Finally a book dedicated to just metal. Martin Popoff reviews his whole music catalog and writes a book featuring 3650 reviews for metal albums. Although overly opinionated, and from the very old-school of metal (like before it was metal). He is funny and i feel that using his book as a simple reference will come in handy as long as you don't live by his overly sensitive vocabulary and opinions as a rule. He bashed a few albums that i would have said are 10's, and he gave 10 out of 10 to albums that i would have not given a second listen to. Oh well, that's what an opinion is. Overall, he covers alot of bases in this book and i have to recomend it at least as a paperweight to any metal fan whom considers themselves collecting metal music. I also know how he feels having written reviews for all of his albums as i have done this myself for some 2000+ albums that i own. Only, my book is for my living room, and this guy published his for all to see.
...Immediatly, upon putting the cd in to the player, it appears to be building to something! Damn, it hit with a vengence at about 30 seconds into the first song! Smash, thrown back to 1985 and "the walls of Jericho" album, with this reigning brand of thrash that is thrown before me now. Opener "Anywhere in the Galaxy" is one amazing slab of metal, i can say that it immediatly is heavier and faster than anything on the last Gamma Ray disk. One of the first things any Kai Hansen fan will notice is his seemingly newfound vocal control, although our hero has always been a great singer, it seems he has finally reached a comftorable spot with his voice and it flows very well into this amazing album. Reaching vocal heights not seen since "Ride the Sky" in 1985, this time we find the vocals controled and not pushed, this should give an example of what type of masterpiece this album is right off the starting line. Being the first Gamma Ray album to feature the same line-up on more than one album, the band is very tight and controled. Dan Zimmerman is not sticking to the Power metal book of drums either which is good. He is trying out some very cool percussion and using a bit of the old thrash metal drumming thrown in with some intense double-bass. the fourth song on the album called "Strangers in the night" is just a pulverising, thrashy, melodic metal song that is featuring alot of hostility rather than happiness, i have to say this is the most tense gamma Ray song ever written. The strong vocals and driving guitar on this song compare and shred Judas Priest's Painkiller song and set a new path for all the other Power Metal bands to follow. The whole album continues on in this same fashion and never once does it falter in the least. All songs have direction and at the same time manage to blaze a new trail throughout the world of Power metal. Kai Hansen (Vocals/Lead Guitar) is a living legend, just to inform anyone whom thinks that Gamma Ray has jumped onto the Power Metal wagon. A founding member of the band HELLOWEEN in 1983 (I believe), he is responsable for Power Metal as we know it. Helloween simply fell apart (even though they still release bad album to this day) after he left in 1988 simply because he was the band! Forming Gamma Ray shortly after, Kai Hansen once again is responsable for the explosion of Power Metal in the 90's (as he was in the 80's) with amazing albums as "Insanity and Genious", "Land of the Free" and more. After a seemigly great album in 1997 titled "Somewhere out in Space" it appeared to many that it lacked a little of the punch that Gamma Ray are known for, and due to this, they were simply surpased by the following closely behind competition. Bands that used the Gamma Ray book of how it's done to make their albums now seemed to nudge ahead a bit as they churned out quality albums causing the newer, younger fans of power metal to think that gamma Ray had jumped on the bandwagon...Not True!!! Well Gamma Ray is back with what i feel is their best album, totally surpasing the "Land of the Free" album and managing to regain control of the crown. We shall see how long it takes the other bands to jump once again on the Kai Hansen wagon of Metal. "Power Plant" is 11 songs of nasty, raw, thrashy, melodic, raging pieces of supercharged molten metal...to say the least, and i feel it will be their ticket to the USA. The surefire and amazing guitar work, blistering vocals, and all around quality will surely BLIND the GUARDIAN and bring down the HAMMER to FALL on the competition.
Labyrinth-Return to Heaven Denied 1998
From the ashes of "Images and Words" and "Awake" come LABYRINTH to take up the slack of where Dream Theater left off after their amazing first 4 albums. Being of sounds and totally mind, this 6 member band is one emotionally supercharged progressive metal band. Having molded themselves after all the greats per instrument, this album is so amazing in its delivery of to the point metal played with the same, if not better than, precision of metal mastery as their obvious hero's. I hear Yngwie in the guitars and Hammerfall in the vocals. The band are very good and i have to recommend that anyone out there who likes progressive metal. It is much more heavy than Dream Theater and at times sounds like the album "Nosferatu" by the famous Helstar, but refuses to come off as a copied album. Very original only a few times straying into familiar territory by the likes of Lethal or Watchtower.
Nevermore-Dreaming Neon Black 1999
Dreaming Neon Black all day for two months now, this album has an inspired life about it. It's supposed concept is far too deep for most to even notice without the help of another. Strong tracks like "The Whole Fucking Album" are so packed with musical talent from all five members, that it is hard for me to listen to the album without listening to the whole thing, i find myself mad when i have to turn it off part way through. So what's it all about? What makes this album any better than anything else? Let me tell you! Aside from being a band with as much punch as Metallica (That's 1983-1990 for all you young ones) did back in their heyday, the band are treading new ground in metal right now with their amazingly produced raw sound and ultimatly punishing riffing in songs such as "The Whole Fucking Album"! Astonishing are the structures of these songs from all five members which go from melodic heavy to all out guitar wizardry and what seems a fresh approach to metal drumming (using the whole drum kit and more). Warrel Dane is familiarly harsh on the vocals and then some, he i think, was striving for the suffering, unrested, character in the story line of the album which in turn made for a better vocal approach than the already classic 1996 album "The Politics of Ecstasy". Every song on the album is strong and not one week spot is to be found throughout this masterpiece of a metal album. My top two favorites on this album are "Dreaming Neon Black" and "Poison GodMachine", the later being the best song ever written by Nevermore, it showcases a slight return to the infamous SANCTUARY (Do you know the story? justinh@seanet.com) vocals which soar high above perception of sound. The band is reigning supperior as they play the totally unreal riffs in this song and then allow it to reach even further into metal history making by building throughout the whole song. Dreaming Neon Black (the song) is another masterpiece that shows the true concept of the album in lyrical content and shows an improvement in writing slower heavy stuff which seemed to be the only real weak spot on past albums. I cannot even think of anything bad to say about this album, it is simply the best album of the 90's and for a longtime to come. The songs are unreal and very powerful to say the least, it is well written, well played, well produced and an astonishing feat for the world of metal. As i listen to the album now, i just can't truely explaine the overcoming emotions from such a powerful force known as Nevermore...Dreaming Neon Black!!!!
The Gathering-How to measure a planet? 1999
The Gathering were one of my favorite bands for about one year. Upon release of what should of been the melodic metal album to end all...instead it was a huge 100 minute waste of money. Opening the cover for the first time i thought nothing of the now less metal more alternative looking band (no more long hair)that stare back at me with smiles. Let me go song by song:
CD I
1.Frail-Very mellow, just one repeating guitar line and a bunch of asleep members of the band. Anneke is doing ok on vocals much like Shrink from the Nighttime Birds album, the song doesnt build or anything it just sits there and then ends.
2.Great Ocean Road-Better, more of those damn effects going on. Anneke singing slightly, guitars are there but buried behind intentional static which is so deep you really cant hear it anyhow. Better nut still nothing like what it could be.
3.Rescue Me-Very, Very mellow. Band is asleep and Anneke doing nothing exciting vocal wise. A small part where it almost gets exciting and then back to sleeping again. More damn effects.
4.My Electricity-Once again, very mellow. Drummer asleep at the helm, guitar lifelessly strummed, Anneke singing alittle better than previous songs. I don't know where her voice went to? She was simply amazing on the last two albums! More Damn effects!!
5.Liberty Bell-Very BANGLES! At least we are awake now that it is song #5. Anneke using her voice just a bit now but they have put static to it and cover it up. Guitarist has awakened now and drummer turned off the drum machine. Not heavy by any means, but sounds like something the BANGLES would have done.
6.Red is a slow colour-Pathetic!!!! these lyrics have just been so laughable!!! I think this song is about a girl being chased by a mess in a hallway and a painting being very chaotic and making her not speak because of the confusion? Anyhow, not so many stupid effects in this one. Could have been on a previous album or a b-side maybe.
7.The big sleep-More damn sound effects going on. Very mellow, sound effects trying to create an atmosphere, Anneke is getting very boring by this time.
8.Marooned-Another very mellow song. Alot of effects and Anneke in the same tone as she has been throughout the whole album. She only used this tone a few times in very small spots on the Nighttime Birds album and now it is all she will do. More stupid lyrics!
9.Travel-The only song that i truely like! It is a good full-sounding ballad and Anneke really sings at the end of it. The only song without the stupid effects, everything sounds normal here. Very good song!!
CD II
1.South American Ghost Ride-Instrumental song featuring tons of effects, Anneke playing with her voice.
2.Illuminating-Sounds like a left over Tori Amos song. Has a good chorus though, i wish that the rest of the song was powerful like the very short chorus. The same drums as before, a drum machine at this point would be much cheaper.
3.Locked Away-More effects and sleeping guitar work. I think there is a drummer in there somewhere.
4.Probably built in the 50's-Good song if you could just get the static turned off! I would love to have heard this song if it was done on the Nighttime Birds album rather than now. Great building process and good vocals only hiden behind the static that everything is piped through. It's a crying shame that they put all those bad effects on the vocals of a once Goddess Anneke Van Giersbergen. The only other song that i liked alot from this entire collection of songs.
5.How to measure a planet?-at 28:32 in length, it is about 28:00 minutes too long. With nothing to offer as an instrumental, it lacks in musical direction and stamina to say nothing short of the truth. Made up of nothing more than sound effects and garbage, it is a worthless waste of space. I want my old Gathering back...If you see them please let them know for i fear that this kind of garbage will surely deny them of their ever coming to America. The Gathering has always been a great band but with the addition of a star like Anneke the band really took off, now that she has gone to the norm with her voice, there is nothing of value to the band at all as bands like WITHIN TEMPTATION, LACUNA COIL, and THEATER OF TRAGEDY have far surpassed them.
Blind Guardian-Nightfall in Middle-Earth 1998
This being my first brush with this band, i am deeply moved by the albums sincerity in metal. This is a fast paced, almost progressive, time-changing, monster of an album. I am deeply impressed with the leval of musicianship involved with this album. Not since bands like Rush(although only a 3-peice) have i heard so much music coming from just 4 musicians. It is obvious that these guys have been around from the leval of quality that surrounds the whole album less all the spoken songs. I love how they use so many different instruments outside of the traditional, and Hansi's vocals are exceptional and work well with the ups and down throughout the album. It appears that i have found yet another amazing band and will work quickly to get their whole catalog...And why? Because they are just that good!
Dream theater-Once in a livetime 1998
First thing is the horrible cover artwork, i am a big fan of album art and this album along with their last album "Falling into Infinity" take the cake for the worst album art ever. Getting on to what is important, the music starts off in true Dream Theater fashion, to the letter is every note for the first few hacked-up songs. By hacked-up i mean that they don't really play anything all the way through, just pieces here and there from different songs which i find annoying. All the material from the "Falling into Infinity" album is played with presision and for the most part all the way through but if you are looking for anything from past albums, you won't find it here in all its glory. Instead you will find smaller versions of most songs and blatantly hacked-up chunks of this and that thrown together in what seems a muddy production. James Labrie is the weekest link on the album. Classic songs like "Pull me under", "Voices", and "Caught in a web" are just bad and unenjoyable due to James' off key and very short of breath vocals. The album as a whole could be much shorter if it did not showcase 3 seperate solo's from three seperate members of the band. We know that noone can top the over the top skill from each member but do we really need to have 30 minutes of solo stuff? I am having a tuff time listening to this album, they start on a good song and then immediatly change and go into another song, then on top of that, they played only 2 minutes of "Metropolis" and then played it totally different making it impossible to follow and leaving me with a very disgusted look on my face. Other classics are spent with bad vocals and from time to time totally re-arranged by the band. I cannot recommend this album, i was not much of a fan of the "Falling" album and if you are, there still is not much for you here either. 7 songs from the new album out of 27 and most are done badly on part of James. Well, it won't make it onto my top 1000 for the year and i fear that even the most hardcore fans will leave this behind, unfortunatly, it costs $18 minimum to find out!
Justin Harvey
justinh@seanet.com
17422 52nd AVE W. #29
Lynnwood, WA 98037
United States
