So last week and this week, I have been occasionally chatting with Matt Johnsen of Pharaoh about some of the older albums that I should perhaps revisit. This was a big mistake. Matt's enthusiasm gets the better of me, and I end up checking out all sorts of stuff that I should just leave alone, then slowly back away from the psycho music savant, and listen to some more Arsis.
The following is my Big Johnsen playlist. I note if the disc ranks as a purchase. This notation appears far too often for my budget.
Angel Witch - s/t (1980)
I heard a bit of this at a friend's house a few years ago and was surprised that it sounded decent to me, given its ancient year of origin. Following that, it was recommended to me when I made this post:
http://pmx2.krose.org/forum?action=view&forum_id=1&message_id=326792
When I listened to it then, I thought it was okay, but I was not inspired to make a purchase. I revisited it again recently, and Matt's obscure knowledge and superlatives (second best NWOBHM album evah!) pushed me to want to buy what would be tied as the third oldest album in my collection. It also helped that I found out that Onslaught was covering these guys when they did Confused on In Search of Sanity. I also get a kick out of their gleeful attempts at being evil as well as the boppy chorus of Angel of Death... Death... Death.
Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations (1980)
Diamond Head - Borrowed Time (1982)
Diamond Head - Canterbury (1983)
According to metal historian Matt, Lightning to the Nations is the best NWOBHM album evah. I know the album as 4 tracks on Garage Inc., and I think I will keep it that way. I vastly prefer Metallica's renditions of the tunes, and the songs I did not know did little for me. Borrowed Time, despite its extremely metal cover artwork, did not fare much better. Clearly, the best DH album is Canterbury. I actually liked a few songs on it, and it has some great hair metal catchiness. Not enough to purchase though, so I will continue on without a DH album in my collection. I will say that it was cool to find out that songwriters in DH got rich off of Metallica's covers.
Riot - Fire Down Under (1981)
Riot - Thundersteel (1988)
Riot - The Privilege of Power (1990)
Riot - Inishmore (1998)
Riot - Sons of Society (1999)
I realized that last year I revisited The Privilege of Power and heard Fire Down Under for the first time, but I never got to Thundersteel. I had Thundersteel on vinyl back in the day and liked it for a bit, but I grew tired of it. Listening now, I recalled many of the songs, and it was quickly clear that this was an album I needed in my collection.
I then stupidly asked Matt if any of their newer material was worth my time, and he made me listen to both Inishmore and Sons of Society. I readily liked both albums and was pleased to find that the new CDs are available for $10 or less.
I then moved on to Fire Down Under and I found six of the ten original tracks to be worthy of my time: Swords and Tequila, Fire Down Under, Feel the Same, Don't Hold Back, Altar of the King, Run for Your Life. That's enough for a purchase, even though this music is way too old for me.
I am now listening to The Privilege of Power, but so far, I don't think their attempt at progginess does much for me.
Sodom - Persecution Mania (1987)
Sodom - Agent Orange (1989)
After I mocked Sodom yet again, Matt forced me to listen to their two best albums. So great are his powers of persuasion, that I was almost convinced that Sodom was worth my time. After all, he said, if I like all these shitty rethrash bands, I essentially must like Sodom. This is true, except that I do not like the shitty rethrash bands - I only like the good ones, Matt. You almost got me here, but I came to my senses. Sodom may have been the most popular thrash band in Germany at one point, but I will still take Kreator or Destruction over them every time. Sodom kicks the ass of Grinder and Mandator though. I will give you that, my friend.
Cadaver - ...In Pains (1992)
So I joked that I was thankful I knew more obscure bands in several genres (classic thrash, complex death, melodeath, thrashy death, hair metal) than Matt and stated that I was happy I had no need of recommendations for the old school Swedish death metal sound, as all I need is Entombed - Clandestine (1991). Matt agreed, but he then quickly switched to old school traditional death metal and recommended Cadaver. Sneaky bastard. I tried In Pains before to no avail, but this time their modest attempts at quirkiness and their old school Death references won me over. Too bad their first disc is too raw, according to Matt, as the first song title is too awesome for words: "Tuba (Intro) / Ignominious Eczema". In Pains is out of print, so a lengthy and probably fruitless ebay search lies ahead of me.
Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond (1992)
Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side (1995)
I first heard of Blind Guardian through the mighty Ken Luther. After perusing his collection of imported cheeses, I latched onto Imaginations as their best offering. However, I never really got into the album as a whole. I decided all I really needed was the bombastic title track. I told Matt that I am a random crazyass because I only like this one BG song, yet I like Savage Circus and Persuader. Matt let me off the hook with Persuader (which I agree is different enough from BG), but given my enjoyment of Of Doom and Death, he mandated a listening session comprised of classic BG. I started with SFB, and that did little for me. Imaginations, however, kept my interest throughout most of the songs, and I found a few that are almost as good as the title track. Hansi's voice grates on me often, as he is almost screaming during his gruffer moments, but overall he is acceptable. I will soon own my first Blind Guardian CD. I feel so dirty. I will listen to their new one soon as well.
The following is my Big Johnsen playlist. I note if the disc ranks as a purchase. This notation appears far too often for my budget.
Angel Witch - s/t (1980)
I heard a bit of this at a friend's house a few years ago and was surprised that it sounded decent to me, given its ancient year of origin. Following that, it was recommended to me when I made this post:
http://pmx2.krose.org/forum?action=view&forum_id=1&message_id=326792
When I listened to it then, I thought it was okay, but I was not inspired to make a purchase. I revisited it again recently, and Matt's obscure knowledge and superlatives (second best NWOBHM album evah!) pushed me to want to buy what would be tied as the third oldest album in my collection. It also helped that I found out that Onslaught was covering these guys when they did Confused on In Search of Sanity. I also get a kick out of their gleeful attempts at being evil as well as the boppy chorus of Angel of Death... Death... Death.
Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations (1980)
Diamond Head - Borrowed Time (1982)
Diamond Head - Canterbury (1983)
According to metal historian Matt, Lightning to the Nations is the best NWOBHM album evah. I know the album as 4 tracks on Garage Inc., and I think I will keep it that way. I vastly prefer Metallica's renditions of the tunes, and the songs I did not know did little for me. Borrowed Time, despite its extremely metal cover artwork, did not fare much better. Clearly, the best DH album is Canterbury. I actually liked a few songs on it, and it has some great hair metal catchiness. Not enough to purchase though, so I will continue on without a DH album in my collection. I will say that it was cool to find out that songwriters in DH got rich off of Metallica's covers.
Riot - Fire Down Under (1981)
Riot - Thundersteel (1988)
Riot - The Privilege of Power (1990)
Riot - Inishmore (1998)
Riot - Sons of Society (1999)
I realized that last year I revisited The Privilege of Power and heard Fire Down Under for the first time, but I never got to Thundersteel. I had Thundersteel on vinyl back in the day and liked it for a bit, but I grew tired of it. Listening now, I recalled many of the songs, and it was quickly clear that this was an album I needed in my collection.
I then stupidly asked Matt if any of their newer material was worth my time, and he made me listen to both Inishmore and Sons of Society. I readily liked both albums and was pleased to find that the new CDs are available for $10 or less.
I then moved on to Fire Down Under and I found six of the ten original tracks to be worthy of my time: Swords and Tequila, Fire Down Under, Feel the Same, Don't Hold Back, Altar of the King, Run for Your Life. That's enough for a purchase, even though this music is way too old for me.
I am now listening to The Privilege of Power, but so far, I don't think their attempt at progginess does much for me.
Sodom - Persecution Mania (1987)
Sodom - Agent Orange (1989)
After I mocked Sodom yet again, Matt forced me to listen to their two best albums. So great are his powers of persuasion, that I was almost convinced that Sodom was worth my time. After all, he said, if I like all these shitty rethrash bands, I essentially must like Sodom. This is true, except that I do not like the shitty rethrash bands - I only like the good ones, Matt. You almost got me here, but I came to my senses. Sodom may have been the most popular thrash band in Germany at one point, but I will still take Kreator or Destruction over them every time. Sodom kicks the ass of Grinder and Mandator though. I will give you that, my friend.
Cadaver - ...In Pains (1992)
So I joked that I was thankful I knew more obscure bands in several genres (classic thrash, complex death, melodeath, thrashy death, hair metal) than Matt and stated that I was happy I had no need of recommendations for the old school Swedish death metal sound, as all I need is Entombed - Clandestine (1991). Matt agreed, but he then quickly switched to old school traditional death metal and recommended Cadaver. Sneaky bastard. I tried In Pains before to no avail, but this time their modest attempts at quirkiness and their old school Death references won me over. Too bad their first disc is too raw, according to Matt, as the first song title is too awesome for words: "Tuba (Intro) / Ignominious Eczema". In Pains is out of print, so a lengthy and probably fruitless ebay search lies ahead of me.
Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond (1992)
Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side (1995)
I first heard of Blind Guardian through the mighty Ken Luther. After perusing his collection of imported cheeses, I latched onto Imaginations as their best offering. However, I never really got into the album as a whole. I decided all I really needed was the bombastic title track. I told Matt that I am a random crazyass because I only like this one BG song, yet I like Savage Circus and Persuader. Matt let me off the hook with Persuader (which I agree is different enough from BG), but given my enjoyment of Of Doom and Death, he mandated a listening session comprised of classic BG. I started with SFB, and that did little for me. Imaginations, however, kept my interest throughout most of the songs, and I found a few that are almost as good as the title track. Hansi's voice grates on me often, as he is almost screaming during his gruffer moments, but overall he is acceptable. I will soon own my first Blind Guardian CD. I feel so dirty. I will listen to their new one soon as well.
That was the first thing I thought after reading the first sentence. But maybe that was just the first thought since it is not uncommon to see name dropping in this forum. I have never seen it as much anywhere else as I see it on these pages. One might think this forum is a bunch of 12 year old girls or something the way they are ga ga over Hansi or whatever. It's not like we're is David Cassidy here.
