Ever a fan of lists, I decided to compile a list from what I think are the very best albums of every year since my birth in 1984. The further back we go, my knowledge of music decreases, so I thought I'd make the cutoff at 1984. So, if your favourite album from 1989 isn't on the list, it's very much possible I haven't heard it. Or maybe I just liked another album better. Also, I know you were expecting it, but I nevertheless apologise for writing a list of metal albums. But now, without further ado, the list:
1984 – Metallica: Ride the Lightning
Something like the fourth Metallica album I bought. Also one of the first few albums I owned. It was a tossup between this one and Powerslave by Iron Maiden, but as is often the case with Maiden albums, Powerslave contains too much filler whereas Ride the Lightning is, in my opinion, top notch material from start to finish.
1985 – Sielun Veljet: L'Amourha
Sielun Veljet are a cornerstone of Finnish rock music of the 80s, noteworthy in the sense that they didn't suck. And this album is, simply put, pure fucking awesomeness.
1986 – Metallica: Master of Puppets
Going through my collection, I found an assload of good albums from 1986. Reign in Blood, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Somewhere in Time, Orgasmatron. Master of Puppets, however, is the best.
1987 – Bathory: Under the Sign of the Black Mark
What can I say about this one? The first Bathory album I ever heard. Raw, unpolished, totally awesome. And a legion of Norwegians followed.
1988 – Saint Vitus: Mournful Cries
At this point it's already getting difficult to decide on just one album, there's so much awesome stuff out there that I'm acquainted with. But this is a stunning record and I'll crown it king of 1988.
1989 – The Offspring: The Offspring
Getting even harder to decide, argh! In this golden age of death metal, I'll go with punk rock. My indisputable favourite from The Offspring's catalogue, catchy enough and yet harsh enough to create an atmosphere unrivaled by the rest of their albums. All in all, a fine display of youth energy.
1990 – Megadeth: Rust in Peace
Megadeth's finest hour. Despite increasing difficulty in making up my mind, this is the conclusion I came to.
1991 – Carcass: Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious
About time I had some death metal on this list. Even with just death metal albums, I had a tough call between 5 albums, but I'm partial to Carcass.
1992 – Alice in Chains: Dirt
All killer, no filler. No mean feat with an album with 13 tracks (of which one isn't really a song, but you get me, right?).
1993 – My Dying Bride: Turn Loose the Swans
This got really difficult. There were like 10 albums I wanted to pick. But since I can choose just one, it's this. Liquid gold in my ears every time I listen to this, a sublime concoction of beauty and despair. One of my all time favourite albums.
1994 – Acid Bath: When the Kite String Pops
From the swamps of Louisiana, sludge arose in the early nineties (probably even as early as the late eighties), and while these guys weren't the first, to me they were the most interesting.
1995 – Saint Vitus: Die Healing
Another Vitus album on the list. It's simply proper, since this is, to me, their best effort to date. I will forever stand in awe of Scott Reagers's voice, and together with some of the best songs they've written, Vitus win 1995.
1996 – Acid Bath: Paegan Terrorism Tactics
Another Acid Bath album, I cannot help it. They only released two albums and both were like the best thing ever. Simply amazing.
1997 – Katatonia: Discouraged Ones
It took me awhile to dance my way through the rest of Katatonia's back catalogue to this one, but when I first heard it, it was love. Say what you will about Katatonia, but their style works for me.
1998 – Anathema: Alternative 4
Another incredibly hard decision. Another incredibly awesome record.
1999 – Type O Negative: World Coming Down
So dark, so heartfelt, so full of pain, so catchy. I suppose most fans of Type O like their odd sense of humor, but to me, the balance was only perfect on this album, and what a nigh-perfect album it is.
2000 – Electric Wizard: Dopethrone
There's no question here, I didn't even have to think on this one.
2001 – Crowbar: Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form
This was difficult again, so many good ones to choose from. This one prevailed, however, because it's slightly more awesome than the other awesome albums from the same year.
2002 – Agalloch: The Mantle
An even better year than 2001, tons of really, really good albums. Still, this wasn't a difficult choice, since this is the. best. album. ever.
2003 – Sleep: Dopesmoker
Originally released in 1997 as an edited version called Jerusalem, 2003 finally saw the emergence of Dopesmoker as it was supposed to be. And it was good.
2004 – Kuusumun Profeetta: Sanansaattaja oraakkeli salamurha hyökkäysvaunu
From the pen of a Finnish genius by the name of Mika Rättö (also known from Circle, Omfalos Renaissance, Eleanoora Rosenholm and others) comes this slab of I don't know exactly what. What I do know is I love it.
2005 – Kent: Du & Jag Döden
The least heavy record on the list so far. Not a single bit cheerier, however, and that is how I like my music.
2006 – Celtic Frost: Monotheist
This. Is. Metal.
2007 – Wolves in the Throne Room: Two Hunters
Another year packed with awesome stuff. This, WITTR's finest effort to date, takes the cake, however.
2008 – Thou: Peasant
Plagued by shoddy mastering, this is still one of the best albums I know.
2009 – Fall of Efrafa: Inlé
What was ultimately Fall of Efrafa's swansong is also their finest work. One of those records I feel lucky to have heard.
2010 – Christian Mistress: Agony & Opium
Short and to the point. Energetic heavy metal that gets stuck in your head.
2011 – Witch Mountain: South of Salem
Traditional doom with an uncanny knack for writing the best songs.
2012 – Witch Mountain: Cauldron of the Wild
From the top of my last year's end of the year list, as seen on the Ever Circling Wolves blog. Might've linked the list to my facebook, too. Anyway, Witch Mountain are on a roll, and while it took me some time to really get into this one, eventually I understood it and it was awesome.
2013 – My Bloody Valentine: M B V
It's a bit early to tell for this year, but so far this has been my favourite. I've got a couple of new records I haven't really had time to listen to, so only time will tell, but right now this sounds really good.
Showing posts with label metal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label metal. Show all posts
Friday, March 22, 2013
Friday, November 23, 2012
Is less really more?
The expression "less is more" is probably quite familiar to all. In this post I intend to reflect upon that expression in the context of music, specifically metal in album form.
This idea came to me today as I was taking a bus downtown to get me a copy of Anaal Nathrakh's latest effort, Vanitas. I used to be of the persuasion that more is more when I was younger, you see. I got to thinking about how I bought all the Metallica albums so far released when I was 15 – deciding which one to get next based on how many tracks it had. My justification for this was that I'd be getting more bang for the buck if I got an album with more tracks. And let's be honest here: if a Metallica album clocks over 70 minutes, it more or less sucks, though I didn't realize this until years after the fact.
Some years later as I got into heavier stuff, I decided to get something by Carcass. You know where this is going, don't you? Yes, of all their albums I chose Reek of Putrefaction with its 22 tracks. Unfamiliar with grindcore at the time it was a bit of a shock and it took years to understand that stuff, but I got all their other albums (with a lot less tracks) a bit later anyway, and they were a lot easier to stomach. This is roughly when I learned the unimportance of the number of tracks, but I will be returning to this point eventually.
Anyway, a sort of affinity for long albums persisted beyond that time until at some point I realized that the ideal length for an album is largely based on genre. For example, Nasum's Inhale/Exhale (38 tracks, 45 minutes) feels bloated, because who can listen to 45 minutes of grindcore at once? It's an arduous task if it's not live or if you don't at least change bands halfway through. Whereas (at least in my opinion) Reverend Bizarre's final album, III: So Long Suckers (7 tracks, 2 hours 10 minutes) flows through quite easily. Yes, groundbreaking notion here, amirite? Fast music is better suited for short songs whereas slow music can go on a lot longer.
And now, back to the point about long albums. You see, some bands just can't hold their horses and compile an album of a number of tracks that is both sufficiently big and sufficiently small. Take the aforementioned Metallica for example, specifically their sixth album, Load. 14 tracks and 79 minutes, sheesh (not to mention that they originally intended to release Load and Reload as a double album)! Say what you want about post-justice Metallica, but that album definitely has its moments. If only they'd shaved off something like 4 or 5 tracks and it would've been that much more palatable. And an even worse offender from the Metallica camp is the infamous St. Anger with 11 tracks and clocking in at 75 minutes. I mean, if your songs are almost 9 minutes long, you don't need so many of them. That none of the songs were any good is beside the point. While at the other end of the spectrum, the aforementioned Reek of Putrefaction by Carcass is just about the perfect length at 39 minutes, despite the 22 tracks.
Going down to the level of individual songs, as what I have said so far really only matters when you're listening to albums as a whole, context is equally important nevertheless. For example, making a fast grindcore track of 9 minutes is, as a rule, a mistake (I do not know if such a track exists, this is hyperbole), whereas Sleep did a mighty fine job of writing an hour long track with Dopesmoker. And, because I haven't ranted enough about St. Anger, let's take its title track under inspection. It's been a while since I've last heard it and I don't necessarily want to hear it again, but if I recall correctly it's got 3 different parts, the structure is something like ABCABCABC (dunno, there might've been a D somewhere as well) and the tracks clocks in at 7:21. In order to make a track this simple and this long listenable, basically all the riffs should be fucking class A kings of riffs. And they aren't, not by a long shot. Similarly, some of Napalm Death's 4+ minutes grind tracks may sound a bit overlong, though hardly to the same degree.
I'll conclude by asking you (and myself): did I write too much here? Would less have been more? I don't know, I've never been that verbose and everything I write seems to come out shorter than intended. But am I just rambling incoherently here? Or is that the point?
P.S. Like my page on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tssoml
This idea came to me today as I was taking a bus downtown to get me a copy of Anaal Nathrakh's latest effort, Vanitas. I used to be of the persuasion that more is more when I was younger, you see. I got to thinking about how I bought all the Metallica albums so far released when I was 15 – deciding which one to get next based on how many tracks it had. My justification for this was that I'd be getting more bang for the buck if I got an album with more tracks. And let's be honest here: if a Metallica album clocks over 70 minutes, it more or less sucks, though I didn't realize this until years after the fact.
Some years later as I got into heavier stuff, I decided to get something by Carcass. You know where this is going, don't you? Yes, of all their albums I chose Reek of Putrefaction with its 22 tracks. Unfamiliar with grindcore at the time it was a bit of a shock and it took years to understand that stuff, but I got all their other albums (with a lot less tracks) a bit later anyway, and they were a lot easier to stomach. This is roughly when I learned the unimportance of the number of tracks, but I will be returning to this point eventually.
Anyway, a sort of affinity for long albums persisted beyond that time until at some point I realized that the ideal length for an album is largely based on genre. For example, Nasum's Inhale/Exhale (38 tracks, 45 minutes) feels bloated, because who can listen to 45 minutes of grindcore at once? It's an arduous task if it's not live or if you don't at least change bands halfway through. Whereas (at least in my opinion) Reverend Bizarre's final album, III: So Long Suckers (7 tracks, 2 hours 10 minutes) flows through quite easily. Yes, groundbreaking notion here, amirite? Fast music is better suited for short songs whereas slow music can go on a lot longer.
And now, back to the point about long albums. You see, some bands just can't hold their horses and compile an album of a number of tracks that is both sufficiently big and sufficiently small. Take the aforementioned Metallica for example, specifically their sixth album, Load. 14 tracks and 79 minutes, sheesh (not to mention that they originally intended to release Load and Reload as a double album)! Say what you want about post-justice Metallica, but that album definitely has its moments. If only they'd shaved off something like 4 or 5 tracks and it would've been that much more palatable. And an even worse offender from the Metallica camp is the infamous St. Anger with 11 tracks and clocking in at 75 minutes. I mean, if your songs are almost 9 minutes long, you don't need so many of them. That none of the songs were any good is beside the point. While at the other end of the spectrum, the aforementioned Reek of Putrefaction by Carcass is just about the perfect length at 39 minutes, despite the 22 tracks.
Going down to the level of individual songs, as what I have said so far really only matters when you're listening to albums as a whole, context is equally important nevertheless. For example, making a fast grindcore track of 9 minutes is, as a rule, a mistake (I do not know if such a track exists, this is hyperbole), whereas Sleep did a mighty fine job of writing an hour long track with Dopesmoker. And, because I haven't ranted enough about St. Anger, let's take its title track under inspection. It's been a while since I've last heard it and I don't necessarily want to hear it again, but if I recall correctly it's got 3 different parts, the structure is something like ABCABCABC (dunno, there might've been a D somewhere as well) and the tracks clocks in at 7:21. In order to make a track this simple and this long listenable, basically all the riffs should be fucking class A kings of riffs. And they aren't, not by a long shot. Similarly, some of Napalm Death's 4+ minutes grind tracks may sound a bit overlong, though hardly to the same degree.
I'll conclude by asking you (and myself): did I write too much here? Would less have been more? I don't know, I've never been that verbose and everything I write seems to come out shorter than intended. But am I just rambling incoherently here? Or is that the point?
P.S. Like my page on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tssoml
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Open mind, closed mind
You know how there's a stereotype that heavy metal fans are closed-minded about music? And you know how, as a metal fan yourself, that stereotype is inaccurate? Yeah, me too. The more I get to know new people, especially metal fans, the more I learn they're pretty open-minded.
Still, I used to be one of those stereotypical, stuck up dunces myself, in my younger years. If it didn't have distorted guitars (and maybe even if it did) it wasn't worth listening to. Ironically enough, at the time I also listened to a lot of what I'd now say is crappy metal.
With age comes wisdom, right? Right, in that my musical taste seems to be ever developing, ever diversifying. I'm learning about new, awesome bands and artists all the time. Then again, wrong, in that on the other hand I seem to be getting ever pickier as well, and something that may have delighted me 5 years ago now bores me to death. Age also brings with it the infamous "young people and their incomprehensible music" attitude. You know how it goes.
Ultimately, however, the goodness of all music is subjective. Why, then, do I get so annoyed when people wonder how come I don't like popular artist x but not-so-popular artist y from roughly the same genre instead? I suppose I'd like to think that popularity can really only be achieved by appealing to the lowest common denominator and all that hipster jazz. Does it make me cool that I like all these obscure bands you've probably never even heard of? Maybe not. Probably not. But can I help it if they sound so good to me? I don't see why I should. Instead, I suppose I could throw around recommendations for those who are on the lookout for new musical acquaintances and listen to the recommendations of others. To try to keep an open mind.
Still, I used to be one of those stereotypical, stuck up dunces myself, in my younger years. If it didn't have distorted guitars (and maybe even if it did) it wasn't worth listening to. Ironically enough, at the time I also listened to a lot of what I'd now say is crappy metal.
With age comes wisdom, right? Right, in that my musical taste seems to be ever developing, ever diversifying. I'm learning about new, awesome bands and artists all the time. Then again, wrong, in that on the other hand I seem to be getting ever pickier as well, and something that may have delighted me 5 years ago now bores me to death. Age also brings with it the infamous "young people and their incomprehensible music" attitude. You know how it goes.
Ultimately, however, the goodness of all music is subjective. Why, then, do I get so annoyed when people wonder how come I don't like popular artist x but not-so-popular artist y from roughly the same genre instead? I suppose I'd like to think that popularity can really only be achieved by appealing to the lowest common denominator and all that hipster jazz. Does it make me cool that I like all these obscure bands you've probably never even heard of? Maybe not. Probably not. But can I help it if they sound so good to me? I don't see why I should. Instead, I suppose I could throw around recommendations for those who are on the lookout for new musical acquaintances and listen to the recommendations of others. To try to keep an open mind.
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