Metal Reviews

How you can call a half-good album a classic is beyond me...

That's not based on my enjoyment, I know that Possessed-Seven Churches is a classic but I only half like that as well.

The Black Album is a classic because it was a landmark album and marked the new era of commercial metal. Maybe not a good thing, but still classic.

When commercial and classic are in the same sentence it's a sure sign that something is very very very wrong...

Well that's Metallica for you.

The Black Album had some pretty good tunes. It had some good parts of thrashin' (sort of), and the production was pretty slick and it really seemed like every song tries its hardest to be catchy and memorable. It's a pretty decent album, even for someone who's not a Metallica fan.

I don't think Metallica can make a comeback though. They're pretty old now, lost respect of almost all of their old-school fans, and with the mindset they're in I don't think they CAN make a comeback.

I wouldn't want Metallica to try to make another Master Of Puppets anyway. It's clear playing 80's thrash metal isn't really in their hearts anymore. And as St. Anger has shown, trying to "return to your roots" (and I use the word "roots" very loosely) when it clearly isn't in a band's hearts usually results in even worse music than what they were playing during their "dark ages."

One more thing: For the record, I like Countdown To Extinction. I'd probably rate it about an 82/100. I just find its popularity with metal fans puzzling. Not really so much because of the actual quality of the album, but because of how big a stylistic departure it was for Megadeth. And they pretty much did the same thing Metallica did with the Black Album, Sepultura with Roots, etc. More-or-less abandoned their underground thrash roots in favor of a more mainstream/commercial-friendly sound. Which, ultimately, is selling out. I just find it odd that "selling out" is considered a metal band's death knell by so many metal fans, but for some reason, Countdown To Extinction seems the "acception" for so many.

Ironically, my favorite song on Countdown happens to be one of its least remembered: Architecture Of Aggression.

Well... the black album is the most popular among the "urban crew" (urban crew I call teenagers with no taste; when you ask them what kind of music/films/food/etc. you like they say: everything!)

+1 for that comeback part

it's because countdown is an amazing album, which roots really isn't.

Megadeth may have went commercial, but Countdown fucking pwns, so it wasn't selling out. It was just more accessible. I don't care if band sell out to the point where they're ridiculously commercial, if it kicks ass it's still good shit. Countdown kicks ass. Nuff said.

Its my favorite too.

I don't have a favourite, but then again I've never seen AOA as overlooked. If you'd asked me when I first heard the album then it would have been Sweating Bullets, me and my friends always loved that one.

Sweating Bullets is probably my second favorite. Mustaine has some really witty lines in that one (who says heavy metal has to be humorless to be good? ). I can say the same thing about Captive Honor.

I even like Psychotron. The main riff has a nifty computerish/technological sound to it. And I like Mustaine's half-spoken/half-growled verses.

Ok, so I've only got Peace Sells, Rust in Peace and Countdown, but out of those three albums I know well, sweating bullets is probably my least favourite song of all.

I just never, ever got what was so special about it. Mustaine's voice (which I normally like) is just so.....annoying in it.

Psychotron, on the other hand, i think kicks ass.

Ive never heard anybody say they dont like Sweating Bullets.

It's so amusingly sarcastic that you just HAVE to naturally like it. I mean, tell me lines like, "Hello me, it's me again." don't make you crack a smile or chuckle a little. Not to mention the sassy/joking way Dave delivers them.

I think that's another thing that confuses me a bit about Countdown's success with metal fans. Countdown's a deliberately humorous/funny album. And many people think metal is supposed to be humorless and depressing. Come to think of it, that's one of the things I've always liked about Megadeth and Anthrax. They never took themselves nearly as seriously as Metallica and Slayer did.

Then you'd better wipe those Maiden albums off that classic list.

Pow.

Very true, especially with Somewhere in Time and Son of a Seventh Son. But then again, when most casual and non-metal fans think of Maiden they think of "Run To The Hills". Thats a pretty classic commercial song.

No, that's what the mainstream public think of. Metal fans instinctively think of The Trooper. Or so I have learned.

A lot of people I know hate Iron Maiden because of Run to the Hills. My dad said that when he hears that song he feels like he should have a loli pop. I try to tell people that Iron Maiden are so much more than Run to the Hills and The Trooper. But they never listen...