Good major Label Rock/Metal albums from Late 90's-2008?

* Crickets chirping *

Mastodon, Qotsa, Unida(I think was on a major label), At The Drive In.

yeah er the mars volta are pretty major label aren't they, a couple of their albums are really good

Need chuck to post.

Tool!

funnily enough my current listening is ulver - nattens madrigal, which was on century media, not quite major label but getting on that way, altho i think it was 1996

I don't think even DJ Martian will be able to list many decent albums from the past few years.
Meshuggah must've been on a major label at some point. Entombed/Carcass etc must've been dropped by 97.

that should've read Entombed/Carcass etc must've been dropped by 97?

i'm gonna be CONTROVERSIAL and claim that Muse's 2nd and 3rd records were in fact pretty good

Next you will be saying that Biffy Clyro cd you bought was actually not bad..

Erm.

Mclusky count, don't they? Too Pure a major label?

You know it's bad when someone is pushing Muse as one of the better bands.

Black Holes and Revelations was great.

Honestly, Absolution and ESPECIALLY Origin Of Symmetry are really rather good. Formulaic, no doubt, but they have an intuitive grasp of how to build a tune and let rip a memorable chorus/bridge.

The latest one I didn't like so much, but then I didn't really give it a fair chance. Thought it sounded a lot more basic and less well thought-out than the previous two.

I say this as someone who just sat through and LOVED Nattens Madrigal, so none of the ad hominem crap please. (I am of course committing another argument flaw: the appeal to authority, but it's a fucking sweet authority so who gives?)

Meshuggah must've been on a major label at some point. Entombed/Carcass etc must've been dropped by 97.

pretty sure meshuggah have always been on nuclear blast, so nah, just on a big indie label. except for the 'i' ep which was on some tiny indie label. ;-)

as for the question up top, faith no more - album of the year. it's not bad. came out 1997.

clutch....

oh yeah, iron maiden! there's gotta a couple others too.

I know the 1st Clutch was on a major but they're not still on one are they? 1st Clutch album is the only one I liked funnily enough, cant stand the guys vocals.

I will rep for Mars Volta as decent sub-Floyd with quality psych doses.

OK Computer springs to mind

we're going for heavier, more overtly 'rock' than OK Computer tho, aren't we?

Whiney's original post was more about hard rock/metal though.
x-post

well that can be another thread i suppose if anyone wants to start it.

btw Alan good call on the FNM

Kinda feeling the first three QOTSA records.

1st wasnt on a major.

Monster Magnet can be added to the list.

The Donnas Spend the Night on Atlantic, 2002, I thin', maybe a little later. The next one was on Atlantic, too, but wasn't as good.

There's more than you think laying about but, to be honest, I can't see much of it being to the taste of the original question.

I think if it gets in mags like Kerrang it counts. Not everyone might agree it's good though (like my chemical romance,panic at the disco or the nu-metal bands)

Oh yeah deftones, how did I forget about them.

Century Media is in no way a major label. Iron Maiden are still on EMI though.

Some people of course think Relapse and even Hydrahead and Southern Lord are majors.

System of a Down - Toxicity

good shout

I'll rep that album to death. I mean I can't really deal with it for more than a few songs at a time, but it's fucking great.

Yeah, I haven't heard that one in quite a while, but I can't say I dislike it.

I'd add Deftones to this list as well, as they made quite a few good records in the timeframe. And if Virgin counts as a major label, then At The Drive-In's 'Relationship of Command' was a big deal when it came out (it's since been reissued on an indie, so it probably doesn't count anymore).

I know the 1st Clutch was on a major but they're not still on one are they? 1st Clutch album is the only one I liked funnily enough, cant stand the guys vocals.

the first three were on major labels. I like em all. self-titled one was a serious high school jam. I even went to an early limp bizkit show because clutch were opening! this was before they were really very big at all... but I guess they were still bigger than clutch!

pretty funny story about that show... me and my buddy got separated in the venue. so, we're each doing our own thing the whole time during clutch. then limp bizkit comes on. I watch a couple songs and then I'm like, "eh, this is pretty dumb. I'm leavin!" so, thinking I'll just wait for my buddy in the lobby, I walk out and promptly bump into him doing the exact same thing!

one of my mates went to see helmet/limp bizkit and some other band when lb werent that well known here. He thought Helmet were better and borrowed my cds after it.

I'll definitely rep for Deftones, Mars Volta (everything except ScabDates is at least partly defensible, and the first two are close to great), the first two System of a Down records, Down (they're on Interscope, I think), Pantera (The Great Southern Trendkill was '97, I think, and Reinventing The Steel came out in 2000), Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, the Donnas, and yes, Muse - I have the last two studio discs and the live album, and they're all great.

I was waiting on someone saying Pantera. I hate those albums.

infact i just plain hate Pantera apart from a few tracks on cowboys from hell and vulgar display of power.

Mastodon, Qotsa, Unida(I think was on a major label), At The Drive In.

Wrong, wrong, if you're talking about Oneida then I don't think it was a major... and wrong.

yeah er the mars volta are pretty major label aren't they, a couple of their albums are really good

Wrong.

Tool!

Gotta be shitting me. Tool = awful.

i'm gonna be CONTROVERSIAL and claim that Muse's 2nd and 3rd records were in fact pretty good

Not as bad as Tool... but still, wrong.

Mclusky count, don't they? Too Pure a major label?

Nope. Great band though.

You know it's bad when someone is pushing Muse as one of the better bands.

OTM.

Black Holes and Revelations was great.

You're on crack.

Honestly, Absolution and ESPECIALLY Origin Of Symmetry are really rather good.

You're on crack too.

as for the question up top, faith no more - album of the year. it's not bad. came out 1997.

I'll let this one slide.

I will rep for Mars Volta as decent sub-Floyd with quality psych doses.

Sub-Floyd, huh? Must be pretty awful. Hard to be more tedious than Floyd.

OK Computer springs to mind

Thought of this myself. Not exactly rock/metal... but, fantastic album.

Kinda feeling the first three QOTSA records.

I'll give you the first two. Not great, but at least they don't outright suck like the next 3-4 of theirs.

Monster Magnet can be added to the list.

Herman, put down the bong.

The Donnas Spend the Night on Atlantic, 2002, I thin', maybe a little later.

Gag me with a rusty fork.

Oh yeah deftones, how did I forget about them.

Oh, I know why... because they are NOT ANY GOOD.

System of a Down - Toxicity

Now that's a real stinker.

And if Virgin counts as a major label, then At The Drive-In's 'Relationship of Command' was a big deal when it came out (it's since been reissued on an indie, so it probably doesn't count anymore).

Sucks, but hey, at least it's not the Mars Volta.

I was waiting on someone saying Pantera. I hate those albums.

At last, a voice of reason comes through. Thank you.

(I don't have a better answer for the poster's original question, by the way.)

Herman dont smoke and I was talking about Unida not Oneida (who are also great but definitely not on a major)

stephen why don't you check out pitchfork, i'm sure they've got a few good ideas

and it appears that the 1st album was on Mans Ruin and the 2nd album which was on a major label of course didnt come out (Gracia sold cdrs of the unreleased 2nd album at Herman shows which a mate got me one)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unida

not Oneida (who are also great but definitely not on a major)

Ah good call. Haven't heard (or heard of) Unida.

stephen why don't you check out pitchfork, i'm sure they've got a few good ideas

Louis whatchu talkin bout, Pitchfork-approved (or dissed) is hardly my measuring stick for good music.

The unida album was great but sadly I was wrong about the label. I thought it was just the vinyl wasn't on a major. But i also have it on cd too and checked that as well just now.

The 2nd album is good so that label can fuck off for not releasing it.
The official bootleg cdr i have isnt very good quality however thankfully A) there was a better mp3 version around and B) it was bootlegged on vinyl and is good quality.

Lazy zing, my good man. Plus your opinions largely seem to scan with theirs, on this issue at least. :p

Just thought of an absolute thread-winner: Catherine Wheel - Adam And Eve

Stephen > some Unida here http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=unida&search_type=

Louis you are joking aren't you?

Yeah, I guess they (Jet) were part of that group. I just remember the White Stripes-BRMC-The Hives and maybe The Vines as forming an (evil!) axis for that garage-rock revival class.

But I get the feeling that today whoever would have a moderately successful indie debut today, on the level of Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana or Sound Garden back then, would be a lot less likely to sign to a major and go multi-platinum.

Maybe 'cause there are new ways to make money in music, e.g., indie bands marketing their songs to TV shows. But I think it goes beyond that: There's a sound that's big on commercial rock-radio this decade (maybe it's a holdover from the late 90s) that doesn't mesh with indie rock (which is either too-mannered or too-noisy in a non nu-metal way, I guesss).

By way of example: I've been casually listening to HEALTH's song, Triceratops, today. It's a cool, noisy song. But that kind of noise, I'd guess, isn't what would wind up on commercial rock radio. There's a certain type of aggression and lyrics and vibe that's in those rock radio songs, and I don't think HEALTH works in that vein. They could reshape the vein, I guess, if one of their songs can break through.

I dunno, it's hard to pinpoint statistically how much has changed. But I get the feeling that today whoever would have a moderately successful indie debut today, on the level of Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana or Sound Garden back then, would be a lot less likely to sign to a major and go multi-platinum. It seems like the bands that do well on indies now either stay indie forever, or sign and then get only incrementally more popular without really "blowing up" or crossing over big time. Even a band like Death Cab For Cutie, who went platinum and have been on the Modern Rock top 10 for months now, don't really seem that big to me.

-- some dude, Monday, July 14, 2008 12:15 PM (17 minutes ago)

how old are you?

26. why do you ask?

Steve's trying to make me feel old, is all.

How big are Death Cab in the states? Most people dont know them here.

A lot bigger. A band who chart pretty high and get a lot of radio play

porcupine tree's "in absentia" was the first thing that came to mind. On Lava, which was (is?) an Atlantic imprint.

Death Cab are fucking huge now, by any measure I use (which is "any band I used to pay $5 for that I now have to pay almost ten times as much to see, guaranteeing that I will not see them ever again")

are coldplay the biggest rock band in the world right now? as in: record sales, concert sales, etc.

Isn't Radiohead bigger? And U2, for concerts?

I don't think coldplay has hit the U2 level yet, but I think they've probably surpassed Radiohead.

going by wikipedia, x&y by coldplay sold, like, 11 million copies worldwide, and the last U2 album sold about half that. and the new coldplay album looks like it will hit those numbers as well.

their new one is the second fastest selling album in U.K. history! they don't say what the first fastest was.

"The album was highly successful around the world in its first week of release, when it debuted at #1 in 36 countries[22]. In the United Kingdom the album sold 302,000 copies after 3 days of release, making it the second fastest selling album in UK history. It also became the best selling release in iTunes history. In its second week it sold another 198,000 getting a platinum certification for those sales.[23] The album debuted with sales of 41,041[24] in Australia and was certified platinum. In Japan it sold almost 40,000 copies in its first week and a further 40,000 in its second week. In the US the album debuted at #1 with 721,000 copies sold. This almost equals previous album X&Y's first week sales of 737,000.[25]"

if you can sell a million records in a week, you are about as huge as huge gets these days.

WOW! Eye-opening! Depressing!

(not that depressing; Coldplay is bland, but okay sometimes).

i'm no fan, but i thought they actually sounded okay when i saw them on the daily show. i think they played all new stuff and it sounded more interesting to me than their other stuff. still can't really get into whatshisface's voice though.

the fastest selling uk album was Oasis - Be Here Now

Yeah, Coldplay catch too much grief for what they do. The biggest strike against them -- just like with Oasis, BTW -- is that they fancy themselves as the biggest, best band in the world, which is just asking for trouble. OTOH, they are a big band. And rich.

(xp)

people still want that BIG ROCK ALBUM feeling. that anthemic rush. which is why it makes sense that U2 and oasis and coldplay and radiohead are the last really big bands (or of the last decade or whatever). they are BIG ROCK MOMENT holdovers.

Yep. I'm waiting for JOURNEY to re-emerge from the ashes (with Steve Perry).

it's one of the reasons a band like bon jovi could sneak back into the fold. there are job openings for anthem rockers.(and why country fans who are also rock fans make superstars out of anthemic rockers like Rascal Flatts.)

Honestly, I think a few good "anthem" or "stadium" rock bands are good to have around. Without them, we'd have no Mr. Roboto.

(Seriously, being 40 and having grown up in the 80s, I have a soft spot for "anthem rockers," especially ones with that Journey wall-of-harmony vocal sound).

And Puddle Of Mudd and P.O.D. ain't satisfying that need for me, unfortunately.

Actually, Journey did re-emerge from the ashes, exclusively at Wal-Mart, this year. Their last album actually charted very briefly, according to a short piece in the LA Times a few weeks ago. While it won't lift them out of the ag fair circuit, it was still a surprise. Sans Perry though.

I'll go to see them rock the Gulfstream Racetrack! Or the Dade County Youth Fair.

Yep. I'm waiting for JOURNEY to re-emerge from the ashes (with Steve Perry).

Journey's new vocalist is a dude from the Phillipines that they discovered on YouTube, and he is awesome!

The story of their new singer is pretty AWES tho. He out-Perry's Perry FWIW as well.

xp!

He out-Perry's Perry FWIW as well.

Don't toy with my emotions.

as i always like to remind people, steve perry was the THIRD lead vocalist for journey. after gregg rolie and that fleischman dude.

and the new guy is the SIXTH lead vocalist. after some guy i can't remember and journeyman deluxe jeff scott soto.

Dang it, this is now far off-topic but you guys are prompting me to go sample the new Journey disc. If I like it enough, and have to buy it for my iPod, I'll have to post to the GUILTY PLEASURES thread.

and speaking of anthem rock and jeff scott soto, there is a huge underground indie scene for AOR bands. mostly in Germany. not the power metal crowd, but the Axel Rudi Pell crowd. a whole universe of fans who own every album that joe lynn turner was ever involved with. people who own soul sirkus albums! (neal schon and jeff scott soto side-project)

http://www.rock-is-life.com/reviews/img/soulsirkus2.jpg

every album that joe lynn turner was ever involved with:

ICARUS WITCH Songs for the Lost 2007
JLT Second Hand Life 2007
BLACKMORE'S NIGHT Village Lanterne 2006
Single EP The One 2006
Akira Kajiyama and Joe Lynn Turner Fire Without Flame 2006
Vitalij Kuprij Revenge 2006
Usual Suspects JLT 2005
Eddie Ojeda Axes 2 Axes 2005
Iron Maiden Tribute Numbers from The Beast 2005
Michael Schenker Heavy Hitters 2005
Mikhail Men Made in Moscow 2005
Brazen Abbot My Ressurection 2005
Classic Rock Revisited The New Road Ahead Vol 1 2005
Heaven and Earth Heaven and Earth Revised Re-Release 2005
Metallic Attack Metallica The Ultimate Tribute 2004
Karl Cochran's Voodooland Give Me Air 2004
Hughes Turner Project HTP2 2003
Murray Weinstock Tails of the City 2003
Rainbow Catch The Rainbow 2003
Brazen Abbot Guilty As Sin 2003
Mr. Big Tribute Influences and Connections 2003
Joe Lynn Turner JLT 2003
Hughes Turner Project HTP-LIVE IN TOKYO 2002
The Tour Bus Radio Show The Road Trip 2002
Mountain Mystic Fire 2002
Hughes Turner Project HTP 2002
Baron Love Valley 2002
Terry Brock Freedom 2001
Joe Lynn Turner Slam 2001
Queen Tribute Stone Cold Crazy 2001
Joe Lynn Turner Challenge Them All 2001
Rock Ballads WTC Benefit 2001
Nikolo Kotzev Nostradamus 2001
Voices for America Special WTC EP 2001
Aerosmith Tribute Let The Tribute Do The Talking 2001
ACDC Tribute Remixed to Hell 2000
Joe Lynn Turner Holy Man 2000
Various Artists Fire Woman: A Tribute to The Cult 2000
Ozzy Tribute Bat Head's Soup 2000
Van Halen Tribute Tribute to Van Halen 2000 2000
*SPECIAL* Randy Rhoads "Tribute" 1999
Leslie West As Phat as it Gets 1999
Yngwie Malmsteen Inspiration (Bonus CD) 1999
Fandango Best of 1999
Deep Purple Shades 68-98 1999
Joe Lynn Turner UNDER COVER 2 1999
Joe Lynn Turner Waiting for a Girl Like You 1999
Vick LeCar Never Stranded 1998
Stuart Smith Heaven & Earth 1998
Don Johnson Heartbeat 1998
Niji Densetsu Rainbow Tribute 1998
Various Heard It On The Radio 1998
Mothers Army Fire On The Moon 1998
Guitar Compilation Sounds of Wood and Steel 1998
Deep Purple Purplexed 1998
Joe Lynn Turner Hurry Up & Wait 1998
Mojo Brothers Mojo Brothers 1997
AC/DC Tribute Thunderbolt 1997
Brazen Abbot Bad Religion 1997
Joe Lynn Turner Undercover 1997
Mothers Army Planet Earth 1997
Yngwie Malmsteen Inspiration 1996
Toshi Kankawa Toshi Kankawa 1996
Brazen Abbot Eye Of The Storm 1996
Rainbow The Very Best Of 1997
Deep Purple Tribute - Black Night 1995
Joe Lynn Turner Nothing's Changed 1995
Nerds Poultry In Motion 1995
Bloodline Bloodline 1994
Blues Bureau International Cream Of The Crop 1994
Deep Purple Tribute Smoke On The Water 1994
Mothers Army Mothers Army 1993
Yngwie Malmsteen Collection 1992
TNT Unrealized Fantazies 1992
Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne 1992
Hellcats Hellcats 2 1992
Lita Ford Dangerous Curves 1991
Deep Purple Slaves & Masters 1990
Kathy Troccoli Pure Attraction 1991
Michael Bolton Time, Love and Tenderness 1991
Foundations Forum Compilation '90 Vol. 2 1990
Slyce Slyce 1990
Billy Joel Storm Front 1989
Paul Carrack Groove Approved 1989
Yngwie Malmsteen Trial By Fire Live 1989
Jimmy Barnes Freight Train Heart 1989
Alexa Alexa 1989
Bonnie Tyler Notes From America 1988
TNT Intuition 1988
Don Johnson Let It Roll 1988
Yngwie Malmsteen Odyssey 1988
Bonfire Bonfire 1987
Mick Jones Mick Jones 1987
Lee Arron Lee Arron 1987
John Waite Rovers Return 1987
Cher Cher 1987
Michael Bolton The Hunger 1987
Rainbow Final Vinyl 1986
Joe Lynn Turner Rescue You 1985
Official Soundtrack The Heavenly Kid 1985
Rainbow Bent Out Of Shape 1983
Rainbow Straight Between The Eyes 1982
Rainbow Best of Compilation 1981
Rainbow Difficult To Cure 1981
Fandango Cadillac 1980
Fandango Last Kiss 1979
Fandango One Night Stand 1978
Fandango Fandango 1977

Hahaha. The new guy is like Steve Perry's mini-me! Finally! A good commerical rock album in the Naughties!

"there is a huge underground indie scene for AOR bands. mostly in Germany."

Scott, what kind of fans do these bands have in Germany? Is it the same age group that listened to Journey or say The Scorpions in the 80s or are there younger people into these groups?

Maybe dads and their sons?

I'm actually surprised 1) that they haven't been mentioned on this thread yet, period; and 2) that they weren't mentioned in response to Scott's comment that "there are job openings for anthem rockers": Coheed And Cambria. Their prog reputation is overinflated; their songs are catchy as fuck and sound like 80s AOR/prog (Asia, Triumph) more than 70s bloat-tastic prog (Yes, ELP). Their biggest problem is that their lead singer looks like Sweetums, the Muppet monster, and his voice is too weirdly high to take them into serious commercial territory, but the guy knows how to write a riff and a chorus. They're probably the most unfashionable band on Earth, but I like 'em.

Uh not really, given that the vast majority of the best rock albums (I'd say this would be a near-consensus opinion, not just mine) come out on independent labels...
-- DJ Mencap, Monday, 14 July 2008 15:06 (Yesterday) Link

I think that needs some qualification, particularly with regards to 'best'. The albums that most people liked (ie which sold the most) from hard rock and heavy metal are usually on majors, such as:
Metallica
AC/DC
Led Zeppelin
Guns N Roses
Nickelback
Pantera
Deep Purple
Foo Fighters
Slayer (dodgy, Def American may count as CBS/Warner?)
Thin Lizzy
Iron Maiden
Judas Briest
Black Sabbath
Limp Bizkit
Foo Fighters
Nirvana
FNM
Soundgarden
etc.

Given the number of indie labels there probably are more hard rock & metal releases on them mind.

But Limp Bizkit and Nickelback are hardly examples of Good major label hard rock/metal bands

However, Soundgarden is a perfect example. Superunknown is one of the best rock albums of the '90s. But since it's early '90s, it doesn't really count for this thread, unfortunately.

i was basically going with 1997-2008 as whiney mentioned 1997 originally

the problem with this thread is that the only good one was the colour and the shape and ppl need to just deal with it

haha

I was going to say Sepultura Roots but that's on Roadrunner so I guess it doesn't count...

But Limp Bizkit and Nickelback are hardly examples of Good major label hard rock/metal bands.
-- Herman G. Neuname, Tuesday, 15 July 2008 19:20 (2 days ago) Link

I'm not saying that it's good, just that most people think it is (based on popularity), which is different to what Mencap was saying.

Does Down's NOLA count? It was '95 (iffy) but came out on Elektra. That disc eats pussies like Pearl Jam and Nirvana for breakfast. It's monstrous.

i liked stone temple pilot's 4 album. from 1999. that was a good hard rock record.

i would bring up nine inch nails on here, but i didn't dig the fragile that much and downward spiral is too early for this thread.