Metal Reviews

I like BM too, so i read the BM reviews here , but Gast1's reviews are missed :? .

Razor rules a hell lot. One of my fav thrash bands atm. Love Evil Invaders.

Nothing wrong with being called an elitist, it just displays your passion toward the music/genre. IMO the 'anti' elitist are the real poseurs out there.

Agreed. Lee, my only problem with BM and Melodeth is the endless stream of clone bands that get shittier with every release. Wankery is a big problem....thats why bands like Cirith Ungol are so important to me. I get more rock out of them playing simple riffs with great choruses and soloing, than I get out of.....oh lets say CoB or Edguy. Its just the overall feel. You can tell when a band is really true to heavy metal....their sound has a type of aura.....as silly as that sounds I truly believe this. when I hear something good, I get the same feeling every time.

I think choruses are boring. Matter of preference, I suppose.

I don't get it....

Should I like pop song structures because you do?

I luv good choruses. But most of the BM I've heard (and that's actually very less) lack the usual stanza/chorus structure. But there is something very captivating about BM. I adore the genre just as much as I do others - doom. death, thrash, hell i trip on anything metal

You assume too much my friend.

Well, I guess can see why this would be considered a classic. But as I said in my "Ten Most Overrated Heavy Metal Albums" rant (did that rant inspire Aleksie to review this album in the first place?), I was never a big fan. Yeah, Randy Rhoads certainly had some amazing guitarwork and the Ozzy put so much passion into it (as he does with all his albums - love him or hate him, you certainly can't deny that!), but I guess the album just always sounded kind of flat and uninteresting to me. Of course, that could also be because I have a non-remastered CD copy with a very thin sound.

Ironically, I LOVED Ozzy's first two records with Zakk Wylde at the guitar (No Rest For The Wicked and especially No More Tears). Diary Of A Madman, the second Randy Rhoads album, was also quite good.

BTW, about the way Metalreviews reviews all these "mainstream metal albums," uhhhh wake up. There are some albums that HAVE to be reviewed on a metal site - almost by written law. Really, you can't have a heavy metal site without reviewing a little classic Metallica, a little classic Anthrax, a little classic Slayer, a little classic Ozzy, etc. These are some of the most respected and popular metal bands on the planet, whether some may like them or not, and have every right to be on a heavy metal site.

If by passion you mean drugged out apathy and superfluousness, then ya, I agree.

I mean that he puts a lot of heart and soul into his music. Love him or hate him, you certainly can't deny the fact that he loves his music (ie. his "work"). Something about Blizzard of Ozz that kind of confuses me is that people declare its songs "evil" even though there are actually some fairly moralistic messages in songs like Revelation (Mother Earth). And Crazy Train did have that line about "learning how to love and forgeting how to hate."

Ozzy sucks? Wow. I'm 36 and I started listening to "Metal" at the ripe old age of 9 in 1978. This was during the height of disco and punk so I searched out as much hard rock as possible during this time.

Blizzard of OZ is a very very good album and is DEFINITELY a classic. I can't believe this guy has the nerve to shit on Ozzy. Ya, he's way way past his prime (Just ran into him and Sharon backstage last week at Ozzfest (pictures on my site)), but his first TWO albums Bizzard and Diary (written and recorded at the same time) are terrific. I remember when it first came out and played it. At the time it was a pioneering record. Ozzy has always had a brilliant sense of melody and Rhoades is spectacular as is Kerslake and Daisly, etc. The songs on Blizzard are emotive and truly unique.

By the way, a CLASSIC is an album that was great when it came out and is still great when you listen to it today. It could also be mentioned that it may have had a big influence on others musical output. All my favorite bands back then: IRON MAIDEN, BLACK SABBATH (with almost all of their singers), OZZY, DIO, Judas Priest, Rush (up through Signals in 1982), Rainbow with Dio, etc. etc. put out GREAT Albums year after year for a few big reasons:

A. They were great bands with talented musicians,
B. The touring structure back then allowed them to record every year.
C. Albums limited them to 40 minutes per album helping them to
focus on quality over quantity and to save good material for other albums.
D. Videos and "metal mags" were almost nonexistent so the bands had only their music to make an impression.
E. All the bands recorded in analog so that they had to rely on stronger performances when making the album.

By the way, I agree that there are alot of "posers" on this site. I run into them at metal events all the time. Just a bunch of kids who spend too much time on the internet.

I've lived through metal's peak (80's), decline (90's) and resurgence (2000's) in the public eye. I've never cared what was popular, just what is good.

I do like some "modern bands" -> My favorite modern metal band is probably Nevermore cause they are really heavy, but Melodic. I do like alot of the swedish bands music (don't like the vocals) like Opeth, Arch Enemy, In Flames, Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, etc., but I grew up as a kid worshipping the older bands.

I've been very lucky to meet most of them (photos on my site - sorry about the plug) and I still get a bit weak in the knees around Ozzy and Sabbath. Ozzy is around because he was an incredible frontman with very good vocals in Sabbath and his early solo output. He's gone on to put out some other good material, but I'll always turn to his first 2 for a nostalgic listen. Blizzard still brings back good memories for me and I think it's a damn fine rock and roll record. It's a classic.

I SHOULD be doing a bunch of the classic reviews. Oh, the one for Blizzard - good job. Very well done, although Crowley isn't my favorite, that award goes to Revelation Mother Earth / Steal Away (have to listen to them together of course).

Hey, "Holy Terror". Send me your demos and I'll link to you from my site (I get about a 1000 visits a day from around the world). Keep enjoying good music. Don't focus on labels, what some teeny boppers on this site decide to assign for a score. Keep enjoying what you want to enjoy (Shit, I'm sounding like the Dad I am). If you think it's good, it's good. Up the Irons!

Yeah my problem is that I'm very very picky with metal. So a lot of the Swedish bands for me sound exactly the same. ANd even the classics that are very well known, like Ozzy and Metallica, even they bore me. So I only really love a select few of the more obscure bands. I've earned a reputation as an elitist bastard. SO thats fine with me. I've heard so much metal that for me, the stuff I like is #1 and no one is ever going to change my mind, my opinions took a long time to fom, and some are still forming so if I come off as an asshole you'll just have to accept my apologies.

ANd as for the Harbinger Demo. If you want a copy of the first one you'll have to give me your email address. We're working on a new one that will be much better, the first was pretty crappy.

The title Elite is a compliment, it means you are the crème de la crème. And openmindness and elitism do not have to be related. Why don't you just send him the link?

I think it was a temporary website... that's what HT said anyway (or was it his bandmate which disappeared btw... :roll: )...

anyway I think you can be open-minded and still an elitist... but HT is a closed-minded elitist and you seem to be of the open-minded kind 8)

Best thing I've heard all day.

I would consider it a prison!

I'm open minded....to the point where I have to listen to crap, then I'm not.

I consider myself an elite, but an open minded one. I'll give mostly anything inside the Metal world (yes, even Nu-Metal) an ear (except Glam... ew... (I do, however, know of and respect the impact that bands like Motley Crue have had on the Metal world)), and if I like it then I like it, and if I don't then I don't.

Dude, you are really the least elitist bastard on the entire forum (not saying that is a bad thing...)

Like I said, if you are open minded enough (try new stuff and don't be afraid to like it), then it is not a prison at all. I'm not close minded if just don't like the new Dimmu borgir, or Syndrome Of A Down, but I can call myself open minded if I try neoclassical music and post-rock, and listen to it for longer than a few times per album, be it on recommendation of Emokid.