Metal Reviews

from the top of my head hehe :

1. Helloween - Keeper I+II, The Dark Ride
2. Gamma Ray - Powerplant, Land Of The Free
3. Rage - Black In Mind, End Of All Days, Trapped
4. Galneryus - Advance To The Fall, Flag Of Punishment
5. Stratovarius - 4th Dimension,Visions, Destiny
6. Rhapsody (of Fire) - heck all of them until SOEL 2
7. Sonata Arctica: Ecliptica, Silence
8. Blind Guardian: Somewhere Far Beyond, Imaginations From T..
9. Vision Divine: Stream Of Consciousness
10. Labyrinth - Return To Heaven Denied, S/T
11. Running Wild - Death Or Glory
12. Angra - Angel's Cry, Temple Of Shadows
13. Wuthering Heights - Far From...., The Shadow Cabinet
.
.
.

and the list goes on....

I'll give this a try with one album per band.

Blind Guardian - Imaginations From the Other Side
Pyramaze - Melancholy Beast
Avantasia
Iced Earth - Dark Saga
Masterplan - Masterplan
Stratovarius - Infinite
Sonata Arctica - Ecliptica
Wuthering Heights - Far From the Madding Crowd
Heavenly - Destiny
Kamelot - The Black Halo
Lost Horizon - A Flame to the Ground Beneath
Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys II
Edguy - Vain Glory Opera
Rhapsody - Power of the Dragonflame

HAHA!! Yes. WOW!

Gee I wonder what my favorite Strato song is?

Yeah, I'll add:

Sonata Arctica - For the sake of revenge (live album, but great, and i hate live)

Tarot - Suffer our pleasures

Hammerfall - Chapter V

Nocturnal Rites - Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Nocturnal Rites - In a Time of Blood and Fire
Steel Attack - Where Mankind Fails
Blind Guardian - Tales from the Twighlight World
Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle Earth
Viper - Soldiers of Sunrise
Viper - Theater of Fate
Helloween - Walls of Jericho / Pumpkin EP
Lost Horizon - A Flame to the Ground Below
Lost Horizon - Awakening the World
Liege Lord - Master Control

Have to listen to this one... Listened to it back in the days, can't say it impressed me much. Maybe I missed something.

How could I forget that one? I'll also add Nocturnal Rites - The Sacred Talisman.

I'm only familiar with the later Nocturnal Rites albums (8th Sin, Grand Illusion, New World Messiah, Shadowland). Are the oldest a bit more varied or do they stay in the same formula as the albums above?

The first three albums are far different than anything they did after switching vocalists. The first two are in my opinion far superior to their later releases. Tales of Mystery and Imagination, the second album, is a masterpiece of melodic heavy metal. Truly imaginative and awesome guitar playing with some of the greatest vocal lines ever recorded. This album is their magnus opus and it would be difficult for any band to top it.

Been meaning to hear Liege Lord. Am I right in saying that they're quirky Manilla Road/Cirith Ungol style US metal?

No they're a straightforward US power metal act ala Agent Steel. Master Control is a little bit different then their earlier albums in that they start leaning towards a thrashier stye. Joe Coumeau sings on it and is a dead ringer for Bruce Dickinson. Great album though. Best song on the album is Broken Wasteland.

I take the 180 position from that. I think old Nocturnal rites is trite boring formulaic power metal.

I like the Power metal hard rock combo they've been doing lately much better.

Let's not forget the best of them all (one day they will be)

Dreamland!

Thier first two albums "Future's Calling" and "Eye for an Eye" are masterpieces.

Their third album comes out very soon. I don't imagine it will be anything less than their best work.

It's hard to compare their sound to anyone since they seem to be doing new things with power metal.

Ok, I'll try that Dreamland of yours but I can't say the review I just read on Metal Archives and the comparisons to HammerFall really conviced me... We'll see.

This is a very difficult list for me to do because im a big fan of US Power metal, but i'll do my best:

1.- Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction/ The Age Of Mastery
2.- Blind Guardian - Tales From The Twilight World/ Follow The Blind/ Imaginations From The Other Side
3.- Metal Church - ST / The Dark / Blessing In Dissguise/ Hanging In The Balance
4.- Brocas Helm - Into Battle / Black Death
5.- Virgin Steele - The Marriage of Heaven And Hell pt1 & pt2 /Invictus /The House Of Atreus pt1 & pt2
6.- Agent Steel - Skeptics Apocalypse/ Unstoppable Force
7.- Cage - Darker Than Black
8.- Crimson Glory - Crimson Glory
9.- Edguy - Kingdom Of Madness/ The Savage Poetry
10.- Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free/ Power Plant
11.- Nocturnal Rites - Tales Of Mystery And Imagination
12.- Helloween - Walls Of Jericho/ Keeper OF The Seven Keys I & II
13.- Iced Earth - Night Of The Storm Rider / Burnt Offerings
14.- Iron Savior - Unification
15.- Liege Lord - Master Control
16.- Manilla Road - Cristal Logic / The Deluge
17.- Slauter Xtroyes - Winter Kill

Im sure im missing alot of bands but thats the best i can do right now.

Well you're certainly entitled to your opinion. The only new Nocturnal Rites album that I can even stand to listen to is Afterlife. But when you compare the guitar playing and the vocal lines, they are much more imaginative on the earlier albums. They really kind of took a more commercial sound and...I hate to use the phrase, but they sold out.

As I feared, generic easy power metal... Soooo boring...

I don't think so. I think their ability to write a great song overshadows a lot of the bullshit PM bands try to do. No one cares how technical an album is, they only care about how good the songs are. I'm glad bands like Edguy and Nocturnal Rites are finally starting to understand this. Lord Tim (Lord/Dungeon) wadded around for years in the "impressive speed/technicality" department but he was terrible at writing good songs until "one step beyond" came out.

I don't care about the speed/skills ratio too. All I'm saying is I'm tired of those fruity power metal bands that are even lighter than Britney Spears...

Now you're being way to harsh!
But yes, I can see where you're coming from but I can't back it up. Those kind of bands aren't playing the most technical or the most original Metal but they do play music that they love themselves, and they are more interested in offering an album you can headbang to and have fun with... rather than masturbating their songs to the extreme. But even I get tired of it sometimes and turn to more complex or more techincal stuff... Well, hmm.