Hahaha, yea, John just had to check my pulse on Facebook, said there was a thread here just for me. I like all of the discs, they all have their strong points.
Alice In Hell - One of the finest thrash albums ever created. Human Insecticide is my all time favorite Annihilator song and one of my favorite metal songs overall.
Never, Neverland - Road To Ruin and I Am In Command, enough said.
Set The World On Fire - A little more melodic than the first two, but a solid album nonetheless, and Mike Mangini slays on the drums.
King Of The Kill - First attempt at Jeff taking over vocals duties for an entire album, instead of just parts here and there (He's the one belting out ALICE on Allison Hell), and it makes for a solid album.
Refresh The Demon - Definitely one of my favorites, Refresh The Demon and Syn. Kill 1 are two amazing songs. Again, Jeff sings on this album, first singer to sing on two consecutive Annihilator releases.
Remains - EVERYONE but myself and a hardcore group of other Annihilator fans hates this album. I actually like it, a lot. It's not a typical Annihilator album at all, or even a typical metal album for that matter. Tricks and Traps, as well as Reaction are the two AMAZING songs on this record, but they all are good. Jeff is still singing here too.
Criteria For A Black Widow - The closest thing to the original lineup of Annihilator that you will ever get on a cd after the first couple. Randy Rampage is back at the mic for this one, and it is ripping from start to finish, definitely one of my favorites.
Carnival Diablos - Joe Comeau (of Liege Lord and Overkill) is taking over the vocal duties here, and this album definitely does not disappoint. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this album, it being the first Annihilator record I ever got. Songs to look out for here are Battered, Time Bomb (Comeau's Halford screaming on this song made me check the liner notes to make sure the Metal God himself wasn't guesting on it), and Epic Of War (again, had to check the liner notes to make sure that Bruce Dickinson didn't appear halfway through the song).
Waking The Fury - Great album but really weird production. Jeff said himself that he wanted it to have the sound of an "x-box video game" and mixed it as such. It's not a bad mix at all, just weird. This would be Comeau's last album with the band, which is a shame, very accomplished singer.
All For You - Exit Joe Comeau, enter Dave Padden. I was skeptical of Padden when he first joined the fold, but I will admit, after having been on 4 Annihilator albums now (longest running singer in Annihilator history now), I have grown quite accustomed to his voice. Rage Absolute may have some pretty cheesy lyrics, but goddamn, it is a thrasher.
Schizo Deluxe - I love this album, immensely. I remember the day I got this promo in the mail back when I was writing for MetalReviews.com, before I moved to MN from GA, and this album still sticks with me. Padden has started to grow into his own here.
Metal - Now, there are a couple of bad songs on this album, as much as I hate to admit it, but the good songs vastly outweigh the 2 bad ones, not to mention the fucking metal army of musicians that he assembled to do guest spots on this album. Clown Parade with Jeff Loomis doing the solo? YES PLEASE!
Annihilator - It's not out yet, and yes, I downloaded the beeped promo, fucking shoot me. I have already preordered the special limited edition from Earache Europe and will have it sometime in May. This album is amazing. I disliked two songs on it, at first, but now, even those have grown on me. The Trend, Betrayed, Ambush, and Death In Your Eyes, as well as the cover of Van Halen's Romeo Delight, which they FUCKING NAIL, are all amazing songs.
Jeff just keeps getting better and better as a guitarist, and is criminally underrated. I know now of no less than 3 attempts to bring them to the US in the past 2 years by people I know or are acquainted with, and for one reason or another, it just doesn't ever happen. I would literally build a fucking altar to Glenn or have a statue built in his name and likeness if he were to bring these guys to PPUSA. They haven't played the US since opening up for Judas Priest on the Painkiller tour, alongside of Pantera when Cowboys From Hell was just breaking out. For those of you that know me, you know that tour should have been billed as Brent's Wet Dream Tour. I fucking hate my life for not having been into metal at the age of 7-8, but oh well. There, I'll get off of my fucking soapbox.
Brent
I was a big fan of the Joe Comeau discs and the vocal change was a shock. With that said Jeff's music is so damn cool it was easy for me to overlook the quirky sound of his voice. I have heard worse.
