Albums You've Listened To Today, V.8

[Segue Myles]

Saxon- Crusader

[bluefox4000]

Machine Head-Burn My Eyes (10/10)

 

Mick

[Segue Myles]

Lamb Of God- Ashes Of The Wake 

 

Still an absolute thrill today! One of the greatest metal albums. Period.

 

Can't wait for the new album!

[J2112YYZ]

10 minutes ago, bluefox4000 said:

Machine Head-Burn My Eyes (10/10)

 

Mick

 

Wow, even I wouldn't give it that high of a rating. It's really good but not that good. Have you heard Unto The Locust? That was their follow up to The Blackening.

[J2112YYZ]

11 minutes ago, Segue Myles said:

Lamb Of God- Ashes Of The Wake 

 

Still an absolute thrill today! One of the greatest metal albums. Period.

 

Can't wait for the new album!

 

I'm not sure how Randy Blythe still manages to have his growl? Back then I figured his voice would be shot by now.

[Rick N. Backer]

17 hours ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction

Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion I

Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion II

 

It’s incredible how quickly the band lost the plot. One spectacular (though not perfect, but darn close) record followed up by a double whammy of maddening inconsistency, and then of course I’ve never heard the rest.  GNR had themselves fine tuned and figured out on the debut, which is more than most bands, even legendary ones, can say. Then after the four years it took to get another full album out (not a good sign), it’s two double records and no filter in the worst way. I like II better than I, as trying to stick to their softer and more stretched out side ironically tends to subdue Axl’s worst singing and songwriting tendencies. But it’s easy to see how many folks might not see it that way. A hard rock band as legendary as Guns N Roses shouldn’t have this much trouble writing a good hard rocker, especially not 4 years into their career. UYI2 may be a bit more consistent than it’s twin, but it does it by stretching out and going more for Elton John than Aerosmith. UYI1 at least has the right idea of what GNR means to people, a heavy dirty hard rocking riot, with a touch of soul. But the balance is way off. There’s little evidence that the songs were sequenced in any meaningful way (aside from perhaps the last few tracks). The rockers are messy, and not in the captivating fun way they were on AFD. There’s just too much going on in the mix, and half the time that too much is Axl’s voice. Here’s the most obvious culprit for the fall off between the debut and the Illusions: Axl Rose. He’s got a great instrument at his disposal, but he’s hamming it up so much that his power and range are neutered by his warbles and lack of finesse. Not to mention the fatiguing number of vocal layers crowding many of these tracks (and I say that as a massive Queen fan). Axl can harmonize well with himself (case in point: It’s So Easy off of AFD), but the way he does it through most of the Illusion records is just not pleasing to the ear. And I get that he’s not supposed to be pitch perfect or anything, he’s Axl Rose. But even by a Keith Richards metric, these harmonies don’t work as well as they should. That’s not to say Axl is the only problem. The band seems to have suffered a spontaneous lack of chemistry. The grooves often feel either stiff or forced. The riffs aren’t as memorable as the first record. The arrangements are disorienting and often overwrought. It’s all just too much. Even Slash’s iconic soloing feels lost in the shuffle on most songs. And then there’s the problem of obvious filler. Some of these songs are vastly better than others. And there are certainly enough good to great songs to make a single 45 minute album that works well. It probably wouldn’t be the equal of AFD, but it would be better than this mess by a lot. Give me Locomotive for sure whatever track list you make though, because that one really puts most of the rest of the material on these to shame.

As always, I enjoy reading your thoughts on music.  I couldn't disagree with your assessment of the Illusions more, however.  Here's my view on double albums:  People who love the band usually enjoy them across the board, people who have any lesser level of adoration of a band usually find them, "bloated."   Bands appear to release them when they have a ton of new material ready and can't bring themselves to pare the track list down.  In GNR's case, I think it's hard to appreciate how much they blew up when Sweet Child O' Mine was released as a single (which then caused people to revisit Welcome to the Jungle, the first single released from Appetite).  They were literally the biggest band in the world in 1987-1988.  They rereleased their live EP backed with 3 new acoustic tracks, one of which (Patience) was a massive hit, one of which was blatantly racist, and one of which was paean to domestic violence.  And still, such mainstream, pre-"woke" performers like Don Henley and Elton John wanted to perform with Axl.  They supported Aerosmith on tour and eventually started to be the reason a lot of people went to the shows.  Clint Eastwood put them in a Dirty Harry movie so he could use Jungle in it.

 

So when it came time to release a new album, they had basically gone 4 years without releasing much of anything.    Records stores opened at midnight in September 1991 to sell the Illusions and even that couldn't accommodate demand.  I remember being worried that because of my schedule I couldn't get to the store until early in the morning, and I was afraid they'd be sold out.   The first advance track from the Illusions, You Could Be Mine, was featured prominently a few months earlier in Terminator 2.  Is there filler on the Illusions?  Not really IMO.  I don't personally care for Don't Cry, so I definitely don't think we need 2 of them, but it was a big hit, so I recognize I might be in the minority there.  My World is no more a real track than Wild Honey Pie from the White Album is (although My World was a look into what was coming from bands like Korn and Limp BIzkit).  As with any double album, not every song is as "classic," to the band's canon, but they all play a role in the album's "vibe."  At their apices, however, I think the Illusions show what GNR was capable of.  Unfortunately, they were done in by their personalities (and the drugs), and the Illusions are the last true album of new material we ever got from them.

[Segue Myles]

10 minutes ago, J2112YYZ said:

 

I'm not sure how Randy Blythe still manages to have his growl? Back then I figured his voice would be shot by now.

 

He's truly ferocious, most screamers if his calibre seem to really struggle by album three

[Entre_Perpetuo]

16 minutes ago, Rick N. Backer said:

As always, I enjoy reading your thoughts on music.  I couldn't disagree with your assessment of the Illusions more, however.  Here's my view on double albums:  People who love the band usually enjoy them across the board, people who have any lesser level of adoration of a band usually find them, "bloated."   Bands appear to release them when they have a ton of new material ready and can't bring themselves to pare the track list down.  In GNR's case, I think it's hard to appreciate how much they blew up when Sweet Child O' Mine was released as a single (which then caused people to revisit Welcome to the Jungle, the first single released from Appetite).  They were literally the biggest band in the world in 1987-1988.  They rereleased their live EP backed with 3 new acoustic tracks, one of which (Patience) was a massive hit, one of which was blatantly racist, and one of which was paean to domestic violence.  And still, such mainstream, pre-"woke" performers like Don Henley and Elton John wanted to perform with Axl.  They supported Aerosmith on tour and eventually started to be the reason a lot of people went to the shows.  Clint Eastwood put them in a Dirty Harry movie so he could use Jungle in it.

 

So when it came time to release a new album, they had basically gone 4 years without releasing much of anything.    Records stores opened at midnight in September 1991 to sell the Illusions and even that couldn't accommodate demand.  I remember being worried that because of my schedule I couldn't get to the store until early in the morning, and I was afraid they'd be sold out.   The first advance track from the Illusions, You Could Be Mine, was featured prominently a few months earlier in Terminator 2.  Is there filler on the Illusions?  Not really IMO.  I don't personally care for Don't Cry, so I definitely don't think we need 2 of them, but it was a big hit, so I recognize I might be in the minority there.  My World is no more a real track than Wild Honey Pie from the White Album is (although My World was a look into what was coming from bands like Korn and Limp BIzkit).  As with any double album, not every song is as "classic," to the band's canon, but they all play a role in the album's "vibe."  At their apices, however, I think the Illusions show what GNR was capable of.  Unfortunately, they were done in by their personalities (and the drugs), and the Illusions are the last true album of new material we ever got from them.

And that's the beauty of having different opinions. I used a lot of words like should and could in my post, but really following those instructions would just make them better for me specifically. Maybe for some other people as well, but it would take away from their mystique for certain, and definitely make them lesser in the eyes of many fans like you. I also feel like I didn't rightly express my positive thoughts on the albums. To put it shortly, I do enjoy them.  Coma, Locomotive, Don't Cry, Civil War, Dead Horse, Perfect Crime, Estranged, and of course November Rain are all standouts for me. I just can't help feeling disappointed by these albums as a whole after the near perfect listening experience that is AFD.

 

Oh I don't think I even mentioned My World. I'd call it even less of a real song than Wild Honey Pie. I'm not sure it's really accurately predicting Nu Metal either, the bass sounds like something off of Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails or Post by Bjork. Anyway it's the most skippable track I've ever come across on any album.

[Segue Myles]

AFI- Crash Love 

 

I love this album.

[Turbine Freight]

[Turbine Freight]

[Turbine Freight]

[Turbine Freight]

[Turbine Freight]

[Rick N. Backer]

4 hours ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

And that's the beauty of having different opinions. I used a lot of words like should and could in my post, but really following those instructions would just make them better for me specifically. Maybe for some other people as well, but it would take away from their mystique for certain, and definitely make them lesser in the eyes of many fans like you. I also feel like I didn't rightly express my positive thoughts on the albums. To put it shortly, I do enjoy them.  Coma, Locomotive, Don't Cry, Civil War, Dead Horse, Perfect Crime, Estranged, and of course November Rain are all standouts for me. I just can't help feeling disappointed by these albums as a whole after the near perfect listening experience that is AFD.

 

Oh I don't think I even mentioned My World. I'd call it even less of a real song than Wild Honey Pie. I'm not sure it's really accurately predicting Nu Metal either, the bass sounds like something off of Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails or Post by Bjork. Anyway it's the most skippable track I've ever come across on any album.

In re My World, I meant more in how a rock band embraced rap.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

33 minutes ago, Rick N. Backer said:

In re My World, I meant more in how a rock band embraced rap.

I suppose.

[custom55]

For those in the know, you know this album.

 

 

This is the album I was listening to when I got high for the first time. 

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by custom55

[ST3V]

On 9/9/2022 at 9:00 PM, ST3V said:

Years in the making, they sure delivered. Main gripe is that I wish the drums were done on normal drums rather than programming. I think modern style beats such as the ones used on this album sound neat when played on actual drums, but I digress, these guys got plenty steam left.

[zepphead]

The Hu - Mongolian folk metal ........ better than it sounds!

 

 

 

[Mr. Not]

[custom55]

Edited September 11, 2022 by custom55

[yyz305]

[yyz305]

[yyz305]

[yyz305]