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Post by jacoby3mnk on Jul 2, 2014 16:17:22 GMT -6
What is your favorite album by ________________? What makes it your favorite? I am not trying to start fights with this thread. Everyone has their opinion and since music is subject to individual tastes there are no wrong answers. Looking at this as a way to possibly discover new artists that I have not checked out before or maybe a different disc than I have heard. This does not have to be favorite album of all time.
I grew up a big KISS fan. I prefer the stuff they released in the non-make up era to the originals. Not saying the originals don't have great songs. I like the style better with Bruce. Probably my favorite Kiss album would be Revenge. I think their sound is harder than where they had been on their last few albums. I liked most of the songs. They seemed to be more focused. I still play that disc a lot. Reminded me of Destroyer but I felt Revenge was a better package.
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joe
Full Member
Posts: 122
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Post by joe on Jul 3, 2014 13:41:55 GMT -6
Metallica, close tie between the black album and justice for all. Black album is just a good listen all the way through, heavy and good to jam to on guitar. But I grew up with the justice for all album, my friends dad had the posters and was always playing the songs from it. I loved One and Dyers Eve. My first proper favourite band, always inspired me to pick up the guitar in the first place. I like the raw, heaviness off those album and the guitar work is great. Just wish Kirk would play more solos like the ones on there  |
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Post by jacoby3mnk on Jul 3, 2014 14:24:17 GMT -6
Joe, I'm there with you on the Metallica. Not sure if I could pick one over the other on those two. And both were huge when I was graduating from high school. I agree with Kirk needing to play more like he did on those albums. Maybe Death Magnetic is a sign that they are heading that way.
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Post by Maxxxwell on Jul 5, 2014 0:41:03 GMT -6
My Favorite album by Judas Priest is Defenders of the Faith. For me it's the perfect bridge between their classic Hell Bent for Leather era stuff and their later work (Painkiller etc.). There are so many great tracks on that album! "Rock Hard Ride Free", "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll", "Free Wheel Burning"..... the list goes on. I love the tones, production, everything. It's one of those albums that I can listen to over and over again.
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Post by jacoby3mnk on Jul 5, 2014 6:49:55 GMT -6
Maxxxwell, thanks for the input. Priest is a band I have only heard their bigger songs. Never checked them out. I will have to though. I am the same way with Iron Maiden.
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Post by Maxxxwell on Jul 7, 2014 21:30:07 GMT -6
No problem! I hope you dig that album as much as I do!
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Post by blackjack on Jul 10, 2014 13:43:31 GMT -6
My Favorite album by Judas Priest is Defenders of the Faith. For me it's the perfect bridge between their classic Hell Bent for Leather era stuff and their later work (Painkiller etc.). There are so many great tracks on that album! "Rock Hard Ride Free", "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll", "Free Wheel Burning"..... the list goes on. I love the tones, production, everything. It's one of those albums that I can listen to over and over again. That's really interesting to me because the first rock concert I ever went to was Judas Priest at The Baltimore Civic Center (like 12,000 people there - it was sold out) when they were on their Defenders Of The Faith tour!!! Their openig band was Great White who weren't yet a glam band yet o whatever it is they became. They were trying for a more metal sound and their hit song they were promoting at the time was a song called "Stick It." Quite different from "Once Bitten Twice Shy" LOL! Anyway, Judas Priest was absolutely awesome that night and the crowd was so into them! I had never seen so many people with long hair in my life; I thought to myself "Where do these people go in the day"? LOL There were a good number of heavy metal chicks in leather mini skirts or spandex; they were SO HOT! The big hit that Priest had from that album was "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" and I was learning how to play it on my newly purchased first guitar - an acoustic. So I was doing "Unplugged" before it became a trend, LOL! Defenders Of The Faith ends with a CLASSIC heavy metal anthem titled "Heavy Duty/Defenders Of The Faith" and that two song combination was to Priest what "We Will Rock You/WE Are The Champions" was to Queen. Defenders Of The Faith isn't my favorite Priest album because I prefer their very early stuff like the Sad Wings Of Destiny album featuring my favorite metal song of all time - VICTIM OF CHANGES!!! But I do like Defenders Of The Faith a lot and I think it may have the coolest guitar tones of any Judas Priest album. The guitar tone, especially on rhythm guitar is just phenomenal! It's SO heavy! My favorite song off the album is "The Sentinel" and if you've never heard it, here it is and it shows you what Judas Priest was all about in the summer of 1984! Here is Heavy Duty/Defenders Of The Faith so everyone can hear what a real heavy metal ANTHEM sounds like! Maybe you'll also see why I consider it sort of like the Judas Priest equivalent of Queen's We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions: |
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Post by blackjack on Jul 10, 2014 14:35:39 GMT -6
I just realized i haven't answered the question of the thread. So, my favorite album by Dio is "Holy Diver" I consider Dio easily one of my favorite bands of all time and I consider Ronnie James Dio along with Rob Halford one of my two favorite heavy metal vocalists! I love Ronnie James in Rainbow (especially the epic song "Stargazer"), I love him in Black Sabbath and what later was named Heaven And Hell. Ronnie James Dio was playing slightly more melodic/progressive music in Rainbow than in Black Sabbath while his songs in Sabbath were heavier and were still incredibly melodic. Comparing the rhythm guitar of Tony Iommi to Ritchie Blackmore, I'd say that Iommi smokes Mr. Smoke On The Water because Tony Iommi is the master of the riff and he has such an awesomely heavy tone and is still capable of writing some very nice clean guitar tones such as in the intro to Children Of The Sea. In lead guitar I'd give Ritchie Blacmore the nod over Tony Iommi, especially Blackmore's live improvisational solos which are mind blowing! So I loved Ronnie James in both bands.
But then Ronnie James left Black Sabbath after the controversy of the Live Evil album's production which apparently Ronnie James was unhappy with. At any rate, the band just wasn't getting along with each other anymore so Ronnie James Dio finally formed his own band: Dio. Although they would go on to record a lot of albums, none of them ever topped or even equalled their incredible debut album: Holy Diver. It was released in 1983 so I was in 9th or 10th grade at the time and being somewhat of an outsider or a lone wolf, the album's songs which had themes of alienation from society, distrust of women, and the need to break through my shyness and inhibitions which had kept me sort of "invisible" in high school, a "rainbow in the dark" who desperately needed to stand up and shout" - these songs really hit home for me!!!
When I got my first electric guitar the next year in 1984, I spent a long time learning how to play the song "Don't Talk To Strangers" which has a wicked rhythm guitar main riff which used the open D string to pedal 16th notes in between power chords. The lead guitar solo was incredibly fast, especially for that era when most people either hadn't heard Yngwie yet or had just heard him but didn't have the technique to be able to play any of his guitar solos. Next to Yngwie and a few other Shrapnel recording artists like Tony Macalpine and Vinnie Moore, the lead guitarist of Dio - Vivian Campbell was about the fastest heavy metal guitar player around and learning this solo pushed me to my absolute limits! So because it is such a great song with a powerful message, lyrics that are pure poetry with beautiful melodies, and great rhythm as well as lead guitar, "Don't Talk To Strangers" is the song I'm choosing to represent my favorite album by Dio which was and always will be one of my favorite bands of all time! I miss Ronnie James Dio and here in this song you can hear the range of his talents, going from a beautiful soothing, mellow, melodic melody in the intro followed by a powerful melody full of rage but still always keeping his amazing sense of melody and the phenomenal range of different tones to his vocals that Ronnie James blended together in this masterpiece!
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Post by jacoby3mnk on Jul 12, 2014 7:42:45 GMT -6
Dio is another one of those bands that I like everything I have heard from them but never really checked out their catalog. I think Ronnie had one of the best if not the best voice in metal. I will have to check out more of their stuff as well.
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Post by blackjack on Jul 12, 2014 14:59:04 GMT -6
Dio is another one of those bands that I like everything I have heard from them but never really checked out their catalog. I think Ronnie had one of the best if not the best voice in metal. I will have to check out more of their stuff as well. I know you have already heard that "Holy Diver" is the best Dio album to buy and that's true. "The Last In Line" is probably their second best album to buy and that's true too. So I'm going to show you a song off a later album by Dio that not as many people know about. The album is titled "Lock Up The Wolves" and right now it is available for the unbelievable price of only $5.98 on Amazon. After you've boughten some Dio albums of you want to check out Dio's vocals in other bands the two albums I recommend the most are "Heaven And Hell" by Black Sabbath and "Rising" by Rainbow. I believe Rainbow was at their best live so if you can find Rainbow Live In Munich on DVD that's the ultimate way to see and hear Rainbow. If you can't find the DVD there should at least be a CD of it available. Actually any DVD of Rainbow live in Germany is great as long as it's with Ronnie James Dio on vocals. Rainbow changed a lot and got more commercial which is why RJDE left and they got Graham Bonnett and then Joe Lynn Turner - two fine vocalists but obviously not the legends that Ronnie James Dio is. Here is a link to Rainbow's "Live In Munich" DVD which has versions of the original songs that are sometime two or even three times the original length of the song because of Ritchie Blackmore's amazing improvisational soloing style: www.amazon.com/Live-Munich-RainbowHere is the bluesiest song off the album but it's a very dark, heavy blues. It's titled "Evil On Queen Street" and here it is: Here is one more song from the Lock Up The Wolves album. This song has a more progressive chord progression and blends mellow parts with heavy parts very well, always showcasing what an amazing voice Ronnie james had. This song is classic Dio - even the title: "Born On The Sun" It has a gorgeous vocal melody in the outro! |
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Post by jacoby3mnk on Jul 13, 2014 10:39:46 GMT -6
Dio is another one of those bands that I like everything I have heard from them but never really checked out their catalog. I think Ronnie had one of the best if not the best voice in metal. I will have to check out more of their stuff as well. I know you have already heard that "Holy Diver" is the best Dio album to buy and that's true. "The Last In Line" is probably their second best album to buy and that's true too. So I'm going to show you a song off a later album by Dio that not as many people know about. The album is titled "Lock Up The Wolves" and right now it is available for the unbelievable price of only $5.98 on Amazon. After you've boughten some Dio albums of you want to check out Dio's vocals in other bands the two albums I recommend the most are "Heaven And Hell" by Black Sabbath and "Rising" by Rainbow. I believe Rainbow was at their best live so if you can find Rainbow Live In Munich on DVD that's the ultimate way to see and hear Rainbow. If you can't find the DVD there should at least be a CD of it available. Actually any DVD of Rainbow live in Germany is great as long as it's with Ronnie James Dio on vocals. Rainbow changed a lot and got more commercial which is why RJDE left and they got Graham Bonnett and then Joe Lynn Turner - two fine vocalists but obviously not the legends that Ronnie James Dio is. Here is a link to Rainbow's "Live In Munich" DVD which has versions of the original songs that are sometime two or even three times the original length of the song because of Ritchie Blackmore's amazing improvisational soloing style: www.amazon.com/Live-Munich-RainbowHere is the bluesiest song off the album but it's a very dark, heavy blues. It's titled "Evil On Queen Street" and here it is: After reading this I went to Netflix and found that they have several dvds with Ronnie James Dio. Rainbow live, Dio Live and a Heaven and Hell one as well. I added them to my list to check them out. This way I can check several out and I can buy the ones I really like. Thanks for the suggestions on the dvds Here is one more song from the Lock Up The Wolves album. This song has a more progressive chord progression and blends mellow parts with heavy parts very well, always showcasing what an amazing voice Ronnie james had. This song is classic Dio - even the title: "Born On The Sun" It has a gorgeous vocal melody in the outro! |
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Post by jacoby3mnk on Jul 13, 2014 10:43:00 GMT -6
I am still trying the quote option here. I found several dvds with Dio on Netflix. Rainbow, Dio, and Heaven and Hell. I added to my list and can check them out. I will buy the ones that I really like.
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Post by jacoby3mnk on Jul 21, 2014 17:55:27 GMT -6
Maxxxwell, I have been checking out the Judas Priest Defenders of Faith and so far really like it. It's nice to get some input by others for checking out new music(to me anyway). I will probably end up getting into their other discs as well. They are one of those bands that I have liked everything I have heard so far.
It took me a long time to listen to much Pantera. But once I gave them a chance I liked them. Still not real crazy about Phil's vocals but once I gave it a chance it grew on me.
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Post by Maxxxwell on Jul 23, 2014 11:07:27 GMT -6
Any Greg Howe fans here? Favorite GH album?
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Post by Cybersquatch on Jul 23, 2014 15:39:43 GMT -6
Any Greg Howe fans here? Favorite GH album? Greg Howe is great! For me hard to pick a favorite though as all of his stuff is excellent I remember really liking ASCEND though, it's been a while since I listened to that one I guess i better refresh my memory…... |
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Post by Maxxxwell on Jul 24, 2014 9:08:54 GMT -6
Any Greg Howe fans here? Favorite GH album? Greg Howe is great! For me hard to pick a favorite though as all of his stuff is excellent I remember really liking ASCEND though, it's been a while since I listened to that one I guess i better refresh my memory…... I really like Ascend as well. Also Parallax and Introspection. Plus The Vitalij Kuprik "High Definition" album is amazing! 100% neo-classical work on that record. |
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Post by Cybersquatch on Jul 24, 2014 21:31:36 GMT -6
That was a killer tune! For whatever reason (back in the day) I never purchased any Vitalij stuff I intended to, but never took the plunge, decisions I now regret! This coming from someone who bought and owns probably 80 to 90 % of the Shrapnel catalogue at least from the first 2 decades of their existence. May I also say I love the neoclassical style always have always will I know it was "played out" in the 80's but to me it will never be "overdone" If I'm not mistaken Vitalij did a few albums and featured different guitarist on each Greg of course was one and I must say it is great to hear him play in this style sounds like a different guitarist at times. I believe Tony MacAlpine and George Bellas had their go around with Vitalij back in the day as well? Vitalij shreds on the keys man! To tell be honest I have almost all of Greg's stuff and have listened to them so much on any given day I kinda lose track which album I am listening to! I love them all I listed ASCEND only because that one was a slight departure in style for Greg up to that point in time in his career. Regarding INTROSPECTION I know I have burn marks on that CD from so many listens I also like the stuff Greg did with Richie Kotzen (2 albums) which much to my demise I can't seem to locate anywhere in my collection! Thanks for the post and thanks for reminding me of Vitalij I will be on the prowl for his music once again!
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Post by shreddingjoris on Jul 25, 2014 7:50:54 GMT -6
Best greg howe album Imo? Introspection!
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Post by jacoby3mnk on Jul 27, 2014 19:27:42 GMT -6
How about Megadeth? I have all of their discs but for me it is hard to pick a favorite. Top 3 for me would probably be Rust in Peace, Endgame, and Cryptic Writings. Even though they went more radio friendly with Cryptic. I like the songs quite a bit. Definitely not their heaviest disc but I thought it was good. Endgame was really aggressive, saw them on that tour and really got into them after that show. Rust is one of those discs I can play for weeks at a time and not get tired of it.
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Post by Cybersquatch on Jul 28, 2014 15:28:44 GMT -6
Definitely Rust In Peace is my favorite to….. I like Peace Sells But Who's Buying?, and Countdown To Extinction has very good production value, and good song writing to! Endgame, and United Abominations are enjoyable listens as well………. no particular order after RUST
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Post by blackjack on Jul 30, 2014 11:44:56 GMT -6
I like So Far...So Good...So What....I like it because it has some of my favorite songs like Liar, Hook In Mouth, and especially In My Darkest Hour which is my favorite Megadeth song of all time. I think it's their most emotional song - the only one that comes close is A Tout Le Monde.
I like their first album Killing Is My Business And Business And Business Is Good. I like Last Rites/Loved To Death(has one of the most intricate rhythm guitar parts I've ever heard in metal and also has a groove to it which is unusual for thrash, the groove has maybe a little bit of jazz influence - this is REALLY progressive thrash, especially for its time - far more complex than anything on "Kill 'Em All") Rattlehead, and Looking Down The Cross.
I also like Youthanasia. My favorite songs from it are A Tout Le Monde, Reckoning Day, Train Of Consequences, and Addicted To Chaos. Rust In Piece Is great too, especially Holy Wars...The Punishment Due (BEST MUSTAINE GUITAR SOLO EVER), and Hangar 18. I think Peace Sells is overrated but Wake Up Dead is great and the title track has some great lyrics.
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Post by jacoby3mnk on Aug 5, 2014 6:36:26 GMT -6
What about Van Halen? My top 2 would have to be their first one and 5150. I like the first one because the guitar sound. Eddie's playing was top notch. Eruption, I'm the One, Aint Talkin' Bout Love would have to be my favorite 3 on this disc. For me 5150 brought a re-energized band. Sammy brought a new dimension to the songs and with Mike's harmonies they meshed really well. Summer Nights, Get Up, Best of Both Worlds are probably my favorites on this disc. Just realized both of these are the first releases of each line up.
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Post by blackjack on Aug 5, 2014 15:02:14 GMT -6
Regarding Van Halen, their first album and Fair Warning are their two best albums. The first album showcased Eddie's tapping technique, his tone, his phrasing, his whole style and had great songs too! Running With The Devil, Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, and Little Dreamer are my favorites from it. Fair Warning was probably the high point of Eddie taking his playing to the highest level he has before or since. The funk bass like playing he does at the beginning of "Mean Street" is cool and it's a great song. "Unchained" is another great song. Eddie makes sounds with his guitar that you'd swear must be synthesizer or something other than guitar! Of course his soloing on this album is killer and shows that he has a lot of taste in his phrasing and choice of notes, an uncommonly good sense of phrasing and tastefulness for a guy who could arguable be called the godfather of shred guitar. I really like the vibe of this album and the background vocals by the rest of the band are great and add a lot to David Lee Roth's lead vocals.
From Fair Warning this underrated song and its solo will give you chills!
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Post by jacoby3mnk on Aug 9, 2014 15:51:36 GMT -6
I have the Van Halen catalog up for my workouts at the gym now. This disc was the one that played today. I haven't listened to it in a while. A lot of forgotten songs on it. Thanks for mentioning it.
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Post by jacoby3mnk on Aug 25, 2014 19:31:22 GMT -6
My favorite cd from Maxxxwell Carlisle would be Full Metal Thunder. It was a hard decision to reach, all 3 are killer. This disc reminds me of what Judas Priest, Dio, and Iron Maiden I have heard. I could hear Dio singing the song Marching With the Dragons. It took almost 3 weeks of listening to the 3 cds almost non stop to pick one over the others. I think what set this one apart for me was the overall mix.
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