Mordy's Metal Listening Club - New Albums Every Monday

05/7 aldo
12/7 A. Begrand.
19/7 Call All Destroyer
26/7 pfunkboy
02/8 mordy

I'll add myself to the rotation again, and switch to a date-format everybody can understand.

5 July - aldo
12 July - A. Begrand.
19 July - Call All Destroyer
26 July - pfunkboy
2 August - mordy
9 August - glenn

haha

can I get another week? promise I'll catch up by then and start talking on this thread again. (probably)

well add yourself to the rota then anyone who wants in

coincidentally, AA Nemtheanga (Primordial) and Brian Slagel discuss Cirith Ungol here:

http://www.metalblade.tv/tv/exclusives/primordials-aa-nemtheanga-talks-classic-metal-with-brian-slagel-cirith-ungol/

good stuff!

xpost - ok.

5 July - aldo
12 July - A. Begrand.
19 July - Call All Destroyer
26 July - pfunkboy
2 August - mordy
9 August - glenn
16 August - alan n

OK, it's near enough Monday.

This weeks' theme:

The album after the canonical vocalist has left

#1 Iron Maiden - The X Factor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iron_Maiden_-_The_X_Factor.jpg

I'll lay my cards on the table, I LOVED Wolfsbane. I don't know how many times I saw them but they formed a massive part of my life. On that basis, therefore, how could Maiden + Blaze fail? Even god speed! you black emperor took the piss out of them for it. Only a secret Maiden show at the gy!be ATP can make up for this album.

#2 Candlemass - Chapter VI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CandlemassChaptervi.jpg

If Messiah Marcolin had even the vaguest sense the band would end up sounding like this, then you can't forgive him for bowing out, can you? Second shit album out of two, be ready to assail me.

#3 Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harmony_Corruption.jpg

Fuck you, Barney boosters. Lee Dorrian is the singer of Napalm Death period. Although this leads to a whole new era of ND (AND A BLOODY GOOD ONE) they never got as good again, but gave us Cathedral so it was a fair swap. Lee was the one that washed the dishes when he stayed round mine, so in my mind is better than Mick or Shane whatever. Great, but I'd rather listen to From Eslavement.. any day.

If anybody can be arsed to provide Spotify (or non-Spotify links) then please do, but I'm sure most of you own these.

Album covers were linked from Wikipedia there, obviously it hates me as much as you do now.

I was big into Wolfsbane too, they were a highly underrated band.

There's actually a lot to like on The X Factor. "The Sign of the Cross" is as good as any epic Maiden ever did, "Lord of the Flies" is killer, "Man on the Edge" is good in a "Be Quick or Be Dead" way, and "Blood on the World's Hands" is solid too. But by then they'd really painted themselves into a corner, Harris did the bulk of the songwriting and without Adrian Smith's riffs and Dickinson's vocal melodies the music really started to feel stilted, especially on an overlong album as this one. As inconsistent as it is, I still prefer it to No Prayer For the Dying, which in my opinion has no redeeming qualities at all. The 90s were a disaster for Iron Maiden, no question.

What really hammered home how poor a fit Blaze was, was when Bruce sung "Sign of the Cross", "Lord of the Flies", and "Man on the Edge" live and absolutely obliterated the originals.

I hated Wolfsbane.

aldo kills metal club?

I can't help but think that it might have been more productive to suggest post-canonical vocalist albums that were actually pretty good but got overlooked for obvious reasons.

i think this is a pretty good idea: forget what you think you know/remember, re: dudes' more canonical material, and try to listen with fresh ears, basically. but then i haven't actually heard any of the offending platters. yet.

Wouldn't this week be most fun if we try to find the absolute worst musical moments on each album--and offer time code for quick reference? :)

I think this is going to be my favorite week yet. I usually only write really critically when I get assigned something. I'm not into volunteering to tear something apart.

The only one I own is Chapter IV, which does have a few cool songs/riffs. It really is the low point in Candlemass's catalog by quite a lot. I'm a big supporter of the late 90's "Candlemass II" records, as well as the Abstrakt Algebra stuff. Hell, I even own a Zoic CD which just features just the main-era C-mass guitar players while Leif was off trying to write progressive power metal instead of Doom. And I still think Chapter IV is the worst.

Pretty sure I've never heard a note of X-Factor, and I haven't tended to ever care about any Napalm Death after From Enslavement...

Thanks Aldo :) I'll be back to snipe after some further listening.

I hadn't heard any of this week's picks, and now that I have I don't think I've been missing much. That is not to say that these are bad records; for the most part they're just not notable. If it wasn't for the pedigree of the bands I doubt these would be as maligned.

The Candlemass record is the best of the bunch - solid if pedestrian riffing, competent if not particularly interesting vocals and lyrics. I wouldn't pick this over any of the Candlemass records that predated it, but I wouldn't mind hearing it again. It just doesn't sound like what I like about the band. Damning with faint praise I guess, but compared to the other two...

Wow, that Iron Maiden record is so fucking long! And dull! And limp! And lifeless! I'm much less of a Maiden fan than most of the guys here, so the heresy of replacing Dickinson doesn't bother me too much in concept; however, continuing to aim for Dickinsonian vocal heights when you can't do it is just a bad, bad, idea. There are the bones of some good tunes here - as Adrien pointed out, "Sign of the Cross" has good riffs and a good vocal line, but it sounds undercooked here. I wonder if you cut 30 minutes off this if I'd respond differently. Probably not.

Napalm Death. Hmm, not a grind fan; even when Lee was singing I appreciated these guys more than liked them. This version of the band is hard to even appreciate.

Interesting week Aldo. I know I never would have heard these otherwise. Thanks?

I hope someone locks aldo in a room this week and forces him to listen to these albums :)

And Nate OTM about the Candlemass album.

the x factor definitely has some redeeming qualities (and adrien sums them up well), but even after all these years, the first thing that pops into my head when I see that album title is still, "GOD, WAY TOO FREAKIN' LONG."

so, everyone otm.

we need a poll of worst 90s albums by established metal bands.

brutal!

also, I've never heard that candlemass but I kinda dig tales of creation. is chapter vi a big step down?

Post the nominations here then and I'll do it!

metallica, anthrax, megadeth, testament, iron maiden, judas priest, and slayer for starters.

danzig too.

all of their 90s albums?

if so name them to make it easier to list in an ilm poll please

Harmony Corruption is a good album that suffers from a horrible Morrisound production (it's so muddy!). A remix of this one would be killer.

Alan you sure you mean all of metallica,slayer,anthrax's 90s albums? Black album? South Of Heaven? Persistance of Time & Sound Of White Noise? , Judas Priest Painkiller? Danzig 3: How The Gods Kill? Megadeth rust in peace or countdown to extinction? cuz thats just plain old ilm challops.

or

Metallica
# Load (1996)
# ReLoad (1997)

Anthrax
# Stomp 442 (1995)
# Volume 8: The Threat Is Real (1998)

Slayer
# Divine Intervention (1994)
# Undisputed Attitude (1996)
# Diabolus in Musica (1998)

Iron Maiden
# No Prayer for the Dying (1990)
# Fear of the Dark (1992)
# The X Factor (1995)
# Virtual XI (1998)

Danzig
# 4 (1994)
# Blackacidevil (1996)
# Satan's Child (1999)

Be specific when you nominate stuff.

next?

was mostly thinking of the pretty hollow attempts lots of metal bands made to reinvent their sound / stay relevant. usually going the super heavy or alt metal route.

the weird that sticks out like a sore thumb in each band's catalog, basically. like,

metallica - load, reload
anthrax - the sound of white noise (like this one irrc, but it's pretty hated, right?)
slayer - diabolus in musica
iron maiden - the x factor
danzig - blackacidevil (this has to be my pick of the litter. what a DISASTER.)
megadeth - youthanasia, risk (leaving out cryptic writings bc I dig it)
judas priest - jugulator
testament - demonic (decent album but not what I want from testament)

gotta be some I'm forgetting.

and was just preoccupied at work and didn't have time to list out albums; no intentional attempt to confuse.

sound of white noise is excellent. Anthrax finally get a good singer and they still wrote good songs. Yes, like Black Album and Countdown to Extinction its a move away from thrash, but y'know, still good albums.

I like Load but I know I really am in a minority there. Loath reload though. But nothing is worse than their last 2. But they can have a 00s poll for that.

Anyway so far we have

Candlemass - Chapter VI
Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption (1990)
Iron Maiden -No Prayer for the Dying (1990)
Iron Maiden - The X Factor (1995)
Iron Maiden - Virtual XI (1998)
Metallica - Load (1996)
Metallica - ReLoad (1997)
Anthrax - Stomp 442 (1995)
Anthrax - Volume 8: The Threat Is Real (1998)
Slayer - Divine Intervention (1994)
Slayer - Undisputed Attitude (1996)
Slayer - Diabolus in Musica (1998)
Danzig - Blackacidevil (1996)
Danzig - Satan's Child (1999)
Judas Priest - Jugulator
Motley Crue - Mötley Crüe (1994)
Motley Crue - Generation Swine (1997)
Testament - Demonic
Skid Row - Subhuman Race

Anyone else?

can we take this to another thread by any chance?

^^^

Before you do start a new thread, don't forget Megadeth's Cryptic Writings and Risk...

is it worth doing a new thread? its not an email poll so theres only 50 options. Plus its based on aldo's picks this week anyway.
I'll take chat over to rolling metal thread though if you prefer, since perhaps some of those readers dont read this thread.

"also, I've never heard that candlemass but I kinda dig tales of creation. is chapter vi a big step down?"

Yes.

xpost - Of all the above mentioned, I like Diabolus in Musica quite a bit. And don't even put Danzig 4 in this category. That's one of the most underrated albums of all time.

i mean i want to listen to aldo's picks but i have absolutely no feeling on this poll so it's kind of annoying to have to check my bookmark and have it be only poll talk.

right I'll take it over to rolling metal thread.

Done

So aldo's picks... anyone wish to defend those albums?

Yup, as I said above, Harmony Corruption is a good album with a shite production. ND got boring for years after this; I almost never listen to Utopia Banished, but I still spin Harmony and hum the riffs and hooks to myself in my head.

Yeah, everyone has picked out pretty much what I think.

Harmony Corruption is a good record produced badly, and I'm being unduly harsh on Barney. I guess my biggest complaint is that it's not Lee (which is nobody else's fault, I guess) but not far behind is that it marks the start of the change toward a more Death Metal sound which those of us who remember Arena: Napalm Death will also remember Bill and Mick claiming would be utterly ludicrous.

The X Factor is way, way too long and is very patchy. As was suggested upthread, how much better Bruce made the good songs was very telling. And I repeat that even gy!be took the piss out of the Blaze era, that's how well regarded it is.

The Candlemass is indefensible though, an appalling album, seriously. Is there even a single good riff on it? I don't think I ever found one.

Ebony Throne is an alright track. John Perez from Solitude Aeturnus convinced me of that a few years back.

Maybe I'm just a superfan, but track 6 Aftermath is sounding pretty good too.

The Candlemass album isn't bad at all. Not upper-tier Candlemass, but I've sure heard worse from other bands. Sort of on the same complacent level as Tony Martin-era Sabbath.

The singer Thomas Vikstrom is the new guy in Therion now.

Worst 90s Albums By Established Metal Acts

going back a few weeks--this arckanum record kicks ass! i'm listening on headphones, not all that loud, but every riff is perfectly delineated and i'm totally trying not to headbang too much in my cube.

love that this guy is cool with trying to be a scary pagan while never letting go of his love of monstrously catchy, rocking riffs