Front-loaded albums.

[Guest Felonies!]

Liner notes say it was from a Feb. 1978 concert in Berlin. Apparently "The Sheik Yerbouti Tango" is also from that concert, and that is an excerpt from "The Little House I Used To Live In," though I'm not hearing it. There are a few other songs like that: "St. Etienne" on Jazz From Hell is a "Drowning Witch" solo named after the city they were playing in, and I think there's another one like that on one of my albums but damned if I can remember offhand. It sure shows what a brilliant improvisationalist Frank was, though.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I just listened to Jazz from Hell last night. That album feels strangely short.

[Guest Felonies!]

Yeah, it's under 35 minutes. Unfortunately not short enough to fit it on a CD w/Mothers Of Prevention, at a total of 81 minutes. Even though it's sterile at times, I still like the Synclavier stuff.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

81 minutes of synclavier is about 40 too many.

 

St. Etienne is essential to holding that album together, even though it's a sore thumb on there.

[Guest Felonies!]

Well MOP isn't totally electronic: I Don't Even Care, Alien Orifice, What's New In Baltimore, and We're Turning Again are human. Yo Cats is done on Synclavier but it's more of a real song with vocals and stuff than just doodle-laddle-bee-beep-bloop-chc-ch-donk crap.

 

What's New In Baltimore is awesome. Alien Orifice is almost as good.

 

Hey, October 20th is the next Zappa Plays Zappa show, up in Minneapolis. I missed the Chicago show on the 17th because I wasn't aware of this tour. It's Dweezil, Vai, Bozzio, and Napoleon Murphy Brock, with some other surely talented sidemen. I want to go!

[Slayer 0]

I have to be in a particular mood for the majority of JFH, though "Night School" and "G-Spot Tornado" are awesome on their own.

 

In regards to the original topic, it seems like a good number of power and death metal albums I've listened to tend to be very front-loaded with a major drop in quality after about halfway. Thrash, black and doom seem to be pretty good when it comes to closing out albums though.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Thrash albums tend to have a killer opener, mediocre/weak middle, and a bone-crushing end. What many say (and I agree) is the greatest thrash metal album ever, Reign in Blood, is all about the bookend songs (although the entire album is classic, and its songs are always favorites to true metalheads).

 

I'd prolly agree with you on power metal, but we've already chatted and I've made my opinions on that made pretty clear. I do have to say, though, that Helloween having "Midnight Sun" close Better Than Raw was a wise choice. The first three songs ("Preliminary Prelude in Z," "Push," and "Falling Higher" in that order) are the best on the album, but I love "Midnight Sun."

[Annabelle 0]

someone needs to tell corey that this isn't the metalhead folder anymore. might as well go elsewhere for this discussion because it wont be reciproacted. unless i am totally offbase. its just his comments usually seem outta place when sprinkled into threads where we are actually discussing real music.

[Guest Felonies!]

I think there's room for everything in here. I've even been tolerating rap threads lately. People try to bait me in and be like "HAY CZECH A RAPPER GOT SHOT WHY DON'T YOU SAY SOMETHIN OLD MAN HUH HUH" but I won't fall for that no not I

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Yeah, I still like the metyl, I've just been listening to a lot of other shit lately. Acid Bath is still on twice a week rotation, I've just said all I can say about those albums.

[Slayer 0]

Good thing King Banky is hear to tell us misguided souls what we can and can't discuss in the Music folder!

[The Metal Maniac 0]

its just his comments usually seem outta place when sprinkled into threads where we are actually discussing real music.

 

Because Corey was the first person to mention metal in this thread. Of course. There wasn't any mention of metal on the first page (and especially no one claiming that Piece of Mind is a front-loaded album - personally I'd say if anything, the album ends at "Still Life", but that's 6 tracks into a 9-track CD, so I'd say it's just plain great rather then front-loaded) or anyone else talking about metal that Corey was merely replying to. Nope. Not at all.

[Annabelle 0]

uh oh. banky's in trouble.

 

i tried listening to metal. i tried. i just can't rally behind satanic worshippers. ok they're all not, satanic worshippers. just most of them.....

[The Metal Maniac 0]

I like how Banky went from "Don't dare discuss that filth in here" as if he's the judge of what can and cannot be discussed, to trolling.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Actually, I'm pretty sure every metal band I truly love is satanic.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

I think I'm the opposite. I can't think of any band that I love that's Satanic.

 

I mean, I like Mercyful Fate, but that's about it...

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

Both of Kanye West's CDs are quite topheavy. They really fizzle out by the end-The College Dropout moreso.

 

I dont see where you're getting that... "Two Words" "School Spirit" "Slow Jamz" and "Through the Wire" are all in the second half of The College Dropout. Late Registration had both version of "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" on the second half and, in my opinion, the best song on the entire album - "Gone."

[vivalaultra 0]

Hmmm...yeah, I was probably wrong about Kanye. They're not so much top-heavy as they are really long, especially "The College Dropout". It has a few really long songs towards the end, which, I think causes the second half of the album to drag a bit, but, listening to it again the other day, they do have really good tracks most of the way through.

 

 

As far as Satanic death metal goes, I say....Hail Satin! ...It's a quality fabric.