Favorite 1-2 Punch

[SonOfNun]

What are some of your favorite combinations of albums released back to back by a band? Choose two albums that were released consecutively whether at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a band's discography. Limit your choices to two even if the band released several quality albums in a row to make the choices harder.

Agalloch - Pale Folklore, The Mantle
Black Sabbath - Paranoid, Master of Reality
Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Nightfall
Count Raven - Storm Warning, Destruction of the Void
Deliverance - S/T, Weapons of Our Warfare
Empyrium - Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays, Weiland
Ensiferum - S/T, Iron
The Hounds of Hasselvander - S/T, The Ninth Hour
Kekal - Beyond the Glimpse of Dreams, Embrace the Dead
Megadeth - Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction
Mortification - S/T, Scrolls of the Megilloth
Opprobrium - Serpent Temptation, Beyond the Unknown
Saint - Time's End, Too Late For Living
Saint Vitus - Hallow's Victim, Born Too Late
Six Feet Under - Haunted, Warpath
The Skull - For Those Which Are Asleep, The Endless Road Turns Dark
Tiamat - A Deeper Kind of Slumber, Skeleton Skeletron
Tourniquet - Stop the Bleeding, Psycho Surgery
Trouble - Psalm 9, The Skull
Type O Negative - October Rust, World Coming Down
Wytch Hazel - Prelude, II: Sojourn

Will think of some more.

 

[Bloopy]

The Runaways - The Runaways, Queens of Noise - the winning pair in my books as both are 10/10 albums for me. Followed by these pairs of favourite albums:

Danzig - Danzig II: Lucifuge, Danzig III: How the Gods Kill
Megadeth - Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction
Creeping - Funeral Crawl, Order of Snakes
Wax Chattels - Wax Chattels, Clot

Beyond those I've basically already worked out a whole lot by way of participating in UM polls and then turning my lists into RateYourMusic ratings. These are one fav album paired with a great one/almost favourite:

Spoiler

Anti-Nowhere League - We Are... The League, The Perfect Crime (tough choice as Crime is my fav and in the past I would've put their 3rd studio album Scum next)
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath, Paranoid
Bloodhound Gang - Use Your Fingers, One Fierce Beer Coaster
Budgie - Never Turn Your Back on a Friend, In for the Kill!
Candlemass - Nightfall, Ancient Dreams (their debut is very good of course but I'm more of a Messiah fanboy)
Eagle Twin - The Unkindness of Crows, The Feather Tipped the Serpent's Scale
English Dogs - Forward Into Battle, Where Legend Began
Girlschool - Demolition, Hit and Run
Malachi - Malachi, Wither to Cover the Tread
Overkill - The Years of Decay, Horrorscope
Plastic Gods - Quadriplegiac, Plastic Gods
SPK - Information Overload Unit, Leichenschrei
Sticky Filth - Weep Woman Weep, Nektar der Götter
The House of Capricorn - Sign of the Cloven Hoof, In the Devil's Days
The Wreckery - Here at Pains Insistence, Laying Down Law
Ulcerate - Everything Is Fire, The Destroyers of All
Wall of Silents - Wall of Silents, Looking Through Cadaver Eyes

Or two great albums that aren't quite favourites:

Spoiler

Arc of Ascent - Circle of the Sun, The Higher Key
Bongripper - Hate Ashbury, Satan Worshipping Doom
Demon - Night of the Demon, The Unexpected Guest
Dopelord - Children of the Haze, Sign of the Devil
Dupobs - Drop the Coin, Le sex l'ove
Fu-Schnickens - F.U. Don't Take It Personal, Nervous Break Down
Left or Right - Nuggety, Buzzy
New Model Army - The Ghost of Cain, Thunder and Consolation
The Dead Weather - Horehound, Sea of Cowards
Throbbing Gristle - Part Two: The Endless Not, The Third Mind Movements (rare for a band's best two to be at the end of their long career but that's my view here)

There are more examples I have where one or two pairs for an artist work out to averages equivalent to the above, eg. 9/10 + 7/10 versus two 8/10s. I'll dive in further and figure those out later.

 

[J.]

Amon Amarth - Once Sent From the Golden Hall, The Avenger (got em both when The Avenger was released and still love em to this day)

I dont why that one popped in my head. And for Tiamat, who is just okay, I would go with Clouds and Wildhoney.

Sabbath would be Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage

Agree with Type O

I guess I gotta mention Graveland: Following the Voice of Blood, Immortal Pride

 

[SonOfNun]

Megadeth - Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction

Beyond those I've basically already worked out a whole lot by way of participating in UM polls and then turning my lists into RateYourMusic ratings. These are one fav album paired with a great one/almost favourite:

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath, Paranoid
Candlemass - Nightfall, Ancient Dreams (their debut is very good of course but I'm more of a Messiah fanboy)

Glad someone else is on board with that Megadeth. I LOVE Countdown to Extinction.

I can see that Sabbath choice although Master of Reality will always be far and away my favorite.

I think Ancient Dreams is significantly underrated. Right now I have it above Tales of Creation and neck and neck with Nightfall.

I need to figure out RYM.

Amon Amarth - Once Sent From the Golden Hall, The Avenger (got em both when The Avenger was released and still love em to this day)

I dont why that one popped in my head. And for Tiamat, who is just okay, I would go with Clouds and Wildhoney.

Sabbath would be Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage

Agree with Type O

I guess I gotta mention Graveland: Following the Voice of Blood, Immortal Pride

That Amon Amarth does seem random I don't listen to them much now but I would've said Versus the World and Fate of Norns because I like when they sold out and streamlined their sound (Fate of Norns is the only one I own).

I thought of going with Wildhoney but I've spent less time with it. A Deeper Kind of Slumber is a shoe-in because that album is masterpiece. But Skeleton Skeletron was my first exposure to them. I bought it in a record store in Colorado Springs (or Pueblo) and listened to it on the ride back through the mountains and there was a kind of magic. I have a nostalgic association with it.

And you wouldn't be J. if you didn't mention Graveland.

 

[Bloopy]

Glad someone else is on board with that Megadeth. I LOVE Countdown to Extinction.

Countdown's in my top 10 albums of all time. I feel it's one of those albums that leans towards having a lot of songs that sound the same, but it's a kickass song, haha.

These are cases where I have a favourite album next to a 7/10, though I may revise my rating of Battle Beast's s/t up now:

Battle Beast - Battle Beast, Unholy Savior
Dayglo Abortions - Here Today Guano Tomorrow, Two Dogs Fucking
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II (I never quite got the hype for IV ...their debut and Physical Graffiti are my top 2)
Pentagram - Last Rites, Curious Volume
Saint Vitus - Mournful Cries, V
The B-52's - The B-52's, Wild Planet


Metallica is where it gets tricky for me. I have KEA (8/10) & RtL (9/10) versus MoP (7/10) & AJFA (10/10), an average of 8.5/10 for both pairs. My issue with Puppets is I'm not so fond of the title track or The Thing That Should Not Be so those become a bit of a 15 minute slog, but my favourites are the other two songs on the first half, so the second half doesn't excel either (relatively speaking of course, it's still quality Metallica). I'll go for the consistency factor and say KEA + RtL is the better 1-2 punch for me.

Similarly for Björk I have Post (7/10) & Homogenic (9/10) versus Volta & Biophilia (both 8/10), but in this case I'd have to go with Post + Homogenic since they're so iconic. I find Volta consistent, but Biophilia is mostly a bit too soft for me with a few awesome highs.

 

[SonOfNun]

Pentagram - Last Rites, Curious Volume
Saint Vitus - Mournful Cries, V

Metallica is where it gets tricky for me. I have KEA (8/10) & RtL (9/10) versus MoP (7/10) & AJFA (10/10), an average of 8.5/10 for both pairs. My issue with Puppets is I'm not so fond of the title track or The Thing That Should Not Be so those become a bit of a 15 minute slog, but my favourites are the other two songs on the first half, so the second half doesn't excel either (relatively speaking of course, it's still quality Metallica). I'll go for the consistency factor and say KEA + RtL is the better 1-2 punch for me.

CURIOUSly enough, those are probably the two Pentagram albums I would select. It's one of the ones I'm pondering.

If C.O.D. wasn't in between V and Die Healing that would be another strong choice. Mournful Cries is one of their lowest rated for me.

I don't listen to Metallica much but Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning would be the easy choice for me. Never really enjoyed MoP or Justice much.

 

[J.]

Gods Tower - The Turns, The Eerie

Just amazing doom from Belarus. The vocals will throw some people off, but the guitar work is up there with the best.

 

[SonOfNun]

What have you got? @zerostatic @DarkGift @CiG

 

[CiG]

Just some stuff off the top:

• Black Sabbath - Master of Reality & Vol. 4
• Slough Feg - Traveller & Atavism
• Manowar - Into Glory Ride & Hail to England
• Manilla Road - Metal & Crystal Logic
• Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny & Sin After Sin
• Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind & Powerslave
• Morbid Angel - Formulas Fatal to the Flesh & Gateways to Annihilation
• Gorguts - The Erosion of Sanity & Obscura
• Autopsy - Acts of the Unspeakable & Shitfun
• Fates Warning - Perfect Symmetry & Parallels
• Voivod - Dimension Hatröss & Nothingface
• Slayer - Hell Awaits & Reign in Blood
• Metallica - Ride the Lightning & Master of Puppets
• Malevolent Creation - Retribution & Stillborn
  
• Atheist - Unquestionable Presence & Elements
  
• Amon Amarth - The Crusher & Versus the World
  
• Immolation - Here in After & Failures for Gods
• Pestilence - Testimony of the Ancients & Spheres
  
• Incantation - Mortal Throne of Nazarene & Diabolical Conquest

I didn't include any debut and sophomore examples because that's easy as fuck.

 

[DarkGift]

What have you got? @zerostatic @DarkGift @CiG

Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse & Still Life - Was my favourite band for years and years, so could've easily gone for a few other combinations here.
Immolation - Close to a World Below & Unholy Cult - Seriously, this band keep putting out quality albums, and I feel like they're just getting better and better. These are definitely the two albums that deserve the 1-2 Punch award though.
Katatonia - Tonight's Decision & Last Fair Deal Gone Down - Another band that just pumps out great albums. Took me a long while to get past only liking Brave Murder Day, but pretty much their entire discography is a gem.
Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream & Lightbulb Sun - When the band realized they should just hard focus on songwriting instead of doing psychadelic shit, they managed to put out some of their absolute best material. Great albums both.
Anathema - Alternative 4 & Judgement - Another band that made the jump from extreme metal and, imo, became a much better band for it. These two albums hits hard every time I put them on.
VOLA - Applause of a Distant Crowd & Witness - I've never really liked the more djenty/meshuggah side of metal, but these guys from Denmark managed to convince me otherwise with their really tight, focused and catchy songwriting reminiscent of Steven Wilson's best moments. All three albums so far are fantastic, so could've gone either way.
Nile - Black Seeds of Vengeance & In Their Darkened Shrines - Hearing AotW 15+ years ago cemented my love for these guys, and pretty much all of their albums are amazing in their own right. They've had a bit of a slump lately though, but their new lineup seems to have strengthened their resolve.
Benighted - Identisick & Icon - Two technical and brutal albums, that somehow manages to be extremely catchy as well. Overall, I'm not a big fan of these kinds of vocals (brutal/pig squeal style), but Julien does it so well you can't help to be impressed.

I could honestly go on for longer, but most of these are just off the top of my head. I did see a few in the thread earlier that I definitely agree with, like F-G albums by Morbid Angel, and the first two Candlemass albums.

 

[zerostatic]

Immolation - Close to a World Below and Unholy Cult
Rotting Christ - The Mighty Contract and Non Serviam
Sepultura - Schizophrenia and Beneath the Remains
Vader - Litany and Revelations
Cannibal Corpse - Bloodthirst and Gore Obsessed
Bal-Sagoth - The Power Cosmic and Atlantis Ascendant
Deceased - Fearless Undead Machine and Supernatural Addiction
Dying Fetus - Reign Supreme and Wrong One to Fuck With
King Diamond - The Graveyard and Voodoo

 

[zerostatic]

Black Sabbath - Paranoid, Master of Reality

Megadeth - Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction

Trouble - Psalm 9, The Skull
Type O Negative - October Rust, World Coming Down

Megadeth - Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction

Overkill - The Years of Decay, Horrorscope

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II

• Manilla Road - Metal & Crystal Logic

• Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny & Sin After Sin

• Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind & Powerslave

• Immolation - Here in After & Failures for Gods

• Pestilence - Testimony of the Ancients & Spheres

• Incantation - Mortal Throne of Nazarene & Diabolical Conquest

Immolation - Close to a World Below & Unholy Cult - Seriously, this band keep putting out quality albums, and I feel like they're just getting better and better. These are definitely the two albums that deserve the 1-2 Punch award though.

for all of these!

 

[SonOfNun]

Just some stuff off the top:

• Malevolent Creation - Retribution & Stillborn
  
• Pestilence - Testimony of the Ancients & Spheres

Stillborn is an underrated album. Not sure why people seem to dislike it. It was the only Malevolent Creation album I had back in the day.

Testimony of the Ancients is . I've always enjoyed that one. Been getting back into it lately. The leads in "Twisted Truth" are just glorious.

Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse & Still Life - Was my favourite band for years and years, so could've easily gone for a few other combinations here.

I kind of liked Opeth too. They're a tricky one. I love Deliverance (my first Metal album) but I don't care for Blackwater Park (my least favorite of the relevant Opeth albums) and Damnation isn't a proper Metal album. Looking backwards, I would take Morningrise and My Arms, Your Hearse. Those are both excellent albums that bridge the early Opeth sound with what came next.

 

[DarkGift]

I kind of liked Opeth too. They're a tricky one. I love Deliverance (my first Metal album) but I don't care for Blackwater Park (my least favorite of the relevant Opeth albums) and Damnation isn't a proper Metal album. Looking backwards, I would take Morningrise and My Arms, Your Hearse. Those are both excellent albums that bridge the early Opeth sound with what came next.

I kinda figured considering your nick

Of the relevant Opeth albums (I'm guessing relevant is everything before Heritage), I'd say Orchid and Watershed are probably my least favourite. It's very rare to hear people saying BWP is their least favourite, unless it's because "popular isn't good"-type people. What don't you like about it? It's basically Still Life 2 imo, and the album that got me into the band in the first place.

 

[SonOfNun]

I kinda figured considering your nick

Of the relevant Opeth albums (I'm guessing relevant is everything before Heritage), I'd say Orchid and Watershed are probably my least favourite. It's very rare to hear people saying BWP is their least favourite, unless it's because "popular isn't good"-type people. What don't you like about it? It's basically Still Life 2 imo, and the album that got me into the band in the first place.

I actually stopped listening after Ghost Reveries so I don't include Watershed (though I know it makes sense to do so since my understanding is that that album still had Metal elements). It's not that Blackwater Park is popular (around here it's actually not well-liked), it's that I just find parts of it boring frankly. I was a fanboy for a long time so it wasn't some kind of bias. Master's Apprentices is the song that got me in to Opeth, but I bought Blackwater Park, Deliverance, and Damnation all at the same time and always liked Deliverance more. I played Blackwater Park quite a bit, but I think I've just realized over the last almost 20 years that I reach for it less often than the others. It starts and finishes strong, but there's some stuff in the middle that hasn't worked for me. I'm listening to it again to see how it grabs me now since I've been listening to Opeth's catalogue a bit recently for this thread.

 

[DarkGift]

I actually stopped listening after Ghost Reveries so I don't include Watershed (though I know it makes sense to do so since my understanding is that that album still had Metal elements). It's not that Blackwater Park is popular (around here it's actually not well-liked), it's that I just find parts of it boring frankly. I was a fanboy for a long time so it wasn't some kind of bias. Master's Apprentices is the song that got me in to Opeth, but I bought Blackwater Park, Deliverance, and Damnation all at the same time and always liked Deliverance more. I played Blackwater Park quite a bit, but I think I've just realized over the last almost 20 years that I reach for it less often than the others. It starts and finishes strong, but there's some stuff in the middle that hasn't worked for me. I'm listening to it again to see how it grabs me now since I've been listening to Opeth's catalogue a bit recently for this thread.

Always interesting to see differing viewspoints! I don't dislike a single song on BWP personally, I think only The Funeral Portrait is less than a 10/10 for me on that one and it's still damn good. As for Deliverance, I actually think Master's Apprentices is the weakest track on it, as I think the songwriting feels a bit sloppy on it. Those Morbid Angel grooves are to die for every time though, haha. Wreath though; what a monster song!

I'd definitely suggest checking out Watershed. Although it's not an amazing album by any means, it still packs a punch and has some really solid songs like Hessian Peel. It's definitely starting to drift more towards the psychadelic leanings of Heritage and Sorceress though, which I'm not a fan of.

 

[SonOfNun]

Always interesting to see differing viewspoints! I don't dislike a single song on BWP personally, I think only The Funeral Portrait is less than a 10/10 for me on that one and it's still damn good.

BWP did sound fresher and more lively than I remember. I still didn't find the Metal parts of Dirge for November or The Funeral Portrait very interesting. The Drapery Falls, Harvest, and Patterns in the Ivy are OK but the latter two are not among their best acoustic/ballad type tracks. The Leper Affinity, Bleak, and Blackwater Park rule and are the best tracks.

As for Deliverance, I actually think Master's Apprentices is the weakest track on it, as I think the songwriting feels a bit sloppy on it. Those Morbid Angel grooves are to die for every time though, haha. Wreath though; what a monster song!

Blasphemy! Nostalgia plays a bigger role than we typically admit, but I love that song. Deliverance felt more virile and the contrasts between the dark and light, Metal and acoustic parts stood out to me more.

I'd definitely suggest checking out Watershed. Although it's not an amazing album by any means, it still packs a punch and has some really solid songs like Hessian Peel. It's definitely starting to drift more towards the psychadelic leanings of Heritage and Sorceress though, which I'm not a fan of.

I read some posts on GMD from awhile back where they were discussing how Peter Lindgren was like the quality control guy telling Akerfeldt "Dude, that sucks" and without him there Watershed is full of wankery

 

[DarkGift]

BWP did sound fresher and more lively than I remember. I still didn't find the Metal parts of Dirge for November or The Funeral Portrait very interesting. The Drapery Falls, Harvest, and Patterns in the Ivy are OK but the latter two are not among their best acoustic/ballad type tracks. The Leper Affinity, Bleak, and Blackwater Park rule and are the best tracks.

I read some posts on GMD from awhile back where they were discussing how Peter Lindgren was like the quality control guy telling Akerfeldt "Dude, that sucks" and without him there Watershed is full of wankery

Glad I made you give it another shot Dirge is a pretty death/doom metal song, and it's probably the song that's grown the most on that album for me.

I can't imagine Peter being a guy that says that actually, he seems like such a nice and almost shy person, haha. But not impossible I guess.
I just think Mikael has become more and more sure/confident of what he wants to do with their music, and unfortunately it doesn't really line up with my own tastes. Their last album, while nowhere near their old albums, is actually pretty decent and I feel like they finally found their stride with the new sound on that one.

 

[J.]

Only Orchid and Morningrise are real. All others are falses

 

[DarkGift]

The weakest old-peth albums along with Watershed imo. Morningrise > Orchid obviously though. TNatSW is by far the best song to come out of that era.