Albums for Desert Island

Lord Leith

Welcome back Casca
I'm sure some of y'all have already heard of this lil' game but if not, the idea is this. If you were stuck on a desert island with nothing but a fully charged phone/record player/or CD player, what would be the top 5 or 10 albums you'd pick to have with you for the foreseeable future? I'm curious as to what this community's tastes in music are. :serpico:

I don't think the order really matters but feel free to go from least to most favorite or vice versa if you wish. If the album in question is a double or triple disc release then it can be counted as one album regardless of its length. Compilation albums or soundtracks are also fine.

For me, I'd go with... (in no particular order)

1. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
2. Me Against The World - 2Pac
3. Discovery - Daft Punk
4. Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
5. What You Won't Do For Love - Bobby Caldwell
6. G Funk Classics Vol 1 & 2 (double album) - Nate Dogg
7. Travelling Without Moving - Jamiroquai
8. Illmatic - Nas
9. In Utero - Nirvana
10. To Pimp A Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar

My honourable mentions include Kamasi Washington's The Epic, MJ's Off The Wall, Jon B's Cool Relax and Tyler the Creator's Scum Fuck Flower Boy, all extremely close to making my list but ultimately if Im only stuck with 10 on an island, they'd begrudgingly be omitted. As you can see, I'm mostly fond of Hip Hop, RnB and Funk.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Ordered only by how they came to mind:

Sigur Ros - ()
Shadow of the Colossus Soundtrack
Berserk OST (1997)
The Cure - Disintegration
Weezer - Pinkerton
Radiohead - OK Computer
Susumu Hirasawa - 救済の技法 / Kyūsai no Gihō
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
Weeknd - Trilogy
FTL Soundtrack
Danger - 09/17/2007 or 16

I'd probably formulate a different list depending on when I'm being asked, and I'm probably leaving a few out by accident, but these are 10 albums that have generally stuck with me through the years.
 

Lord Leith

Welcome back Casca
Oh wow, I wouldn't have guessed you for a Weeknd fan Walter, thats cool, Trilogy is definitely his best work so I can agree with that. I've only casually listened to Sigur Ros but I really enjoyed their album Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Here's the ten albums I listen to in my car all the time anyway:

1982 Metallica - No Life 'Til Leather
1983 Metallica - Kill 'Em All
1984 Metallica - Ride the Lightning
1985 Megadeth - Killing is My Business... And Business is Good
1986 Metallica - Master of Puppets
1986 Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?
1987 Metallica - Garage Days Re-Revisited
1988 Megadeth - So Far... So Good... So What!
1988 Metallica - And Justice For All...
1990 Megadeth - Rust in Peace

You've probably noticed a pattern here... I love liberal use of the ellipsis. :carcus:
 

Lord Leith

Welcome back Casca
I've mostly been indifferent/impartial towards Metallica over the years but I do like their early releases (so out of their catalogue, I'd agree with the ones you chose) and I love Megadeth. When it comes to metal I was always more into alt/prog metal like Tool and industrial like KMFDM and to a lesser extent Marilyn Manson. What did you think of "Hardwired...to Self-Destruct"? (Again with the liberal use of ellipsis :troll:), I haven't listened to it but I've heard mixed things about it, varying from it being much better than most of their recent releases and it being mediocre and non-comparable to their old work.
 
Here's my "if I'm ever trapped on a desert island" list:

Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny (1976)
Judas Priest - Sin After Sin (1977)
Judas Priest - Stained Class (1978)
Motörhead - Overkill (1979)
Motörhead - Ace of Spades (1980)
Mercyful Fate - Melissa (1983)
Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath (1984)
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (1987)
The Cult - Sonic Temple (1989)
Pantera - Cowboys from Hell (1990)


Griffith said:
Here's the ten albums I listen to in my car all the time anyway:

1982 Metallica - No Life 'Til Leather
1983 Metallica - Kill 'Em All
1984 Metallica - Ride the Lightning
1985 Megadeth - Killing is My Business... And Business is Good
1986 Metallica - Master of Puppets
1986 Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?
1987 Metallica - Garage Days Re-Revisited
1988 Megadeth - So Far... So Good... So What!
1988 Metallica - And Justice For All...
1990 Megadeth - Rust in Peace

You've probably noticed a pattern here... I love liberal use of the ellipsis. :carcus:

What, no Diamond Head? Without their underground metal classic "Am I Evil?", neither 'deth nor 'tallica would exist today :femto:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVid_fLzN5g
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Lord Leith said:
Oh wow, I wouldn't have guessed you for a Weeknd fan Walter, thats cool, Trilogy is definitely his best work so I can agree with that.

I should mention that thanks to Walter turning me on to The Weeknd back when he was releasing the Trilogy albums free I totally scored cool points with my student employees when I could identify his music back in the day before he blew up, "You know the Weeknd, David!?" That's right kids, sometimes I hear stuff that turns out to be cool, now back to very specific yet hugely played out 80's thrash metal for me.

Walter said:
WOW! Has the black album fallen out of favor? Well NOW YOURE UNNNFORGIVVVENNN 222222222222222-

Sorry, just missed the cut, only one album from the 90s allowed and Rust in Peace has it on lock: https://entertainment.theonion.com/humanity-still-producing-new-art-as-though-megadeth-s-1819578062

And Unnnnforrrrrgiveeeeen Toooooooo is from Reload, smart aleck! Now you're Undforgiven Three... which is sadly real and doesn't even feature the made up word "unforgiven!"

Lord Leith said:
I've mostly been indifferent/impartial towards Metallica over the years but I do like their early releases (so out of their catalogue, I'd agree with the ones you chose) and I love Megadeth.

Oh, Megadeth is the pure, uncut shit. You know, they'll never beat them on the charts or in the public consciousness, but they basically equaled Metallica in the 80's (YMMV), surpassed them for good in the 90's, and it's been no contest at all since the 2000s, and Metallica's my favorite band. Dave Mustaine lost every battle but has secretly won the war.

Lord Leith said:
What did you think of "Hardwired...to Self-Destruct"? (Again with the liberal use of ellipsis :troll:), I haven't listened to it but I've heard mixed things about it, varying from it being much better than most of their recent releases and it being mediocre and non-comparable to their old work.

Twist my arm... the answer is it's both! Not a classic album but a non-embarrassing return to form(s) that kind of covers everything they've done/do. About a third of the tracks are fun thrashy throwbacks, another third meander into mid-tempo mediocrity, and the rest are ok rockers. "Hardwired" is their best straight ahead thrasher since "Dyer's Eve," "Atlas, Rise!" is a "Four Horsemen"/"Master of Puppets" clone, "Now That We're Dead" is basically a wannabe "Enter Sandman," "Moth Into Flame" is probably the album's best and most original, "Dreaming No More" is a super heavy successor to "The Thing That Should Not Be," "Halo on Fire" is very classic rock and maybe the proggiest offering, "Confusion" has some good riffs (the opening is totally Mario 3 airship music =) but is like some weird red state rock and Hetfield sings when he needs screams ("Disposable Heroes" it is NOT), "ManUNkind" is like a Load cut, "Here Comes Revenge" Reload, "Am I Savage?" is like another enjoyable Black Album reject, "Murder One" sucks (sorry Lemmy, they should have played it more like you), and "Spit Out the Bone" is the other standout track and pretty much a microcosm of their career, like a life in the day of Metallica. They're all listenable though because the main difference between this and the their output since the 90s is Hetfield has his voice back on this one and the production isn't fucked up trying some stupid gimmick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhBHL3v4d3I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tdKl-gTpZg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m46Z0-HXySo

Johnny Apples said:
What, no Diamond Head? Without their underground metal classic "Am I Evil?", neither 'deth nor 'tallica would exist today :femto:

You got a nice list there, and of course I'd take a version of Kill 'Em All with the Garage Days Revisited "Am I Evil?" and "Blitzkrieg" covers on them. :carcus: You didn't include Diamond Head either, but if you're going to have Pantera after they started dressing thrash and acting all hard with Phil you should also include some of their truly authentic 80s discography:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU0wjTokz5E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRqIlTki7Yg

From "Ride my rocket!" to "You ain't got the balls, son!" :ganishka:

Eh, I'm just jealous the same band (well, not quite) that wrote Metal Magic also took Metallica's corner in the 90s while they were doing a bad Corrosion of Conformity impression. Did you know Dave Mustaine almost hired Dimebag to be his guitarist but lost him because Vinnie was part of the deal and he already had Nick Menza under contract? Holy shit!

Anyway, when I crawl out of my 80s cave and listen to something a little more contemporary I like to listen to Dave Davidson's Revocation because... they're just metal, like every kind of metal at once:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bOHF9m0m8k

Even more impressive as a power trio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmg3jr7Bhfo
 
Griffith said:
Well, of course I'd take a version of Kill 'Em All with the Garage Days Revisited "Am I Evil?" and "Blitzkrieg" covers on them. :carcus: And you didn't include Diamond Head either, but if you're going to have Pantera after they started dressing like Metallica and acting all hard with Phil you should also include some of their truly authentic 80s discography:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU0wjTokz5E

From "Ride my rocket!" to "You ain't got the balls, son!" :ganishka:

Anyway, I'm just jealous the same band (well, not quite) that wrote Metal Magic also took Metallica's corner in the 90s while they were doing a bad Corrosion of Conformity impression. Did you know Dave Mustaine almost hired Dimebag to be his guitarist but lost him because Vinnie was part of the deal and he already had Nick Menza under contract? Holy shit!

The only reason why Diamond Head lost out to Motörhead on my list was because Ace of Spades had a better production (especially the guitars and drum sound) than Lightning to the Nations :sad:

The crazy thing is, even though the '80s Pantera was by and large unsuccessful, Dimegag Darrell had already fully mastered the guitar by the time of their I Am the Night album. By the mid-80s, he was arguably already a better guitarist than any of his contemporaries from the Big 4 of thrash metal. And I don't just mean in terms of guitar playing and knowledge of cool techniques, but also in terms of the tone. He had already worked out what kind of amps, pre-amps, pickups and other gear he needed in order to obtain that thick, screaming guitar sound. I can only wish that the '80s-era Megadeth and Metallica albums had that same crunchy, beefy guitar tones that the Pantera albums from the '80s already had. As much as "Hot and Heavy" sucked musically, that song actual had better production values than, say, "Mechanix" or "Blackened."
If Dimebag joined Megadeth, songs like "Hangar 18" and "Sweating Bullets" would've had way more bluesier guitar solos, played with Dime's distinctly Texan swagger. Not to mention, Mustaine probably would've forced Dimebag to stay slim and trim (did you know that Dime's weight ballooned from the svelte 160 pounds in 1990 to over 270 pounds by 1998?). With all due respect to Nick Menza (RIP), Vinnie Paul was a superior drummer. Dave could've just demoted Nick back to his old drum tech position, and hired Vinnie.

While the 'Pantera's fortunes may have skyrocketed in the '90s, during that same decade, Phil's vocals steadily degraded with each consecutive Pantera album. By Far Beyond Driven, Phil's soaring multi-octave singing voice from the Power Metal and Cowboys from Hell was reduced to a raspy, barely comprehensible croak. Lemmy was like twice Phil's age by that point and he had a better voice than Phil. Hell, even Rex Brown criticized him for letting his voice go like that.
 
My list:

The Beatles - The Beatles
Radiohead - OK Computer
Zurdok - El Hombre Sintetizador
Nirvana - Nevermind
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
El Cuarteto de Nos - Raro
Queen - A Night at the Opera
 

Lord Leith

Welcome back Casca
Griffith said:
I should mention that thanks to Walter turning me on to The Weeknd back when he was releasing the Trilogy albums free I totally scored cool points with my student employees when I could identify his music back in the day before he blew up, "You know the Weeknd, David!?" That's right kids, sometimes I hear stuff that turns out to be cool, now back to very specific yet hugely played out 80's thrash metal for me.

Oh, Megadeth is the pure, uncut shit. You know, they'll never beat them on the charts or in the public consciousness, but they basically equaled Metallica in the 80's (YMMV), surpassed them for good in the 90's, and it's been no contest at all since the 2000s, and Metallica's my favorite band. Dave Mustaine lost every battle but has secretly won the war.

Twist my arm... the answer is it's both! Not a classic album but a non-embarrassing return to form(s) that kind of covers everything they've done/do. About a third of the tracks are fun thrashy throwbacks, another third meander into mid-tempo mediocrity, and the rest are ok rockers. "Hardwired" is their best straight ahead thrasher since "Dyer's Eve," "Atlas, Rise!" is a "Four Horsemen"/"Master of Puppets" clone, "Now That We're Dead" is basically a wannabe "Enter Sandman," "Moth Into Flame" is probably the album's best and most original, "Dreaming No More" is a super heavy successor to "The Thing That Should Not Be," "Halo on Fire" is very classic rock and maybe the proggiest offering, "Confusion" has some good riffs (the opening is totally Mario 3 airship music =) but is like some weird red state rock and Hetfield sings when he needs screams ("Disposable Heroes" it is NOT), "ManUNkind" is like a Load cut, "Here Comes Revenge" Reload, "Am I Savage?" is like another enjoyable Black Album reject, "Murder One" sucks (sorry Lemmy, they should have played it more like you), and "Spit Out the Bone" is the other standout track and pretty much a microcosm of their career, like a life in the day of Metallica. They're all listenable though because the main difference between this and the their output since the 90s is Hetfield has his voice back on this one and the production isn't fucked up trying some stupid gimmick.

Yeah its safe to say that House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence are modern classics by any measure, they made a big wave in the underground music scene upon initial release, had a huge influence on commercial RnB (what people now call Alternative RnB) and nearly a decade later its still relatively popular and the music has aged incredibly well (which of course is mostly due to how many Weeknd copycats soon followed after and still go on today). What did you and Walter think of Kiss Land? Its often forgotten about since its not as good as Trilogy and wasn't as poppy and commercially successful as Beauty Behind The Madness or Starboy but I think its pretty underrated all considering.

In regards to Megadeth, my thoughts exactly, couldn't have said it better myself. Metallica may very well be the quintessential metal band in the eyes of many and at one point in time, they undeniably were but Megadeth has always appealed to me more for being as you say the pure uncut shit. Thanks a lot for the thorough review/analysis of Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, I can tell you're quite passionate about the subject, metal isn't my go to genre but I respect it a lot as a casual listener so your attention to detail doesn't go unnoticed. I'll give the album a listen, I did like the 3 singles you linked so I'm optimistic despite their last few releases.

m said:
The Beatles - The Beatles
Nirvana - Nevermind
Queen - A Night at the Opera

Can't go wrong with any Beatles album but I've always been a Magical Mystery Tour kinda guy, good pick though, has some of George's best Beatles material.
I'm always hesitant to pick between Nevermind or In Utero, I ultimately went for In Utero but in all honesty Nevermind is just as good if not better, I think Nevermind flows a lot better than In Utero and probably has more well written songs but the songs that I do like on In Utero, I love way more than anything on Nevermind.
Damn it haha A Night at the Opera is brilliant, Im just now realizing thanks to your comment how much it would suck major ass to never hear Queen again while stuck on an island, still happy with my list but I didn't consider that :ganishka:
 
Lord Leith said:
Can't go wrong with any Beatles album but I've always been a Magical Mystery Tour kinda guy, good pick though, has some of George's best Beatles material.

I basically like all of their work, and there might be times when my pick would not be the same, but The Beatles has a lot of good stuff, and it also has the most songs, which doesn't hurt if you're stuck on a deserted island with only a few albums at hand. :iva:

Lord Leith said:
I'm always hesitant to pick between Nevermind or In Utero, I ultimately went for In Utero but in all honesty Nevermind is just as good if not better, I think Nevermind flows a lot better than In Utero and probably has more well written songs but the songs that I do like on In Utero, I love way more than anything on Nevermind.

It is for sure not an easy decision, but to me it all comes down to the impact Nevermind had on me when it came out, which was massive.
 
Walter's list surprised me and equally fun was seeing yours, Griffith.

Griffith said:
You've probably noticed a pattern here... I love liberal use of the ellipsis. :carcus:
Walter said:
WOW! Has the black album fallen out of favor? Well NOW YOURE UNNNFORGIVVVENNN 222222222222222-

:ganishka:

My favorite Pantera would be Far Beyond Driven but when I first heard of Pantera and managed to trade cassettes to finally get a complete set (with the exception of Reinventing), I'd gravitate to Vulgar Display Of Power because of the powerhouse Mouth For War and A New Level which is think is their best one-two punch opening songs across all albums.

This's one hard list to make because it's albums from anywhere ... EP's, full lengths, soundtracks, splits. Sigh, lets try this ... first draft in no order

Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon
Raison d'etre - The Empty Hollow Unfolds
2001: A Space Odyssey movie soundtrack
The Shining movie soundtrack
AKIRA soundtrack - Geinoh Yamashirogumi
Incantation - Diabolical Conquest
My Dying Bride - As The Flower Withers
Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse
Immolation - Failures for Gods
Evoken - Antithesis of Light

Choosing was oouuufff ... rough.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
I should mention that thanks to Walter turning me on to The Weeknd back when he was releasing the Trilogy albums free I totally scored cool points with my student employees when I could identify his music back in the day before he blew up, "You know the Weeknd, David!?" That's right kids, sometimes I hear stuff that turns out to be cool, now back to very specific yet hugely played out 80's thrash metal for me.

This is kind of how I feel too :troll: I do try to listen to new stuff pretty regularly, but rarely does it actually resonate with me. House of Balloons did though. Shoutout to you though for turning me on to metal and associated music. While I couldn't follow you to Megadeth, I did find a ton of great albums through you, and rediscovered my love of early Metallica (Master of Puppets is my favorite still, easily).

And Unnnnforrrrrgiveeeeen Toooooooo is from Reload, smart aleck! Now you're Undforgiven Three... which is sadly real and doesn't even feature the made up word "unforgiven!"

Oh I know, I just couldn't resist. And FUCK there's a trilogy of these?!?

Lord Leith said:
What did you and Walter think of Kiss Land? Its often forgotten about since its not as good as Trilogy and wasn't as poppy and commercially successful as Beauty Behind The Madness or Starboy but I think its pretty underrated all considering.

I still feel embarassment-by-proxy when I hear the name Kissland. While I don't begrudge the Weeknd's transition from underground artist to pop artist (I'd rather these guys try to climb and evolve rather than settle), I can't say that anything he's done since his Trilogy work has really moved the needle for me. I think I've found about 1-2 tracks I like between his last 3 albums. The other day I heard one of his tracks from Madness playing throughout the goddamned grocery store. Now THAT was a sobering moment (now he's a real motherfuckin' Starboy) :ganishka:

Can't go wrong with any Beatles album but I've always been a Magical Mystery Tour kinda guy, good pick though, has some of George's best Beatles material.

Now here's a slice of music history from which I've always felt robbed. I wasn't raised on Beatles music. My parents listened to garbage ( no, this was well before Shirley Manson) when they listened to anything at all, so music wasn't a big part of my life until I was old enough to buy my own CDs. The '90s were a dark age for music, but inevitably the one I gravitate to because that's when I really discovered it. As a teen, of course, I only wanted to listen to what was new and "cool." And this was pre-Internet, so I didn't have anyone to guide me along to the good shit, or the influential shit. I just had whatever was on the radio and album covers vying for my $15. If you want a Berserk parallel, my experience with music growing up wasn't unlike the beherit-apostle's experience with humanity :void: As a result, all my taste in music during my formative years was essentially cultivated by myself, and so my tastes now are pretty messy. Or "eclectic" if you want to use a nice word for it.

To bring it around again, I was probably 16 or so when I started to try the Beatles. And well... for whatever reason it just never resonated with me. Little from the 60s-70s era did. This is probably a result of the foundation of shit that I'd already built for my house of music. And I can't help but feel if I'd had a proper music education and exposure growing up, I'd have different ("better") tastes in music.

I'm always hesitant to pick between Nevermind or In Utero, I ultimately went for In Utero but in all honesty Nevermind is just as good if not better, I think Nevermind flows a lot better than In Utero and probably has more well written songs but the songs that I do like on In Utero, I love way more than anything on Nevermind.

As someone who grew up along with alternative music, of course I love Nirvana. I encourage anyone else who does to read Heavier than Heaven, a stellar Cobain biography. But while I like the atmosphere and the place their sound occupies on the music history timeline, listening to those albums through has become a chore as I've gotten older. :farnese:
 

Lord Leith

Welcome back Casca
IncantatioN said:
The Shining movie soundtrack

Oouff, the Shining is one of my favorite films and easily in my top 5 most replayed films but I dunno if I'd be able to handle the soundtrack while isolated on an island, I very well may go crazy. :ganishka: On its own merits though, it is a wonderful soundtrack.

Walter said:
I still feel embarassment-by-proxy when I hear the name Kissland. While I don't begrudge the Weeknd's transition from underground artist to pop artist (I'd rather these guys try to climb and evolve rather than settle), I can't say that anything he's done since his Trilogy work has really moved the needle for me. I think I've found about 1-2 tracks I like between his last 3 albums. The other day I heard one of his tracks from Madness playing throughout the goddamned grocery store. Now THAT was a sobering moment (now he's a real motherfuckin' Starboy) :ganishka:

I can see where you're coming from, I think Kiss Land is the closest thing we'll get from Weeknd to another instalment in the Trilogy aesthetic but its not as good as Trilogy all considering, I still think there's something special about that era of House of Balloons through Kiss Land though, I think its him at his most authentic and true to self. I like most songs off Beauty Behind the Madness and Starboy (Starboy and I Feel It Coming in particular appeal to me as a Daft Punk fan) but they are more generic and less unique to his character. Sometimes you see flashes of the old style in songs like Often but even then it feels compromised. Oh well, I'll still check out his upcoming releases but I doubt it'll ever be the same.

Walter said:
To bring it around again, I was probably 16 or so when I started to try the Beatles. And well... for whatever reason it just never resonated with me. Little from the 60s-70s era did. This is probably a result of the foundation of shit that I'd already built for my house of music. And I can't help but feel if I'd had a proper music education and exposure growing up, I'd have different ("better") tastes in music.

As someone who grew up along with alternative music, of course I love Nirvana. I encourage anyone else who does to read Heavier than Heaven, a stellar Cobain biography. But while I like the atmosphere and the place their sound occupies on the music history timeline, listening to those albums through has become a chore as I've gotten older. :farnese:

Thats interesting, you never know how life will shape your tastes in art and media through circumstance. With me for example its sort've the opposite, Discovery was the first album I bought with my own money and since its a French House album, my love for House music then lead to me getting obsessed with samples which then lead to me listening to more 70s and 80s music that inspired the French House sound. Thats not to say I had great music taste as a child though :ganishka: Listened to lots of post grunge butt rock and nu metal I'd be embarrassed to mention here (and of course no longer listen to).

To go full circle since I've mentioned post grunge, yeah I can understand why looking back on Nirvana it might feel like a chore to listen through, do you have an easier time listening through their MTV Unplugged set? I personally don't have trouble listening to Nevermind or In Utero but it definitely sounds dated for better or worse. In Utero in particular has always stuck with me as a piece of introspective art that in hindsight is almost impossible for me to detach from Kurt's suicide, I know it wasn't his intention with making the record and its hard for me to articulate this but there's like a dark aura surrounding the album which makes it very unique to me all these years later.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Johnny Apples said:
By the mid-80s, he was arguably already a better guitarist than any of his contemporaries from the Big 4 of thrash metal. And I don't just mean in terms of guitar playing and knowledge of cool techniques, but also in terms of the tone. He had already worked out what kind of amps, pre-amps, pickups and other gear he needed in order to obtain that thick, screaming guitar sound.

I'm a tone agnostic, it's in the ear of the beholder, either in your head or in your hands, but in any case no doubt Dimebag had it and was one of the best. I'd make an all-around case for Mustaine's combination of innovation, writing, rhythm, and soloing, but it's kind of hard to fairly rate anyone, especially a cock like Dave, against a legend that was tragically taken before their time.

Johnny Apples said:
I can only wish that the '80s-era Megadeth and Metallica albums had that same crunchy, beefy guitar tones that the Pantera albums from the '80s already had. As much as "Hot and Heavy" sucked musically, that song actual had better production values than, say, "Mechanix" or "Blackened."

Yeah, but you'd rather have the music be good than the production, and the production on Kill, Ride, Master (!), Peace Sells and Rust are just fine, and Justice works as what it is. Rough production can have its charm too, but Metallica in particular flushed themselves down the toilet chasing that ghost ("durr, we're the richest metal band ever, let's sound bad on purpose!"). Spending half your production money on heroin and using it while recording is the way to get that good-bad sound! :ganishka:

Speaking of which, if you haven't already listen to Megadeth's infamous 2004 remasters of Killing is My Business, Peace Sells, and So Far, So Good... So What (but no more after that). I can't say they have great tone, but you asked for better production and it's pretty amazing how much he rehabilitated those tracks that they sound like new albums on par with Rust in Peace in the crazy guitars department, but they still have a bit of that rough, punkier edge. Just listen to the aggressive guitars and vocals come through on the remastered Killing is My Business:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxomLoaairQ&list=PL3ZH57R7Ql2GHJmks79bdIVrpbUY6KQxM&index=1

And the aforementioned Mechanix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfTcE89sBXU&list=PL3ZH57R7Ql2GHJmks79bdIVrpbUY6KQxM&index=7

It's like an attempted assault through music, and given his feelings about Metallica at the time, it likely was.

Johnny Apples said:
If Dimebag joined Megadeth, songs like "Hangar 18" and "Sweating Bullets" would've had way more bluesier guitar solos, played with Dime's distinctly Texan swagger. Not to mention, Mustaine probably would've forced Dimebag to stay slim and trim (did you know that Dime's weight ballooned from the svelte 160 pounds in 1990 to over 270 pounds by 1998?). With all due respect to Nick Menza (RIP), Vinnie Paul was a superior drummer. Dave could've just demoted Nick back to his old drum tech position, and hired Vinnie.

I'm guessing it was more about Nick already being owed drummer money and Dave being too cheap to eat it! Plus, it's not like Marty Friedman was a slouch, and a better fit for Megadeth's style, and of course Pantera is essential as well. So, the more great bands the better and all's well that ended well there. Plus, none of these guys would have been able to get along, particularly with Dave; it's just a chance for him to say, "I almost had the best band EVER... twice!" I bet Dimebag would have enjoyed playing like 11 solos on Hanger 18 though.

Johnny Apples said:
While the 'Pantera's fortunes may have skyrocketed in the '90s, during that same decade, Phil's vocals steadily degraded with each consecutive Pantera album. By Far Beyond Driven, Phil's soaring multi-octave singing voice from the Power Metal and Cowboys from Hell was reduced to a raspy, barely comprehensible croak. Lemmy was like twice Phil's age by that point and he had a better voice than Phil. Hell, even Rex Brown criticized him for letting his voice go like that.

Also the not as obvious reason Metallica sucked the last 20 years, because Hetfield's vocals did. Glad he/they figured it out on that Dio medley and the last album.

Lord Leith said:
What did you and Walter think of Kiss Land? Its often forgotten about since its not as good as Trilogy and wasn't as poppy and commercially successful as Beauty Behind The Madness or Starboy but I think its pretty underrated all considering.

I'm with Wally, nothing after Trilogy really grabbed me. It was like that transfixing weirdness got turned down with the improved pop sensibilities and it messed up the recipe for me.

Lord Leith said:
In regards to Megadeth, my thoughts exactly, couldn't have said it better myself. Metallica may very well be the quintessential metal band in the eyes of many and at one point in time, they undeniably were but Megadeth has always appealed to me more for being as you say the pure uncut shit.

Just a normal guy, singing from the point of view of a Polaris nuclear missile blast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLsQsirjmeo

Putting a bow on the last two points, even at Megadeth's pop peak in the 90s, it was still just weird as hell! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YFyyLI9grI

Lord Leith said:
Thanks a lot for the thorough review/analysis of Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, I can tell you're quite passionate about the subject, metal isn't my go to genre but I respect it a lot as a casual listener so your attention to detail doesn't go unnoticed. I'll give the album a listen, I did like the 3 singles you linked so I'm optimistic despite their last few releases.

Thanks and you're welcome, the first half of the album is strong. If they'd just released that plus Spit out the Bone it might have been less is more and definitely more akin to their 80s oeuvre. Others worth checking out:

Atlas, Rise! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHjw0Q7F8rA
Dream No More (cool vid under the influence) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqIQvE5R1tU
ManUnkind (pretty much just for the weird Mayhem themed video) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUVr2xnGIEo

Walter said:
This is kind of how I feel too :troll: I do try to listen to new stuff pretty regularly, but rarely does it actually resonate with me. House of Balloons did though. Shoutout to you though for turning me on to metal and associated music. While I couldn't follow you to Megadeth, I did find a ton of great albums through you, and rediscovered my love of early Metallica (Master of Puppets is my favorite still, easily).

Easily still the best, and they were just coming into their peak form too. As transcendent as that album seemingly is, if Burton didn't die I wonder if they might have churned out two or three more albums in that vein just on inertia (you can still hear them fucking around just enjoying themselves on it, goddamnit). They pretty much put everything they had left into Justice after that.

Walter said:
Oh I know, I just couldn't resist. And FUCK there's a trilogy of these?!?

Yup, there's been one on every other album since The Black Album. They kind of have to do Un4given now, right? :guts:

Walter said:
My parents listened to garbage ( no, this was well before Shirley Manson) when they listened to anything at all, so music wasn't a big part of my life until I was old enough to buy my own CDs.

As a kid I would literally tell my mom "I hate music!" and shut off the radio in the car. I realized later it was because she was putting on KBIG 104 adult contemporary trash where the coolest thing you might hear is Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics among a bunch of Sting solo stink and the like (at least put on The Police :judo:).
 

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
Tool - Lateralus
Aesop Rock - Impossible Kid
Transformers the Movie Soundtrack (1986)
Enigma - Screen Behind the Mirror
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
Kanye West - 808's and Heartbreak
Hozier - Hozier
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
John Mayer - Continuum
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
 
Lord Leith said:
Oouff, the Shining is one of my favorite films and easily in my top 5 most replayed films but I dunno if I'd be able to handle the soundtrack while isolated on an island, I very well may go crazy. :ganishka: On its own merits though, it is a wonderful soundtrack.

Definitely, it's one of those that sounds great with or without the film playing in your head.

I was never a Megadeth fan when I first dove into metal primarily because of (and as silly as it sounds) this group of guys who loved them and I hated their guts. So if they liked Megadeth or Tool or Iron Maiden or whatever else, I just wasn't gonna listen to it. And years went by and I still haven't listened to a Megadeth records from beginning to end. I guess if there was one definitive Megadeth album, which one would it be? I'll need to do some reading on this topic in my downtime to catch up with the discussion ^_^.
 

NightCrawler

Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine
Strapping Young Lad - City
Boredoms - Super Ae
Susumu Hirasawa - Blue Limbo
Samael - Eternal
Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast
Kazuki Tomokawa - Nakahara Chuya Sakuhinnshu
Death - Symbolic
Electric Wizard - Come My Fanatics
Pink Floyd - Animals
Mr. Bungle - California
Popol Vuh - In den Gärten Pharaos
Gas - Pop
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I want to propose a variation on this theme:

If you could only listen to the music of one artist, all collaborative and solo work included, who would you choose?*

You could simply pick your favorite, or one that's eclectic and prolific so you still get a lot of variety to choose from, or even more to that extreme you could pick somebody, maybe even a relative studio unknown, that worked with everybody over a long period of time, like a human random playlist.

My pick: Frank Zappa.


*They have to write or perform on the music, so you can't just pick Quincy Jones or something. =)
 

NightCrawler

Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
My pick: Devin Townsend (the Zappa of our time :serpico:)

Another variation, pick only 3 songs that you can listen for the rest of your life.

Gas - Untitled #5 (out of Pop)
Popol Vuh - Vuh
Boredoms - Super Going
 
Griffith's variation: Paul McCartney

NightCrawler's variation:

Radiohead - Paranoid Android
Queen - The Prophet's Song
The Beatles - When I'm Sixty-Four
 

Lord Leith

Welcome back Casca
Hmmm thats a really tough call Griffith, for me the one artist I'd stick with (mostly due to how vast their collaborative contributions are in addition to their own stellar catalogues) would be a toss up between Kanye West, Babyface and Bootsy Collins, I honestly can't pick which one out of the 3, good question but its a tough one. My answer is bound to change but today's mood has me leaning towards the Yeezy god himself :ganishka:.

NightCrawler's variation:

What You Won't Do For Love - Bobby Caldwell (A lil cheesy by today's standards but I associate it with a lot of memories and personal events)
Picture Of My Life - Jamiroquai
Happy Home (Original Unreleased Mix) - 2Pac (The version most have heard off of Until The End of Time is over produced glitzy clean crap but the original mix initially leaked through the Makaveli bootlegs is fantastic, so good that I actually got some lyrics from it tatted on my left arm; the following pic is like 3 years old though so its not as fresh anymore but it still looks good)

Happy_Home_Tattoo.jpg
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
After some consideration of Nightcrawler's proposal, which I suspect would make you either truly hate or appreciate your selections, I picked these for their versatility, representative ability of the artists and music I like in general, and because while they're fine on first blush they're also growers that could stand up to repeat listening (or drive you truly mad =):

Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun
Frank Zappa - Peaches en Ragalia
Metallica - Orion

Anyway, I hope this island has weed growing on it (that should really be a question answered before selections are made).

Random note of randomness, I used to read Berserk episodes while listening to the same three Cardigans songs "My Favourite Game," "Do You Believe," and "Erase/Rewind" in that order on repeat. I don't know why, or even how I got them, because you wouldn't think they'd be tonally or thematically compatible, but it worked and still does. I threw them on while editing that silly Casca/Twin Peaks shop for old times the other night and it was more thematically appropriate than ever.
 
Top Bottom