Albums You've Listened To Today, V.8

[J2112YYZ]

2 hours ago, bluefox4000 said:

Over The past few days.

 

All That Remains

 

Behind Silence and Solitude

This Darkened Heart

The Fall of Idols

Overcome

For We Are Many.

 

Back in a metal mood in a big way.  and I really dig ATR.  even if they are a tad wonky at times.  this Darkened Heart and Idols are two monster albums.

 

Now

 

Machine Head-Thourgh the Ashes of Empires.

 

This band when they're doing things right are unstoppable.  I don't like this as much as the Blackening but it's pretty good and a teaser for much better things.

 

Mick

 

If you like All That Remains, check out The War Within by Shadows Fall.

[Union 5-3992]

Ozzy Osbourne - Ozzmosis
Ozzy Osbourne - Down to Earth
Ozzy Osbourne - Black Rain

Ozzy Osbourne - Scream

Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man

Ozzy Osbourne - Patient Number 9 (I actually like this record a bit on first listen. Likely his best record since Down to Earth)

[treeduck]

[J2112YYZ]

1 hour ago, Union 5-3992 said:

Ozzy Osbourne - Ozzmosis
Ozzy Osbourne - Down to Earth
Ozzy Osbourne - Black Rain

Ozzy Osbourne - Scream

Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man

Ozzy Osbourne - Patient Number 9 (I actually like this record a bit on first listen. Likely his best record since Down to Earth)

 

To be fair, what wouldn't sound good after listening to Ordinary Man?

[Entre_Perpetuo]

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.

[Union 5-3992]

2 hours ago, J2112YYZ said:

 

To be fair, what wouldn't sound good after listening to Ordinary Man?

True. It's not like most of the others were great either. 

[ST3V]

[Entre_Perpetuo]

AC/DC - Back In Black

Def Leppard - Pyromania

[Super25Smasher]

Ozzy Osbourne - Patient Number 9

Point North - Brand New Vision 

[treeduck]

1 hour ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

AC/DC - Back In Black

Def Leppard - Pyromania

Which of these two albums do you prefer?

[treeduck]

3 hours ago, Union 5-3992 said:

True. It's not like most of the others were great either. 

This new one is the best one he's done since about f***ing 1995.

[J2112YYZ]

3 minutes ago, treeduck said:

This new one is the best one he's done since about f***ing 1995.

 

Yep, I'm only on the fourth song but this album already blows away everything he's done over the last 20 years.

[blueschica]

4 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.

It was horrible waiting for the next G n R album after such a great debut and having it be these! I will testify to that. I read Duff's autobiography and everything totally changed while they were writing the second, Izzy pretty much checked out,  Axl got weirder,  etc etc. and it shows. Except for live albums I'm not a big fan of double albums, I like editing. Even Exile on Main Street could have benefited from it.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

28 minutes ago, treeduck said:

Which of these two albums do you prefer?

Hmmm

 

 

Tonight I was more engaged with Back In Black. I think it’s the better sounding record, and one of the best sounding rock albums of all time. The mix can’t be altered in any way to make it better. But there is the thing about Brian where he doesn’t pull off innuendo as well as Bon did, and that detracts from some songs here. Pyromania is about as perfectly written as hard rock albums come, and the blend of influences into their own sound perfectly coalesces here too. However the production sounds less great than I remember it hot on the heels of Back In Black. The layers just get muddy in places. I guess I’d say I prefer Pyromania on paper, but I recognize Back In Black is probably the better record.

 

great question!

[Entre_Perpetuo]

9 minutes ago, blueschica said:

It was horrible waiting for the next G n R album after such a great debut and having it be these! I will testify to that. I read Duff's autobiography and everything totally changed while they were writing the second, Izzy pretty much checked out,  Axl got weirder,  etc etc. and it shows. Except for live albums I'm not a big fan of double albums, I like editing. Even Exile on Main Street could have benefited from it.

I’m usually a fan of doubles, it’s always fun for me to hear what a band has to say with a lighter filter or a bigger concept. But in this case I totally agree. That makes sense about Izzy. I think a lot of my trouble with the band’s playing on these records could come down to him not being fully there.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

47 minutes ago, J2112YYZ said:

 

Yep, I'm only on the fourth song but this album already blows away everything he's done over the last 20 years.

I just listened to the track that features Clapton.

 

That was the best thing Clapton’s played this millennium.

[J2112YYZ]

Ozzy - Patient Number 9 (8/10)

 

Wow! He finally came out with an album that doesn't suck and is worth listening to all the way through more than once. Easily his best since Ozzmosis.

[blueschica]

20 minutes ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

I’m usually a fan of doubles, it’s always fun for me to hear what a band has to say with a lighter filter or a bigger concept. But in this case I totally agree. That makes sense about Izzy. I think a lot of my trouble with the band’s playing on these records could come down to him not being fully there.

I  got the impression somewhere that Izzy was behind a lot of the songwriting on AFD. All the band members agreed to put all the names on every song, though, like REM too I think, because they had seen other bands break up over songwriting money ?  But yeah, the Use Your Illusions were  definite sophomore slump. Didn't Queen do that after awhile too? 

Edited September 10, 2022 by blueschica

[treeduck]

25 minutes ago, Entre_Perpetuo said:

Hmmm

 

 

Tonight I was more engaged with Back In Black. I think it’s the better sounding record, and one of the best sounding rock albums of all time. The mix can’t be altered in any way to make it better. But there is the thing about Brian where he doesn’t pull off innuendo as well as Bon did, and that detracts from some songs here. Pyromania is about as perfectly written as hard rock albums come, and the blend of influences into their own sound perfectly coalesces here too. However the production sounds less great than I remember it hot on the heels of Back In Black. The layers just get muddy in places. I guess I’d say I prefer Pyromania on paper, but I recognize Back In Black is probably the better record.

 

great question!

Ironically it's the same producer!

[Segue Myles]

Machine Head- The Blackening 

Machine Head- Of Kingdoms And Crowns 

 

Two exquisite metal albums. I love the power and ambition of the latest.

[Segue Myles]

Saxon- Rock The Nations

Saxon- Destiny

 

I really like these two albums. 

[Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios]

2 hours ago, Segue Myles said:

Saxon- Rock The Nations

Saxon- Destiny

 

I really like these two albums. 

Ditto 👍😎

[Segue Myles]

1 minute ago, Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios said:

Ditto 👍😎

I don't really know what it is about Saxon I enjoy so much. They are so ordinary and you could argue lacklustre, but I can't stop playing them

 

[Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios]

New(-ish ) 2022 releases 👍😎…. 

Journey - Freedom

Muse - Will of the People 

King’s X - Three sides of One

… I love all 3 !   

 

 

[Segue Myles]

Saxon- Innocence Is No Excuse 

 

It's very much a Dokken album lol