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Thoughts on recent buys (all old stuff)

 
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JosephC



Joined: 26 Apr 2000
Posts: 1074
Location: Middleton, WI

PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2003 11:21 pm    Post subject: Thoughts on recent buys (all old stuff) Reply with quote

Grading scale:
10-Top
7-Good
5-Average
3-Bad
1-Forget it
And of course, everything in between counts. Remember, 5 is average. Anything an 8 and above deserves a serious look into.

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WHITESNAKE : SLIDE IT IN (ORIGINAL UK MIX)

I have to give some background on this one. During my teenage years I picked up the regular US domestic copy, it quickly became one of my favorites and Whitesnake became one of my favorite bands. Years later, I was working in a record store and someone brought a UK vinyl version in to sell. Having heard it had a "slightly" different mix, I picked it up. Wow, I was blown away! "Slightly" my a**, try "far superior."

Well the years have ticked away and finally I just decided to drop down the $20 and get this CD the way it was supposed to be. Needless to say, about half of the versions here just blow away the "american-ized" versions, in particular Gambler and All or Nothing. More open, more bluesy, more the way Whitesnake was before the hairspray took over.

Even the inferior American version is one of the best CDs ever, and the original mix is the stuff that legends are made of. There are so many great songs on here (Love Ain't No Stranger, Guilty of Love, Give Me More Time) that it is just sick. Slow an' Easy....the best blues metal tune ever?....maybe so.

Final grade = 10.0

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OPETH : STILL LIFE

Finally I've completed the Opeth collection (until Damnation is released).

Well this is Opeth. Yep, epic tracks. Yep, rough and clean vocals. Yep, lots of heavy and acoustic material. The biggest difference between this and prior Opeth would be the sound quality. Much cleaner sounding recording, but not as fat sounding as the prior stuff. Soundwise I found it to be pretty similar to Blackwater Park.

Material wise this is solid. The acoustic section in Godhead's Lament is one of Opeth's finest moments. The haunting Benighted is nothing short of beautiful. And the drum/bass crunch of Moonlapse Vertigo and Serenity Painted Death really stands out. The jazzy fretless bass in Face of Melinda was unique and innovative. And the creepy conceptual lyrics give this CD that much more depth.

What can you say, another in a long line of Opeth winners!

Final grade = 8.5

By the way, for those into controversy I will post the current Opeth ratings (which are always subject to change):
Morningrise = 9.5
Blackwater Park = 9.0
My Arms, Your Hearse = 8.5
Still Life = 8.5
Deliverance = 7.0
Orchid = 7.0

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OMEN : BATTLE CRY

These guys may have been from America, but this debut release sounds straight out of the NWOBHM. Early Maiden influence is all over this, especially on songs like Last Rites and Die By the Blade (check out the guitarwork).

Basically this is your NWOBHM medieval type heavy metal (the type I like, as opposed to the German power metal medieval type heavy metal). Overall, I really liked this, a good blast from the past. Songs like Death Rider, The Axeman and Prince of Darkness were all really good. I'd recommend this to many of the old timers who long for the youthful energy that those early 80's UK bands once gave us.

Final grade = 7.0

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OMEN : WARNING OF DANGER

CD #2 from Omen. Looking back now it's pretty easy to see that a commercial side was starting to emerge. The second track, March On, is nothing like the first CD and was pretty much aimed towards getting airplay. That being said, there is some solid stuff on here that reminds me of the first album...like Ruby Eyes. It is also a little thrashier at times...like Termination. A decent enough follow up, but it just didn't match the energy that the first disc had.

Final grade = 5.0

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OMEN : THE CURSE / NIGHTMARES

This one is a combination of their The Curse LP with the added bonus of the Nightmares EP.

The Curse seems like a much darker effort than their previous works. The songs are longer and it seems as if the band was making a real effort to be "more mature." Some of the stuff works really well, and at other times it falls short. Holy Martyr really has that early Maiden sound, and Destiny is a true hidden gem. But overall, it was somewhat of an uneven effort.

Nightmares had two new cuts, three old cuts and a live version of Whole Lotta Rosie. The two new cuts jumped into speed metal and the rest of this was old and disposable.

In the end it's not really a surprise that this was about as far as the band went. The first CD was really good, but it doesn't seem as if they could ever get solid enough material (some good songs, just not enough of those good songs) once they drifted away from that early Maiden type sound.

Final grade = 5.0

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Other recent grades:

Fates Warning/The Spectre Within (re-issue) = 10.0
In Flames/Reroute To Remain = 9.5
Fates Warning/Night on Brocken (re-issue) = 9.0
Lizzy Borden/Love You To Pieces (re-issue) = 9.0
Opeth/Blackwater Park = 9.0
Opeth/Morningrise = 8.5
Halford/Resurrection = 8.0
Lacuna Coil/Comalies = 8.0
Lizzy Borden/Deal With the Devil = 8.0
Dark Tranquillity/Damage Done = 7.5
Opeth/Orchid = 7.5
Amaran/A World Depraved = 7.0
Dark Tranquillity/The Gallery = 7.0
Halford/Crucible = 7.0
Metal Blade 20th Anniversity (9 CD + 1 DVD) = 7.0
Opeth/Deliverance = 7.0
Prince/The Rainbow Children = 7.0
Opeth/My Arms Your Hearse = 6.5
Sentenced/The Cold White Light = 6.5
Dark Tranquillity/The Minds I = 6.0
Jacob's Dream/Jacob's Dream = 6.0
Chinchilla/The Last Millennium = 5.5
Lizzy Borden/Menace To Society (re-issue) = 5.5
Dragonland/Holy War = 5.0
Sentenced/Crimson = 5.0
Beyond the Embrace/Beyond the Embrace = 4.5
Nile/In Their Darkened Shrines = 4.5
Shadows Fall/The Art of Balance = 4.5
Cradle of Filth = Live Bait for the Dead (2 CD) = 3.5
Primordial/Storm Before Calm = 3.5
Green Carnation/Journey to the End of the Night = 3.0
The Gathering/Black Light District = 2.5
Def Leppard/X = 2.0
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Wyvern



Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 2214
Location: Costa Rica

PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2003 4:34 pm    Post subject: Thoughts on recent buys (all old stuff) Reply with quote

quote:
Originally posted by JosephC:
Halford/Resurrection = 8.0
Lacuna Coil/Comalies = 8.0
Halford/Crucible = 7.0

Too low
OK
Too low
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iwarrior



Joined: 05 Apr 2002
Posts: 3526
Location: Pittsburgh,PA

PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2003 11:05 pm    Post subject: Thoughts on recent buys (all old stuff) Reply with quote

Glad you liked Slide It In and Still Life,although I'd switch the grades you gave them.
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woosta



Joined: 12 Mar 1999
Posts: 780
Location: PA

PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 12:51 am    Post subject: Thoughts on recent buys (all old stuff) Reply with quote

Couldn't disagree more with Sentenced "CWL", Chinchilla and Shadows Fall ratings, but I agree with Lacuna Coil and In Flames ratings!
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Crusader



Joined: 08 Dec 1998
Posts: 1404
Location: Sweden

PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 9:06 am    Post subject: Thoughts on recent buys (all old stuff) Reply with quote

Some interesting info about that Whitesnake album.
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PaulEMoz



Joined: 24 Oct 2000
Posts: 843
Location: Newcastle, England...now in Detroit, MI, USA

PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 8:53 pm    Post subject: Thoughts on recent buys (all old stuff) Reply with quote

Being from England, I've had that version of Slide It In for a long time. I have always absolutely loved that album, almost as much as I love Come An' Get It (which, for nostalgic reasons, being the first album I ever bought, is still my favourite). I do like the US remix a lot too, possibly because the songs themselves are just so good. I remember when I and another Whitesnake loving friend found out about it, and then found the vinyl version in a local second hand record shop. We absolutely dived on it, and at the time, liked it more than the original, probably because it was different, and it did sound very fresh. However, nowadays I listen to the original UK version more. It's an all time classic.
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