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Devil's Dancefloor Artist: Iron Maiden Album: Iron Maiden Year: 1980 Genre: NWOBHM Justin announced in his journal that he would kick this off with Iron Maiden's debut, which I'm totally okay with. Maiden is one of my favourite metal bands, and the first one I actually got into, so for me this is a great album to start with. It's from Maiden's NWOBHM period, and is regarded as one of the best examples of the style. The album is, however, a bit different from the work the band is most famous for, since it's rawer and a bit more punky, and Bruce Dickinson had yet to join the band. “Prowler” kicks off the album and sets the theme. It's a simple song, but gets the job done. Alright opening track. “Sanctuary” is the most punky song on the album, on which Iron Maiden proves that they know how to play energetically. A standout track for sure. On the next track, they lay off the speed almost completely (almost, there's always a place for rippin' guitar solos). “Remember Tomorrow” is a ballad, with a psychedelic tinge reminding me of Black Sabbath's space rock songs (“Planet Caravan” and “Solitude”). A standout, if only for the variety it provides. After “Running Free”, a filler-ish song in the general style of the first track, we get to “Phantom of the Opera”, the standout, probably a huge influence on progressive metal bands, and some of Iron Maiden's best work overall. The next one is an instrumental, “Transilvania”, and a good one for sure. Iron Maiden doesn't need vocals, guitars are enough. Then we are treated to another ballad, this one more ballady than the previous one, as it doesn't enter full speed metal mode halfway through. “Charlotte the Harlot” comes on, and we're back to raw metal again. This is the first song in the “Charlotte Saga”, about the lifes and times of a prostitute named Charlotte. Instead of objectifying women, as many other metal bands did and would keep doing, Maiden focused on the dangers and downsides of prostitution (this is better displayed on the song “22 Acacia Avenue”), helping Iron Maiden gain their reputation as a “thinking man's metal band” (I'm pretty sure Trollheart said something similar once). The last song on the album is named “Iron Maiden”, and it's a killer closing track. I once saw a bull**** internet slideshow featuring “wisdom in Iron Maiden lyrics” or something, and one of the entries was “Iron Maiden's gonna get you no matter how far”. Heh, that was pretty stupid. Anyway, it's a good song. This album is a classic. It's not Iron Maiden's best work, though. Paul Di'Anno might be a badass, but Bruce Dickinson is a better vocalist, hands down. Actually, “hands down” isn't necessary, since I'm pretty sure just about everyone agrees. Still, great album etc. 4/5 |
Devil's Dancefloor Artist: Black Sabbath Album: Black Sabbath Year: 1970 Genre: Heavy metal, blues rock This album was not on the top 10 list The Batlord compiled, so I don't think Justin is going to feature it*, but goddammit, I couldn't leave it out. A Black Sabbath album, Heaven and Hell, was included, but this is the band's first album, and my personal favourite. I can't imagine what it must've been like for kids in the seventies hearing this for the first time. They must have all pissed themselves. With the simple tritone riff on “Black Sabbath”, the band created a sinister, brooding atmosphere many later bands struggled (and still struggle) to recreate. That song is the ultimate soundtrack to the apocalypse, and with it they became the first band to play not just heavy metal, but also doom metal, a style they would be the sole practitioners of until nearly ten years later. Unfortunately, the other tracks don't follow in the same vein, but that doesn't mean they're not great as well. “The Wizard” is totally groovy, and “N.I.B.” is one of my favourite songs ever. They kind of fade in comparison to the title track, though. Oh, well. 4.5/5 *Justin did feature it |
Devil's Dancefloor Artist: Judas Priest Album: Screaming for Vengeance Year: 1982 Genre: Heavy metal/hard rock You all know Judas Priest. Those who don't, shame on you. After Black Sabbath created metal, Judas Priest made sure to render it a distinct style from regular hard rock. Regardless of whether you like them or not, you should know and respect them. But you really should like them, too. Four years prior to this release, Judas Priest released Killing Machine, and entered full pop metal mode. This pissed many people off, but by making metal a more accessible style, Priest helped many get into the genre for the first time, and who knows how many good metal bands wouldn't have formed if it weren't for this? Anyway, on Screaming for Vengeance, Judas Priest continued in the same, poppy path they had been going for some years already, but the band did in no way lay off the heaviness. On the contrary, with songs like “Electric Eye” and “Screaming for Vengeance”, the band helped lay the foundations of speed metal, and proved that they could make you sing along as well as rock your socks off. Standout tracks include “Electric Eye”, “Riding on the Wind”, “Screaming for Vengeance” and “You've Got Another Thing Comin'”. 4.5/5 |
Haiku reviews http://s29.postimg.org/5ieobmk6f/neutralmilkhotel.png Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea Hipsters have dubbed this The greatest album ever And yeah, it is good 4/5 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Youth_Goo.jpg Sonic Youth - Goo Pretty good album First five tracks are amazing The rest is okay 3.5/5 http://s1.postimg.org/3mcyj9shb/loveless.png My Bloody Valentine - Loveless So, this is shoegaze Might have to look into that Instantly loved this 4.5/5 http://www.saxophone.it/vinile/pop_N...New%20York.jpg Nirvana - Unplugged in New York Listened with my dad He literally thanked me Not hard to see why 4/5 |
I'll post the Judas Priest album review tomorrow. Wasn't much a fan of it.
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Those are some good albums - or, ITAOTS and Loveless are. I could take or leave the other two, although I basically agree with you on Goo - our favorite tracks are different, but basically it's got a couple really good songs, but uses up all its tricks by the end and is mostly pretty boring.
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Yeah, "Dirty Boots" and "Mote" are my favorites by a distance. But those other ones are pretty good as well - you're right that it's really frontloaded.
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...albumcover.jpg Why do people hail this as the "greatest punk rock album of all time"? Jeez, I was pretty unimpressed. Sure, some of the tracks are good, great even, like "London Calling", "Brand New Cadillac", and "Lost in the Supermarket", but one of those is a cover, and the rest? Well, mostly okay, but nothing special, and even boring at times. Overrated. 3/5 |
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It's an okay album itself but has some bangers.
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That's kind of… eerie. I listened to that album for the first time today after hearing the title track in Night at the Museum 3 last night.
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I've loved that album since I was ten. What is wrong with you people?
ETA: I will, however, admit to the Strummer songs on the fourth side being kind of weak. But other than those and maybe "Koka Kola", it's pretty incredible. |
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http://s15.postimg.org/ly8ap0xjf/orthrelm.png Artist: Orthrelm Album: Orthrelm Year: 2010 Genre: Avant-garde metal Frownland mentioned this album in this thread, describing it as "jazz-influenced speed metal". That sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a listen. The result? I'm really not sure if this type of music is my thing. The album is completely instrumental, with only drums and a guitar, which gets a bit tedious after a while, and the album lasts for an hour. I do admire the talent displayed, however. How the hell do these guys manage to play synchronized when there's no obvious structure on this whatsoever? Clearly they're skilled musicians. But to me that doesn't change the fact that this is just 36 same-sounding songs with a lot of atonal guitar and drum noodling. Fans of avant-garde and experimental music might get a kick out of it, though. 2/5 Oh, and that whole "Devil's Dancefloor" thing... I think it was unwise of me to join that huge project when I don't really have the time or motivation to do so. I might review an album or two, but I don't want to listen to grindcore for a month, so sorry Justin, you'll have to this on your own. |
Haiku reviews http://s27.postimg.org/l1yy1bdeb/hammerhead.png Hammerhead - Into the Vortex Post-hardcore noise rock Even though it's not metal, I'd say it's heavy 4/5 http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/8045...wPower_300.jpg Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power This is punk rock, man Iggy Pop is a badass And the title's apt 4/5 http://s2.postimg.org/3zqnn6v6h/pallbearer.png Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden Well, it starts off great Then it just repeats itself It's overrated 2.5/5 |
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http://s7.postimg.org/hpub5qoij/misfits.png I didn't start listening to Misfits before just recently. Sure, "Last Caress" and "Where Eagles Dare" have been familiar to me for a couple of years, but I didn't start actually digging into their discography before around the time I started my new Last.fm account. The result? Misfits is the most-played artist on my profile (not a hard feat though, their songs aren't exactly long) and might be becoming one of my favourite bands. http://s1.postimg.org/5blq6j2zz/misfits.png That's Collection I and II. They compile the entire Earth A.D. / Wolfs Blood album, some stuff from EPs, some alternate versions of various songs, and some songs not otherwise released. And c'mon, how can you listen to one of these bad boys without getting the urge to sing along? These two compilations and Walk Among Us are the albums I've listened to, and I'm hooked on the band already. One... Two... Three... WHOOOOA-OOOOH-OOOH Man, I want one of those Misfits T-shirts that all the cool kids are wearing. |
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV...14,317_AL_.jpg Title: Romeo + Juliet Year: 1996
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Haiku reviews http://s12.postimg.org/b2c6b49l9/mark_olson.png Mark Olson - Good-bye Lizelle Well, it's not Jayhawks I mean that in a bad way But it was fine live 2.5/5 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...I%29_cover.jpg Misfits - Collection I Sing along with me: I TURNED INTO A MARTIAN WHOA-OOOOOH-OOH, **** yes 4.5/5 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/Takk.jpg Sigur Rós - Takk... You're eating cookies Lying on a grassy hill And there are puppies. 4/5 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...SL._SY300_.jpg Beastie Boys - Licenced to Ill Kind of fun, but I Don't know what to feel about Rocky macho rap 3/5 |
Let's turn into Martians, everybody Once upon a just right now Something made me think "oh wow" It was a link I did encounter, scrolling down my Facebook feed Fascinated, click I did And right behind the link, there hid The news that human settlement on Mars may pretty soon proceed. Alright, it's not really news, people have been talking about the possible colonization of Mars for a veeery long time. But I didn't find out before just now, when I encountered this article (shared by IFLScience.com), just how close it is to becoming reality. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and cofounder of PayPal, has already started a company with the goal of reducing space transportation costs so that we can start colonizing Mars. And according to the article, that might be possible. Sure, we can't live on mars as it is now, but with a "relatively small push", we can make the climate on Mars habitable. Elon Musk, in 2011, stated that his goal is to send humans to Mars in as little as 10-20 years. http://s16.postimg.org/9pajnuu6d/mars.png Apparently, we might be able to turn Mars into a pretty good Earth. Why is this so bitchin'?
WHOOOA-OOOOH-OOH! ...but according the article, nuclear weapons are prioritized more highly by the US, and they intend to spend approximately ten times more on nukes than space exploration over the coming decade. So hopefully the world isn't accidentally blown to smithereens before we get to Mars (jeez, the US alone has enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world several times, they really don't need any more of them). |
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This is a heart. http://robozzle.com/igoro/211px-CoeurHumain_svg.gif Ah, Valentine's Day. The day when our capitalist overlords get filthy rich on selling us what's left of the diminishing chocolate reserves of the world in the name of love. What's the point? Why do we need one day of the year dedicated to romantic love? Shouldn't love be something we share with each other throughout the whole year? Do we really need to make it any worse for those not in a relationship by littering pink decorations and roses everywhere? And those who are in relationships, won't they just get super jealous of the adorable couples presented in those Valentine-themed romantic comedies? But I can't really say I hate Valentine's Day, either. Earlier today, while taking a walk in the park, I walked past a young woman, probably in her early twenties, sitting on a park bench: next to her was two bottles of soda, and a basket of food, I assume, with two pink heart-shaped balloons tied to it. I'm pretty sure she was waiting for her significant other, and guess what? She looked joyful. This is what motivated me to even write this post. I'd all but forgotten that it even was Valentine's Day today, but then I was reminded that yes, to some people, Valentine's Day is a day of joy, and it really doesn't need to be taken that seriously. And if Valentine's Day brings you down, remember that tomorrow it's over and you won't have to think of it anymore. (try to) Have a happy Valentine's Day! |
36. Three dozen. The atomic number of krypton.
This is me and Linda's 36th Valentine's Day together. We were just sharing blown minds over that. |
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Say what you want about Sabaton. This song gives me genuine goosebumps. Well, the Swedish version does. The English one is for plebs. |
What's new? Aight, some of you may have noticed by now that I've changed my username. This is because I never really liked "Briks" to begin with, but chose it for lack of a better idea. So I decided to change it to "Isbjørn", a Norwegian word meaning "polar bear", because polar bears are bitchin'. |
Does this mean you're a pale, fat, gay dude?
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The True Rules of MusicBanter Aight, the members who register here can be divided into four categories. Some stick around. Some are spammers who get banned. Some lose interest and stop posting, and some stick around for a month or two before they get butthurt and leave in tears. If you're a new member, you probably don't want to end up in that last category, so here are some things you need to know in order to survive in the MB community. Drumroll, please... http://www.cutecatgifs.com/wp-conten...4/01/metal.gif
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"Thou shalt agree with everyone, or feareth ****storm." |
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