Okay, this is really cool. It is chaotic and avant-garde one minute, dark and black metally the next, and then there are these moments of reflective beauty that are also stunning. Vocals are pretty cool, guitars and bass sound good and the drummer is solid. They created with this album a distinctly massive and unique atmosphere. The clattering, hard-to-wrap-my-head-around bits are cool and they honestly were very unique compared to any other BM i've ever heard. And the band has the chops to pull off these weird tones and time signatures and prog meets avant garde sounds. Yet, its still a BM album at its heart so they don't go whole hog with these abstract bits (like their Death Metal peers may have) they just keep it their top throw you in to another unique place, a disoriented and confusing world, before bringing in the more tangible and traditional and recognizable riffing and soaring epic moments. Really cool.
I will now rank the albums I've heard from metal 1996-2021 as part of this game. I started the metal of any kind work through on May 1st.
#1 - Dead as Dreams - Weakling
#2 - Obscura - Gorguts
#3 - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk - Emperor
#4 - Jane Doe - Converge
#5 - City - Strapping Young Lad
#6 - Boris At Last Feedbacker
#7 - None So Vile - Cryptopsy
#8 - Verisäkeet - Moonsorrow
#9 - Ashes Against the Grain - Agalloch
#10 - The Sound of Perseverance - Death
#11 - White Pony - Deftones
#12 - Paracletus - Deathspell Omega
#13 - Pink - Boris
#14 - From Mars to Sirius - Gojira
#15 - At The Heart Of Winter - Immortal
#16 - Blackwater Park - Opeth
#17 - Crimson - Edge of Sanity
@LedZep, this is one I really liked and once I get the time and interest in doing my whole commenting, ranking and stuff for 2021, I am sure I'll write something about it. Interested in your take on this:
RYM metal of any kind since 1995 (expanded by 1 year and now voila! we have dissection, Blind Guardian and Suffocation!) top albums not heard or vague on. 1 album per artist and here we go. (no Death or Morbid Angel or Neurosis due to another thing i'm doing on my diary.)
1. Still Life by Opeth/1999/RYM #23 metal album of all time (Yes Opeth's Time out has ended --yay! I have grown a little on Blackwater Park and this is same era and just a little earlier in their discog. Note: there are another 2 after this one waiting on the list excluded only due to one album rule lol. the love for this band is wild.)
2. Storm of the Light's Bane by Dissection/1995/RYM #31 metal album of all time (classic melodic black metal album I can't remember hearing.)
3. Close to a World Below by Immolation/2000/RYM #41 metal album of all time (okay, now that a spot has freed up, this brand new listen of this classic DM album is now a possible Nom)
4. Crack the Skye by Mastodon/2009/RYM #43 metal album of all time (love their previous 2 albums before this one but always borderline hated this one. need to listen again before finally closing this book.)
5. Those Once Loyal by Bolt Thrower/2005/RYM #51 metal album of all time (really like to near-love their early stuff, never heard this latter-career peak album)
6. Imaginations From the Other Side by Blind Guardian/1995/RYM #80 metal album of all time (first power metal choice woohoo. i guess. I mean something about power metal just seems so corny, but maybe I will hear it differently after listening to this classic.)
7. Pierced From Within by Suffocation/1995/RYM #94 metal album of all time (another BRUTAL death metal album woohoo for real! I liked that None So Vile listen so maybe I'll dig this too.)
8. Diabolical Conquest by Incantation/1998/RYM #117 metal album of all time (some cool death metal/with a sub-genre of Death Doom metal. Interesting indeed. Oh and apparently LedZep loves these chaps' music. Wouldn't mind one bit this being chosen.)
9. Black Future by Vektor/2009/RYM #119 metal album of all time (kind of a new record, very tricky! Starting to work my way into albums released later then 2005 with now 3 distinctly different 2009 or 2010 albums. This is a badass thrash album which I heard or heard most of once during lunch and remember liking it before playing something else and never returning.)
10. You Fail Me by Converge/2004/RYM #129 metal album of all time (another converge. they are great and have had a big influence on stuff i like. Unlike Jane Doe, this is a classic Converge Math/Metal core album i've never listened to.) _________________ -Ryan
Live Rust by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
I didn't really know what I was getting into with this album and that was for the better. I initially thought this was just a(nother) live recording of Rust Never Sleeps, but this is so much more. It does, however, follow a similar structure as Rust Never Sleeps, with side one being just Neil Young acoustic, and the rest of the album with Crazy Horse and fully electric. There are some great renditions of Young's songs, from "After the Gold Rush" on side one to the electric "The Needle and the Damage Done" to a FANTASTIC "Cortez the Killer". And "My My, Hey Hey"/"Hey Hey, My My" are great as always as well. Honestly I think I prefer this to any of Young's studio albums with the exception of maybe Harvest. Compared to other live Neil Young albums I've heard, I'd put this one just barely under Rust Never Sleeps but just barely above Massey Hall 1971. 4/5
(2)
Mercury please listen to Crack the Skye by Mastodon. I'm actually a little surprised that's as low as it is on RYM. Ranked relative to other metal albums, looks like BEA holds Crack the Skye in higher esteem. It's also worth giving Mastodon's earlier Leviathan a shot if you haven't listened to it already.
(3)
RYM top albums of all time (minus archival releases)
- Swans Are Dead by Swans (live)
- Live After Death by Iron Maiden (live)
- Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan by Judas Priest (live)
- Sun Bear Concerts Piano Solo: Recorded in Japan by Keith Jarrett (live)
- Irish Tour '74 by Rory Gallagher (live)
- Silent Hill 2 by Akira Yamaoka (soundtrack)
- The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem Live at Madison Square Garden by LCD Soundsystem (live)
- Thanks, Sorry! by Jeff Rosenstock (live)
- Colors_Live by Between the Buried and Me (live)
- Rétrospective Vol. 1 & 2 by Magma (live) _________________ 51 Washington, D.C. albums!
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
Thanks, Eyekanfly, for making me face again Crack The Skye. I have really really struggled with it in the past. I adore Leviathan and almost live Blood Mountain as much. Which is why this album and the fact that it left me cold last couple times I’ve tried seems all the stranger. _________________ -Ryan
Thanks, Eyekanfly, for making me face again Crack The Skye. I have really really struggled with it in the past. I adore Leviathan and almost live Blood Mountain as much. Which is why this album and the fact that it left me cold last couple times I’ve tried seems all the stranger.
Really? I find that so interesting. I think I like Crack the Skye slightly better than Leviathan, but to me they seem similar enough that I would think it odd to enjoy one but not the other. You're certainly more discerning in the metal department though! I don't think I've listened to all of Blood Mountain yet either.
Also thanks for reminding me how long it's been since I've listened to Mastodon haha, I'm going back and listening to Crack the Skye and Leviathan right now _________________ 51 Washington, D.C. albums!
Seek Shelter by Iceage
The opener is a fantastic song, one of the year's best easily. But in the end, just like every other Iceage album I've heard, this is good, sometimes really good, but not a favourite. It's like every phase they went through was cool and all, but they've never hit a sweet spot with both the style and good songwriting. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy their music, I do very much, but always with a feeling of slight disappointment. What could've been if they tweaked the songs just a bit. Songwriting is definitely strong on Seek Shelter, but the genre combinations aren't as interesting as they were on Plowing Into the Field of Love. In fact, despite the murky and DIY production, it lacks some of the energy of their early more punk work. Why bother having a lofi, harsh production if you're playing an Americana influenced song like Gold City? I'd much rather have a more simplistic approach of songwriting akin to You're Nothing which fits the production and the band's aesthetics. Now not every experiment on Seek Shelter was a fail, in fact the more anthemic, almost 80s rock choruses (but much harsher) like on Dear Saint Cecillia or High and Hurt (Will the Circle Be Unbroken has such a powerful melody) were a great addition. Or whatever the hell The Holding Hand was, that was great too. In conclusion, this is good. High 7.5/10
(2)
LCD Soundsystem Live at Madison Square Garden is a very good concert movie, I'm sure the soundtrack by itself is good too.
(3)
Leftovers list + some 2021
Lawrence - The Absence of Blight
John Talabot - Fin
Flamengo - Kuře v hodinkách
Sadaf - History of Heat
Ataraxie - Slow Transcending Agony
Beck - Modern Guilt
Rochelle Jordan - Play With the Changes
Smif-n-Wessun - Dah Shinin'
Ranking Dread - Ranking Dread In Dub
Grachan Moncur III - Evolution _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
It was cool to hear their debut album and get a better sense of how 8Ball & MJG became Memphis legends. They're skilled emcees with smooth flows, rapping over beats that range from solid to dope. Seriously, a couple of these soul flips have to be among the best beats of the year. Comin' Out Hard is definitely an apt title - this record is hard from start to finish. Unfortunately, lyrically it's pretty hit and miss for me. There's a lot more misogyny than I was expecting, and I was expecting a bunch. Although I understand they're part of a pimp persona, all the lyrics about beating, shooting, and psychologically abusing women are too much for me to give this more than a barely passing grade. 3/5.
~~~~~
2. This is the only one I've heard, and it's quite good:
Y: Summer Sun - Yo La Tengo
Z: Zapp II - Zapp
&: Timeabout, (EP) - 유키카 (YUKIKA)
#: Easter Everywhere - 13th Floor Elevators
V/A: Under The Skin - Ice
A: Super Trouper - ABBA
B: Black Dots - Bad Brains
C: Know What I Mean? - Cannonball Adderley & Bill Evans
D: Pilgrim’s Paradise (EP) - Daniel Caesar
E: That’s The Way Of The World - Earth, Wind & Fire _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
Purplepashranker, rater, & music list makerProfile Western Australia
Now this is why I keep playing this game. To find gems like this. Music From the Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle is the only thing I've heard from them before, which I liked a lot, and I'm pretty sure that was also through this game. I don't think I had heard of them before then. So everything on this comp is new to me, unheard before. This is the sort of music I love listening to - experimental lo-fi psychedelic pop influenced by some of my all time favourites like late era Beatles, VU, and Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd amongst others. It is a compilation (although as far as I can tell only one of the songs was a single - so maybe it should have been called Single And Beyond) of EPs and contributions to various artists compilations so it is a bit all over the place with ups and downs (but mainly ups), but the two EPs on here are in the same complete track order as their original release so there is a bit of continuity and flow in a couple of places. None of this matters much to me though when there is so much playfulness, and weird and wonderful unexpected twists and turns (both within songs, and from song to song), in fact the variety is a plus, even when not everything works for me (I'm looking at you Late Music 2 - I didn't ask for any musique concrete). I was entertained and interested from beginning to end, and that's what matters to me. 8/10, and 18/70 for 2000.
P.S. I laughed at this note from the album's Wikipedia page:
Quote:
Track 8 from a Cassiel Records compilation that the band notes to this day they've never seen. Note from former Cassiel proprietor: Cassiel shipped 10 copies per agreement to Will and Bill, who let the rental on their PO box lapse without leaving a forwarding address.
Easy choice for me of 13th Floor Elevators for you Baystate.
Top 30 Music Albums of 2000 by Applerill (3 picks left)
7. L'ivresse De La Vitesse by Paul Dolden
8. When The Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1 by Three 6 Mafia
9. American Beauty: Original Motion Picture Score by Thomas Newman
11. Primordial Lift by Pauline Oliveros
15. Perdition City by Ulver
16. The Lioness by Songs: Ohia
21. Origin by Evanescence
25. Brave New World by Iron Maiden
27. The Better Life by 3 Doors Down
28. Nine Inch Elvis by Nine Inch Elvis
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
This is amazing. What drugs was I on when I "couldn't get into" this on the several listens before (they were mostly incomplete listens due to just not digging the proggy sound)? I listened to this 4 times yesterday. I also went back and listened to Leviathan and Blood Mountain once each. But now I am listening to this again and... its stellar.
I still prefer the sludgier sound of Leviathan. Leviathan is a 5/5 all time great album. This, though, being more progressive and having much less of a brute sludge intensity, just takes longer to wind into my heart. But it finally did. This album is 50 minutes of near-perfection. IMO this is the kind of proggy metal that is really quite great. Like, there are Opeth elements here, but somehow Mastodon in changing their sound for this album managed to avoid almost all, nay ALL, the pitfalls of prog metal - the vocals are never corny, the transitions never seem silly and pointless and gratuitous, and the whole album and each song within the album have a logical construction AND a heart that is so impassioned and intense. And when this band gets it sludgy heaviness it is glorious.
The drummer, who stole the fucking show somehow on Leviathan, is still great here but more subdued and less of the spotlight is on him. The songwriting and the construction of these songs seems to be the main focus. The whole band is stellar and the solos are refreshing old school metal classics, the riffs are some of the best I've heard, the vocals while never the best part are always good and sometimes quite amazing.
With their heavy as hell and awesome debut, their all time classic 2nd album, their also great 3rd and this their classic and incredible 4th album, I think I am starting to think Mastodon may be my favorite metal band of the last 30 years (post-peak Slayer and Metallica).
Anyway, yeah I had an about-face on this and my opinions of it. Maybe this game and how it made me listen to Opeth and Edge of Sanity as well as sludge and atmospheric sludge peers, has made it so I can hear more clearly what Mastodon is doing here. Maybe its just that I have had a development of taste and now I don't instantly get annoyed when I hear clean singing in metal anymore. Idk, but whatever lead to me recognizing the brilliance of this album and all early mastodon, I am very happy about it.
#1 - Dead as Dreams - Weakling
#1B - Crack The Skye - Mastodon
#2 - Obscura - Gorguts
#3 - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk - Emperor
#4 - Jane Doe - Converge
#5 - City - Strapping Young Lad
#6 - Boris At Last Feedbacker
#7 - None So Vile - Cryptopsy
#8 - Verisäkeet - Moonsorrow
#9 - Ashes Against the Grain - Agalloch
#10 - The Sound of Perseverance - Death
#11 - White Pony - Deftones
#12 - Paracletus - Deathspell Omega
#13 - Pink - Boris
#14 - From Mars to Sirius - Gojira
#15 - At The Heart Of Winter - Immortal
#16 - Blackwater Park - Opeth
#17 - Crimson - Edge of Sanity
RYM metal of any kind since 1995 (expanded by 1 year and now voila! we have dissection, Blind Guardian and Suffocation!) top albums not heard or vague on. 1 album per artist and here we go. (no Death or Morbid Angel or Neurosis due to another thing i'm doing on my diary.)
1. Storm of the Light's Bane by Dissection/1995/RYM #31 metal album of all time (classic melodic black metal album I can't remember hearing.)
2. Ghost reveries by Opeth/2005/RYM #34 metal album of all time (I went ahead and listened to STILL LIFE on a whim yesterday and so its off this list. It was pretty good. Not really my thing. Yet, because it's OPETH, I still have this album ready in the wings. And after this album, another one, then a little later on we will have 2 more Opeth albums. My god. I mostly jest. They are a quality band and I respect them.)
3. Close to a World Below by Immolation/2000/RYM #41 metal album of all time (okay, now that a spot has freed up, this brand new listen of this classic DM album is now a possible Nom)
4. Those Once Loyal by Bolt Thrower/2005/RYM #51 metal album of all time (really like to near-love their early stuff, never heard this latter-career peak album)
5. Imaginations From the Other Side by Blind Guardian/1995/RYM #80 metal album of all time (first power metal choice woohoo. i guess. I mean something about power metal just seems so corny, but maybe I will hear it differently after listening to this classic.)
6. Pierced From Within by Suffocation/1995/RYM #94 metal album of all time (another BRUTAL death metal album woohoo for real! I liked that None So Vile listen so maybe I'll dig this too.)
7. Diabolical Conquest by Incantation/1998/RYM #117 metal album of all time (some cool death metal/with a sub-genre of Death Doom metal. Interesting indeed. Oh and apparently LedZep loves these chaps' music. Wouldn't mind one bit this being chosen.)
8. Black Future by Vektor/2009/RYM #119 metal album of all time (kind of a new record, very tricky! Starting to work my way into albums released later then 2005 with now 3 distinctly different 2009 or 2010 albums. This is a badass thrash album which I heard or heard most of once during lunch and remember liking it before playing something else and never returning.)
9. You Fail Me by Converge/2004/RYM #129 metal album of all time (another converge. they are great and have had a big influence on stuff i like. Unlike Jane Doe, this is a classic Converge Math/Metal core album i've never listened to.)
10. Bath AND Leaving Your Body Map by Maudlin of the Well/2001/RYM #160 and #130 metal album of all time respectively (I've been looking forward to these coming onto this list. Both albums released same day. Will listen to both if one is nominated. I heard Bath recently and I was perplexed and massively intrigued by this very VERY unique mix of genres and the general, and subtle avant-garde aspects. I listened to Bath while playing Fallout: New Vegas and it was a great soundtrack for the wasteland.) _________________ -Ryan
I went back and listened to Crack The Skye myself, since you had said how much you disliked it in the past, and I had wondered if it had soured on me at all. Nope. You nailed it with your review. While not as heavy as their previous albums, the songwriting and performances on this album are incredible. There's not a weak track in the bunch.
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
I went back and listened to Crack The Skye myself, since you had said how much you disliked it in the past, and I had wondered if it had soured on me at all. Nope. You nailed it with your review. While not as heavy as their previous albums, the songwriting and performances on this album are incredible. There's not a weak track in the bunch.
Yeah completely agree and I am glad I saw the light, so to speak. What a great album and band _________________ -Ryan
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Mercury
EyeKanFly
LedZep
baystateoftheart
Purplepash
Tha1ChiefRocka
