Critics can't be right all the time. Once in awhile a group of them likes to latch onto a one hit wonder band.

I have no idea what people see in Empire. It's like the Black Album...four good singles, and a shitload of filler.

Chaos AD didn't get my vote. My token Sepultura nod went to Arise.

Burzum's right, every Megadeth record, save for Rust in Peace, has at least one subpar song on it. Despite that, I put Peace Sells ahead of RIP for sentimental reasons.

Well, I like more Megadeth albums than just Peace Sells, which Burzum doesn't seem to. I'll admit that Countdown does have one or two pretty weak songs ("Psychotron" and "Captive Honour," IMO ... but even those are over fast enough and don't affect the overall quality of the record) but is otherwise probably my favorite Megadeth album. Yes, I said it. I think they (well, he _ Mustaine _ now) REALLY started sucking in the mid-90s, but came back beautifully with The System Has Failed, which I also really, really dig and gives me hope for the future.

Yeah, I think you misread my post there Sask. I was saying every Megadeth album (save Peace Sells) has only one good song.

Yeah, I sure did misread. Can't help but love Megadeth, crummy songs and all.

Too-Rye-Ay is a great album start to finish. I'm suprised to see love for this one though (I also don't completely get what's so great about ISOTYSR either).

I know dude

Yeah, should've been way higher. Probably the only Gang Starr we'll see on here as well.

Frosting On The Beater....one of my fave titles ever

Wow. I didn't expect that. Sorry.



I need to hear non-Too Rye- Aye material. I am sufficiently intrigued as well.

Start with the debut.

Since Deej doesn't read these threads, I can probably say this without fear of reprisal:

Gang Starr basically sucks. Guru must be the most boring MC I've ever heard, at least in a supposed classic rap outfit. Premier's one of the best rap producers ever, obviously, but I think most of his best production jobs were for other artists. Gang Starr have like two, maybe three good songs.

You would proabably dig Bad Moon Rising.

I will try to remember to send it to you later tonight. I'll probably forget, though.

I'm not the one to fuck with/I'm just not the one to fuck with

Yeah, I voted for this. So you can fear my reprisal.

i only own three of these records so far (TMBG, SY, and The Pod). that does not bode well.

Yes. You need to get Frosting on the Beater.

i've always wanted to check out the Posies, is Frosting on the Beaters a good place to start?

Yes indeed. Dear 23 was a little more pop, and Amazing Disgrace was a little more power (but really acerbic), but FOtB is a landmark power pop album. I think someone upped it a page or two back.

i currently do not own any album that has been listed.

These posts right after another is fucking priceless.

I'd be surprised if he actually likes them all that much anymore.

I really love "Mass Appeal" (first heard on the now-legendary 2-disc DJ Dee hip-hop mix from 2003) but haven't heard anything else from them. Probably my loss.

I wanna hear that. I have 'Definite Door', and it's a right song.


'Way too low' deffo applies to Live After Death.

And Black album is so much better than Countdown it's not even funny. Where is the second half of that album? Just Gimmick Metal after the title track. Sad, as Side 1 is excellent.

The Black Album isn't better than anything. I remember buying it the day it came out and just being absolutely crushed by how awful it was. I tried so hard to like it but man what a piece of shit that thing is.

I'm not the one who listens to dross Casio-Black Metal by talentless neo-Nazis.

You know I love you, throughsilver. I have to admit though, I was shocked when I saw you had the Black Album as your #1. You really think it's better than Master Of Puppets or AJFA?



p.s. I found Blues For A Red Sun used the other day and decided to pick it up. Great album! Not sure why I could never get into them before but better late than never I suppose.

Frosting on the Beater is here:

To me, it's ridiculously top-heavy. Four phenomenal songs crafted specifically for mainstream appeal (Sandman, Sad But True, Roam, Nothing Else Matters), and the rest is utter crap. It was like hearing Maiden's No Prayer For the Dying a year earlier...totally deflating. By the end of the year, I was listening to nothing but Neil Young's Weld, and my 14 year-old sister had my copy of the Black Album. It was the catalyst that made me start to step away from metal for a while and try out new things, so nothing really bad came out of it.

"The Unforgiven" is great too. As are "Holier Than Thou," "Don't Tread on Me" and maybe one or two other tracks on the second side.

I don't get how anyone can straight-up hate The Black Album. What kind of asshole tries to deny "Sad But True" or "Wherever I May Roam"?

Guru's great if you can get used to the delivery. I wouldn't call it boring, just different.

On the positive side, Frosting on the Beater sounds pretty great. Thanks, Bobzilla.

Well, it's important to note just how afraid of change Metallica's 80s fans were back then. Some more than others...I remember defending Justice to all my friends who thought it sucked because of the weird production, and people are still bitching about Metallica's 1996 haircuts, for crying out loud.

I found "Don't Tread on Me" to be hypocritical in the wake of the band's anti-establishment songs on their previous records. "Sad But True" is a small miracle by Bob Rock...he forced Ulrich, the world's least disciplined drummer, to slow things way down and keep it like that. In concert, the band never plays it slow enough.

well...yeah

but good songs, no?

#227.



The Prodigy - Experience

Year: 1992

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: #12

Charting Singles: "Everybody in the Place" (#2 UK), "Charly" (#3 UK), "Fire / Jehrico" (#11 UK), "Out of Space" / "Ruff in the Jungle Bizness" (#5 UK), "Wind It Up (Rewound)" (#11 UK)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "One of the few noncompilation rave albums of any worth, Experience balances a supply of top-this siren whistles and chipmunk divas with Liam Howlett's surprising flair for constructing track after track of intense breakbeat techno. Almost every song sounds like a potential chart-topper (circa 1992, of course) while the true singles "Your Love," "Charly," "Music Reach," and "Out of Space" add that extra bit of energy to the fray. More than just a relic of the rave experience, Experience shows the Prodigy near the peak of their game from the get-go."

Ranked Highest By: The Good Dr. Bill (#19)

Amazon Link

#226.



Crowded House - Woodface

Year: 1991

US Chart Position: #83

UK Chart Position: #34 / #6 in '92

Charting Singles: "Fall at Your Feet" (#75 US, #17 UK), "Chcolate Cake" (#2 Modern Rock US), "It's Only Natural" (#5 Modern Rock US, #24 UK), "Weather With You" (#7 UK)

Acclaimed Music Ranking: #17 (year), #144 (decade), #744 (all-time)

AMG Says: "Where Crowded House's previous album, Temple of Low Men, showcased the often dark side of a man alone with his thoughts, Woodface represents the joy of reunion and the freedom of a collaborative effort -- more than half of the album was originally conceived as a Finn Brothers project, which was Tim and Neil's first crack at writing together. The songs are easily their finest to date, combining flawless melodies and the outstanding harmonies of the brothers' perfectly matched voices."

Ranked Highest By: Slackmo (#6)

Amazon Link

#225.



Drive Like Jehu - Drive Like Jehu

Year: 1991

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "Pitchfork was a fine enough band, but whatever happened between those days and the launch of Drive Like Jehu made the newer group a quantum leap forward, as this gripping album demonstrates. Starting with the deceptively calm then ripping "Caress," Drive Like Jehu lives up to the Biblical reference of the group's name by feeling like a heaven-sent storm taking everything along with it at 200 mph. The Rick Froberg/John Reis guitar team sound like they've been dipped in battery acid, wired to a power station, and let absolutely loose, screaming, nervous riffs piled on top of each other and taking off for Mars. Froberg's own wild scream singing suits it perfectly, sounding like something's about to give and leave nothing in its wake. "

Ranked Highest By: Burzum (#14)

Amazon Link

Make sure to check out Dear 23 -- it's even better.

I love thr fact a band like The Prodigy had 15 top 20 hits out of 15

at least Yank Crime beats DLJ

I really do. I think it's the best straight up Metal (i.e. not weird stuff like TSIB) album ever. I think it drags a bit in the middle, but it's one of those albums that just engages me all the way through. I think it's the album where their riffs, songwriting and vocals mixed the best. Not too unheavy, it's well-produced, and everything seems to be spot on.

Preface: I love all Metallica from 1984-91 pretty unconditionally.

Master Of Puppets is, to me, what black album is to Sask. Some greatness, and a bunch of filler. I think that the likes of 'Disposable Heroes', 'The Thing That Should Not Be' and 'Leper Messiah' are not on the high level that Metallica were operating on at that time. 'Battery', 'Orion' and especially the title track are somewhat exposing of them, for me. Overall, I love the album, natch.

...And Justice For All is an odd one. Special place in my heart for beating Ride The Lightning to the mantle of their darkest album. When I first heard 'Blackened' I was absolutely blown away by the scathing vocals and remorseless riffing. That opening pair of songs is probably my favourite of all Metallica albums. Love the complexity, as it loses no viscerality (a word?) at any point. 'One', as much as I try denying it to myself, if pretty much THE Metallica song; stuck it on the Death Deck (dorky term for my Cyrus amp and B&W speakers) just the other day and was amazed by it, even though I've listened to it approx. a million times.

That said, 'Eye Of The Beholder', much as I like it, drops the ball a tad. I used to hate 'The Shortest Straw', but I now think that was just a result of following 'One'. 'Frayed Ends Of Sanity' is a bit subpar for them. Then there's the production. Biggest Metal band in the world shouldn't sound like that.

So yeah, the Black album. Perhaps not as complex as it could have been. Lars didn't do double-bass pedalling anymore. Still, it has shallower troughs than the other two albums, and it's so consistently good that I really can't name a favourite song on it. At the moment, probably 'Wherever I May Roam'. So damn good.

So where was I..?

Oh yeah, AND! I used to be a real 'Megadeth are better than Metallica' person, so there's not even a bias. Mustaine just had to always temper his really good stuff with really silly stuff. For every 'In My Darkest Hour' (a true classic of Metal), there was a '502', for every 'This Was My Life', a 'Psychotron'.


Excellent news. I didn't get into them myself til they'd split up. Gutted.

[edit] And another thing. Drive Like Jehu's best album was the self-titled. 'Step On Chameleon' on its own beats Yank Crime.

"Rome Plows" on its own beats like, everything.

"O Pencil Sharp" trumps all, people.

#224.



The Jesus Lizard - Down

Year: 1994

US Chart Position: n/a

UK Chart Position: n/a

Charting Singles: n/a

Acclaimed Music Ranking: n/a

AMG Says: "While it was regarded as something of a disappointment when it was first released in 1994, in retrospect, Down stands as the last really vital album from the Jesus Lizard. It lacks the same degree of bone-crushing force and sweaty psychosis that made Goat and Liar instant classics (the band seems to be aiming for a slightly more subtle approach this time out), and most of the songs take a bit longer to sink in. But bassist David Sims and drummer Mac McNeilly were still capable of connecting like Mike Tyson against a speed bag on the heavy tunes, Duane Denison's sheets of chrome-plated guitar are as gloriously fragmented as ever, and there's never been a rock vocalist before or since quite like David Yow. It was also the last Jesus Lizard album to benefit from Steve Albini's spare, dry recording; if ever there was a band that didn't take to a more "hands-on," "user-friendly" production, it was the Jesus Lizard, and between Albini's decision not to work with the group again after they signed to Capitol Records and the departure of drummer McNeilly, this group was never the same in the studio again. Liar was the greatest recorded moment for the Jesus Lizard, but Down captured one of the most powerful American bands of the 1990s in their last gasp of twisted glory."

Ranked Highest By: Petey (#6)

Amazon Link

Now there's a song I haven't heard in a good 15 years or so.

I didn't fully appreciate them until I saw them live. The artistry was mind-blowing, unexpectedly grand. After that all their songs took on a patina of loveliness--even the "subpor" ones. But I love "Psychotron" for example. It's got a good beat, and you can dance to it.

Dave's voice doesn't bother me in the least, it's all about theatrics. I'll take it over Brighteyes or Jack White any day.


"Don't Tread on Me" & "Sad but True" are decent..."Of Wolf and Man" too.

Ooh, good tunes. Wish I had thought of them for my singles list.

Menza sure gave Megadeth a neat wonky groove, a real contrast from Samuelsson's jazzy lurch on the first two albums.

Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11 are great. An equal split of sides 1 & 2.