Notable Anniversary Chat
I thought I'd start this thread, rather than creating a new one every time I notice an important metal milestone. After all, what better way to kick it off than with a 45 year old classic, Sad Wings of Destiny.
Personally, it was only when Daniel and I covered the early years of metal for the Metal Academy podcast that I truly gave early Judas Priest a solid go. This was definitely the Priest album that I enjoyed the most out of their 70s / 80s efforts, which I know is an opinion that Daniel doesn't share.
I'd love to hear how others feel about it.
Happy 45th anniversary to the album that established Judas Priest as the second true heavy metal band!! And here are 3 more less famous but still notable Guardians bands having their x5-year anniversaries today:
Angra and Power Quest were two of my favorite power metal bands back in my earlier epic metal taste, and those two albums (Holy Land and Blood Alliance) are pretty awesome. They also happen to be the second-to-last albums with Angra vocalist Andre Matos and Power Quest bassist Paul Finnie, both of whom have suffered a fatal heart attack in 2019, within months away from each other. RIP...
This was definitely the Priest album that I enjoyed the most out of their 70s / 80s efforts, which I know is an opinion that Daniel doesn't share.
Quoted Ben
For the record, my favourite from their 70's & 80's material is "Defenders Of The Faith". I really like "Sad Wings Of Destiny" but it wouldn't make my top five for Priest overall. I guess the more theatrical & proggy Queen influenced stuff isn't quite as appealing to me as the more obviously metal material that was to come.
As most of you who listen to my bullshit know, I much prefer 70's era Priest over their later releases. Sad Wings was the first album of theirs I bought, presumably about 43 years ago now, and is still my second favourite album, Stained Class just nudging it off the top spot. I'll always have a soft spot for SWoD though because me and an old mate of mine, who is no longer with us, used to get hammered and sing along to tracks like Tyrant and Genocide at the top of our voices, pissing the neighbours off no end! I've still got that original (and quite battered) vinyl copy even now. Great days...
... Another classic with an anniversary today, though. Drudkh's best album Blood in Our Wells is 15. One of the greatest ever atmospheric black metal releases and an important influence on many later (and less talented) atmo-black outfits.
Holy fucken shit... Toxicity is 20 years old today!!
Where the fuck did those years go?! Seems like only yesterday (and a week before 9/11 too).
i have been avoiding listening to Jane Doe for 20 years also according to the same list.
Happy 20th anniversary to one of In Flames' live albums, and one of Converge's grand masterpieces:
I haven't listened to In Flames for a few months, because they were one of the death metal bands I've departed from listening to. I might give that live album a listen and a review as a nice throwback. Do you think I might try the death metal band Matriden? NO F***ING CHANCE!!! Sorry but my death metal departure is still on!
i have been avoiding listening to Jane Doe for 20 years also according to the same list.
Yeah - me too!
Today, as we all know, is the 20th anniversary of the most disastrously tragic day in America. So let's have a minute of silence for those we have lost in the attacks....
OK, back to the main topic. Two albums celebrating their 20th anniversary today suffered a bit of controversy when released on that day:
The cover art for the Dream Theater live album was meant to be similar to the "heart on fire" from the cover art of the first live album Live at the Marquee. It was just like that, but with a New York skyline including the two towers, on top of a big apple (parodying the city's nickname "Big Apple"), instead of the heart. When the attacks occurred, all copies of the album were taken down and replaced with new ones in which the cover art has the band's "Majesty" symbol instead, which can be found right here, if you want to mention the album in a thread without appearing insensitive:
The other album, Slayer's God Hates Us All, had already caused controversy with its release date being one of several reasons. At least the cover art used in this site is the alternative clean one to replace the original cover art that "looked like a seventh grader defaced the Bible."
And while the Within the Ruins EP was released exactly 5 years later and had nothing to do with the topic of this post, I included it anyway because it's a great metalcore EP.
RIP fallen ones.....
I picked that Dream Theater live CD up shortly after release actually. Despite having been converted to electronic music by that stage, Dream Theater had stayed with me & I was still religiously checking out every release.
"God Hates Us All" is an underrated Slayer record in my opinion. It sported a much more well defined concept & purpose than its predecessor "Diabolus in musica". It's also really fucking heavy & is possibly their angriest record overall (particularly Tom's vocals). The reason that many critics don't appreciate it as much as some of their other releases from the period is definitely to do with the Machine Head style groove metal influence that had started to weezle it's way into their sound. I agree that the album isn't as anywhere near as closely aligned with my taste as their classic releases were but it's certainly still of a decent quality & is a long way from a sell-out so the album deserves more respect than it generally receives. In fact, I'd take "God Hates Us All" over anything Slayer have put out since "Divine Intervention" to be honest although it's still fairly inessential in the grand scheme of their career.
Wow, some of these anniversaries just make me seem so old these days. 30 YEARS?? WFT dude!? I picked this release up on CD fairly soon after it was released as I was a really big fan of Vinnie's 1986 debut album "Mind's Eye". Both are outstanding examples of the instrumental guitar shred album. He was one of the most underrated guitar heroes ever in my opinion as he had a wonderful sense of melody & could actually write songs.
45 years old today & still just as disappointing.
Seems like September is a special month of metal anniversary Saturdays! Here are two classic heavy metal "greatest hits" albums celebrating their 20th anniversaries today that I look forward to reviewing (along with Queensryche's Rage for Order):
45 years old today & still just as disappointing.
I don't wish to be a contrarian (no stop laughing, I really don't!!) but I think TE is unduly lambasted by Sabbath fans, especially considering that it has an average rating on RYM less than The Eternal F@*$ing Idol for chrissakes!! Yes, She's Gone is a bit wimpy, the Bill Ward fronted It's Alright isn't great and Rock 'n' Roll Doctor is a bit naff, but Back Street Kids is a decent opener. You Won't Change Me and Gypsy are brilliant tracks and Dirty Women, besides the un-PC lyrics has one of, if not THE best Tony Iommi solos ever. I get it that if you bought it as the new Sabbath album at the time after following Sabbath through the classic years, you may have found it disappointing, but how many people can say that? Conversely, it was the first Sabbath album I shelled out good money on and as such was my first proper metal purchase, so maybe my opinion is coloured by that, but I still get plenty of enjoyment when I play it (which I do often enough).
I don't wish to be a contrarian (no stop laughing, I really don't!!) but I think TE is unduly lambasted by Sabbath fans, especially considering that it has an average rating on RYM less than The Eternal F@*$ing Idol for chrissakes!! Yes, She's Gone is a bit wimpy, the Bill Ward fronted It's Alright isn't great and Rock 'n' Roll Doctor is a bit naff, but Back Street Kids is a decent opener. You Won't Change Me and Gypsy are brilliant tracks and Dirty Women, besides the un-PC lyrics has one of, if not THE best Tony Iommi solos ever. I get it that if you bought it as the new Sabbath album at the time after following Sabbath through the classic years, you may have found it disappointing, but how many people can say that? Conversely, it was the first Sabbath album I shelled out good money on and as such was my first proper metal purchase, so maybe my opinion is coloured by that, but I still get plenty of enjoyment when I play it (which I do often enough).
Look, I do think that "Technical Ecstasy" starts & finishes quite well (strangely "She's Gone" is the highlight of the album for me) but I really struggle with the four track run in the middle of the record, particularly "It's Alright" & "Rock 'n' Roll Doctor" which are amongst Sabbath's worst failures in my opinion. Also, I think it's a stretch to call it a metal record. I actually don't think it knows what it's trying to be but a hard rock tag seems much more appropriate to me. I'd comfortably take "The Eternal Idol" over it. In fact, I'd take "The Eternal Idol" over six or seven of their albums as I quite like it.
Look, I do think that "Technical Ecstasy" starts & finishes quite well (strangely "She's Gone" is the highlight of the album for me) but I really struggle with the four track run in the middle of the record, particularly "It's Alright" & "Rock 'n' Roll Doctor" which are amongst Sabbath's worst failures in my opinion. Also, I think it's a stretch to call it a metal record. I actually don't think it knows what it's trying to be but a hard rock tag seems much more appropriate to me. I'd comfortably take "The Eternal Idol" over it. In fact, I'd take "The Eternal Idol" over six or seven of their albums as I quite like it.
As far as The Eternal Idol goes then, Daniel, we are going to have to agree to disagree as I think it is a woeful album and sullies the Sabbath name with it's mere existence. I am not a big fan of any of the Tony Martin albums to be honest and would take Technical Ecstacy over any of them, as well as Seventh Star and the awful 13.
"Never Say Die!", "Technical Ecstasy" & "Forbidden" are the only Sabbath records I don't have time for. In saying that though, I don't think they've released anything essential since "Mob Rules".
In saying that though, I don't think they've released anything essential since "Mob Rules".
On that we can definitely agree.
Happy 35th anniversary to an album that made a life-changing impact on me as a youngster. "Somewhere In Time" was the very first Iron Maiden record I ever heard in full & it essentially signaled the flood gates being flung open with other forms of music being cast aside in favour of an increasingly more extreme taste in metal music. I don't think I've ever really lost my connection to that first experience as "Somewhere In Time" is not only still my favourite Maiden record but it's also my favourite heavy metal record overall.
Happy 15th anniversary to a couple albums essential for true fans of doom metal! I'm sure gonna miss when I used to enjoy that Draconian album...
Cloud Rat - Fever Dreams now here's a blast from the past when I went through a grindcore about (obviously) ten years ago. There was something supercharged about the immediacy of Cloud Rat that seemed to pack a little more punch than their contemporaries.
In this week's episode of "Fuck, how old am I getting dude!" we discover that three records that had a major impact on my life at the time all turned 30 years old today:
I'd discovered Soundgarden through their 1989 record "Louder Than Love" (their vidoe clips for "Loud Love" & "Hands All Over" to be more specific) but they really took things to the next level with their much more consistent & weighty "Badmotorfinger" album. I regard it amongst the best couple of releases for the grunge movement as a whole & it's a true testament to the genius of Chris Cornell as a front man. Alternative metal music doesn't get any better than that.
The Gorguts album was undone by its timing to an extent. It could have been significantly bigger if it had been released a year or two earlier & it isn't unique enough to be regarded as a classic. Still, it got many replays in the months after I picked up the CD. I think I first became aware of them after seeing one of my female friends wearing their t-shirt at a death metal gig very shortly after release & I quickly purchased the album. There are a couple of timeless death metal belters on there too.
"Effigy of The Forgotten" changed my life really. I don't think it's Suffocation's best work & I don't think it eclipsed the "Human Waste" E.P. that I'd loved so much but it took the brutality & technicality levels of death metal up a good couple of notches & set a new benchmark for the rest of the scene. It would go on to inspire me as a musician for the rest of the decade & has lost none of its potency to this day.
Happy 15th anniversary to a couple more albums essential for true fans of doom metal! I'm sure gonna miss when I used to enjoy that My Dying Bride album...
