 Oh, look! Heavy Rock, not Heavy Metal |
| Review Date: September 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Anniepoo, Indiana |
5 stars as a free collection. Maybe 4 if I had to pay for it.
Thanks to Robby for the great review. This is not Nuclear Blast, thank goodness, as I had feared it might be from the word "metal". And I thank Robby for pointing out the bands, and especially for the phrase "cookie monster lyrics" - that is just perfect!! It not only describes perfectly the vocal quality of most heavy metal lyrics I have heard lately, it also makes this singing style appropriately ridiculous, IMO. Track 6 - Breed to Breathe is even worse, IMO, than the Nuclear Blast tracks - at least those were interesting instrumentally, although nearly every track had Cookie Monster vocals.
That said, I liked the rest of this album quite a bit. Interesting rhythms, mostly good lyrics, great guitar, high energy. I thought the Deep Purple cut worth 5 stars in my personal music library, and gave 4 stars to 1, 3, 4, and 7. Tracks 2, 5, 8, and 9 can hang around awhile at 3 stars each. I'm now listening to track 10 - if the group reads this: I really don't think screaming adds to the music - your track 1 is better, IMO, with good harmonies - I guess #10 can have 3 stars.
It's nice to hear something loud and frenetic, something head-banging, while still being able to understand the lyrics (mostly) and appreciate the tune, the guitar playing and the rhythmic creativity. The entire album (minus #6) holds together very well. Thanks Amazon!
*added* N.B. All references to Nuclear Blast were intended to reference the free Amazon download "Best of Nuclear Blast: 20th Anniversary Compilation". All 6 bands on that compilation use Cookie Monster vocals. I don't care for this sound; I have little other experience with heavy metal beyond a couple other well-known bands my son likes that I also don't care for; therefore I seek out and listen to almost nothing put in the Metal genre. The Nuclear Blast compilation only confirmed that avoidance. That is a shame, IMO, if the bands on this compilation are also in the Metal genre. My review is meant to speak to others, like me, who may enjoy hard rock but may not enjoy cookie monster vocals; or, alternatively, to inform those that do prefer that sound that this compilation mostly lacks it (except track 6.) |
A lot of fun for dinosaurs like me...
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| Review Date: August 13, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Robby Krell, Sea of Tranquility, Luna |
Man, there are some songs here I haven't heard in ages. Maybe some of you younguns have never heard them at all. Well, this 45-year-old is more than happy to take a trip through hard-rock memory lane, to a time when heavy metal was--dare I say it?--FUN.
This record starts and ends with a band I've never heard of, Black Label Society. They rock effectively, though they are a pretty obvious Sabbath ripoff, right down to the Ozzy-esque vocals. Was this an Ozzy side project? Maaan, it sounds like Ozzy, with a pinch of Axl in the mix, and a little Alice in Chains. Nothing groundbreaking, but a solid rocking song.
Next up is legendary Deep Purple, of "Smoke on the Water" fame. Here we have "Rapture of the Deep," which is okay. I assume that's Richie Blackmore's guitar playing, whic makes up for the so-so vocals. A mid-tempo song, fairly forgettable.
A band called Strativarius is next, fairly frenetic, generic metal with some outrageous guitar noodling a la Yngvie Malmsteen. Vocals are orchestral and harmonizing, sort of like bad Queen. Safe to delete.
The one and only Alice Cooper trots out "Detroit City" next, a stomping, chugging masterpiece. Good old Alice--his voice unmistakeable. This is not a classic a la "School's Out" but it gets the job done. The kind of song that gets you washing the dishes a little faster.
Dio's "Holy Diver" was mighty controversial when it came out--blasphemous and all that--though by today's standards it's quite tame. If you can deal with his over-the-top singing--I love it--the song rocks. Is it live? I think so.
Napalm Death counts as one of the less-fun bands on this sampler. I hate hate hate the Cookie Monster vocals, though. If you like them, here they are. This is an example of what went wrong with metal, in my opinion, about the time that bands like Slayer and Venom started defining what "metal" meant. Yeah the drumming is tight and the guitars are ferocious. So what? This "song" is a chore to sit through.
On the other hand, Twisted Sister is one of the poppier manifestations of "metal." Dee Snyder doesn't have much of a voice, and this song is not a standout in any way to me.
Poison is probably the weakest metal band EVER (with the possible exception of Cinderella), but the only song they ever had that was any good was "Look What the Cat Dragged In." This version sounds live. (That is, the sound quality is so-so.) Despite their lame glam-metal-ness, this riff just cannot be denied. The lyrics are beyond dumb. Turn it up to 11.
Rainbow shows up with live cut, "Kill the King." Rainbow was, for a record or two, a band that combined Richie Blackmore's guitar with Ronnie James Dio's vocals, and it smoked. "Long Live Rock and Roll" is one of the forgotten metal masterpieces. (We wouldn't even call it metal these days, but whatever.) This song is off that record; it's not the strongest one of the bunch, but that album was solid throughout, so it's still a pretty good pick. I strongly recommend the studio album.
The sampler closes with Black Label Society, which sounds like newer metal to me, with that Ozzy/Alice in Chains style vocals.
Altogether, that's 6 keepers and 4 to delete. Not bad for a free album...
Hey Amazon! Thanks a million for this!
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Only worthwhile for free
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| Review Date: September 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: ravenheart, Rayleigh, ENGLAND |
The reviews so far have mostly been inaccurate nonsense. Nuclear Blast have a tonne of bands with melodic vocals, what ARE you people talking about? Are you basing your entire opinion on some compilation they put together? Try Edguy, Gotthard (rock, not metal), Hammerfall, Rage, Avantasia, Blind Guardian, Sirenia, Thunderstone, Hardcore Superstar (rock, not metal), Tarot, Sinner, Threshold, Primal Fear (although they've left the label now), Candlemass, Communic, Mystic Prophecy (now on Massacre Records), Nightwish etc. All on Nuclear Blast, all melodic singers (better than most of the ones on this collection). Metal is a much wider genre than just "cookie monster vocals".
As for this collection I'd give it 4/5 as a free compilation (there's really no need for a second BLS track, they could just as easily put put a track by The Duke, Sebastian Bach, The Black Crowes, Overkill, Ted Nugent or Gary Moore on instead), but 0 if it cost anything as none of the tracks are exclusive and are all lifted from other albums, making it worthless. Free is the correct price for this.
For the original releases:
1. Black Label Society - The Blessed Hellride
2. Deep Purple - Rapture of The Deep
3. Stratovarius - Polaris
4. Alice Cooper - The Eyes of Alice Cooper
5. Dio - Holy Diver Live
6. Napalm Death - Punishment In Capitals
7. Twisted Sister - Still Hungry
8. Poison - 7 Days Live
9. Rainbow - Live In Munich 1977
10. Black Label Society - The Blessed Hellride
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Decent sampler from the Eagle/Armoury label
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| Review Date: December 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Bill M., MA, USA |
And that is all it is meant to be: a sampler from a record label. Many of the other reviewers here seem clueless about what this is and isn't supposed to be.
Spitfire Records was a label that started putting out a lot of stuff in 1999. They essentially focused on hard rock and heavy metal: Dio, Alice Cooper, Testament, Raven, Twisted Sister, Zakk Wylde's different projects, Overkill, etc. They were eventually rolled into Eagle Records. This sampler is a collection of 10 tracks taken from various albums on the label.
(By the way, there's no fine line that separates "hard rock" from "heavy metal". It's ultimately just a matter of fuzzy logic and marketing. If you're the kind of person who gets that hung up about which band falls in which sub-category, then congratulations: you're a myopic victim of mass-marketing!)
Now then...what kinds of tracks would a record label put on a FREE sampler? Well obviously it's not going to be the best of the best. It would be stupid to include singles, especially from the bands people already know as house-hold names, because that might discourage people from buying the respective single if not the whole album. At the same time, they want a good mix and decent representation of some of the albums they have to offer. So it makes sense that they picked tracks that were obscure but not TOO obscure.
You'll find tracks from Alice Cooper's "The Eyes of Alice Cooper"; Deep Purple's "Rapture of the Deep"; live albums from Dio, Rainbow, and Poison; Twisted Sister's "Still Hungry" (their re-recording of the famous "Stay Hungry" album; re-recorded because the band no longer has the rights to the original recording), TWO tracks from Black Label Society (which makes sense since Zakk Wylde has by far and large the most amount of albums on the label), and a track each from Stratovarius and Napalm Death tossed in for good measure.
Again, considering that this sampler is being offered for FREE, you can't expect to be given the top-of-the-line stuff. But there's still some great stuff on here. You sure can't expect Mtv to keep people up to date on these bands! |
Strange assortment of rock and metal, but the price is right
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| Review Date: April 7, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Justin Gaines, Northern Virginia |
I'm having a hard time figuring out the logic behind this sampler. How do you pair Napalm Death with Poison? Deep Purple with Black Label Society? Stratovarius with Twisted Sister? And there are recent songs alongside decades-old hits. This doesn't seem to be that well thought out.
Still, I can hardly complain about free music. I already had most of this material, but there were a few surprises (I didn't realize how good the new Stratovarius was, for example). Most classic rock fans will already have most of this material, and most metal fans will have little use for all of the classic rock. But hey, it's free, so it's worth checking out on the off chance you discover something new. |
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