Great songs on bad/mediocre albums

[jimmy101]

wut?

It's hardly got any of that classic Sabbath crunch. Far too upbeat.

 

[jimmy101]

So which of their albums do you think is worse? Diabolus is basically Slayer trying to go new metal. It was their Load, their Roots

Diabolus in Musica - 2/5
Bitter Peace - 2.5
Deaths Head - 2
Stain of Mind - 1
Overt Enemy - 2
Perversions of Pain - 2.5
Love to Hate - 2
Desire - 2
In the Name of God - 0.5
Scrum - 2.0
Screaming From the Sky - 1.5
Point - 2.5

God Hates Us All - 2.5/5
Disciple - 3
God Send Death - 3
New Faith - 2
Cast Down - 2
Threshold - 1
Exile - 2
Seven Faces - 2.5
Bloodline - 2.5
Deviance - 2
War Zone - 1
Her Comes the Pain - 2
Payback - 2.5

Indeed, Diabolus is the worst example of Slayer trend hopping we've seen yet. Loses heaps of points just for the fact Slayer so unashamedly changed their style (kinda Jeff's fault that one).

Ah yeah, I forgot about New Faith, which is pretty good as well. I'd rate In the Name of God a bit higher than you did, however, tracks from GHUA, such as Bloodline & Cast Down, wouldn't earn as strong a rating from me as what you've given them. GHUA was a step in the right direction, has good energy. Just really, really forgettable and annoying to listen to due to a large portion of that nu metal/"core" shit hanging around.

I'd prefer Diabolus, but only just.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I agree that it doesn't sound like them tbh, but I'd take them trying something slightly different over tired rehash.

re Slayer

Wicked - 3/5 (bonus track, longer for them, kinda doomy and reminiscent of something I can't quite place)
Bitter Peace - 3/5 (standard Slayer)
Point - 3/5 (standard Slayer)
Unguarded Instinct - 3/5 (bonus track, thrash, surprisingly controlled/melodic solos)
Love to Hate - 2.5/5 (tuff guy)
In The Name Of God - 2/5
Scrum - 2/5
Desire - 2/5 (nu metal Dead Skin Mask)
Perversions of Pain - 1.5/5 (thrash but not so good, bumped it down half a star for that ending)
Screaming from the Sky - 1/5
Death's Head - 1/5 (obnoxious)
Stain of Mind - 1/5 (Helmet duh-dun duh-dun, half-rapped vocals and even some nu metal whispering)
Overt Enemy - 1/5 (this album might be a lot better if they didn't just distort all the vocals, in any case this song has no passable riffs)

I don't have one for GHUA but I'm pretty sure it would be less favorable.

 

[CiG]

I agree that it doesn't sound like them tbh, but I'd take them trying something slightly different over tired rehash.

I think it draws a few parallels to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, partly why I'm a little more fond of Technical Ecstasy than the average person.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

SBS is on many days my favorite (on days when it isn't Born Again) and I don't hear it at all other than both maybe being a little more melodic than the other 70s albums (maybe).

 

[jimmy101]

I agree that it doesn't sound like them tbh, but I'd take them trying something slightly different over tired rehash.

Agree 100%

re Slayer

Wicked - 3/5 (bonus track, longer for them, kinda doomy and reminiscent of something I can't quite place)
Bitter Peace - 3/5 (standard Slayer)
Point - 3/5 (standard Slayer)
Unguarded Instinct - 3/5 (bonus track, thrash, surprisingly controlled/melodic solos)
Love to Hate - 2.5/5 (tuff guy)
In The Name Of God - 2/5
Scrum - 2/5
Desire - 2/5 (nu metal Dead Skin Mask)
Perversions of Pain - 1.5/5 (thrash but not so good, bumped it down half a star for that ending)
Screaming from the Sky - 1/5
Death's Head - 1/5 (obnoxious)
Stain of Mind - 1/5 (Helmet duh-dun duh-dun, half-rapped vocals and even some nu metal whispering)
Overt Enemy - 1/5 (this album might be a lot better if they didn't just distort all the vocals, in any case this song has no passable riffs)

I don't have one for GHUA but I'm pretty sure it would be less favorable.

What exactly is it about the end of Perversions of Pain that you don't like?

And I actually find the first half of Death's Head to be pretty meh as well, but the final section of the song is pretty heavy, and it's nice to hear Tom's bass.

 

[CiG]

SBS is on many days my favorite (on days when it isn't Born Again) and I don't hear it at all other than both maybe being a little more melodic than the other 70s albums (maybe).

There's also a noticeable drop in heaviness with the production.

 

[jimmy101]

I think it draws a few parallels to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, partly why I'm a little more fond of Technical Ecstasy than the average person.

What exactly likens it to SBS in your mind CiG?

 

[CiG]

What exactly likens it to SBS in your mind CiG?

I think "A National Acrobat" or "Sabbra Cadabra" wouldn't be out of place on Technical Ecstasy for one. Basically it's a kind of melodic feeling that permeates the record. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is still better and heavier, but they both share a relatively more delicate approach to things.

Technical Ecstasy does have some very ho-hum stuff on it though, like "Rock N Roll Doctor" for example.

(My ratings of the TE tracks would basically echo HBB's btw.)

 

[jimmy101]

Yeah, I see what you mean. Looking For Today wouldn't appear out of place on TE either.

 

[CiG]

What do you guys think of Never Say Die? I hardly ever pop that one on.

 

[jimmy101]

I hardly ever pop that one on either, but I'd rate it slightly higher than TE just for the fact that it's a little bit more coherent than TE.

TE peaks a little higher than NSD in places, but some of the songs on TE are just potholes. Never Say Die is just consistently average all the way through, none of the songs (IIRC) are completely terrible on that record.

 

[CiG]

Yeah, the worst part about Technical Ecstasy is how inconsistent it is. More than half the album is forgettable.

 

[Atomic Tide]

NSD has it's moments (love Air Dance) but I prefer TE.

 

[no country for old wainds]

 

[Vegard Pompey]

Didn't think of Killer Queen, that's a pretty quintessential example of this.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

What do you guys think of Never Say Die? I hardly ever pop that one on.

Better than TE, more consistent.

Shock Wave - 3.5/5
Air Dance - 3.5/5
Hard Road - 3/5 (uplifting relaxed song)
Over to You - 3/5
Swinging the Blade - 3/5 (heavier blues rock, harmonica)
Johnny Blade - 3/5
Junior's Eyes - 2.5/5 (more chill bluesy song)
Breakout - 2.5/5 (instrumental, sort of hard blues plus sax, sounds like bumper/Saturday Night Live music)
Never Say Die - 2.5/5 (extremely simplistic but good energy, a 4 minute song that should be less than 3 though)

We Attack is a hair better.

Armed for Battle (1986)

We Attack - 3.5/5 (bass sound is ridiculously loud and fat, in a good way)
Winds of Doom - 3.5/5
Judgment Day - 3/5
Teenage Suicide - 3/5
Look to the Stars - 3/5 (ballad)
Traitor - 2.5/5 (bonus track, short, fast, cuts abruptly)
Born to Die - 2.5/5 (bonus track)
Armed for Battle - 2.5/5

 

[no country for old wainds]

Winds of Doom - 5/5 (one of the best metal songs ever)

fixed. we attack is a goodun though.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

What do you guys think of Never Say Die? I hardly ever pop that one on.

I love it. A lot of it feels like they knew that line-up was on its last legs and they were throwing everything at the wall to see what would stick but that led to some pretty interesting experiments. "Air Dance" is one of the finest and most underrated songs in the original line-up's repertoire.

 

[The Ozzman]

Can we do non metal albums in here as well? Nothing saying it is disallowed..




The worst Rush release by a landslide. I can typically find at least an 80/20 ratio of good to bad on Rush albums. This one I can't.