Metal Thursday!
Tara and I went shopping last night and I wandered into HMV to see if there was any new metal that I might have missed.
I knew some bands were putting new stuff out, just couldn’t remember when. So I was happy to find new Megadeth, Slayer and GWAR!
So I of course downloaded them all and today is now officially Metal Thursday!
But to go with the new I threw in some old. I decided to retry the last two albums that Black Sabbath produced with Ozzy as front man; Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die.
Why not?
Anyway, away we go!
Megadeth: End Game
The first track reminds me of a completely different song, so much so that I thought it was a cover, but I can’t find any ‘proof’ to it. Not sure this is a good start 😉
But so far so good. So good in fact that I might have to go back in time a little and see what they’ve been doing since I saw them last…which would have been about 1994.
My memory is fuzzy at best but I remember when I left off, Megadeth was trying the Metallica thing(which, looking back, wasn’t so bad) and it just rubbed me the wrong way. So it’s nice and refreshing to hear them go back to the old skool metal of yore. OK, that might be too much, but it makes me feel good none the less.
It’s something that I can recommend. But that first track is going to bug me the rest of the day…I know I’ve heard it somewhere…
Gwar:Lust in Space
You know, for as much as I like GWAR, or say that I like them, I don’t think I’ve heard much outside of Scumdogs of the Universe. And by the looks of it, they’ve had at least 11 releases between then and Lust in Space. I’m really out of touch.
If GWAR’s changed since then and now, I can’t tell. This sounds very much like Scumdogs; tight, fast and mostly perverted. Which for GWAR is just right 🙂
Slayer: World Painted Blood
For the most part I’ve followed and enjoyed everything that Slayer has been putting out. But I noticed a sound in change between Seasons in the Abyss and Divine Intervention. I can’t really nail it down, but an overall sound change. Anyway, it’s pretty much stuck going forward. It’s not a bad thing, just different.
I have to admit that I didn’t like God Hates us All that much, but I think I was getting hung up on the lyrics. At the time(and that’s all it takes for me sometimes) it sounded like the wandered over into hate music, and I just didn’t need that. I should revisit to make sure i know what the hell I’m talking about 😉
But I’m not getting that feeling here, and it sounds like good old Slayer to me.
And while looking this up, if you choose to go to the Slayer site, make sure it’s the US one, not the Canadian one. For some reason the formatting on the Canadian one is a little wonky.
So again, something I could recommend 🙂
Black Sabbath: Technical Ecstasy
The last two albums that Black Sabbath produced with the original line up has generally been noted as the weakest. At least by me and my circle, and, well, most of the world. Look around for box sets and whatnot that talk about Ozzy and Black Sabbath, and they’ll contain the first 6 albums, and never(at least not that I’ve found) the final 2.
And for the longest time I haven’t listened to this album. In fact, I lent it to Ben once(who later admitted he thought he was requesting something else) and haven’t seen it since…and haven’t missed it.
So, ever since I did the Metallica experiment, I’ve wondered if I’ve given some music an unfair shake.
So I’m listening.
And I’m not hating it really. If you listen to the albums in order, they follow a transition, and this album is no different. It’s just the next step the band was making.
I think it’s fair to say that it’s not their strongest work, but by no means should it be dropped to the wayside and forgotten.
I was about to say I won’t rush out to buy it…but I did at one point, so there 😛
Black Sabbath: Never Say Die
Whatever I said about Technical Ecstasy, so far doesn’t apply to Never Say Die.
I don’t feel the same transition here. And this time there was a gap between albums(I thought that about Technical Ecstasy, but was wrong, but knew it was there somewhere).
If Black Sabbath could ever be considered pop, this album is to blame.
OK, further into it, especially with Hard Road, I think what I said about Load/Re-Load could be applied here. Don’t call the band Black Sabbath, and this could be a good album. It’s just not Black Sabbath. Sorry, nothing you can say can make me think otherwise.
So there you have it. Metal Thursday.
I hope that it was enjoyable for you to read as it was for me to listen to 🙂