... NO bad songs, no production issues, no moments where I think "If they'd just done THIS...", no problems with the vocals at all... Albums that are just... perfect.
I can only think of four. There are others that I think are perfect while I'm listening, but somehow it always comes back to just these albums when I wonder about the subject and not listening to any music...
Arch Enemy- Black Earth
The CRUSH combined with the skilled guitar playing (the clean guitar break in Cosmic Retribution and the most perfect album ending ever [until they fucked it up by reissuing with bonus tracks... they should have gone in the middle, not the end of the album!])... oh my. Arch Enemy hasn't done anything close to this since...
Gamma Ray- Land of the Free
The perfect power metal album, burying the Keeper albums and making any Helloclone afterwards completely unnecessary noise pollution. Kai's vocals even sound good. I was considering Iron Savior's debut but the Break it Up song is a miss for me...
Nightingale- The Closing Chronicles
This is like an album that the world missed. When it came out in 96, here's Dan Swanö, death metal king (came out same year as Crimson) on a metal label, and this album wasn't very well promoted at all. A shame. The album's airtight, very dark (except Steal the Moon, which is still basically a 'thank you' song from an otherworldy possessor to his victim), one of the more wicked concepts I've ever come across, it's just an ohmigod... Listening to this back to back with Alive Again... this sounds tons more natural, where Alive Again sounds a lot more like musicians making music, if that makes sense... and guess which feeling I like better? I still can't comprehend the reality that I've seen most of this album performed live.
Opeth- Morningrise
This album wasn't made, it was captured from the essence of the cosmos somewhere... Some negatively compare this album's production to the newer productions the band's gotten, but I strongly disagree... the newer albums are just METAL productions, this one was just music that happens to be metal... the best of the best.
I can only think of four. There are others that I think are perfect while I'm listening, but somehow it always comes back to just these albums when I wonder about the subject and not listening to any music...
Arch Enemy- Black Earth
The CRUSH combined with the skilled guitar playing (the clean guitar break in Cosmic Retribution and the most perfect album ending ever [until they fucked it up by reissuing with bonus tracks... they should have gone in the middle, not the end of the album!])... oh my. Arch Enemy hasn't done anything close to this since...
Gamma Ray- Land of the Free
The perfect power metal album, burying the Keeper albums and making any Helloclone afterwards completely unnecessary noise pollution. Kai's vocals even sound good. I was considering Iron Savior's debut but the Break it Up song is a miss for me...
Nightingale- The Closing Chronicles
This is like an album that the world missed. When it came out in 96, here's Dan Swanö, death metal king (came out same year as Crimson) on a metal label, and this album wasn't very well promoted at all. A shame. The album's airtight, very dark (except Steal the Moon, which is still basically a 'thank you' song from an otherworldy possessor to his victim), one of the more wicked concepts I've ever come across, it's just an ohmigod... Listening to this back to back with Alive Again... this sounds tons more natural, where Alive Again sounds a lot more like musicians making music, if that makes sense... and guess which feeling I like better? I still can't comprehend the reality that I've seen most of this album performed live.
Opeth- Morningrise
This album wasn't made, it was captured from the essence of the cosmos somewhere... Some negatively compare this album's production to the newer productions the band's gotten, but I strongly disagree... the newer albums are just METAL productions, this one was just music that happens to be metal... the best of the best.
