[Some of] My Favorite Albums (Part 2 of 3)

This is the continuation of a prior post: Part 2 of 3.

See the prior post, numbers 13-10, to get up to speed.

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#9.
METALLICA: RIDE THE LIGHTNING (1984)
For those metal fans, all I have to say is "Fade to Black" and you'd know the greatness to which I am referring: Ride the Lightning. This is one of those under-heralded albums that you turn on, and as a metal fan you're like: "Damn that song is on this album too?" And the majesty keeps delivering with "Creeping Death," "The Call of Ktulu," and "For Whom the Bells Tolls," amongst many others. This was Metallica's second album, the transition album between their extremely thrashy first album Kill 'Em All (1983), and their more classic sound beginning on Master of Puppets (1986). It's a raw album, without being raw for raw's sake. Metallica wasn't trying hard to be cool (like one could say about Kill 'Em All), they were just playing badass music, and it comes across on the album.

Favorite Lyrics: "Stranger now, are his eyes, to this mystery, he hears the silence so loud. Crack of dawn, all is gone, except the will to be. Now they see what will be, blinded eyes to see, for whom the bell tolls, time marches on." - For Whom the Bell Tolls

Album Cover: Average/good. The lightning is cool, I guess.

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#8.

ARCADE FIRE: THE SUBURBS (2010)

Sooo good. As I said in my post about Arcade Fire awhile back, they are just awesome. Balanced, their music is well balanced. The Suburbs moved Arcade Fire back into the folksy feel that I love, after their slight/sort-of departure into the rock sphere with Neon Bible (2007) -- which, don't get me wrong, was a very good album in its own right. This album is solid, straight through, with only one exception. The song "Month of May" could go to hell for all I care. The lyrics are all literal and matter of fact: "Gunna' make a record in the month of May." I guess they took it too literally when people say to write about what you know. It's like, uhhh... okay. Tell me something personal, and I'll appreciate it more than a narrative. It's like putting "It is your birthday." on a banner instead of "Happy Birthday!" See The Office. But anyways, I love this album very very much. I lucked out and was able to see them for their live recording for the Unstaged series posted to Youtube. I especially love the songs "We Used to Wait" and "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)."

Omg! I was at this show!

Favorite Lyrics: "So can you understand? Why I want a daughter while I'm still young. I wanna hold her hand and show her some beauty, before this damage is done." - The Suburbs

Album Cover: Good. A car parked looking at the side of a suburban home. Gets the point across. I like the colors.

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#7
IRON MAIDEN: LIVE AFTER DEATH (1985)

This is the live album of live albums. It is the only live album I would ever consider putting on a list of favorite albums. I am biased, of course, because it is Iron Maiden, the greatest band in existence after Wyld Stallyn, of course. So, Live After Death, is a sick album. It was released in 1985 arguably at Iron Maiden's peak. They had just released the holy trio of albums -- Number of the Beast (1982), Piece of Mind (1983) and Powerslave (1984). They released these consecutively, while touring on the most epic of tours ever, the WORLD SLAVERY TOUR. Haha! So evil! Then, what do they decide to do? Oh I don't know, release a live album of the most epic material they will ever create!! "What do you do when a bird shits on you?" The Rime of the Ancient Mariner! Hallowed be Thy Name! Running Free! Run to the Hills! The Trooper! Powerslave! Number of the Beast! I literally can't name all of the awesomeness that poured out of this album, because my fingers would start to bleed. They (my fingers) would surely hate me, and I still need them for law school, and other things. Needless to say, the vinyl with a sleeve in good condition would be an excellent gift for me at some point (this is directed at all of my single hot-chick friends who want to impress me -- but only the blonde ones). This album came out when Iron Maiden was selling out stadiums three nights in a row... oh the 80's, where art thou? (Note to self: IN THE PAST... *tear* ) The quality of this live recording is unmatched by any live recording I've heard since.

Favorite Lyrics: "She came to me with a serpent's kiss, as the eye of the sun rose on her lips, moonlight catches silver tears that I cry. So we lay in a black embrace, and the seed is sown in a holy place, and I watched and I waited for the dawn." - Revelations (on Piece of Mind)

Album Cover: Very good. "Eddie" is busting up from hell, probably breaking from some badass metal chains or something. Either way, he is making the metal hands (indicating that epic qualities in the abstract are abound), and the metal face (indicating that Jesus is shredding on an electric axe somewhere in the universe). Love it. Whenever I see it, I smile, like seeing really short short-shorts on a girl that should be wearing normal-sized-girl pants.

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#6
JUDAS PRIEST: SAD WINGS OF DESTINY (1976)

Okay, well after rating Live After Death so highly, I'm rethinking the placement of this album on the scale -- it is surely deserving of "favorite" status, but maybe a little lower on the list. Oh well, too lazy now, forge ahead. Sad Wings of Destiny is the first album on the list that doesn't have that one bastard step-child of a song. Suburbs had "Month of May," Ride the Lightning had "Trapped Under Ice," just like Use Your Illusion II had "Shotgun Blues." But this masterpiece, flows, and I mean dayum it flows. A lot of the songs lead into one another. It is crafted by the master guitarist artisans K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton -- the true founders of the dual guitar battle. It punches you in the face out of the gate with "Victim of Changes," easily one of Priest's best songs, and a true metal legend of a song. (Victim of Changes is probably one of my favorite songs.) The album then immediately cuts into "The Ripper" based on Jack the Ripper, of English lore/reality, a great percussion-driven beat machine. Next, it softens into "Dreamer Deceiver," and lets you catch your breath, with, frankly, some quite beautiful vocal melodies, and soft acoustic. But! Don't fear, it transitions into its faster pace cousin, delivering on the electric guitar in "Deceiver." Then Priest, does WHAT!?!?, they drop some piano on your fat stank ass with the "Prelude" to "Tyrant," another classic priest anthem. It rolls through "Epitaph" and "Genocide," great stand-alone songs, closing out with "Island of Domination," a perfect album closer with high pitch Halford vocals, and some very "riffy" guitar bits (for the 70's). This is not a hardcore album by any means, but it is very very good. It is pure and honest to the proto-metal sound of the late 1970's. Sad Wings was Priest's second album, released in 1976.

Favorite Lyrics: "Once she was wonderful, once she was fine, once she was beautiful, once she was mine. Now change has come over her body, she doesn't see me anymore. Now change has come over her body, she doesn't see me anymore. Changes, victim of change." - Victim of Changes

Album Cover: Great! I love the angel's spread wings, trying to protect himself from the flames. It encapsulates epic ideas, like battles on ethereal plains... or something? Or maybe its a stone angel, immune to flame? Who knows, it looks badass, and this is a blog about badass stuff... and me.

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#5

RUSH: 2112 (1976)

This is a rock album. This album changed a lot of lives, and influenced a lot of musicians in the rock and later metal scenes. Just watch the recent documentary made about RUSH, Behind the Lighted Stage (2010) and you'll see people talking about RUSH you wouldn't have guessed, like Sabastian Bach of Skid Row, Kirk Hammet of Metallica, some dude from Rage Against the Machine (I think), and even Jack Black of Tenacious D. Even if you aren't a RUSH fan you might enjoy it, it's surprisingly well made (for Canadians. haha, just kidding, I love Canadians... well... only the blonde ones). The story behind 2112 is simple (well, the story of the making of the album, not the story ON the album, which is a total mind fuck). RUSH had put out three albums by the time of 2112, RUSH (1974), Fly By Night (1975) and Caress of Steel (1975). The albums got progressively less popular, and were flops on the pop charts. RUSH figured their number was up, so they decided to say fuck you to the studio by putting out one last album, totally whack, with a 21 minute song on one side of the album called "2112." The other side of the album actually contained 4-5 good songs that the studio ultimately used for air-time and promotion. Well, surprise surprise, the album, and the song, 2112, was an epic, and massively popular. It tells the story of a man fighting the priests of the temples of syrinx in the future with his guitar. Whack. But, the music is notable for its complexity, yet simplicity in listening. It is filled with plenty of time changes to keep your interest, and some really good guitar solos and riffs. Neil Peart on the drums is heralded as probably the best living drummer in the world. Their technical mastery easily makes up for the fact that there are only three of them in the band ("the holy triumvirate"): Geddy Lee (vocals and bass), Alex Lifeson (guitar), Neil Peart (drums/percussion). Listen with care.

Favorite Lyrics: "What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it gives forth a sound. It's got wires that vibrate, and make music. What can this thing be, that I've found? See how it sings like a sad heart, and joyously screams out it's pain. Sounds that build high like a mountain, or notes that fall gently like rain." - 2112 [Act III. Discovery]

Album Cover: Memorable. Simple and memorable. I will always remember the star.

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Tune in next week, kids, for the final installment of the best albums ever created by humans.


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The Arcade Fire

Simply put: The Arcade Fire. You don't need adjectives like "awesome" or "amazing" or "bonerific" to describe this band. These words, and more, are intrinsic to the name Arcade Fire. They are one of my favorite bands, and they should be one of your favorites too. (at least in your top five, like me)

This is a good playlist: We Used to Wait, 

Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains),

The Suburbs, Neon Bible, and Wake Up

Arcade Fire has released one EP and three LPs. The EP is called simply "The Arcade Fire EP" (2003). And the three LPs are Funeral (2004), Neon Bible (2007), and The Suburbs (2010). I recommend checking out these albums in their entirety, because they are all really that good. I'll provide a few details below.

Funeral (2004)

Favorite songs: Wake Up, Haiti, and Rebellion (Lies). 

If you are thinking about buying an Arcade Fire album, I'd go with this one first. I think it's a good starting place. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album #6 on the list of greatest albums of the decade (2000s), beat out only by a bunch of garbage (i.e. Radiohead's Kid A, The Strokes' Is This It, Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Jay-Z's The Blueprint, and the White Stripes' Elephant). This critic refers to those albums as garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage, and garbage, respectively.

It was also ranked #8 in a book titled The Top 200 Canadian Albums by Bob Mersereau. It ranked high in the mix, near the top with albums like Harvest (#1) and After the Goldrush (#3) by Neil Young, and Moving Pictures (#9) and 2112 (#17) by RUSH. This was quite an impressive feat considering the monster-legacy and mega-epicness of those artists.

Neon Bible (2007)

Favorite songs: Intervention, Windowsill, and Keep the Car Running. 

This was my first Arcade Fire album. I was introduced to Intervention and Keep the Car Running while laying on the floor of my dorm room during sophomore year of college. I was really drunk and watching SNL. They were the guest band and really stood out. During that time of my life they had a big impact on me. Thanks for being you Arcade Fire.

The Suburbs (2010)

I think they released the album with

multiple different covers, which is unique.

Favorite songs: The Suburbs, We Used to Wait, and Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains).

This is their newest album, and I think it is my favorite album of theirs. I think I read somewhere that when they mixed the CDs, they took the sound off of records to try and give that "vinyl sound" too it. I'm not sure if that actually works, but I appreciate the effort regardless. Either way, the album sounds great. I picked up a copy on vinyl too, and that makes me feel special, so yay.

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I was fortunate enough to see Arcade Fire this year in Madison Square Garden with my good buddy Eric Sedler. We lucked out and saw them the second night of their performance, which they were filming for the "Unstaged" series of music videos. The entire concert was filmed. It was awesome. You can find the videos on Youtube.

I can't really say enough good things about this band. I really suggest checking them out. Their only downside is that they are Canadian (just like RUSH and Neil Young). What's that all aboot? I'm just glad that they don't sell their CDs with gravy on them. Whatever, I still love them (you too RUSH and Neil Young). xoxo

Uriah Heep: The Forgotten Band

Uriah Heep. You may have never heard of them. I hadn't until earlier this year. I was really confused, I thought I knew most of the rock bands worth knowing, and then BOOM, it hits me... I know nothing! My world hath been rocked, Maiden save me!

"The Wizard" off of 1972's Demons and Wizards

(I'm glad mustaches went out of style)

Uriah Heep was a well known progressive rock band in the 1970's. They were something like a mix of King Crimson and RUSH, but they are certainly their own beast. There was at least one tour where RUSH opened for them, in RUSH's early days.

In fact, their first album was released in 1970, entitled Very 'eavy... Very 'umble. They followed up in 1971 with Salisbury which is more solidly progressive rock. The self-titled song from that album is freggin' epic, check it out. They released Look at Yourself in 1971, which included one of my favorite songs by them -- July Morning.

Uriah Heep made 12 albums between 1970 and 1979 -- which is an awesome amount of work. They played contemporaneously with the greats: Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zep, Priest, RUSH. It's too bad they couldn't turn it to 11, for they will always be stuck on 10.

By the time 1980 rolled around their popularity waned, and children across the world wept, with their parents never knowing the true reason. However, they left a mega-epic legacy on the bands forming in the late 1970's. I could never put them in the category of heavy metal founding fathers... but they were one of those bands that you know influenced bands that influenced bands that I care about. And for me, that is enough. I thank you.

I guess everyone in the 70's was hairy as shit.

P.S. Uriah Heep still plays in Germany and Scandinavia, if you feel like a very weird vacation.