlessly.

Overall, this is a strong follow-up to ‘Oceanborn’, and a step in the right direction for the band, and although it may not be Nightwish’s best album, there’s some very strong tracks that make this an album worth owning.

KORN Korn

Album · 1994 · Nu Metal
Cover art 3.50 | 43 ratings
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By 1994, metal in the mainstream was dead. Grunge had taken over, and other than a select few torch-bearers keeping the flame alive, most metal bands had either gone underground, gone grunge, or simply gone away. Then a band from Bakersfield, California came along, and changed all of that.

There’s no denying the impact Korn had on the metal genre. They were ahead of their time, and pioneered what would become nu metal, thus given heavy music a lifeline and appealing to a whole new audience. Their sound captured the angst, moodiness and self-loathing of grunge, but combined with the heaviness and attitude of metal.

But listening to this today, damn, this hasn’t aged well!

Back during my teenage years, I, like many newcomers to the metal and rock genre, loved Korn! They were edgy, dangerous and exciting, and any school kid who was bullied, felt rejected or left out could relate to them. Their low-end guitar riffs, percussive rhythm and Jonathan Davis’ unique blend of singing, shouting, rapping and scatting (is that what it’s called?) were totally unique! And that album cover is still as striking and eerie as it was back in 1994.

But listening to ‘Korn’ today, I’m surprised how quickly I got bored by it. Sure, it’s got classics such as ‘Clown’, ‘Shoots and Ladders’, and of course, ‘Blind’, with its famous opening line. But honestly, I really struggled to sit through this all the way. Every song just sounds the same and plods along. And I know that’s kind of common for most Korn albums, but I just seem to remember loving this when I younger. I guess I’m just not that young anymore. Sorry guys…

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS Freaky Styley

Album · 1985 · Non-Metal
Cover art 3.48 | 14 ratings
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Released in 1985, ‘Freaky Styley’ is the second album by funk rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and follows on from their 1984 self-titled debut. I didn’t really like that album, although there was nothing in particular that I disliked, it was just a case that none of the songs did anything for me. So going into this one, I had literally no expectations, and that was probably the best thing I could have done. Because as it turns out, I was in for a pleasant surprise!

The band is still completely “out there”, but the songwriting here has improved vastly, and while I thought their previous outing was a completely incoherent mess of an album, everything here flows really well. There is a palpable energy, with every song displaying non-stop enthusiasm and excitement. Perhaps it’s the drugs, or perhaps just the sheer passion these guys share. Either way, you can tell this is a band having fun. The musicianship here is exceptional, with particular praise to bassist Flea, who really brings the funk elements, and vocalist Anthony Kiedis, whos blend of rapping and singing brings out his tongue-in-cheek humour and in-your-face attitude.

With highlights including ‘Nevermind’, ‘American Ghost Dance’, ‘Jungle Man’, ‘Catholic School Girls Rule’ and the ridiculous ‘Sex Rap’, this is a massive step up in quality for the Chili Peppers. While much better things are to come, ‘Freak Styley’ is raw, dirty, and full of boundless energy, making it a pure joy to listen to.

DREAM THEATER Taste the Memories (International Fan Clubs CD 2002)

Promos, fans club and other releases (no bootlegs) · 2002 · Progressive Metal
Cover art 3.12 | 4 ratings
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‘Taste the Memories’ is an album by progressive metal pioneers Dream Theater, released in 2002 by the bands official fanclub. It features a number of live tracks from two different shows in Japan, taking place in 1992 and 1993, as well as an early studio version of the bands first major epic, ‘A Change of Seasons’.

The sound quality and performances are very good, and the band are still fairly young here, meaning that, in particular, James LaBrie’s voice has yet to be ravaged by time and age. And the track list features a number of early hits, including ‘Take the Time’, ‘Under a Glass Moon’, ‘Only a Matter of Time’ and ‘To Live Forever’, as well as an interesting live jam titled ‘Moon Bubbles’.

Dream Theater have released much, much better live albums over the years though, and the only thing here that might appeal to fans is ‘Moon Bubbles’ and a weird, live jam of the ‘Mission: Impossible‘ theme. Overall, ‘Taste the Memories’ is a decent enough CD, but definitely one to leave to the die-hard collectors.

IRON MAIDEN No Prayer For The Dying

Album · 1990 · Heavy Metal
Cover art 3.00 | 133 ratings
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Iron Maiden’s eighth studio album, 1990’s ‘No Prayer For the Dying’, takes the band into the 90’s scratching and clawing against shifting trends and fashions. Following on from what is arguably one of their most popular releases, ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’, the band step away from dabbling in prog territory, and go back to more standard heavy metal. Yeah, the early 90’s weren’t great for metal bands, but Maiden sure weren’t going down without a fight!

It should be noted that by this point, vocalist Bruce Dickinson was not enjoying Maiden as much as he use to, and guitarist Adrian Smith had left the band prior to this, to be replaced by Janick Gers. I’m not really sure how much bearing this has on the writing though, as, personnel issues aside, this is still a very typical Iron Maiden album, and fans of the band will know what to expect.

The production and song-writing is pretty much the same as before. The guitar playing is fantastic as always, and Steve Harris’ formidable galloping style gives the album an almost palpable energy. However, having gone back to their more traditional metal sound, the songs themselves are of varying quality. While there are some absolutely fantastic tracks, there’s a fair few filler ones too.

But the good tracks? Damn, these are excellent! ‘Holy Smoke’, ‘No Prayer For the Dying’, album closer ‘Mother Russia’ and arguably one of the bands best tracks, with an exceptional vocal performance by Dickinson, ‘Bring Your Daughter… to the Slaughter’, are all reasons why, despite Maiden’s (and metals) waning popularity at the time, this is still a solid album, and a worthy addition to any collection.

DREAMSCAPE End of Silence

Album · 2004 · Progressive Metal
Cover art 3.11 | 6 ratings
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I fell in love with this band after hearing their 2005 release ‘Revoiced’, a compilation of tracks from their first two albums, re-recorded with then-current vocalist Roland Stoll. Yeah, you could get away with calling it “generic progressive metal”, but whatever, I think it’s fantastic, regardless. So going back through the bands discography, the first two albums were pretty good. Nothing amazing, but certainly worth owning. I think with ‘Revoiced’ they definitely picked out the best tracks both had to offer. Which brings us to their third studio album, 2004’s ‘End of Silence’, and the verdict is not good.

I do really like this band, and I wanted to give this a fair chance, but it’s been on my playlist for well over a year now (maybe even two), and it’s just not working! I’m struggling to really get into it. The musicianship is fantastic, the production is great, everything is as it should be. Except… well, the songs are pretty boring.

Of the nine tracks, there’s only two that I like, or that I can even recall for that matter, and that’s ‘Short-Time News’ and ‘You Don’t Know Me’. Both have some nice melodies and vocal lines, but overall, are still pretty passable. I don’t know what I’m missing. It just feels like everything else plods along at the same pace, with nothing overly interesting happening. Just a horrible, sludgy mess of some poorly executed prog metal ideas.

Sorry Dreamscape. Think I’m going to skip this one and listen to ‘Revoiced’.

LINKIN PARK Numb

Single · 2003 · Metal Related
Cover art 2.17 | 2 ratings
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I only rate this a two because CD singles are obsolete, and there’s no point owning this unless you’re a die-hard Linkin Park collector. With that said, ‘Numb’ is probably the peak of nu metal. Instantly recognisable, it’s one of the bands biggest hits, and in all fairness, it’s a banging song. It’s easy to listen to, has fantastic vocals, and a great production. Shortly after this, nu metal’s popularity would wane, and Linkin Park would become more of a rock band than metal. And with only one b-side (on this disc, a live version of ‘From the Inside’), this is truly one for the collectors.

JAMES LABRIE Static Impulse

Album · 2010 · Progressive Metal
Cover art 3.58 | 24 ratings
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2010’s ‘Static Impulse’ is the second solo album by Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie (not counting his previous Mullmuzzler albums, which are often considered a solo project). Whatever foundations LaBrie laid down on his first album are well and firmly smashed to pieces with this, as he now goes in a much darker and heavier direction than before, giving us one of the most intense Dream Theater side-projects out there.

Of course, this is also in part thanks to the musicians he has surrounded himself with. Once again teaming with guitarist Marco Sfogli and long-running keyboard buddy Matt Guillory, LaBrie already has a good chemistry with these guys. But it’s newcomer Peter Wildoer on the drums, with his death metal background, that ups the ante with the heaviness, incorporating a large amount of growling vocals.

But the amazing thing is that it fits perfectly with LaBrie’s clean vocals.

Although this album fits comfortably in the progressive metal genre, the songs mostly follow a standard song structure. But the writing is solid and the performances are incredibly tight and precise. There’s an awesome synergy between everyone here, and it shows. And while LaBrie’s aging voice might struggle on stage, on record, it’s an absolute joy to listen to.

With highlights including ‘One More Time’, ‘Mislead’, ‘Jekyll or Hyde’, ‘Coming Home’, ‘I Need You’, ‘Euphoric’ and ‘Over the Edge’, this is more than just another solo outing, this is a fantastic album, by a very legit band, and while there’s no doubting that Dream Theater will always be LaBrie’s “home”, I really hope to hear more from this line-up of musicians.

FATES WARNING The Spectre Within

Album · 1985 · US Power Metal
Cover art 3.72 | 46 ratings
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‘The Spectre Within’, released in 1985, is the second album of American progressive metal pioneers Fates Warning. One of my favourite bands for a long time, I must admit to struggling with their earlier material. Their first album, ‘Night On Bröcken’ was mostly forgettable in my opinion, and other than one or two moments, I found it difficult to really pick out any major highlights. Sadly, ‘Spectre…’ is no different.

It’s not that I don’t like it, but damn, this has been on my playlist for over a year, and I still feel like I’m not overly familiar with it. Perhaps I’m just busier than I think I am, but I just zone out whenever I play this. And it’s a shame because it’s not a terrible album.

Further laying the foundations of progressive metal, the performances on this record are of a high standard. With some tight guitar playing and fantastic displays of vocal prowess by singer John Arch, but sadly, there’s only really two songs that I like, and that’s ‘Without a Trace’, and ‘Apparition’. The rest just sounds like they could be Iron Maiden b-sides.

And it’s a shame. Because I genuinely love this band, but then I guess not every album is perfect! I’d like to stress that I don’t think this album is awful by any stretch, but I would much, much rather listen to ‘Parallels’, ‘Inside Out’, ‘Disconnected’, or one of my all-time favourite albums, ‘A Pleasant Shade of Gray’. So that’s what I’ll do.

SAVATAGE From The Gutter To The Stage: The Best Of 1981 - 1995

Boxset / Compilation · 1995 · Heavy Metal
Cover art 3.50 | 4 ratings
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Released in 1995 (the clue’s in the name of the album!), ‘From the Gutter to the Stage’ is a compilation album by progressive metal band Savatage, one of my all-time favourite groups.

I mention that little fact, because even though they’ve been one of my favourite bands for a long time, I find this compilation a bit of a mixed bag. Don’t get me wrong, the songs are absolute bangers, but as is the case with any “best of” CD, firstly, they become dated over time, and secondly, there’s always a case for songs that should have been included or excluded. And in this case, yeah, there’s a number of songs I feel shouldn’t have been left out, and likewise, there’s some here that I feel take up the space of what otherwise could have been one of the ‘Tage’s main compositions.

There’s a second disc, which I guess is some kind of “rare” tracks or something. But they’ve all since seen the light of day on the 2002 re-issues, or elsewhere, so listening back to it now, they’re nothing new, and also, there’s only four of them, which is kind of a waste of a disc! First world problems, I suppose.

Anyway, all negativity aside, this IS Savatage, and Savatage are awesome. You’ve got ‘Edge of Thorns’, ‘Gutter Ballet’, ‘Hall of the Mountain King’, ‘Chance’ and ‘Power of the Night’, all of which are absolutely fantastic tracks. So overall, this is a good disc to own, and certainly makes for a great introduction to newcomers, but ultimately, it’s dated, and by this point there’s better, more well-rounded compilations out there.

METALLICA Lulu (with Lou Reed)

Album · 2011 · Heavy Metal
Cover art 1.68 | 90 ratings
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I loved ‘Load’. I loved ‘Reload’. I didn’t mind when they did a covers album, or played with an orchestra. And I was one of the 17 people (including the band themselves… maybe) who actually liked ‘St. Anger’. But with ‘Lulu’, Metallica (and Lou Reed, for that matter), have finally achieved their goal of making one of, if not THE, absolute worst album in music history.

The collaborative project between musical giants Metallica and Lou Reed, ‘Lulu’ is a 2011 concept double-album, and while the project initially sparked people’s interest, the results very quickly became the subject of universal criticism.

And rightfully so.

I always give every album a fair number of listens, even ones I don’t enjoy, hoping that something might just click or pique my interest after multiple listens. I listened to ‘Lulu’ three times, and it’s been the three most tedious experiences I’ve had to endure. The songs are boring, the lyrics are awful, and the mash-up between Metallica’s heavy metal and Lou Reed’s weird style of talk-singing, or sing-talking, just don’t work.

Musically, the album COULD have been okay. If James Hetfield was singing and this was another Metallica foray into alternative or art rock, it might have been listenable. But it’s not. There’s lyrical gems like “I would cut my legs and tits off when I think of Boris Karloff”, and a song where Reed spends eight minutes asking “why do you cheat on me”, and the whole time I hearing this, I’m picturing Lars Ulrich at some art gallery, trying to be all deep and introspective. But in reality, this is all an absolute pile of nonsense.

Nothing can redeem this album, and the only reason I have to keep it in my collection is because it’s Metallica, and I have some rubbish OCD collector thing going on, that makes me need to keep it. Just don’t even bother.

AYREON The Final Experiment

Album · 1995 · Progressive Metal
Cover art 3.66 | 44 ratings
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‘The Final Experiment’ is the debut album by legendary progressive metal outfit, Ayreon, the band pseudonym of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Arjen Anthony Lucassen. I use the term “legendary” because Ayreon albums have not only gone on to garner huge fan adulation and respect, but have become known for utilizing a wealth of musicians from various genres, thus displaying a high standard of quality and musicianship.

However, that’s now. Back in 1995, Lucassen was pretty much unknown, and was just starting to put this little project together. Not being able to pick from an unlimited pallet of musicians like he is today, almost everyone on this album is also relatively unknown, and are mostly friends from Lucassen’s homeland, the Netherlands.

And so with that said, this album is nothing more than laying the foundations of what’s to come. The huge medieval science fiction concept is in place, and it’s clear the musical direction is in the vein of traditional progressive metal, though with an underlying folk influence. However, for all the pomp and pageantry, I do find this album to be pretty forgettable. There’s only a handful of songs I’d really consider coming back to, such as ‘Eyes of Time’, ‘Sail Away to Avalon’ and ‘Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy’, which are all remarkable, but otherwise, I would much rather listen to any of Ayreon’s later releases.

But for what it’s worth, this is still an album worth owning, if nothing more, than because it’s the start of a huge rock opera that will go on to span many albums over many years. But much, much better things are on the horizon for this Dutch project.

H-BLOCKX Fly Eyes

Album · 1998 · Hard Rock
Cover art 3.00 | 1 rating
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Released in 1998, ‘Fly Eyes’ is the third studio album by German rockers H-Blockx. It follows their previous two outings, which were solid rap-rock albums revelling in the early 90’s sound and style. However, ‘Fly…’ sees less emphasis on the rapping, and leans more stylistically in the vein of late 90’s MTV-inspired radio-friendly hard rock. (That was a mouthful!)

It’s not all bad though, I mean, yeah, it’s different than the aggressive and kind of quirky sound that H-Blockx had on their previous releases, but at the same time it still sounds like the same band. They play well together, and are good at writing catchy, memorable rock anthems, with highlights being ‘Fly’, ‘Stars’, ‘Even Goes’, ‘Liquid Sunlight’ and ‘Without You’.

Chuck in a few excellent guitar solos, confident vocals and a solid production, and you’re left with a fine slab of 90’s rock. There’s really not much else to say about this one. It’ll never be my favourite H-Blockx album, but it’s good enough to come back to once in a while.

BLIND GUARDIAN Imaginations From the Other Side

Album · 1995 · Power Metal
Cover art 4.27 | 92 ratings
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Based off of the strength of albums like ‘Nightfall in Middle Earth’, ‘A Night At the Opera’ and ‘A Twist in the Myth’, I’d long-considered Blind Guardian one of my favourite bands. However, when delving into their back-catalogue, I found their earlier albums (and it seems, their more popular amongst fans), to be fairly disappointing. I didn’t mind the speed metal influence over their music, it’s just that all the albums seemed a bit… repetitive?

With each album though, more and more non-metal influences crept in. Orchestral arrangements, folk passages, more emphasis on vocal harmonies, more story-telling, the band were becoming more and more theatrical and “epic” with each release. Which brings us to 1995’s ‘Imaginations From the Other Side’, the album where Blind Guardian really start to become the band I fell in love with.

Taking things into more progressive metal territory, the band really start to hit their stride here. Songs like ‘Mordred’s Song’, ‘Bright Eyes’, ‘I’m Alive’ and the title track all show a band who have broken out of their speed metal shell to add new flourishes to their music, and epic ballad ‘A Past and Future Secret’ demonstrates the bands orchestral arranging, with beautiful layers of music all intertwining to really bring the world of myths and legends to life.

As you can see by my rating however, while I do like this album, I don’t quite regard it as highly as others. Some people consider this one of the best power metal albums out there. I think of it as the album where Blind Guardian really start to break out of the power metal trappings and evolve into something a lot more. No doubt, ‘Imaginations…’ is a really good album, but the best is yet to come.

MEGADETH Endgame

Album · 2009 · Thrash Metal
Cover art 3.73 | 89 ratings
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By 2009, it’d been five years since Megadeth’s “return”, after Dave Mustaine had split the band up and retired following a well-documented injury. Upon their comeback, they unleashed two albums, 2004’s ‘The System Has Failed’ and 2007’s ‘United Abominations’. Both albums were a sure throwback to the bands earlier thrash days, with intense guitar riffs, lyrics full of distain and hatred, spewed out by a voice oozing of political unrest. This was the Megadeth of old!

However, with 2009’s ‘Endgame’, it just feels a tad repetitive already. Like the band are on autopilot and just repeating the previous two albums.

That’s not to say ‘Endgame’ is bad. It’s got its moments. It’s got all the ingredients of classic Megadeth. The playing is insanely fast, and the riffs are as intricate and intense as they were in the ‘Rust in Peace’ days. But after having this on my playlist for what feels like forever, I’m just struggling to really feel like I’d ever come back to any of these songs by choice.

And that may seem harsher than I intend it to, because there are some decent tracks on here, they just don’t, in my opinion, hold up as well to Megadeth’s previous output. ’44 Minutes’, ‘Head Crusher’ and ‘The Hardest Part of Letting Go… Sealed With a Kiss’ are all good tracks, and are worth a listen or two, but personally, I’d rather listen to anything from ‘Cryptic Writings’, ‘Youthanasia’, ‘Rust in Peace’ or even, *gulp*… ‘Risk’.

SHADOW GALLERY Digital Ghosts

Album · 2009 · Progressive Metal
Cover art 4.06 | 29 ratings
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martindavey87
After a three-album streak of absolutely stellar releases (‘Tyranny’, ‘Legacy’, and ‘Room V’), Shadow Gallery looked to have found their niche and really hit their stride, consistently putting out fantastic albums with their own recognisable sound. Tragically, this came to halt in 2008, with the passing of vocalist Mike Baker.

Losing any band members must be hard, especially once the grieving is done, and it’s time to pick up the pieces. Do you start anew? Plod along with previously written material? And is there guilt in getting someone new to record those parts? Barely a year after Baker’s passing, Shadow Gallery were back, recruiting a new vocalist and releasing ‘Digital Ghosts’ upon us all. Sadly, it’s quite noticeable that a huge part of the band is missing.

That’s not to say this is a bad album, but I’ve really, really struggled with this one. The musicianship is excellent as always, but there’s just a huge absence of something. Call it magic? Heart? Soul? I don’t know what it is, but the song-writing just doesn’t quite seem as inspired as before. Maybe the band were just going through the motions to finish the album and move on?

With that said, there’s still a few tracks worth checking out. Songs like ‘Venom’, ‘Gold Dust’ and ‘Pain’ are all decent enough, and are worthy of the Shadow Gallery name, and there’s some good, solid progressive metal on offer here if you can be patient enough, but overall, this is far, far from the best work this band is capable of, and I think I’d much rather just listen to one of their previous albums.

SAVATAGE Dead Winter Dead

Album · 1995 · Heavy Metal
Cover art 3.76 | 48 ratings
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martindavey87
Released in 1995, ‘Dead Winter Dead’ saw a big shift in sound and style for Savatage, as well as a number of line-up changes that gave us what is arguably one of their strongest and most creative rosters, and would lead to the band forming (or joining) the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, a project that would very much parallel Savatage, but on a much, much bigger and commercially successful scale.

While Savatage had always dabbled in classical, theatrical and progressive elements within their music, 1994’s ‘Handful of Rain’ had a sound more grounded in standard hard rock. However, with ‘Dead…’, the band once more tread into rock opera territory, with a big emphasis on orchestrations and “epic” compositions, and this is none-more evident than on huge crossover hit single ‘Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)’, a massive Christmas orchestral rock anthem, which also featured on ‘Christmas Eve and Other Stories’ by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Unfortunately, I do find some of the songs are pretty hit-or-miss, with a number of rather forgettable fillers popping up, but there are also a number of ‘Tage classics, such as ‘One Child’, ‘I Am’, ‘Doesn’t Matter Anyway’, ‘Mozart and Madness’, the aforementioned ‘Christmas Eve’, and the title track itself. But most importantly with this album, is that this version of Savatage, with six full-time members, would develop the style they’ve adapted here with their next two releases, which would, in my opinion, be their absolute masterpieces.

KAMELOT The Black Halo

Album · 2005 · Power Metal
Cover art 4.12 | 63 ratings
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martindavey87
With their previous two albums steering further and further into symphonic territory, 2005’s ‘The Black Halo’ sees Kamelot finally hit a home-run, with a concept album that shows a band who have mastered the more orchestral elements of their music, therefore completing an excellent trilogy of albums that display the perfect balance of power, progressive and symphonic metal.

Kamelot had been dabbling with symphonic and operatic influences since 1998’s ‘Siege Perilous’, and the incredible impact this would have on their song-writing would see such elements rise in prominence with each subsequent release. Giving their music rich, lavish and vibrant textures, yet staying true to their metal background, we’re taken on an epic and grandiose adventure as ‘The Black Halo’ concludes the bands interpretation of the story of Faust, a story which began on their previous album, 2003’s ‘Epica’.

While the members of Kamelot have never really been known for virtuoso instrumental performances, their musical ability here is undeniable. Everyone absolutely nails their roles, given moments to shine, yet knowing when to hold back and allow the strength of the writing to carry the song. The chemistry between them is palpable, with particular praise to guitarist Thomas Youngblood and keyboardist Michael Rodenberg. And vocalist Roy Khan is an absolute beast, no matter what he does.

The production on this album is incredible, Everything sounds so clear, perfectly balanced in the mix, from heaviness with a punch, to the orchestral warmth and ambience, and with highlights including ‘The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)’, ‘March of Mephisto’, ‘Moonlight’, ‘When the Lights Go Down’, the eerily beautiful ‘Abandoned’ and the title track itself, ‘The Black Halo’ is an absolute masterpiece, and an unforgettable musical experience.

DREAM THEATER Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour Live with the Octavarium Orchestra

Movie · 2006 · Progressive Metal
Cover art 4.43 | 30 ratings
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martindavey87
Following on very closely to the format of 2004’s ‘Live At Budokan’, ‘Score: 20th Anniversary Tour’ is a fantastic DVD for fans of progressive metal icons, Dream Theater.

The first disc features an almost three-hour concert. Beautifully shot, with excellent sound and clear visuals, the band are on top form as always. The set is interesting in that, while touring in support of their ‘Octavarium’ album, (represented here five times), the band also go through various tracks throughout their discography in chronological order. Ending with an orchestra and treating us to ‘Octavarium’, ‘Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence’ and ‘Metropolis Pt. 1’, the set list is fantastic, and certainly differs to other live releases.

Amidst a number of bonus tracks and animated visuals, the true gem on the second disc is an hour-long documentary on the history of the band. While it’s a lot to cram into 60-minutes, this is still an interesting and enjoyable watch, and includes plenty of live footage, interviews and photos.

Rounding up the perfect trilogy of live albums/DVD’s, along with ‘Metropolis 2000…’, and ‘Budokan…’, ‘Score’ is an exceptional release, sure to please fans, and is an absolutely essential addition to every prog collection.

METALLICA Quebec Magnetic

Movie · 2012 · Thrash Metal
Cover art 3.36 | 7 ratings
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martindavey87
Pretty standard Metallica live DVD here. Great set, fantastic sound and visuals, and the band all on top form as always (even Lars does alright!). The metal legends, touring to promote 2008’s ‘Death Magnetic’ have gone back to their old-school way of having the stage in the middle of the venue, kind of making this feel like ‘Cunning Stunts’ all over again, except, ten years wiser and more mature. And while they may not have the same drive and ambition as they did in the 90’s, it’s clear to see that this is an alcohol and drug-free band, who are just having the time of their lives up on stage.

Featuring all the hits you’d come to expect, such as ‘One’, ‘Enter Sandman’, ‘Sad But True’, ‘Broken, Beat and Scarred’, ‘Battery’ and a whole host of others, including some “bonus track” surprises, such as ‘Turn the Page’, ‘Holier Than Thou’ and ‘Breadfan’, this is a great DVD that may not stand out in the bands discography as much as previous releases ‘Live Shit: Binge & Purge’, ‘Cunning Stunts’ or ‘S&M’, but is still plenty worthwhile owning, and certainly enough to satisfy any Metallica fan.

METALLICA Metallica Through The Never

Movie · 2013 · Thrash Metal
Cover art 3.30 | 6 ratings
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martindavey87
Regardless of the results, I’ll always give Metallica credit for not being afraid to try new things. Going from thrash metal to alternative rock, playing with an orchestra, side projects with Lou Reed and now this… a concert movie?

And the results here, as expected, are pretty mixed. The actual movie aspect doesn’t make much sense. With a daft storyline interspersed with the concert footage, and at times tying into the show itself. Sometimes with the band actually even doing little choreographed bits on stage, this all comes across as a bit awkward at times, and is probably more of a detriment than anything.

However, the concert footage itself is absolutely gorgeous! The visuals are fantastic and the high-definition video really gives it a crystal-clear picture, with some very cool camera angles and some awesome close-ups. Along with all the usual Metallica pyrotechnics and on-stage stunts and props, this is like ‘Cunning Stunts’ on steroids.

But sadly, that’s pretty much the only highlight. There’s a whole hoard of extras, including behind-the-scenes documentaries, Q&A sessions, trailers, music videos, and a whole bunch more, but it’s mostly all pretty bland and generic, with the only saving grace being that live footage. I wish they’d just done an entire concert DVD recorded like this, because that part, really is THAT damn good!

DREAM THEATER Images and Words Live in Tokyo / 5 Years in a LIVEtime

Movie · 2004 · Progressive Metal
Cover art 3.29 | 18 ratings
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martindavey87
Compiling two previously released Dream Theater VHS’s (they were the days!), this DVD is around three and a half hours of various music videos, live footage and tour diaries. ‘Images and Words…’ focuses on the bands first visit to Japan way back in the early 90’s, while ‘Five Years…’ follows the bands career from around 1994 to 1998, covering the making of the ‘Awake’ and ‘Falling Into Infinity’ albums, as well as the subsequent tours.

There’s plenty of highlights on both discs, besides the abundance of live concert footage, seeing the band members loitering the streets of Japan, in the studio writing, recording, and dilly-dallying, as well as playing covers with guest appearances, there’s a lot here for fans to enjoy.

An added bonus for the dedicated fans are the commentaries for both discs, where the guys are absolutely hilarious in their ability to poke fun at themselves (and each other), and not take anything too seriously. Overall, two fantastic discs in fantastic package, definitely worth owning for any Dream Theater fans.

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