Iron Maiden

[cd213 0]

I can't stand Evanescence. I always thought that Amy was hot, but I've never been a fan of christian metal. Never got the point of it.

 

Nightwish, on the otherhand , I LOVE! I got to see them when they played BB Kings in Manhattan and they rocked. I thought their last album was great, especially when the male vocalist got more time. I think he has a rockin' voice. I know that they kicked Tarja out of the band though for being too much of a diva and they are looking for a new lead singer.

 

Funny postscript, I was reading a review for the new Evanescence album in the NY Daily News and the guy said that they were the first band to combine goth, metal, pop and opera. Now if he would have said they were the first to combine those and be successful he can make an argument, but he said first EVER. That got me really pissed off. I wrote to him letting him know that Nightwish had at least 3 albums out and Lacuna Coil had at least 2 out before Evanescence's first. I also told him if he was going to make a statement about someone being the first, he should get his facts straight especially since he is in the medai. Then again the truth never stopped anyone in the media before.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I retract my sensationalist statements regarding Zakk Wylde's guitar playing abilities. The man may have pinch harmonics down to a science, but after listening to all of my BLS albums (the first four, plus the live album)...damn. Way too much filler and the solo's all sound like the same shred just with different progressions.

 

CDestroyer...that reminds me. When music journalists start claiming shit about any style of music it's painfully obvious they don't listen to, I get annoyed when they start blabbering on as if they're right about something they're wrong on. I remember reading a review of a Motörhead album, I believe the one before Hammered, and the critic referred to Motörhead two or three times as "death metal."

 

Soooooo yeah. I wish SOD would hurry up with that 7-year plan as far as touring goes...Belladonna sucks, and I can't die happy until I can see Milano go nuts live.

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

CDestroyer...that reminds me. When music journalists start claiming shit about any style of music it's painfully obvious they don't listen to, I get annoyed when they start blabbering on as if they're right about something they're wrong on. I remember reading a review of a Motörhead album, I believe the one before Hammered, and the critic referred to Motörhead two or three times as "death metal."

 

In almost every review published (especially in mainstream media), the "reviewer" is just fleshing out the hype packages that are sent along with the promo copies of albums. If you've ever seen ads pages in mags like Metal Maniacs, you'll see what I mean.

[Rendclaw 0]

I would go apeshit if I heard Chromatic Death and Milk live.

[Epic Reine 0]

I'd like to hear "Fuck The Middle East" and "Kill Yourself".

[randomguy 0]

Gamma Ray:

Land of the Free and Powerplant are good, avoid Somewhere out in Space, it sucks.

 

Lacuna Coil and other bands with female vocals:

I have a random sampler disc of bands from the late 90s and Theater of Tragedy have the best song on the album. Anybody ever heard of these guys? Are they any good? They do the growling male/nice sounding female well.

 

Therion is another band somewhat like that. I listened to one of their old albums (Theli) and liked it a lot, then bought a newer one and was somewhat dissapointed in that it is slower and more orchestral sounding.

[cd213 0]

I retract my sensationalist statements regarding Zakk Wylde's guitar playing abilities. The man may have pinch harmonics down to a science, but after listening to all of my BLS albums (the first four, plus the live album)...damn. Way too much filler and the solo's all sound like the same shred just with different progressions.

 

CDestroyer...that reminds me. When music journalists start claiming shit about any style of music it's painfully obvious they don't listen to, I get annoyed when they start blabbering on as if they're right about something they're wrong on. I remember reading a review of a Motörhead album, I believe the one before Hammered, and the critic referred to Motörhead two or three times as "death metal."

 

Soooooo yeah. I wish SOD would hurry up with that 7-year plan as far as touring goes...Belladonna sucks, and I can't die happy until I can see Milano go nuts live.

 

I wrote to the reviewer and pointed out his shortcomings in the review, but I have still yet to receive a response.

 

The thing that makes me sad is that I want to become a reviewer of music and/or movies. People like that make me sad for the profession.

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

I have a random sampler disc of bands from the late 90s and Theater of Tragedy have the best song on the album. Anybody ever heard of these guys? Are they any good? They do the growling male/nice sounding female well.

 

Only their first album (Theatre Of Tragedy - 1995), if you must go with this style at all. It says all that needs to be said within that genre and presentation of music. Very bombastic and simplistic gothic cross metal and acceptable melancholy. I have must nostalgia for this album.

[Rendclaw 0]

I retract my sensationalist statements regarding Zakk Wylde's guitar playing abilities. The man may have pinch harmonics down to a science, but after listening to all of my BLS albums (the first four, plus the live album)...damn. Way too much filler and the solo's all sound like the same shred just with different progressions.

 

Unfortunately that's where he lives, and where he is going to stay as long as he keeps up the badass biker/hunter image. I honestly think he is capable of more than what he is, but seeing how he is close to if not over 40, it might be too late.

 

But getting back to the topic at hand, I am now a week and a half removed from seeing Maiden live, and I am glad I did. While yes, they only played five classic songs as previously discussed, that didn;t stop them from kicking everyone's asses.

 

If anyone is interested, I have a ton of pics I took.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I'd also recommend Velvet Darkness They Fear. "And When He Falleth..." is a good tune with a sample from some Vincent Price flick where he's an atheist Lord. Is this sampler from the Century Media Identity series? If it is, it's likely from Identity 4 (the cover uses the Independance Day logo, the "ID4" thing). It also has a live version of Exodus' "Piranha" that whips the studio Bonded by Blood version's ass, and a live version of Emperor's "Ye Entrancemperium" (I know I butchered the spelling). Decent one, though my favorite is Identity 6, as it introduced me to Shadows Fall.

 

Yeah, Tack, I know most "reviews" are just hypes for the album. That's why I like the album reviews in Terrorizer and Metal Hammer: most are brief, to-the-point, and usually pretty accurate. Plus, they share my distaste for Trivium's "thrash-lite" sound.

 

SOD live...definitely get the two DVDs out there, Speak English or LIVE (which is just the Live at Budokan album with some extra interviews and footage from their few '85 shows) and 20 Years of Dysfunction (the weaker of the two, it's all bootleg and has horrible sound quality, and it seems to have all been filmed during some '99 shows to promote Bigger Than the Devil). Should SOD ever tour again, I will shit myself if they play "Shenanigans."

[Red Baron 0]

Anyone picked up Mastodon new album out there. I've listen to some of it but its not as good as Levithian though.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Nonsense. It's lightyears beyond anything else they've done to date. It opens strong, finishes strong, and contains their finest moment in "Capillarian Crest."

 

The guitar work is stronger and more technical, the vocals continued to improve in the manner they were showing on Leviathan, and the production is top-notch. I wasn't overwhelmed on the first few spins either, but believe me, it will grow on you immensely if you like the previous two. That solo for Capillarian that runs immediately into that blown-open crunching riff and then right into a tight shred...that's just awesome heavy metal guitar work and songwriting.

[snuffbox 0]

Even jambase.com is giving the new Mastadon a good review/article.

 

I want Mastadon at next year's Bonnaroo.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

That'd go over like a fart in church.

[snuffbox 0]

Which is what was said about Primus, Mars Volta, and Radiohead each of the last three years.

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

Listening now...

 

They didn't write the album while huffing paint with Neurosis!

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Leviathan is way more Neurosis-y, I think.

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

This is really a terrible album. I wish that it wasn't true because goddamn, they have some incredible ideas and possible directions that swirl around on this record. Trouble is, they're brilliant ideas that are at best half thought out, ridiculously clinging to Nu Metal standards, and meandering voyages that serve to sabotage their songs.

 

Maybe it would be more apt to say that this album is more of a terrible dissapointment. It doesn't even seem to have the quirky humour that is fun on the previous Mastodon stuff I've heard.

[randomguy 0]

Yeah, it is ID4. It's pretty terrible overall. It has about 3 songs I can listen to at all. (Ok maybe 4 or 5) Even bands that I think are pretty decent like Jag Panzer are represented poorly on this compilation. (Future Shock is just a dumb sounding song)

 

I think I bought this the same day I bought the first Iron Maiden tribute album...$30 well spent!

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

This is really a terrible album. I wish that it wasn't true because goddamn, they have some incredible ideas and possible directions that swirl around on this record. Trouble is, they're brilliant ideas that are at best half thought out, ridiculously clinging to Nu Metal standards, and meandering voyages that serve to sabotage their songs.

 

Maybe it would be more apt to say that this album is more of a terrible dissapointment. It doesn't even seem to have the quirky humour that is fun on the previous Mastodon stuff I've heard.

 

Half thought out my eye. The album shows great diversity in the tempo changes and transitions in the guitar and vocal texture. I can only find one skipper on the album ("Bladecatcher") which is completely transitional, vocally amusing (there's your quirky humor you missed), and best of all--short.

 

I have no idea what you mean by Nu Metal standards when this album rises above any predictable Slipknot cheese that I can think of. The "meandering" is really minimal here as opposed to the noodlefest that was side B of Leviathan. In fact, all of the stretches where they spread out are really pretty tight in terms of rhythm section and melody operating separately. Plus that production is so thick and so layered. This album is anything but immediate and poorly constructed.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I like that Blood Mountain is getting both praise and denouncement. It deserves both, because it's a step to the side of what Mastodon's past work is. I'm not siding with Tack, but as I said a little bit in the "recent purchases" thread, I prefer Leviathan thus far. Listened to it a few times, still prefer Leviathan, but it's not a terrible album. It's just a little different, almost more prog-y than the swamp-y side of Leviathan and Remissions.

[Rendclaw 0]

Random, don;t even tell me you spent money buying A Call to Irons.... god, that was fucking terrible, I'm ashamed to even admit that I own it.

[Red Baron 0]

I stay away from all tribute albums, unless they are blues albums. Blues artists usually do well covering other artists.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I find it fun to hear another band's take on a song by a band that most admire. Like hearing all of those punk bands butcher old Metallica on A Punk Tribute to Metallica just made me like Metallica themselves that much more. Plus, there's a couple of halfway decent Slayer tributes out there.

[Slayer 0]

Funny that this has become the de facto "Metal Comments TDWAT" thread

 

I've never listened to Mastodon, despite being highly touted among people both of this board and internet metal reviewers whom I generally agree with.

 

I stay away from tribute albums as a whole, because most of the artists/covers are awful. If an artist incorporates a cover into their album that I've bought, I'll give it a listen, otherwise fuck it.

 

The SOD song I'd most want to hear live is "United Forces"

[Rendclaw 0]

I have to admit that there is an all-female Maiden tribute bands that 9 times out of 10 get it right. Good people, too.

[tigeraid 0]

Zakk Wylde rules. I wouldn't put him on the level of a Steve Vai either, but much like what was said, he's a product of the 80s and really good at the particular style of music he performs. I will however point out that his vocals have improved immeasurably from album to album. And his pitch harmonics sound cool, and not enough people are doing them these days.

 

And did I just hear someone say Evanescence is better than Nightwish? Jesus fucking christ.

[Red Baron 0]

I have to admit that there is an all-female Maiden tribute bands that 9 times out of 10 get it right. Good people, too.

 

What was the one tribute Maiden band, I think they were called the Iron Maidens and each member had a name that was somewhat similar to each member of Iron Maiden.

[tigeraid 0]

The line-up is Aja “Bruce Chickinson” Kim on vocals, Linda “Nikki McBURRain” McDonald on drums, Elizabeth “Adrienne Smith” Schall and Sara “MiniMurray” Marsh on guitars, and Wanda "Steph Harris" Ortiz on bass.

 

 

A couple of em are even hot. The lead singer definitely does not have the vocal range Dickinsen does though.

[Red Baron 0]

There's not many people on earth that has the vocal range of Bruce Dickinson.