Music Review and Discussion Thread

[madman3]

We have Video Game review so why not have a music thread? Feel free to discuss any genre of music here.

[G.K.]

alt Rock FTW

[Scorpion]

alt Rock FTW

Huzzah for in depth discussion ;P

[G.K.]

xD

[madman3]

Tomorrow I'm going to review Metalhead by Saxon (I still don't know why I'm on a Saxon craze )

[madman3]

DP
MetalHead-Saxon
1999

After a series of average Pop-Metal albums Saxon struck back with Dogs of War, a strong and very dark album with some thrash influences, and another album followed, Unleash The Beast. Metalhead continues on this style.

Firstly I have to say that this album is Heavy. This is one of those albums that you can only describe as Heavy Metal as it doen't fit into any particular subgenre. It is strong instrumentally, vocally, and feels way stronger than your average metal album with crushing double bass at times. The riffs are generic but changed to sound more, um, evil. But now for the track reviews.
Intro- 1.24: Just your average intro. Nothing special.
Metalhead-4.52: Now we're talking. A generic but crushing intro with some cool/spooky vocal effects leads into a riff with some changes making each note sound more crude. The vocals are as good as ever. I just can't fault Bill Byford, he has a strong voice with a high range. A really good song. 5/5
Travellers in Time-5.17: Nice synth to start into an apocalyptic riff, and a Testament Style riff starts up with some simple vocal effects. It's a pretty cool track, but is rather repetitive and lacks much diversity. 4/5
Conquistador-4.42: Powerful trash riff leads out of an acoustic intro. It has a nice feel reminiscent of Iron Maiden but with a better vocalist . 5/5
What Goes Around Comes Around-4.25: Has a groove metal style intro but Bill decides to do a bad vocal bit over the riff . It then uses a slow but crushing riff and it then has a really awesome, technical solo (the most technical I've heard in ages, nearly up with a Megadeth solo). 4.5/5
Song Of Evil-4.12: Generic but very powerful riff. It just isn't as strong as the similar Metalhead though. 3.5/5
All Guns Blazing-3.53: Judas Priest style intro, full on and it just keeps coming with another good solo. 4.5/5
Prisoner-4.12: Sounds like Song of Evil, good but not great. 3.5/5
Piss Off-4:04: Blatant Melothrash attempt but it works and has another great solo... 4/5
Watching You-5.18: Sounds like a Judas Priest song mixed with double bass, same power throughout and you guessed it, a great solo. 4.5/5
Sea Of Life-8.11: The epic of the album. It's just.....good. It has all the right features, calm areas, slow areas and (duh duh duh) a solo. 4.75/5
Overall it's a very good and consistent album. I like it a lot and I'd recommend it to Scorpion...
http://open.spotify.com/track/53795veSFwl6jPpW6Sbe1B
There's Metalhead for you guys. You might to use media player or something.

[Scorpion]

An 8:11 song an epic. Bah.
Songs needs to be over 20 minutes to be an epic silly ;P

Anyway, I do need to give saxon a proper listen rather than just listening to little bits.
I'll post a review of something soon, perhaps the most fanboyish review of scenes from a memory ever

[madman3]

I think it's hard not to like Saxon's better moments. Wheels Of Steel, Strong Arm Of The Law, Denim and Leather, and anything after Unleash The Beast are some of the greatest Hard Rock/Metal Albums I've Heard.
Scenes From A Memory is overrated
I prefer Train Of Thought and their earlier stuff.

[Scorpion]

Scenes From A Memory is overrated

*stabs nearby person in sudden flurish of fury*
Well that's just an immense lie, it's the closest to perfection anything has ever got.
Besides, Octavarium seems to be the most highly rated DT album, i'd say that one is the closest to being overrated (although the secoond half of that album is amazing, the first half isn't really)

Oh, and reign in blood is as complex as this plank of wood

[madman3]

Scenes From A Memory has really bad riffs. Most are just monotonous chords, it has less musicianship than most of their albums, the songs a dull and repetitive (in my opinion). It really lacks anything that makes it stand out to me, and I've been a serious prog fan for 2 years. I actually prefer Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence, that's how low my opinion my of this album is.
And Complexity does not make music enjoyable. As I have said, complexity for the sake of complexity does not create good music, it just alienates the listener.

[Scorpion]

Natural complexity usually=better music
Anyway, home.
All your claims disputed by one song ;P

And six degrees isn't bad by any means.
The main song is brilliant, as is the glass prison and misunderstood (although I might actually prefer the cut down version of that on the greatest hit album).

Also new DT album being made in january, which is going to be even better than black clouds i'm sure 

[madman3]

That'll be a hard feat.
I been digging Ram It Down, often considered the 3rd worst JP album. However it's always seemed better than British Steel, Jugulator and Demolition.

[Pwnator]

I might do a review of some Scar Symmetry albums when I have the time.

[madman3]

I might do a review of some Scar Symmetry albums when I have the time.

Which is your personal favorite?

[Pwnator]

Probably Holographic Universe. I haven't listened to Dark Matter Dimensions but I don't think it will sound as good since Alvestam isn't there anymore.

[madman3]

e singer is more operatic but overall its pretty accessible.

[madman3]

Hey, I feel like breathing some life into this thread.
Topic: Megadeth's Sellout Era
We all know that Megadeth had a sellout period where the quality somewhat dropped, but what was your favourite of the three before (gaaa )Risk
(Countdown To Extinction, Youthanasia, Cryptic Writings)?

[Scorpion]

Youthanasia kicked ass
Countdown was good aswell
Cryptic writing is only worth it for a few songs, most notibly trust
And risk is strange, yet somewhat pleasing...

[madman3]

Youthanasia was definitely the best if you ask me. Countdown is a lot more pretense-ive while cryptic was uhhh hard rock but had a few good songs like Mastermind and Trust.

[Scorpion]

Actually, I just remembered that cryptic writings is the best, simply because of...BULLPRICK!