some established acts that = mediocrity in 2008

[sixxswine]

This pains me because I have been a longtime fan of the following bands....

AC/DC - Black Ice ( I would have expected more after 8 years, about 3-4 solid tracks is all this has)

Tesla - Forever More (great DVD released earlier this year)

Motley Crue - Saints Of Los Angeles (one of my favorite bands, this pains me the most)

Metallica - Death Magnetic (don't call this a comeback, but they did somewhat "right" the ship on this album and better tunes than St. Anger)

Buckcherry - Black Butterfly (the 15 hangover album)

Axel Rudi Pell - Tales Of The Crown ( Johnny Geoli sounds great but there's just much of a modern take on this one for me)

Evergrey - Torn (if the goal is to alienate your core audience, missing accomplished...a good album if it where a new band coming out of the blocks.)

Holy Moses - Agony Of Death (they have officially become a parody of themselves!)

Hank III - Damn Right, Rebel Proud (I know it's
not rock, but damn he finally spilt from Curb Records only to release this unconsistent album?! It's like III is confused and lost his identity...)

 

[tsorl]

Rage - Carved In Stone
This band has gone up and down through their entire career. After the rock solid duo of Unity and Soundchaser they've released two duds in a row with Speak of the Dead and this one. The word mediocre is indeed fitting when it comes to this album, it's not a trainwreck but there's absolutely nothing that makes me want to listen to it. Dull, predictable songs, lame choruses (and Peavy Wagner of all people should know how to write one), just blah...

Obviously Judas Priest - Nostradamus as well, there's just a lot of things wrong with that album. Too long, incoherent, bad sound, just downright ridiculous at times. Handful of good tracks as well, but in the end this was not a successful experiment for Priest IMO. Leave this stuff to DeFeis, Lucassen etc.

Oh, and about the Evergrey: I thought it was kinda predictable as well but I can't agree with the "alienating your fanbase" comment because it seems like everyone's treating Torn as some sort of a comeback after Monday Morning Apocalypse where they supposedly "sold out". Funny thing is, in every way Torn is continuing exactly where MMA left off, with less keyboards and a more straight-forward sound. The songs just aren't as good as on MMA.
That said, I don't think Torn is bad but just predictable. They've exhausted this trademark Evergrey sound to a point, time to branch out somewhere again IMO.

 

[poundingmetal74]

Sixx stole my 2: Metallica and Motley.

TNT would fit right into that pile too. I'm a huge Mills fan, but their latest is even further removed from Knights of New Thunder TNT than The New Territory was.

 

[Marco Spain]

mmm.. I don´t agree at all with a couple of them.

Motley Crue: "Saints of LA". Obviously not their best album but IMO a quite solid effort. As good as "New tattoo" for me.

Tesla: "Forever more". :zombie: Simply I cannot understand why a Tesla fan doesn´t like that album. In my top10 of the year.

Some I agree and I add more.

Judas Priest: Below average. Only "Demolition" is worse in JP career.

TNT: Or how to destroy a reputation with their last two albums.

Metalli... what?: Come on! If that album is released by an unknown band doesn´t sell 5.000 copies. Correct but nothing more.

Death Angel: "Killing season". I love Death Angel but "Killing season" tries to be a mix between old school and their comeback "the art of dying". I guess they don´t get what they were looking for.

Evergrey: "Torn". Better than "Monday morning apocalypse" but that means nothing to me. Far, far, far from glorious "Recreation day".

Destruction: "DEVOLUTION". We have listened the same album since "All hells breaks loose". Once amazing, Twice good, three times Ok but four and five times ("Inventor of evil" and "DEVOLUTION") annoying zzzzzzzzzz...

 

[mdmatt4ever]

agreed sixx. most of my top 10 for this year are albums that i really had no clue were even coming out this year (lindsey buckingham, night ranger,black crowes, los lonely boys). motorhead and whitesnake and ever white lion which isn't white lion were great but def leppard and dokken dropped the ball and the bands you mentioned released substandard albums. the tesla album is ok and ac/dc needed to chop off about 2-3 songs to make it solid. motley crue sounded like modern radio crap and i haven't even checked out the buckcherry album because no one i know liked it. isn't this what happened to buckcherry the first time around?

i did enjoy the new testament and hank III though

 

[ElectricWiz]

Gotta disagree on the Metallica. They'll never have another release that won't be hotly debated by the community though, with people mostly lining up in extreme camps - love it or hate it.
I can see why people don't like it, but I do. Quite a lot actually. I understand the people who judge it on the past. I think it's kind of new thing all its own. I dig it.

I'm surprised you don't like the Motley Crue album, Sixx. I'm not a big fan of theirs, but the couple of tracks I heard seemed very in line with what people loved about them. I thought the title track was respectably good. I admit I've not heard the whole album though, and haven't owned one by them since Shout at the Devil.

My initial reactions to the Priest album were better than they are now. I think it has at least 6 excellent tracks on it, a few good ones, and yes, some filler. I don't think it's an out and out bad album, but at the end of the day I do have to agree with everyone else, it's way too damn long. A for effort. D for results.

 

[wdiv]

I found this years releases from Iced Earth, Opeth & Evergrey to all be mediocre and/or dissapointing.

HOWEVER, I really enjoy the new Crue, Metallica & Priest cds, which are getting mixed reviews at best.

 

[mdmatt4ever]

the new metallica album sounds forced. it sounds like a band who no longer wants to play that style of music but made the album to please the fans. thats not the right reason to make an album. if you are no longer making the music you want to get out of the business

 

[Wyvern]

Metallica: unable to recover their magic not even with Rick Rubin
Judas Priest: making one hell of a dissapointing album when they should have been doing something like DOTF or "Painkiller"

On a lighter note:

Pharaoh: uninteresting album, quite a down after the great "The Longest Night"
Firewind: another average album after the very good "Allegiance" and an unecessary cover of a pop shitty song like 'Maniac'
Testament: a forced album, quite energetic but lack soul, not "Low", not "The New Order", kinda dissapointing
Nazareth: 10 years to make an album and came with a long weak one. They should have quit after "Move Me" (and maybe before)
Andre Matos: since he left Angra his music is not as energetic and interesting as it was both with Shaman and now with his solo album. His vocals are great but the music it's not astounding at all
Ayreon: I know that top THE it's almost impossible, but c'mon it's Arjen and this album is average and not very inspired, IMO his weakest since the beginning of the project.
Blackmore's Night: I love the first three albums they're fresh, melodic, interesting but lately he sound like redoing again the same time after time.
Tyr: they also are loosing the magic of the previous albums, or maybe I'm becoming too demanding lately for my money.

 

[poundingmetal74]

Firewind: another average album after the very good "Allegiance" and an unecessary cover of a pop shitty song like 'Maniac'

I thought it was pretty good. Like Dream Evil, they release albums that sound pretty much the same. It wasn't quite as good as Allegiance, but it's far superior to their first 2.

 

[ElectricWiz]

I found this years releases from Iced Earth, Opeth & Evergrey to all be mediocre and/or dissapointing.

HOWEVER, I really enjoy the new Crue, Metallica & Priest cds, which are getting mixed reviews at best.

Can't speak to the Evergrey, but I think the Opeth and the Iced Earth are two of the year's best.

 

[Clammy]

I quite like Saints Of Los Angeles. It's the first new Crue album I've bought since Dr. Feelgood!

Cheers!

 

[Abryl]

I thought it was pretty good. Like Dream Evil, they release albums that sound pretty much the same. It wasn't quite as good as Allegiance, but it's far superior to their first 2.

I loved this Firewind album. Although I've just very recently got into them.

 

[mdmatt4ever]

i didn't even know nazareth had a new album

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

I'll agree there's been some mediocrity, but IMO most of those bands have been mediocre for awhile. To play the other side of the fence, I am very impressed with some band's outputs for this year.

Uriah Heep comes in at #1. What an excellent album and more than makes up for other's lack of inspiration.

Also the new Whitesnake is pretty damn good. A couple too many ballads, but the rock songs are great.

And again, against the grain. I really like the new Testament and Death Magnetic got quite a few spins out of me as well. Definitely the best Metallica album since Black. And I have to totally disagree with Tsorl on the new Rage! I think Carved in Stone is an excellent album and got a lot of spins out of me this summer while camping.

 

[SoundMaster]

The only real letdowns, for me, are Priest & Ayreon. Both are enjoyable, but not essential.

New Tesla is amazing, as is the new Extreme which is my fav of the year (it flip flops with Uriah Heep, which also owns me!). Hard to believe bands such as these can create masterpieces this late in the game.

Other grand releases:
Metallica (8/10)
Iced Earth (9/10)

 

[sixxswine]

Shit I forgot to add Judas Priest ti my list, that's just how forgettable that album was to me...
Thank God for the new Motorhead, Testament two solid albums for 2008...

 

[Wyvern]

I thought it was pretty good. Like Dream Evil, they release albums that sound pretty much the same. It wasn't quite as good as Allegiance, but it's far superior to their first 2.

I don't know or care about the first two albums. I got into the band because I was following Apollo which I consider a great vocalist. "Allegiance" really got me but the new one is meh.

Unlike Sixx I'm not that hot for either the new Motorhead or Testament, I was expecting much more from both.

As for great stuff this year from established acts I have to agree with Dream Evil and add Avantasia, Venom, Exciter, Death Angel, Alice Cooper, Falconer, Sabaton.

 

[Platinum Maze]

If I don't mention it, I probably haven't heard it, or care to.

I enjoy:
Testament, IMO album of the year. Not sure how an album that takes 9 years can sound "forced".
Opeth, not my fav from them but all you have to know is that the one track I thought sucked (Burden) now may be my favorite.
Metallica, I enjoy the album. There are some damn good songs on it, regardless of how many people (I think) semi-blindly bash it. I will give it the very popular "best since the Black Album". FTR, I am not a fan of the production.

still undecided:
Iced Earth, these albums lately are "too much story, not enough song", for me anyway...

Not so much:
Motley Crue
Whitesnake
Death Angel
Judas Priest
Dokken
Night Ranger
AC/DC

 

[mdmatt4ever]

if i don't count live albums (crosby, stills, nash and young's deja vu live is great) me top 10 will probably be in close to this order
1 lindsey buckingham- gift of screws
2 los lonely boys- forgiven
3 black crowes- warpaint
4 extreme- saudades de rock
5 night ranger- hole in the sun
6 king's x-xv
7 hank III- damn right rebel proud
8 jack bruce/robin trower- seven moons
9 whitesnake- good to be bad
10 motorhead- motorizer

honorable mention:
alice cooper- along came a spider
steve stevens- memory crash
testament- formation of damnation
white lion- return of the pride
ted poley- smile
ac/dc- black ice

still waiting to hear or get released:
yngwie malmsteen- perpetual flame
guns n roses- chinese democracy
sammy hagar- comis universal fashion
uriah heep-wake the sleeper