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Absolute Favorite Album
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WastedRockRanger



Joined: 10 Feb 2004
Posts: 81

PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:00 pm    Post subject: Absolute Favorite Album Reply with quote

Just sitting here listening to Maiden's "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" which happens to be my favorite album of all time, bar none. There is no album that takes me away from reality like "Seventh Son". To me it's a vividly fantastic album as are most Maiden albums up to "Seventh Son". "Fear of the Dark" was the last album by them that I thought really had "feel" but not like the earlier albums. "Seventh Son" really digs down into my imaginative soul like no album I've listened to before or since.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'm just curious as to what is your absolute favorite album. Please go into detail if you'd like. I'm genuinely interested in not only which album but also your reasons. It just seems to me that the albums that really dig down deep into your soul are the ones that are worth sharing with others. Hell, I'll probably end up buying everything on this list that I don't have. - Thanks
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Hippyblood



Joined: 30 Jul 1999
Posts: 925
Location: Indiana

PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My absolute favorite album is Pink Floyd's The Wall. When I listen to it my mind can slip right into the movie. I can see every part of it. I never get tired of that album and David Gilmour's guitar playing is inspired.

You were probably going for metal albums though....sorry.
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metalblood



Joined: 10 Aug 2001
Posts: 510
Location: Pittsburgh, PA USA

PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 6:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Manilla Road- Crystal Logic
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The Dorf



Joined: 11 Feb 2001
Posts: 1165
Location: Baltimore, MD

PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 8:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

King's X - Gretchen Goes To Nebraska

I felt back then, when it first came out, and still feel today, that it is the most diverse hard rock/metal disc ever recorded. And I still think that Doug Pinnick has the deepest, most soulful voice of any metal singer.

Running a VERY close second is the Wildhearts - Earth Vs. The Wildhearts.
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General Zod



Joined: 24 Jan 2001
Posts: 2519
Location: Krypton

PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 6:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Honestly, it's hard to say. However, if I had to pick only one, it would have to be Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil". This was the disc that got me into music/Metal. I must have played this CD from the time I woke up, till the time I went to bed, for about six straight months. I had to replace the cassette on three occassions from wear. While it's hard to put that CD on par musically with some of my favorites that followed it, by bands like Nevermore, Queensryche, Opeth, Symphony X, etc., it will always hold a unique and special place in my heart.

I think I'm going to revisit "Seventh Son" some time this weekend. It's been a while since that CD has seen the light of day.

GZ
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Jake



Joined: 02 Mar 1999
Posts: 4963

PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 7:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rainbow: Rising. If all the members of this band had died immediately after the release of this album it would have been a trajedy, but I would still put Rainbow in my top 1O bands, because this album is so truly phenomenal. Fortunately with the exception of Cozy Powell[Died in '97, RIP] everyone is still alive and well. I don't think it would have been a surprise either to discover this album was so good. Blackmore wrote two masterpieces with Deep Purple, so it was only a matter of time before he did it again. Quite frankly I don't think there's a rock 'n' roll/metal writer who can even come close to him except for maybe Phil Lynott in the 7Os[and both guys found the best guys out there to play on their stuff].

Lets look at who's in the band first. We already know about Blackmore so we'll skip over him for now[until we discuss how he plays the songs]. Ronnie James Dio is the singer here, and everyone knows he is cool. What I've never understood is how his solo career is so popular in comparison to Rainbow, when Dio CANNOT write on his own. He's good for amazing fantasy lyrics and good vocal melodies, but we know Blackmore and Iommi did most of the writing on the albums that he was on that were actually good. Dio's inability to write good songs on his own notwithstanding, he was in top form on this album, and I considered him to be one of the best vocalists ever after only hearing this one album with him. His voice is powerful, clear, and his vocal melodies are tremendous. Next:

Jimmy Bain bassist. I have to say I thought Craig Gruber was better. I don't know why Blackmore replaced him; maybe he wanted to further distance the band from it's foundations of Elf. This would make it totally his band. Jimmy Bain isn't a bad bassist though, he just isn't as flashy.

Tony Carey. I've never heard of this guy's work outside of this album. He's a perfectly capable keyboardist,and he trades off perfectly with Blackmore in the extended solo sections on the second half of the album.

Cozy Powell. I've heard people say his drumming is technically good, but too mechanical. Well ok, I don't hear this guy play anything too soulful, but he isn't screwing things up either. He's fitting the context of the song which is more important than being a showoff[now that I think about it, maybe that's why Blackmore got rid of Craig Gruber].

The songs: There are six songs on this album[only 6? Well it's still 33 minutes long- perfect length for an album]. Four of the songs are masterpieces. The other two are just really good.

Tarot Woman: keyboard intro, some interesting stuff going on between the keyboards and the guitar once the rest of the band actually joins in. I think I should mention that these songs aren't very "riffy,"[Except for Light in the Black] but I think they work well because they are good songs not just a bunch of riffs thrown together.] This song is in the top 5 songs of all time. Dio comes out with a bang, "I don't wanna go, something tells me no. No! No! NOOO!!!" Best first line of a song ever. Dio continues singing about how he's been drawn under the power of some kind of mystic or witch. I think that this may be linked to both Stargazer and Light in the Black[which are definitely linked together], but I'm not absolutely sure. Keyboards and guitars get some good licks in. Dio gets to finish off with great chorus's. Rating: 64[ok the meter only goes up to 1O and that's not fair] - 1O

Run With the Wolf: This song has a little bit more of a hook to it than Tarot Woman. I don't think the songwriting was quite as good as that on Tarot Woman, but since that's pretty much impossible to top, so I'm not going to bash on this song for being just "good." This song is pretty simple, but work well. Dio apparently singing about some kind of animal guiding him on a journey. I'd like to say this is like a vision quest or something, but Dio has never really touched on shamanistic themes in his lyrics before or after this, so I'm guessing that that isn't what the song is actually about. Everything works perfectly. Rating: 8.

Starstruck: The intro has a cool medieval feel to it that reminds me of Blackmore's latest work only I like this better because it is on an electric, not an acoustic guitar. Once the intro is over, the song moves onto a simple catchy riff that kindof reminds me of Strange Kind of Woman from the Deep Purple album Fireball. Borrowed or not, this song is just catchy as hell. Dio pouring his heart into his unfortunate love life problems. The lyrics are kind of funny too: "If I'm high on a hill then she'd still be looking down on me." Well written. Blackmore has a good solo and the keyboards keep with the atmosphere without either drowning it out or being unnecessary. This song is a masterpiece. Rating: 1O[It's as good as Tarot Woman, but I think it would be stupid to keep rating stuff over ten, since you should already have the point by now].

Do You Close Your Eyes: It doesn't matter that this is a fairly commercial hardrock song without quite the great lyrics of the other songs or the guitar work. I'm just glad that they didn't put a song about rock n roll on here like on the preceding album and the following one. This song is just about sex. Lyrics are dumb, but Dio deals with them well. Chorus is a fun sing along: "Do you close your eyes? Do you close your eyes? Do you close your eyes when you're making LOVEEEEEE!" Dio never topped the performance on this song during his solo career so that should tell you that it's still a pretty good song. Rating: 7.5

Stargazer: This is the most immediately recognizable song on this album, with DEFINITELY the best fantasy lyrics ever written. The story is of a wizard who strives for perfection. He wants to build a tower that will take him straight to the stars, where he believes he will be able to fly. I think there is a definite tower of babel influence here, which just makes these lyrics even more cool. The wizard has enslaved thousands of people in order to make his dream. However, when it is complete he falls to his death. "No sound as he falls instead of rising. Time standing still...then there's blood on the sand." I interpret this song to mean that you should not seek unattainable things. It's good to improve upon your self, but not to try to become better than a man. For his hubris, the wizard suffered the ultimate price. The story is told from the perspective a slave working for the wizard. What I like almost as much as the actual story is the way that the slave seems to even have some kind of empathy for the wizard, and then simple amazement at what happens afterward. The lyrics to this 8 minute song could be made into a whole movie and take up several hours. That's just plain amazing! The riff and musical themes sound a little middle eastern[but not as much as Gates of Babylon from the next album].
Before we learn of the Wizard's demise there is an amazing solo trade off section between Blackmore playing mezmerizing middle eastern tinged solos and trading off with Tony Carey who also puts in some great parts. The theme of this song continues in the next one, and I don't think I need to say that Dio put his all time best performance into this song. Rating: 1O

Light in the Black: This is the fastest song on the album, and for it's time[1976] this song must have just smoked everything else out there. Sure Tyrant from Judas Priest came out the same year, but that song isn't in the same league. The riff here is awesome, and once we get some great tradeoffs between Blackmore and Carey, both apparently having saved their best solos for this song[there's at least a 2 minute lead break]. Lyrically this song is a follow up from Stargazer. It's about the same slave who worked for the wizard in Stargazer, and his thoughts on returning home. He is no longer sure of himself. That's probably because he's been a slave all his life, but also because even a genius like the wizard couldn't actually achieve his goal. Nevertheless, the slave is "going hommmmeeee!!!!" There isn't any thing else to really say about this song. The vocals are a 1O; the songwriting is a 1O and the other important elements are also a 1O. I bet you're wondering what this song is going to get. Rating 1O.

Every member of this band puts on the top performance of their career, including the writers. Dio never wrote lyrics this good again, even if he tried a thousand times on his solo albums with songs like Egypt. Blackmore may have improved his soloing ability after this, but he didn't improve on his songwriting skills. And the other guys are good enough here that it doesn't matter. The albums to follow this developed a more commercial sound, which actually made them sound more metal[and Long Live Rock and Roll is actually the album that Yngwie Malmsteen would like to rerecord], but they were unable to top this release. If anyone were ever to record a better rock album than this then I think that would be proof of a divine being. Rating: 1O.
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Jim McCormick



Joined: 09 Oct 2003
Posts: 467
Location: Cedar Rapids, IA

PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 8:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pat Travers "Putting it Straight"
27 years, have I've been spinning this album. I've went through three vinyl copies & have a Japanese import CD, now I also have a double album CD which "Heat in the Street" is also included. It maybe redundant at this point to say that "Putting it Straight" is not just my favorite PT album, but my favorite album of all time! It still sounds as everybit fresh today as the day I popped it on my record player, so many years ago.

"Putting it Straight" starts off with the speeding mammoth, shiny metallic freight train that is "Life in London." PT's last word on the punk scene that was consuming London at the time. Fast, hard, & metallic, "Life in London" is a juggernaut stomping on the lifeless corpse that punk would be in a couple of years. The second & third songs, "It Aint What it Seems" & "Speakeasy," are rollicking guitar riff driven tunes that speak of goodtimes & bad. "Running from the Future" (my favorite song off the album) is a monster of Jazzy metal heaviness with guitar breaks that bring tears to my eyes. The sound he gets out of his guitar is just incredible on this song & the album as a whole, truely unique. "Running from the Future's" subject is also as forboding as it is heavy. PT speaking of his drug use, knowing it will lead to nowhere. "Lovin' You" is a keyboard driven song of love & regret. The funky instrumental "Off Beat Ride" demonstrates PT's fusion side not unlike Jeff Beck's "Wired," it also shows PT's considerable keyboard talents. The giant funky metallic riffery & time changes of "Gettin' Betta" is a immortal PT classic. It draws you in like a set of white water rapids, full of bumps & grinds, you have to hang on! The last song, "Dedication" is gorgeous. It's melody takes you away. It's lryics about friendship & kindness are truly heart-felt & warm. There is no doubt that PT knows how to write important personal songs of life & how to live it, a masterpiece.

This is the last album to feature the tremendous drumming of future Iron Maiden drummer Niko McBrain. Next would be Tommy Aldridge!

5/5

Surprise! Wink
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Metal1



Joined: 27 May 2000
Posts: 1253
Location: South of Hell

PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Manowar - Into Glory Ride

Only because its the album that really got me into the whole mysterious aspect of what metal really was to me. Something about the sound of that album...the mix, whatever. But, it just brings me somewhere else. Can't beat that feeling!
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suela



Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2004 2:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[i]Control and Resistance - Watchtower
Awaken the Guardian - Fates Warning
Operation Mindcrime - Queensryche
Mosquito - Psychotic Waltz
The Music of Erich Zann - Mekong Delta

[/i]
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