GMD Poll: Manilla Road's Discography Ranked

[crimsonfloyd]

#12 Voyager (2008)

Average points per vote: 8.4/18

First place votes: 1 (J.)

when it comes to manilla road, i much prefer the more recent stuff like voyager, spiral castle and gates of fire over crystal logic, open the gates and deluge. it just appeals to me more.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#11 Out of the Abyss (1988)

Average points per vote: 8.53/18

Out of the Abyss is not a very good album by Manilla Road standards. I think that even the band agrees.

"Out Of The Abyss" for me. Songs like "Rites Of Blood" are completely unknown to most MR worshippers even but they are nothing but completely unique and brilliant.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#10 Metal (1982)

Average points per vote: 8.96/18

Metal is the most underrated album imo. Cage of Mirrors is easily one of my favorite Manilla Road songs, the vocals are Mark Shelton at his best imo.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#9 Mark of the Beast/Dreams of Eschaton (2002/1981)

Average points per vote: 9.39/18

Mark Of The Beast is very nearly my favourite MR album! Songs like Venusian Sea, Avatar, the title track, Teacher, pretty much the whole album. It has a psychedelic feel compared to the others but still epic as hell.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#8 Atlantis Rising (2001)

Average points per vote: 9.97

I think the only legit [reunion album] is Manilla Road - Atlantis Rising, but even then it's not "great" just a solid album.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#7 Gates of Fire (2005)

Average points per vote: 10.6/18

First place votes: 1 (NoCountryForOldWainds)

The Gates of Fire is the doomiest to me...probably one of the ones I listen to least often.

i've always liked GATES OF FIRE just as much as the other two from their classic period if not moreso.

While I think the middle part of Gates of Fire is probably the best, Spiral Castle is the overall winner imo too. It has better song through the whole album and Gates of Fire drags on a tad bit too long imo.

to me when I listen to Gates of Fire it tends to remind me of Open the Gates. And no it's not because they both have the word gates in the title.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#6 The Courts of Chaos (1990)

Average points per vote: 10.78/18

Courts of Chaos is so totally underrated ...

The Courts of Chaos was the album that got me interesting in giving them another chance after the aforementioned disappointed me so I don't think I've ever hated on that one particularly strongly, it's just better than I thought. fwiw it's still like a 6/10 overall.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#5 Spiral Castle (2002)

Average points per vote: 10.92/18

First place votes: 1 (HamburgerBoy)

While I think the middle part of Gates of Fire is probably the best [post-reunion Manilla Road], Spiral Castle is the overall winner imo too. It has better song through the whole album and Gates of Fire drags on a tad bit too long imo.

I would be the douche to vote Manilla Road's Spiral Castle over Crystal Logic.... Spiral Castle is just a perfect fucking album.

Spiral Castle is probably one of their most "deep" and rewarding albums imo.

Yeah,it's really great,timeless music.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#4 Mystification (1987)

Average points per vote: 13.2/18

First place votes: 1 (RadicalThrasher)

It may be a weird opinion, but I think that Mystification sounds really evil.

"Mystification" is the best thing Manilla Road has done besides "Crystal Logic." Yes, that means it's better than "Open the Gates" and "The Deluge." Is this even controversial?

That was actually the first Manilla Road album I ever listened to. I was at my local record store with my dad and I ended up picking Mystification because the cover looked cool. Best gut decision ever.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#3 Open the Gates (1985)

Average points per vote: 13.38/18

Manilla Road - Open the Gates

I hope it's worth the 24.59 I dropped on it

YES Open the Gates for 21 bucks my life is complete.

well once I get the deluge i guess

My favorite song on Open the Gates is 'The Ninth Wave Wave'. It's just so megaultrasuperepic! Witches Brew is probably nr2 though.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#2 The Deluge (1986)

Average points per vote: 13.84/18

First place votes: 3 (Phylactery, Omni, Manic Ferocity)

This discussion made me put on The Deluge while making pancakes for my daughter. And it confirmed that I definitely think it beats out Mystification for #5.

The Deluge's title track is the most metal song ever, can't leave that out!

The Deluge is when they truly began coming into their own.

 

[The Ozzman]

In retrospect the worst $24.59 I ever spent

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#1 Crystal Logic (1983)

Average points per vote: 15.73/18

First place votes: 7 (Vegard Pompey, Slayed Necros, Master_Yoda77, rms, ZeroStatic, Krow, CrimsonFloyd)

Just picked up Crystal Logic and it is obviouisly just about a perfect record. The Riddle Master having one of the best vocal performances ever!

Anybody who dislikes Crystal Logic and claims to like metal is an absolute fucking idiot and should die immediately or just dissapear somewhere.

wainds I would've used your own description of Crystal Logic as its quote, "metal by candlelight". Sums up the appeal of that album perfectly for me.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I don't see how that album is in any way indicative of a person's enjoyment of metal. It's closer to Molly Hatchet than the forerunners of epic traditional/power of its day.

Nailed it tbh

 

[Krow]

In retrospect the worst $24.59 I ever spent

Was it at least vinyl? I’ve paid that much for maybe 1 or 2 CDs out of the couple thousand I own.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

The Deluge was really hard to find on CD about a decade ago. I remember for a while it was a regular $60+ eBay item.

 

[Omni]

Was it at least vinyl? I’ve paid that much for maybe 1 or 2 CDs out of the couple thousand I own.

A lot of their albums were rare before the last couple rounds of reissues. That's a typical price for the time period. Some of them went for more.

 

[The Ozzman]

Was it at least vinyl? I’ve paid that much for maybe 1 or 2 CDs out of the couple thousand I own.

Digipak CD

 

[Krow]

Digipak CD

Yuck. I like the album but I can’t imagine dropping $20+ on an album I didn’t even like. That’s an expensive coaster.

A lot of their albums were rare before the last couple rounds of reissues. That's a typical price for the time period. Some of them went for more.

I guess I didn’t notice really. I got most of my Manilla Road albums when they were $3.33 at hell headbangers a couple years ago when they started sharing a warehouse with SKR.

I bide my time on albums that cost over $15 because I feel like any time they can be reissued and I don’t really need to have a first edition. Flight of the Griffin sat in my wantlist on discogs for over two years before I bought a copy for ten bucks a few weeks ago.

 

[Omni]

Is that the Old Metal Records reissue of Flight of the Griffin by any chance? If so, can you either describe the CD or post a picture of it for me? There's a bootleg of it that is way more common than the actual reissue, and they look totally different.