My Top 50 Heavy Metal Albums

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

AoO, what I really want to know is based on the list above, would I be wasting my money by purchasing this disc, again basing this on the bands I have listed above?

 

Also, what's your opinion on Down II?  I had heard NOLA kicks ass from numerous people, but that Down II sucks the meat missile.  Is this entirely true?

1. Absolutely not. There's not a deathgrowl on the entire thing, and it's real easy to get into. I'll bet money that you'll at least like most of it, and LOVE one or two tracks.

 

2. Down II is not even close to Nola's caliber, but it's not a total wash. "Stained Glass Cross" is some catchy Deep Purply keyboard driven stuff, and "Lysergic Funeral Procession" is great..there's more of a straight metal sound to the album, since the Pantera element is more emphasized with Rex playing bass on the disc. The thing is, the album is mostly stoner songs, which ends up being kind of awkward in spots.

 

Nola however is one of the best metal cds ever. Massive Black Sabbath influence, with little hints of Therapy, and all the members respective other bands.

 

Down II is however noteworthy because the band spent over six thousand dollars solely on alcohol during the 28 day writing and recording process in Phil Anselmo's house in New Orleans.

 

Basically, Down II is ok, but to attempt to top their first one is madness.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Children of Bodom - Hatebreeder

Death - Symbolic

Fates Warning - Parallels

Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith

My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans

Nevermore - Nevermore

Paradise Lost - Draconian Times

Savatage - Streets

Virgin Steele - Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I

Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force

 

I've always considered Defenders of the Faith to be overrated for some reason, I guess because I like three songs on there real good (Freewhell Burning, The Sentinel, and Love Bites) and the rest are just kind of there.

[Slayer 0]

I always thought DoTF to be underrated in the metal scene, as the two albums that seem to get most of the love are Screaming for Vengeance and Painkiller, albeit for good reason. If I expanded the above list to 15-20, Painkiller no doubt would be on there.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I really like Agents, and am largely unfamiliar with Deadboy,

 

I actually picked up a Deadboy album. To my ears it's like a slighty more stoned(but with a lighter buzz) and way more depressed Agents. Kinda bluesy and filled with lovely little piano sprinkles and shit.

So does that mean it's about as stoned as Acid Bath's second album? Because I'm not so sure there's an album in existence that was written under the influence of more drugs. Dax Riggs literally woke up surrounded by pieces of paper with lyrics on them after a hallucinogenic freak out which he has no recollection of whatsoever. That cd also allegedly has Jack Kevorkian playing the violin.

 

I've heard three or four Deadboy songs, and definitely like Agents better.

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

that "more stoned" comment might have been a little kneejerkish for a reaction. I knew about Dax's drug journey, I did not about about Kevorkian's alleged involvement.

 

Is there a band that has better 'tidbits' involved with them and their albums/creative process?

 

I'll listen to Deadboy and then some other Dax involved things and give a very uninspired and lazy overview of how i would compare them later.

 

I always seem to feel I'm cheating myself by not having better drugs when I listen to this shit..

[Guest Blas]

Nola however is one of the best metal cds ever. Massive Black Sabbath influence, with little hints of Therapy, and all the members respective other bands.

You've haven't heard many metal albums it seems..

 

I love NOLA, but its nowhere near being one of the best metal albums ever. There's also many bands out there that do the Southern Metal thing 666 times better.

 

 

For you Judas Priest, Iron Maiden fuckers. There's this Swedish band, Wolf, formed around 95. Got a new album out, "Evil Star", it's basicaly the Swedish Iron Maiden. It's got a killer cover of "Don't Fear The Reaper", better than Blue Oyster Cult!

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

Why listen to Trouble when you can have 4 different bands in the same band distilling an entire scene into one juggernaut of a metal tribute?

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Is there a band that has better 'tidbits' involved with them and their albums/creative process?

 

Frank Zappa, maybe. He wrote music like a classical composer with a head full of acid, jerking his hands around in wild gesticulations, and making sound effects to guide what was basically a jazzy rock orchestra. His studios were always completely haphazard tangles of wires, reel to reel tape, sculptures, stuffed giraffes full of shaving cream, and people fascinated by their own waving fingers.

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

For you Judas Priest, Iron Maiden fuckers. There's this Swedish band, Wolf, formed around 95.

 

Iron Maiden is the only band that does Iron Maiden like Iron Maiden

 

 

And I'm reasonably convinced that I've never heard a zappa song before. Does that mean I'm going to die alone and unfullfilled? Keeping in mind I don't do hard mind altering things anymore.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Nah, I've heard plenty, and Nola still stands out in a big way. It's a neat mix of people in the first place, noticed solely because of Anselmo's involvement, and was recorded with zero time and money for their own amusement. They do Sabbath influenced music better than the bands that formed in Sabbath's shadow.

 

There's not a moment on that album though, where I think "Eh, that sounded rushed," or "That song really doesn't need to be there," which is exactly how I feel about Sabbath's self titled.

 

Nola totally follows in that sort of lineage, mixing British gloom with snarly american swamp metal to staggering results.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Eh, everyone should like at least one Frank Zappa song. Check out Black Napkins or Rat Tomago. Virtuoso guitar work is something everyone can agree on.

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

There's not a moment on that album though, where I think "Eh, that sounded rushed,"

 

They took 5 years to write and smoke and drink over these songs. I think that was the detriment of the second one more than anything else.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Yeah, but when it came time to throw it all together, there's five bands they were scheduling around, so it's not like they had GnR studio time to actually make the thing. The fact that it came out sounding like it did is a testament to how good everyone in the band is, and how well they mesh together. That and the fact that the album was more or less promoted entirely by word of mouth for the first 6 or 7 years of its existence.

[B. Brian Brunzell 0]

2. Down II is not even close to Nola's caliber, but it's not a total wash. "Stained Glass Cross" is some catchy Deep Purply keyboard driven stuff, and "Lysergic Funeral Procession" is great..there's more of a straight metal sound to the album, since the Pantera element is more emphasized with Rex playing bass on the disc. The thing is, the album is mostly stoner songs, which ends up being kind of awkward in spots.

"Ghosts Along the Mississppi" and "New Orleans is a Dying Whore" are the only other real standout tracks on Down II. Four tracks out of 14 isn't bad, but it isn't good either. The thing that bothers me most about Down II is the deterioration of Anselmo's voice. It was never the best as far as metal singers go, but in the last 3 years or so, he's become a joke, vocally and personally.