For today's installment of Metal Mayhem's Top 100 Metal Bands of All-Time, we are looking at number 17, Anthrax. This band is considered to be part of the "Big Four" of American thrash along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer.
The band formed in 1981 at New York City by guitarist Scott Ian and Danny Lilker; however, there have been many lineup changes in the band since its inception with Scott Ian and drummer Charlie Benante have been the only constant members. They have had three lead vocalists over the years: Neil Turbin, Joey Belladonna, and John Bush. The Belladonna era has often been considered their golden era, and, in fact, he returned to the band with the release of their 2011 album Worship Music.
In my opinion, the band has released four albums that every metal fan should own: Spreading the Disease, Persistence of Time, State of Euphoria, and Worship Music. One of the main themes that one may notice is that these albums are fronted by Belladonna. I wouldn't say that the albums by the other Anthrax vocalists are bad, but they aren't nearly as good as the Belladonna records . . . period. The main reason that I prefer these albums is because of a greater focus on melody that doesn't exist with the other singers, and there isn't this infatuation with r & b/rap influences that are persistent in later albums. If they hadn't dabbled exploring other genres, I may have ranked Anthrax higher because they are truly one of the greats of metal, but I hated that era so damn much.
Anyway, they make it to number 17 . . . no too shabby.
Today I am looking at the latest album by Soundgarden, King Animal. This is the band's first full-length album of original material since Down on the Upside in 1996. Yes, folks . . . that's 16 years.
To say that I have been excited about this release would be an understatement. I have always been a huge fan of Chris Cornell's voice, and the underrated guitar work of Kim Thayil. While Nirvana has often been credited as the most important band of the grunge era, one could certainly make the argument that Soundgarden was the best.
Anyway, on to the new record.
There are good things and bad things about this album.
The good: First, Soundgarden is making new music together again. I believe that their has been a huge void in my music life without this band. While Cornell's solo albums are okay, and Audioslave was decent, I needed Soundgarden. This brings them back. Second, this album is not just an older band trying to relive their past glory by releasing the same albums over and over again. This album shows significant growth by the band, which was to be expected. It has less of a grunge or metal sound, and employs a more bluesy/garage rock sound that I like.
The bad: Chris Cornell's vocals aren't as solid as before. Understandably, a singer's voice doesn't last forever due to a number of reasons such as smoking, excessive touring, and/or age. While his vocals aren't as great as before, they are still solid.
The standout tracks on the album are "Been Away Too Long," "Non-State Actor," and "Blood On the Valley Floor."
On this installment of Metal Mayhem's Top 100 Metal Bands of All-Time, I am looking at one of the most important and influential bands in the history of hard rock. Due to time constraints, this will be fairly brief. I mean no disrespect to this truly amazing band.
Deep Purple not only influenced hard rock, but along with Black Sabbath, they were perhaps one of the biggest influences of early metal bands like Judas Priest, Saxon, Mercyful Fate, and Iron Maiden.
Deep Purple are a British hard rock band that was formed in 1968. Because the band has had a recurring cast of band members, the different versions of the band are known as Mark I, II, II, and IV. The band has included some of the greatest musicians to have ever performed such as guitarist Richie Blackmore, bassist Glenn Hughes, guitarist Joe Satriani, guitarist Steve Morse, singer David Coverdale, and singer Ian Gillan.
There song "Smoke on the Water" is one of the most famous guitar riffs in rock history, and I particularly love the song "Highway Star." Great band! It's a travesty that they aren't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Today we are taking a break from the Metal Mayhem Top 100, and are taking a brief look at Geoff Tate's latest solo effort, Kings & Thieves.
I have been excited about this release ever since Tate announced the album of That Metal Show. Tate stated that the album was going to contain heavier riffs than the last few Queensryche albums. This excited me. When the first single, "Dark Money" was released on YouTube, I genuinely enjoyed it.
I was determined to have this album when it came out in early November.
After the first listen, I was rather disappointed due to the broken promise of a heavy album by Tate. Before I decided to write a bad review, I thought I should give it another listen, but keep an open mind. First, this was not a metal album, but a progressive rock album by a talented, multifaceted artist who wanted to experiment with different sounds rather than be put into a corner. Tate combines elements of metal, alternative, and jazz among others.
It's a pretty solid album, but for me, it took a few listens to appreciate it. I give Geoff Tate's Kings & Thieves a B-.
Mercyful Fate is a Danish metal band from Copenhagen that formed in 1981. They are not only the greatest metal band to come out of Denmark, but have served as a huge influence on many sub-genres of metal such as death metal, thrash metal, black metal, power metal, and progressive metal. Bands like Metallica, Megadeth, and Testament have all stated that Mercyful Fate played an important role in the evolution of metal.
As influential as Mercyful Fate was in the metal world, that is how unique the vocal work of King Diamond is/was. Known for an extensive vocal range, his use of falsetto is definitely different, but in an awesome way! I can honestly say that there is no singer quite like King Diamond.
Thematically, the band tends to focus on traditional concepts in heavy metal. Topics such as Satan, devil worship, witchcraft, the occult, and did I mention Satan. That said, over the years they have taken a slightly more progressive approach to metal after their initial hiatus. Their albums Melissa and Don't Break the Oath are two of their classic albums that should be owned by any serious metal fan.
Since the early 1990's, they have been more of a progressive metal act releasing concept albums focusing more on horror themes than Satanism. The best of these albums is Into the Unknown.
Mastodon is an American progressive metal band that formed in 2000 by bassist/singer Troy Sanders, guitarist/singer Brent Hinds, guitarist Bill Kelliher, and drummer Brann Dailor. The band employs a combination of clean vocals with animistic harsh screams that provides an interesting contrast that I enjoy.
While I am relatively new to this band, it seems that they are fearless and ambitious in terms of creating the music that they want to make. They don't embrace what is popular, they do what they find interesting.
I love their now classic concept album Leviathan (2004). This album is loosely based on the Herman Melville novel Moby Dick, and is example #1 why they are one of the most innovative metal bands today. Looking at it blindly, one would ask who in the world would have thought of combining a novel about a whale hunt and metal? When you understand the Moby Dick is about man's obsession and how that obsession can consume him, then it makes perfect sense. It is simply a brilliant album!
Mastadon is one of the few truly great metal bands that have formed since 2000.
Annihilator is a Canadian thrash metal band that formed in 1984 by the creative force behind the band, Jeff Waters. The band is essentially Waters, who plays guitar, bass, and sings on the records and rhythm guitarist Dave Padden. The band uses a variety of different musicians to fill in during tour dates.
An interesting tidbit about Annihilator is that they are the best selling metal band from Canada, but the majority of their sales occur outside of their native land. While not exactly a mainstream act even for metal, many bands have cited Annihilator as major influences on their careers such as Megadeth, Slipknot, Killswitch Engaged, Lamb of God, In Flames, Trivium, and Children of Bodom. While I can't say for certain, I believe that Annihilator was a huge influence on the evolution of Pantera's sound in the 1980's . . . especially the vocals of Phil Anselmo. If you listen to any older Annihilator albums, then listen to Pantera, you will see a similarity in sound that cannot be a coincidence.
In my opinion, I consider Annihilator as one of the five greatest thrash bands of all-time along with Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, and Testament. Their albums Alice in Hell and Never, Neverland are two must owns for any true metal fans.
Evanescence is an American symphonic metal band from Little Rock, Arkansas that formed in 1995 by pianist/singer Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moddy. Despite a revolving door of musicians, Evanescence has maintained a high level of excellence since their first album Fallen was released in 2003. The biggest departure was in 2003 when guitarist and co-songwriter Moddy left the band due to creative differences. Amy Lee has stated that their differences stemmed from the fact that Moddy wanted to explore more influences from pop music while Lee wanted to continue with a more experimental path.
Moody has gone on to form the band We Are The Fallen. This band sounds like an exact clone of Evanescence is every way except in terms of the quality of the lead singer.
Of course the most important element of the sound of Evanescence is the voice of Amy Lee. In my opinion, she has the best female voice in metal/hard rock today. Musically, the band clearly shows influences from some of their European counterparts in the symphonic metal genre like Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, and Within Temptation. What separates Evanescence from the rest of those bands is the voice of Amy Lee, and a more approachable sound to American audiences. I also appreciate the darker themes that Evanescence displays on their albums by comparison to the European bands.
While I enjoy all of their albums, the album that resonates the most for me is The Open Door (2006). However, their most recent album, simply titled Evanescence, is also quite excellent. With all hope, Evanescence will release a new album at some point, but for now, the band is on an extended break from making music.
For today's installment of Metal Mayhem's Top 100 Bands of All-Time, I am going to look at one of my favorite bands of all-time, Savatage.
Savatage is an American progressive metal band from Tarpon Springs, Florida that formed 1978 by Jon and Criss Oliva. In my humble opinion, they could be the most underrated band in the history of metal. This could be due to the fact that the band hasn't existed in more than a decade. The band's primary member have all gone onto to various projects such as Jon Oliva's Pain, Circle II Circle, The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Chris Caffrey. As noted in a prior installment of this countdown, I am a huge fan of Circle II Circle, but Jon Oliva's Pain and Caffrey are both great projects as well.
While I am a huge fan of this band, I prefer their concept albums the best . . . or as they call them, rock operas. The best Savatage albums are Hall of the Mountain King, The Wake of Magellan, Handful of Rain, and Poets and Madmen. I am particularly fond of The Wake of Magellan. I believe, as far as their concept albums go, it is the most focused and cohesive of all their works, plus it kicks ass!
Unfortunately, Savatage is no more due to the massive success of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Despite their lack of recent work, Savatage has created a legacy of excellence in progressive power metal unparalleled among American bands.
HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band that formed in 1993 by ex-Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. The band's current lineup includes Dronjak on guitar, Joacim Cans on vocals, Pontus Norgren on lead guitar, Fredrik Larsson on bass, and Anders Johansson on drums. They are often credited as one of the main bands of the second wave of power metal.
There are many things about HammerFall that appeals to me. First, lead singer Joacim Cans is incredible. He has one of the greatest voices in metal. He sounds retro without sounding dated. Second, I enjoy the Maiden-inspired guitar riffs and heavy bass lines. Third, they usually include at least one ballad on each album, and as much as I like to pretend to be a tough guy, I love ballads. I especially like "Glory to the Brave" from their first album of the same name.
I also admire that they aren't afraid to take chances. For instance, their most recent album Infected is a complete departure in terms of their usual subject matter. It is a concept album about a plague unleashed on society whereas their songs usually involve fantasy tales, mythology, and kinship.
Unfortunately for fans of HammerFall, they recently announced a two year hiatus. Hopefully, HammerFall will return with a new focus and release an new amazing album in 2014.
Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band that formed in 2002 by former guitarist/singer of After Forever Mark Jansen. Epica also includes lead singer Simone Simons, pianist Coen Jannsen, lead guitarist Isaac Delahaye, drummer Ariën van Weesenbeek, and bassist Rob van der Loo.
Stylistically, the band combines the clean vocals of Simons with the deathly growls and screams of Jansen. This creates the illusion of tension within the vocals that are quite gripping, but it also creates a sense of balance of beauty versus perverse. What makes Epica the premier symphonic metal band in Europe, is the vocals of Simone Simons. I think that the only symphonic metal band with a better singer is probably Amy Lee of Evanescence.
Musically, the band combines aspects of symphonic metal, progressive metal, gothic metal, and power metal. I think that symphonic metal is probably the best sub-genre for Epica despite the band's involvement in other aspects of metal.
Epica has released five exceptional studio albums: The Phantom Agony (2003), Consign to Oblivion (2005), The Divine Conspiracy (2007), Design Your Universe (2009), and Requiem for the Indifferent (2012). I would recommend each of these albums to any music enthusiast, but if I were to start with one Epica album, I would choose The Divine Conspiracy mainly because it is the band's first and best concept album. It follows the idea that God created many different religions in order for humanity to weed through them and determine that they are all the same, hence "The Divine Conspiracy." Cool album! Great band!
This weeks installment is going to the final one where I will look at five bands. For the Top 25, I will be looking a bit more in-depth at those bands and provide more links to some of their more memorable music. This installment looks at numbers 30-26 which include two power metal bands, two thrash bands, and a progressive metal giant.
Enjoy.
30. Sepultura
Sepultura is a Brazilian thrash metal band that formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera. They can be grouped into multiple sub-genres such as thrash, death, groove, and industrial metals. Their album Schizophrenia is one of the best thrash albums ever made. It kicks serious ass! Sepultura has been the most successful metal band from South America . . . by a long shot. In 1996, lead singer Max Cavalera left the band due to growing animosity regarding management issues resulting in the arrival of American singer Derrick Green to take his place. The best album of the Green-era Sepultura is Dante XXI, a concept album based on Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy.
Here is "Escape to the Void."
and "Convicted in Life."
29. Iced Earth
Iced Earth is an American power metal band from Tampa, Florida that formed in 1985 by guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer. I have always loved the fact that Iced Earth has never strayed from their power metal roots despite attempts at concept albums with Burnt Offerings being one of the most powerful, cohesive concept albums ever produced. Since it's founding, Iced Earth has been a revolving door of musicians and vocalists built depending on what creative force Jon Schaffer vision required. They have had three lead vocalists over the years: Matt Barlow, Tim "Ripper" Owens, and current lead singer Stu Block. Regardless of who sings for the band, they are known for their melodic hooks with the Barlow and Block era focusing more on low pitched vocals with some high-pitched screaming, but the Owens era is focused mainly on high-pitched screams, but this was mainly due to the superior range of Owens. Thematically, the band focuses primarily on issues of theology, but have also targeted warfare and horror films. They are one of the best metal bands that many people have not heard.
Here is "Dante's Inferno."
and "Gettysburg: Hold At All Costs."
28. Helloween
Helloween is a German power metal band that formed in 1984 by singer Kai Hansen, guitarist Michael Weikath, bassist Markus Gosskopf, and drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg. In 1988, Helloween replaced singer Hansen with Michael Kiske. Once the band procured the services of Kiske, they released some of their best works such as Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part 1 & 2 and Chameleon. Currently, only Weikath and Gosskopf are the only remaining original members of the band. Despite the constant lineup changes, Helloween has been one of the best power metal bands over the years.
Here is "I Want Out."
and "Halloween."
27. Testament
Testament is an American thrash metal band from Berkeley, California that formed in 1983. They have been credited as one of the defining bands of the thrash metal scene of the 1980's. Some of the best thrash albums released are Testament albums such as The New Order, Practice What You Preach, Souls of Black, and their latest album, Dark Roots of Death may have been their best release yet. Quite frankly, this band kicks ass!
Here is " Practice What You Preach."
and "True American Hate."
26. Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band that formed in 1990. While I am fairly new to the greatness of Opeth, I believe they are one of the most incredibly unique and profound bands currently releasing albums. They have progressed from just a typical death metal band into strictly a progressive metal outfit . . . which I much prefer. It also seems as though each album that Opeth releases is better than the previous. In my opinion, Mikael Åkerfeldtsinger is one of the best vocalists in all of metal, and keeps on getting better. I have recently read that Opeth is working on their eleventh album, and I am stoked because I am sure it will be their best.
Here is "Heir Apparent."
Today's installment of Metal Mayhem's Top 100, we are looking at five wonderful and diverse bands including a power metal icon, one of today's best progressive metal/rock bands, the quintessential shock rocker, one of Europe's greatest symphonic metal bands, and a hard rock outfit that heavily influenced every metal band.
On with the list!
35. Bruce Dickinson
Bruce Dickinson is a British heavy metal vocalist who is most famous for being the lead singer for the iconic British metal band, Iron Maiden. He has also had quite the distinguished solo career as well. His solo career began when he was approached to do a song for A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child Soundtrack, and he wrote "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" in 1989. This solo effort led to the release of his first solo albums, Tattooed Millionaire in 1990. In 1994, Dickinson released Balls to Picasso which featured one of my favorite songs, "Tears of the Dragon." His third and fourth albums, titled Accident of Birth and Chemical Wedding are both metal classics. While he dedicates most of his time to Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson's solo career has been incredibly viable and successful.
Here is "King in Crimson."
and "Tears of the Dragon."
34. Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria is an American band from Nyack, New York that formed in 1995. They are truly one of the great bands that consistently puts out great music. One problem: Coheed and Cambria doesn't quite fit into any one genre, they could be included in heavy metal, progressive rock, post rock, and alternative rock. Their sound is like if Rush met Pink Floyd, then mated with Iron Maiden. I include them here because their albums are so epic in terms of scale that I had to include them somewhere on this list. If they were more of a metal band, they would certainly be ranked higher. The driving forces behind the band are lead singer and guitarist Claudio Sanchez and lead guitarist Travis Stever. All of their albums are concepts based on an original tale called The Armory Wars with each album progressing the story further. Their album, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness is one of the best albums that I have ever heard. Possible in my personal top ten. Here is "Mother of Men."
and "Welcome Home."
33. Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American shock rocker whose career originated in Detroit in the 1960's who has influenced every metal act that has ever used any kind of theatrics in their shows. Artists from Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Ozzy Osbourne, Slipknot, and Gwar have all shown appreciation for the king of shock rock. There isn't much that can be said about this iconic figure that hasn't been said ad nauseam for years. On a personal level, I have always appreciated Cooper's satirical lyrics and his often cheesy musical style. I have never listened to a bad Alice Cooper album. One of the few things the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has gotten right was the induction of Cooper into their establishment in 2011.
Here is "No More Mr. Nice Guy."
and "Poison."
32. AC/DC
AC/DC is an Australian hard rock band that formed in founded in 1973 by Malcolm and Angus Young. While the band should be classified as a hard rock band, their influences on the heavy metal genre is immense. Their albums Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Highway to Hell, Back in Black, For Those About to Rock . . . We Salute You, and T. N. T. are all classics. The band was even able to survive the tragic death of their long-time lead singer Bon Scott in 1980 when they made the smooth transition to Brian Johnson at vocals. I simply love this band! Their live show is incredible! They are just a fun band to listen to.
Here is "Highway to Hell."
and "Back in Black."
31. Nightwish
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band that formed in 1996 by keyboardist Tuomos Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and vocalist Tarja Turunen. They are the best selling metal band from Finland, and have been very successful in the United States as well. In 2007, Turunen was replaced as lead singer by Annette Olzen. The band has released two wonderful albums with Olzen, Dark Passion Play and Imaginaerum. I know that I may be in the minority, but I actually prefer the two albums with Olzen to the ones with Turunen. The band has recently announced that they have parted ways with Annette Olzen as their lead singer, and have temporarily replaced her with Dutch singer Floor Jansen from After Forever fame. Thematically, the band focuses on mythology and fantasy. Nightwish has influenced many prominent bands such as Epica, Evanescence, and Within Temptation.
Here is "Restcalm."
