1094. Judas Priest / Live in London [Live]. 2003. 4/5

It’s probably a sure sign of desperation, given you have only released two live albums in the first 25 years of your existence as a band, and then you release two in a startlingly short space of time. Ostensibly it seems like an effort to keep the band in the public eye, and show their relevance despite a struggle to get fans to accept two albums without your big time lead singer. Whereas '98 Live Meltdown was an audio release only, Live in London was filmed and released as a video as well as this audio contribution. But if you have one, do you need the other? And if the first did the job of introducing your new vocalist in a positive fashion, do you need another to try and shore that support up?

To be honest, I really enjoyed '98 Live Meltdown as a live album. It had a couple of rough pieces, but overall it was a good set list performed by a great band who can still do the job. It introduced new material effectively, and the energy throughout is excellent. And that is where this release falls down for me. The set list has a few necessary changes, incorporating a couple of songs off of Demolition and some other older songs, but for the majority it is the same songs that were played on the previous world tour and as such off of the previous live album. And – for the most part – they don’t sound as good here as they did then.
The first problem that is encountered is that the old songs completely outshine the newer material. There is a massive gap in the vitality and speed and overall metal value of the old classics than there is of the material from the Ripper era. “Hell is Home”, “Feed on Me” and even “One on One” sound slow, clunky and devoid of life compared “Electric Eye”, “Living After Midnight” and “Metal Gods”. They get completely shown up here and exposed badly for their deficiencies. “Blood Stained” and “Burn in Hell” don’t fare any better. It’s a disappointment, and one feels that they could have done a better job in promoting these songs good sides.
The second problem is that this doesn’t seem as energetic and exciting as the previous live album. It’s nice to hear a little bit of variety with songs such as “Desert Plains” and “Running Wild”, but neither of these two songs sound as good as Halford sang them, and the choice of “United” doesn’t work either. And as I said, I think '98 Live Meltdownsounds better overall.

This is still a good live album, and you can’t argue with the amount of material that you get for your money. It also serves as the finale for Tim “Ripper” Owens and his time in Judas Priest. He is a fine front man and he did his job in keeping Judas Priest alive, and I can vouch that seeing the band live with him out front was a worthwhile experience. As an epitaph for his time in the band, this is a reasonable tribute.

Rating: “Judas! Priest! Is! Back!!!”… but only for a short time. 4/5

1076. Motörhead / Live at Brixton Academy: The Complete Concert. 2003. 5/5

There are moments in a band’s career that are worthy of celebrating a milestone. Having toured and recorded for 25 years is one of those milestones worth remembering. This is what faced Motörhead as they approached the new millennium, and a celebratory concert which not only had a terrific set list but the addition of some special guests is not a bad way to do it. Recorded for posterity, this is what we have with Live at Brixton Academy: The Complete Concert.

For anyone who picked up a copy of the band’s previous live album, Everything Louder Than Everyone Else, there is not a lot new for you. The setlist is slightly changed to incorporate some songs from the We Are Motörhead album which is what they were touring behind at the time. It took three years for this to be released for various reasons, but it is worth it. The performances are just as strong as the other live release, and of course there are a few added surprises.
You can take your pick as to what is the best addition to the line-up, and everyone will have their own opinion. On “Born to Raise Hell” the band are joined by Doro Pesch and Whitfield Crane. While Doro’s appearance could be construed as ‘convenient’, Whitfield of course sang on the version of this song that was released on the soundtrack of the movie Airheads alongside Ice T. Nothing much to write home about here to be honest. Slightly more interesting is the appearance of two songs on “Killed by Death”, with Todd Campbell – son of Phil – and Paul Inder – son of Lemmy – appearing on stage and joining in on guitars and some vocals. This was a nice moment for all involved. For me the best moment is the re-appearance of “Fast” Eddie Clarke, who comes on stage and struts his stuff on “The Chase is Better Than the Catch” as well as the closing “Overkill”. Hearing Clarke play his classic solo in “Overkill” again is worth listening to this album by itself. However, along with those that have already appeared coming back for the final song, it also includes Ace from Skunk Anansie and the legendary Brian May from Queen also coming out and adding their guitars to the mix, making it a real celebration to complete the night.

While the album of this gig is terrific, I recommend trying to find a copy of 25 & Alive: Boneshaker if you can, which is the video of the gig. It is exactly the same as this CD but being able to see the band playing it does add to the experience.

Rating: “We are Motörhead… and we’re here to clean your clock”. 5/5

986. Metallica / St. Anger. 2003. 1.5/5

My fondest memory of this album was its release, when Utopia Records in Sydney had a midnight opening to be the first place in the world to sell the new album. My circle of friends travelled up, drank beer in a bar for 6 hours beforehand, then went in with a few hundred others, getting other material and then waiting in line to pay for those and collect a copy of the album, all the while listening to it over the store’s stereo. One of my mates enquired as to what was the rubbish they were playing, and when he was informed it was Metallica’s new album, the reason we were there, he used some language and decreed he would not be wasting his money on this abomination. As it turned out we were pretty much at the end of the line, such that when we reached the counter they had sold out of the album we had come for. Some of us were furious. I just laughed. An evening well spent, especially when I walked into K-Mart three days later and got the album for $13 less than I would have paid.

In the same way as we knew how the recording of the Metallica album went down because it was filmed and released, we have the same here with St. Anger because of the documentary “Some Kind of Monster”. So we know there was anguish when Jason left the band before writing and recording. We know there was anguish when James went into rehab. We know there was pain and anguish when he could only be in the studio for four hours a day as a part of his rehab. It’s a wonder they got anything coherent recorded at all. Certainly the process throughout was flawed. All I know is that it was better than Jason’s new band Echobrain’s album.
But how much better? The putrid taste of Load and Reload still hung in the mouth, and all we had was a hope that the band also realised they had been a mistake and that we would gain something that was a lot closer to the material we wanted. Well. We didn’t. We got something that was almost completely unexpected and unreconciled. We got an album that was what they called as ‘stripped down’. The problem was, it was stripped of everything. The band went from being produced to overkill to barely needing a producer at all. From all reports, they wanted the album to sound like it was recorded in a garage. Well, challenge completed, because that’s exactly what it sounds like. But why the amateur hour? It defies all logic. But looking at the album, logic seems to have gone out the window. For example, let’s look at the following:
1. Lars’ drum kit and drum sound. In the good old days, Lars had the greatest drum kit, and played it as the greatest drummer in the world. His drum sound was what drummers aspired for. Now, he has a three piece kit, and the sound of the kit is deplorable. Well to be accurate, the snare. The snare sound, apparently produced by turning off the mic to it during recording, is deplorable. And what is worse, it is there for the whole bloody album. No matter how I am feeling about the album, I just keep coming back to that bloody snare. It sounds AWFUL!! It detracts from every damn song on the album. Garage bands all over the world try to find any way possible to eradicate this snare sound from their dodgy four track recordings in order to have it sound like the Metallica drum sound on their albums from the 1980’s, and yet Lars goes out and embraces this amateurish sound. It is the single biggest problem with this album. Once you add to this that a seven year old could play the drums as written and recorded on this album and you have to wonder exactly what has happened to the man who was once idolised by every drummer in the world.
2. James vocals. Having crooned his way through the 1990’s having had to transform the way he sang due to blowing out his voice, he comes in here on St. Anger and seems to move into a scream and yell combination that might indicate he has had enough of that. The problem is, it comes across as forced. No one expects him to be able to sing like he did when he was 19 years old, but the middle ground between that and what he had been doing is not this. Thankfully he found it later, but for the most part his vocals on this album are again like a kid in a garage band, one who knows he can’t sing great but he will overcome it with attitude. Mind you, with that godawful drum sound to have to sing over perhaps this was the only way he could get heard over the din.
3. No Kirk solos. This was always a major, major problem for a band that has a lead guitarist in it, and one of the best at that. Just because the current mood of nu-metal when this was recorded had a directive that meant all the guitars had to mesh into one doesn’t mean you have to follow! All it did was forever tie this album to this time in metal history, one that will never be fondly remembered, and also completely waste one member of your band from not only expressing himself but from adding his own flavour to the songs and the album as a whole. Just really poor thought processes there.
4. Bob Rock on bass. He’s a competent player, and in general ever since Cliff Burton passed Metallica has tried to hide the bass on their albums anyway, but the individuality of a band bass player is basically also missing here.
On top of this, because of the way it is recorded with just Lars and James being relevant and heard and because of the length of the songs that never change throughout, this album feels like one long painful song. Yes, if you walked past a garage and heard a band jamming in there for an hour and a half straight, it would probably sound just like this. That is a long time for little variation, and to have to put up with listening to that fucking snare.

There are bits and pieces of songs that I like on this, but really no songs in total that I enjoy from start to finish. I tried to like it, if for no other reason than I thought the band was trying to make amends for their previous dive for the depths, but on reflection this actually washes up to be worse than those, for those reasons stated above. Again, there is every probability that if I was of a different generation I would have embraced this thoroughly because other generations grew up with nu metal and enjoyed it. That’s not me though, and though a couple of these songs do sound better in a live environment, overall this is a major disappointment.

Rating: “I’m madly in anger with you”. Yes, I’m talking to you Lars! 1.5/5

830. Masterplan / Masterplan. 2003. 5/5

Though I've never really understood what happened, I absolutely loved The Dark Ride when it was released, and thought it was a high water mark in the reinvigorated career of Helloween. Then, following the tour to promote the album, it came to pass that guitarist Roland Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch were moved on from the band. Various reports (whether true or not) intimated that Grapow and Kusch wanted to move in a heavier direction, whereas the other members did not wish to be so dark and heavy. Whatever the reason, it came as somewhat of a shock. Better news came when these two announced they would form a new band, and would continue onwards with their music. The addition of former Ark vocalist Jorn Lande added star quality and power to the new band, and the anticipation to their first release was high.

The first time I heard this album, it was like magic. There have been a number of albums that I have known from the first time I put them on that I would always love them, and for me this was probably the most memorable of them. When I finally managed to track down and buy this album, I was in awe of what I heard. It was beyond anything I imagined it could have been. The guitars, the drums, the keyboards, the vocals, the lyrics. Everything was just perfect. It extended from what Helloween and Gamma Ray had been doing, not improving it but taking that as the lead to find the right direction in which to head. The song writing and playing of both Roland and Uli was always likely to be excellent given their past record with Helloween, but without a vocalist of stature in which to bring out the best in the music it was always going to be the difference between a solid outing and a brilliant outing. Jorn is that vocalist, and his performance on this album and also on the follow up is the finest of his career, and really slams the exclamation point on this album.
I'll admit that I don't know for sure, nor have I heard anything from anyone within the people involved, but the lyrics from most of the songs seem to me to directly relate to the separation of the two members from their previous band. It could well have provided the bulk of the material lyric-wise, depending on how you interpret them. Like I said I have nothing to back that up so I could be completely off the mark, but when I read the following lyrics from the album, I'm not sure that it can be anything else:
"I'll never give up - never give in, Won't stop believing cause I'm gonna win, Sing with my soul before I get old, Cause there may be no tomorrow"
"Enlighten me, I wanna see, how this could be the age of reason, won't you tell me, can't you tell me, cause I need to know"
"We held up the metal torch and they tried to take the flame, we've been running against the wall but we always overcame, no sense no reason, we are the ones you love to hat"
"Try to mend your broken wings, Why should we live within a haze"
There are plenty more examples, but again they are all open to interpretation.

From the very beginning, this is an album that highlights the very best that power metal can be. While the keyboards are prominent through the songs, they do not dominate. That is left to the strongest triumvirate within the band - Uli's brilliant drumming, Roland's fantastic guitaring and Jorn's amazing vocals. The opening three tracks are just brilliant. The epic opening track "Spirit Never Dies" bursts through the speakers in a cacophony of speed, guitar, keys and drums, before the silky vocals of Jorn enter the fray. The power of the chorus is just fantastic, and the emotive building to the heavy ending tops off an amazing opening track. This then flows straight into the first single from the album "Enlighten Me", which mirrors the intensity and heavy guitar and drumming from the first track, while reinforcing through its chorus the overflow of feeling some members of this band still felt for certain sections of other bands. Linking directly through the lyrics once again is "Kind Hearted Light", which concludes the Trilogy of musical moments which derive their existence from previous fallings out. It would be a difficult task to find three opening songs on an album that would be better than those found here - the equal yes, but not better.
"Crystal Night" is a heavier song both in riff and with Jorn's vocals, with impact drum beat and guitar riff throughout the majority of the song to emphasise each part. Following this, as an offset, listen to the harmony from Jorn through the bridge of "Soulburn", leading from the heartfelt musings of each verse and into the short chorus. The vocals here are stunning, and the atmosphere created throughout this song is extraordinary, for which the keyboards play a major part. This is followed up by the lighter, brighter and slightly faster "Heroes", which features former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske on dual vocals. Kiske had apparently been approached initially to be the lead singer of the band in its development, something he declined on the basis of his continued dislike of heavy metal. Kiske adds a breeziness to this track which makes it wonderfully enjoyable, but it is also obvious that could not have sung on this album and done the same brilliant job as Jorn does. It just wouldn't have worked as well as it does, but on this track both singers are great. The faster pace continues on into "Sail On", with double kick and soaring vocals pushing the track on through to the great solo section.
"Into the Light" is perhaps the most derivative of the tracks on the album. It is much slower, and bases itself around Jorn's mournful vocal performance and guitar wailing. I would say it is the least successful track on the album, but then it bursts by way of Roland's solo guitar riff into the brilliant "Crawling From Hell", which blitzes along with fast guitar riff and double kick from Uli, and Jorn's brilliant harmonic vocals through the bridge again. It is one of my favourite tracks on the album. This feeds into "Bleeding Eyes" with its very middle-eastern music style dominated by the atmospheric keyboards and Jorn's amazing vocal range again.
This is as fine a debut album as could ever have been produced. The song writing is superb, and its strength is what builds such a brilliant foundation for the entire album. It lays the platform for each of the band members to then do what they do best, and make their own mark on the album. Certainly Uli's drumming does that as well. I had been a fan of his since his days in Gamma Ray and then Helloween, but his drumming here is so powerful and so proficient. He can play that strong 2/4 timing on snare and toms but be playing an almost completely different beat on the double kick at his feet. When the songs demand it, his double time kick with frills and trills take what would be just an average quiet piece in a song to become his own - listen to the first verse of "King Hearted Light" to hear what I mean. Superb. He doesn't get over-technical in a progressive drumming way, because you can hear him keeping that solid thumping time throughout each song, but he also adds his own tricks along the way that make it so much more special. He is a gem. Roland's guitaring does the same in effect. Because the writing is so good, and the rhythm section is so solid (and Roland played the majority of the bass guitar on this album before they hired anyone), he can not only lay his rhythm guitar tracks down, but allow himself his freedom in the solo sections to really showcase his talents. While he was able to do this to a certain extent during his Helloween days, here he has a fuller reign as one of the senior members of the writing group and band, and it really shows. Backing all of this up is the unbelievable job done by Jorn on vocals. They are not only sensational, they convey the emotion of a track when needed, enhancing the music and lyrics around him in his voice. He can reach those high notes when he needs to, as his range is excellent, but it is his ability to bring out the emotions of the song that help to make this album what it is. He can be light, dark, heavy or thoughtful, all without compromising the mood of the song - in fact only illuminating it.

For me this is one of the best albums of the new millennium. It ticks every box and is a standout in an era when metal was expanding in some markets and contracting in others. While many bands and fans were gravitating towards a more aggressive, tuned down growling style of metal, this album at the time proved to me why the ability to be able to sing melodically, and play instruments in a traditional melodic heavy way was still more important to me than anything else.

Rating: I know what it means to burn, that's how I begin to learn.  5/5

828. Dream Theater / Official Bootleg: Covers Series: Master of Puppets. 2003. 4/5

When Dream Theater set up their Ytse Records site to release their own soundboard recordings of studio outtakes, instrumentals and rare live performances, I was looking forward to the material that would be available. The first release I went for was this one. Back in 2002, I had been able to get my hands on the bootleg recording of this gig, Master of Metallica, the review of which can be found at that link. This though was the band's soundboard recording of that performance, which I was interested in hearing.

This gives a different perspective of that night from the bootleg recording. While the audience bootleg has a full interpretation of the audience reaction on the night, this album barely has the audience in it at all, with only minimal noise being able to be picked up by the microphones being used to record the band. While that's fine, it does tend to detract from the atmosphere of the night and therefore the album. But that's just a small thing.
What this album does showcase is the musicianship of the band. This gives a clear indication of the part played by Jordan Rudess as the second 'guitarist' being played on his keyboards. As can be expected, in some places it comes across a little flat, but in some places, such as through "Orion" it melds in seamlessly with the song and sounds terrific. There is also often criticism of James LaBrie's vocals, but I still think he does a sterling job. No doubt John Petrucci is the star, while John Myung's bass work is great as always, especially on an album where Cliff Burton's bass was so prominent.

This is an excellent recording of a significant moment in the history of the band, and beyond. It was one of the first real moments where a band had played an album from start to finish in a live setting (though Dream Theater had done so with Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory, and even here it wasn't even their album). It was something that, from this moment on, happened quite a bit in the metal community over the next decade, and of course was not the last time that Dream Theater did so in tribute to their own influences.

Rating:  Slashing through the boundaries, lunacy has found me.  4/5

802. Queensrÿche / Tribe. 2003. 2/5

After an artistic and creative break and a long touring schedule, Queensrÿche returned to the studio to write and record their new album entitled Tribe. And in a way, the tribe was (almost) back together, with the return of Chris DeGarmo and the promise of a band putting aside any differences they may have had and getting back to what made them the band they once had been. Of course, as with many stories like this, the ending isn't quite a perfect as the initial picture is painted.

The fact that Chris DeGarmo had made a return was highly publicised and pushed when this album was released. In fact, it was what made me go out and buy it, having given the previous album Q2K a wide berth to that point of time. Of course, by the time the album was released, DeGarmo had already left the band again, apparently during the writing and recording process over 'differences of opinion' with Geoff Tate. That was somewhat disappointing, but I was encouraged enough to see if this album could salvage something from the wreck that Queensrÿche had become over recent years.
The long and the short of it is that it could be worse, but it could also be a lot better. In keeping with recent releases, there is little to none of the progressive metal element that drew people like me into becoming fans of the band in its initial stages, and while there are some places where some experimentation is done, and (thankfully) none of the sax and cello that had been prominent on other albums, the band has continued along in this alternative sound that was dead in some places, and where it was alive it was being done so much better by other bands.
"Losing Myself" is probably the most accessible song on the album. It has an better up-tempo feel to it, and though it feels commercially drifting I can still listen to it without completely cringing. "Desert Dance" moves along similar lines, with the end of the song almost imitating a hard core chant, yet still on an alternative level. It's not bad but still a little strange. Things fall apart a little from here. "Falling Behind" reminds me (terribly) of the songs that are contained on Helloween's abysmal Chameleon album, surely one of the harshest things someone could say about a song. "Great Divide" drags itself out of this complete mediocrity, but really only enough to get a nostril above the waterline. "Rhythm of Hope" follows the same bloodline, desperately deprived of some go-forward, but instead seems to drift along in an aimless circle. "Tribe" tries to rectify this, but on such a small scale it hardly feels worth it. The drift continues, through "Blood", to "The Art of Life" and finally into "Doing Fine". It's like being on a slow moving train, there is nothing to get you going, and all you are doing is filling in time until you reach your destination, with no way to get off.

Who can know how much the writing and recording of this album was disrupted by the reappearance, then disappearance, of DeGarmo. Who knows if the music direction of the album, which fluctuates within, was severely distorted through all of this, whether it was still maintain despite the changes. Only those in the band will truly know. Still, everyone has dipped their toe in if you go by the credits to the songs, which means that either everyone was in agreement with the direction, or the fluctuations here occur depending on who was involved on each song. What eventually comes out of this is that the trademark Queensrÿche guitars are pretty much non-existent again on this album, and the lethargic speed the majority of the songs have fallen into does nothing to inspire any love or joy of the album. After four studio albums in succession that I could barely bring myself to listen to again, it was time to start questioning whether this was ever going to change.

Rating:  We reach out for the sky, and we're never coming down.  2/5

780. Sonata Arctica / Winterheart's Guild. 2003. 2.5/5

Sonata Arctica are a band I struggle with constantly. I love the band, yet have trouble loving their albums. This is no exception to that rule. What I certainly do love about this album is that it starts by smashing you in the face with power metal's heart, keyboards and guitars blazing against that double kick drums. There's no knocking on the door and waiting for it to be answered, they just bash the door down and blast you from second one. If only that lasted for more than the first sixty seconds I would be a happier man.

As it turns out, "Abandoned, Pleased, Brainwashed, Exploited" doesn't quite live up to its introduction. The same could be said for "Gravenimage" which like the opening song has moments where you think 'yeah, this is terrific!' blended with moments when you think 'wow, this is very average' - something you might expect to find over the course of an entire album, but finding it within the context of one song really is something, and not a positive either. Better is "The Cage", which starts off with one of those blinding keyboard extrapolations, and double kick which doesn't dissipate for the whole four and a half minutes of the song, combined with great vocals and a couple of melodies. "Silver Tongue" isn't as fast or blinding, but still combines the excellent guitar to keyboard solo in the middle.
You know what to expect with Sonata Arctica, and that includes the power ballad, the bane of my existence. These ones are heavy hitters, so maudlin and slow and... well... awful!... that it gives me a headache just thinking about them. "The Misery"  holds up to its title well, it makes me completely miserable to even have to listen to it again. Once again, as I must have said a hundred times in reviews, I know there are people out there who love these kind of songs, and no I am not one of them, and yes I should know what to expect from these albums, and yes I should either not listen to them or skip those songs or stop listening to this band. I agree with all those things. As I have no doubt already said with this band, I feel there is so much potential in Sonata Arctica, its just that they choose to make their music in a different direction from what I would like to hear. Which is where my conflict arises.
"Victoria's Secret" and "Broken" were both singles from the album, and both are the better songs to be found here. Faster, great double kick, good solos from both guitars and keyboards, and wonderful vocals from Tony Kakko highlight why these are where my love of Sonata Arctica lies. I love the melding from "Victoria's Secret" straight into "Champagne Bath" as well, another of the good songs found here with all of the right elements. The solo duel between keyboards and guitars here is something that should happen a lot more. The unusual high tinkling keyboards in the middle of the song though are something that should not happen more. This then jumps into "Broken", and thus completes the triumvirate that is the best part of the album for me.
"The Ruins of My Life" falls into a similar category as the first half of the album. Parts of the song are tremendous, but start and end are confusing, completely the opposite to the heart of the song that feels so much more like it should be. The album closes with "Draw Me", which is, to be honest, terrible. Why finish an album with a soppy, weak song like this? It simply destroys the good work done earlier.

This album could easily have ranked much higher with me if only a couple of things had been changed or just left out completely. The awful songs - "The Misery" and "Draw Me" - completely overshadow the good songs - "The Cage" and "Silver Tongue". It is such a shame to have this come down to rating an album. If those two songs are not hear, I think this rates a full star, or perhaps even a start and a half, higher than what I have given it. That is how much I think those two songs affect this album. On the other side of the coin, this rating is probably very harsh because of this, and the fact that there is some very strong material here, stuff that is well worth listening to.

Rating:  You will remember the day you crossed my path.  2.5/5

Listen to full album here

776. Metallica / 11-6-2003 3rd Show Le Trabendo [Bootleg]. 4/5

A week after the worldwide release of their album St Anger, Metallica embarked on an inventive promotion ploy, playing three gigs on the same day in three separate locations in Paris, France at well known venues. Each gig lasted an hour before packing up and heading for the next gig.
This bootleg is from the third and final gig, played at Le Trabendo. Again, as with the La Boule Noire gig, the recording is good and surprisingly clear for an audience recording, though the tape and microphone do seem to pick up a bit of squelching or feedback, which would bring it back to be a B recording.

The set list again incorporates a mix of songs, which perhaps harps closer to the popular 'modern' era than the previous two gigs. Having started off with "Blackened" they crash into "Fuel" for the first time on the day, which is also probably their hardest song in recent aeons. This is then followed by two further songs from ...And Justice for All, being the brilliant "Harvester of Sorrow" and then "One". Was it a deliberate ploy to have three of the first four songs from that album?
The chosen piece from St. Anger for this gig is the title track, which again shows it's positives and negatives. The song still starts off terrifically, led by James' trademark intro of "Riff!" But once you get to the clear guitar, the high vocals overlaying that, and the weak-arse backing vocals of Rob and Kirk, the song is destroyed. Yikes.
So how do you recover from that? Well, you bring out the big guns, with "Enter Sandman" for the first time on the day, and that old staple of brilliance, "Master of Puppets". After a short drink, the band returns to complete their day with thrash, that being "Creeping Death" and "Hit the Lights".

This is another good bootleg, and together with the first two boots, it covers an interesting day in the history of Metallica. They are all worth a listen, if only to hear where the band was at the beginning of the Rob Trujillo era, and how they have progressed or fallen in your own eyes since.

Rating:  With all our screaming, we are gonna rip right through your brain  4/5

775. Metallica / 11-6-2003 2nd Show Bataclan [Bootleg]. 4/5

A week after the worldwide release of their album St. Anger, Metallica embarked on an inventive promotion ploy, playing three gigs on the same day in three separate locations in Paris, France at well known venues. Each gig lasted an hour before packing up and heading for the next gig.
This bootleg is from the second gig, played at Paris Bataclan. However, the audience bootleg sound is not as good as on the first gig, certainly it is a bit muddier and could probably be best rated as B- in this regard.

This second gig has a brilliant set list, and the high energy set is appreciated by the crowd in attendance. Once again, it is great to hear a bootleg that not only has a good recording of the band and each instrument, but also takes in the crowd's involvement, making you feel as though you are a part of it. Having started off with "The Four Horsemen", there is a brilliant performance of "Leper Messiah", driven along by the crowd's raucous singing. "Leper Messiah" is one of my favourite Metallica songs, and this version here is a cracker. This is followed by another of the band's thrash level songs, "No Remorse", with more brilliant crowd involvement, and the band appears to be enjoying it too. Too fast for you? Well, next comes "Fade to Black", which doesn't allow the crowd to let up for much more than a few seconds.

James then asks the crowd if they have St. Anger. General agreement ensues. Then he asks "who likes it?", and the crowd gets even louder. I wonder how many of those in that crowd that day would still say the same about that album now? Anyway, here they play the title track from the album, which much like most of the songs they played live from that album never really seem to come across as easily and enjoyable as the other songs in the set list. Only early days for those songs being played live I guess, and no doubt they improved a great deal, but "St. Anger" feels forced here. James introduces the band following this, with a huge reaction from the crowd on Rob Trujillo's introduction, as these were some of his first gigs having joined the band. They then charge back up again with a rollicking version of "Ride the Lightning", followed by a fingers-flying "Blackened", before an 'encore' of old favourite "Seek & Destroy" and "Damage Inc."

Once again, this is a brilliant bootleg, with a brilliant set list and a great balance between the band and the crowd.

Rating:  Honesty is my only excuse  4/5.

"Leper Messiah" at Bataclan

774. Metallica / 11-6-2003 1st Show La Boule Noire [Bootleg]. 4/5

A week after the worldwide release of their album St. Anger, Metallica embarked on an inventive promotion ploy, playing three gigs on the same day in three separate locations in Paris, France at well known venues. Each gig lasted an hour before packing up and heading for the next gig.
This bootleg is from the first gig, played at La Boule Noire. The recording is quite good for an audience recording, best rated as B+ in this regard. And the crowd really gets into it, which always makes a bootleg sound better when you can hear their enthusiasm, and cheering, and their singing along with the words.

The set list and performance is excellent. Mixing up a selection of great early hits, the only song to come from the new album is "Frantic", which frankly still comes across rather tinny here. It is also noticeable that Lars is using a very skinny kit, because there are a lot of things in these songs sound less full than they should be. No doubt the moving of gear quickly would have been behind it, but that's not to say it couldn't have been improved.
Rousing versions of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Master of Puppets" are followed by the crowd favourites "Harvester of Sorrow" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", with the crowd being led enthusiastically in chorus by James. St. Anger's "Frantic" follows along with "Sad But True", before a trio of old school heavy hitters in "Battery", "Creeping Death" and "Motorbreath" round out the set in style.

The winners here are the generally pre-1988 set list as well as the crowd involvement. It lifts your enthusiasm while you listen along, and is the hallmark of all of the best bootlegs - hearing the crowd, but not having the two or three near where it is being recorded from dominating in conversation through the gig. Well done recorder!

Rating:  It is... going to... take your breath away!  4/5

Full bootleg

660. DragonForce / Valley of the Damned. 2003. 3/5

DragonForce came out fast and furious on their debut opus, something that not only surprised, but amazed a lot of people.
Mixing an explosive concoction of guitars blazing along at 200 miles per hour, driven by double kick drums which are almost too perfectly in time at some points to believe that machinery of some kind hasn't been used, Valley of the Damned jump started the speed/power metal art form once again in the UK, in a marketplace where the genre had been dominated by Europeans.
This is a real power metal frenzy, with the speed of the songs complemented by the rising keyboards that also become prominent in the mix, and the hitch pitched vocals soaring above all and sundry. All of the songs stretch from five and half minutes out to seven and a half minutes, with barely a moment to catch your breath.
The opening track "Valley of the Damned" is a stalwart, combining everything immediately into a package that defined what DragonForce the band could offer. This is followed by "Black Fire" and "Black Winter Night" which also fly along.
"Starfire" is the power ballad of the album, where everything is slowed right down to the point of torture. It's just a little beyond belief that every other song on this album is belting along like a steam train, and then the brakes are yanked on for one song smack bang in the middle of the song list. It never ceases to amaze me how bands or producers or record companies think that this is a good move.
Fortunately order is restored by the excellent "Disciples of Babylon" and "Revelations". There is an obvious similarity to all of these songs. Certainly if you just throw on the album and play it without too much thought you could sometimes be forgiven for thinking that they are all meshed into one another. However, once you are comfortable with the album, you can easily pick between the changes and nuances of each song.

In many ways, DragonForce polarise the metal community. While many have jumped on board the wagon, others believe this is less a metal album than a conglomerate of guitars and drums and keys and vocals thrown at you out of the speakers in a mass of noise. Some would suggest that is all metal music is in the first place. I believe Valley of the Damned is an acquired taste, and not one that you will instantly come to enjoy. While I think that future albums were unable to distinguish themselves individually, and that they even became a parody of themselves, this debut album still has lots to offer the first time listener.

610. Hughes Turner Project / 2. 2003. 2/5

After an interesting and listenable debut for this pairing and their band, and then the live album Live in Tokyo that really showcased their quality, this is their follow up, one that would attempt to prove their were not a one trick concept.

Now, as long as you are a fan of AOR and/or soft rock music, I think you'll find what you are looking for here. As someone who much prefers the heavier style of music, I found this rather dull, quite repetitive and just not in my taste. Apart from perhaps two songs, Glenn Hughes barely uses that amazing vocal range of his, preferring to just settle for a single tune melody. Joe Lynn Turner does much the same. The music itself is very much looking to be closer to the style of bands like Foreigner than the bands that I love them from, like Deep Purple and Rainbow. Another criticism I have is that not only do the songs not really grab hold of you, they are far too long in length, which does not help when you just aren't enjoying them. If they wre 3-4 minnutes songs, maybe you could get past them. When they are 5-6 minutes long, it's just too much.

This album was really aimed at a certain audience, and despite my love and appreciation of both these men and their work, and the fact that their band once again does an excellent job, this album does almost nothing for me.
Of course, you won't know what you think of it until you hear it.

492. Therapy? / High Anxiety. 2003. 3.5/5

I guess because I always have such high hopes for each new Therapy? album, I am more often than not wrought with disappointment when they finally come along. This all stems of course from the absolute magnificence of Troublegum and what that album means to me.

Here though is High Anxiety which has all the elements that could make it a superb album, but which fails to put them all together in the right way to achieve this. The good songs here are pearlers - the opening blitz of "Hey Satan - You Rock" which delivers musically and lyrically in a way only Andy Cairns can. This is followed by the gutteral "Who Knows" which continues to push the hardcore element. All of the initial tracks stand alone.
"If It Kills Me", the single from the album, is the stand out track, and is the perfect example of the best of Therapy? Everytime I hear this song I wonder how this band has not become bigger throughout the world.
The second half of the album tails off, and fails to ignite the passion that the first half of the album does. This is a bit disappointing, because there feels like there is something really good building until it gets to that point. Then, for some reason, it just drifts away and it is easy to lose interest.

And that is really the problem. So much potential, totally unrealised. I'm sure it isn't easy, but you can't help wondering sometimes whether they would be better off just releasing six song EPs, because for the most part it appears that that is as many good songs as they can put together at one time. Having said that, this remains one of their better efforts.

Rating: Could have been something really special. 3.5/5

375. Evanescence / Fallen. 2003. 2/5

I can truly say that I got this album purely on a whim. The two singles, “Going Under” and “Bring Me To Life” had been played incessantly on the radio at work when they were first released, and they had gotten in my head a little. So I thought I had better check out the rest of the album to see how it held up.
I can’t say that I found anything else on there that I would listen to with any sort of enjoyment, apart from perhaps “My Last Breath”. Amy Lee has a good voice, but I think there is only so much of it that I can take in one sitting.

Though not to my particular taste overall, no doubt there are people out there who enjoy it. But to me it is a bit like Bon Jovi’s Crush – one or two great songs, and a whole lotta filler.

Rating: Reasonable without being outstanding. 2/5.

371. Godsmack / Faceless. 2003. 2.5/5

Godsmack are a band that I tracked down after their excellent tribute to Judas Priest on the VH1 Rock Honours a couple of years ago. They also did a great cover of Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf” on a tribute album some years ago. Sometimes there is always a problem that the band might have too much to live up to when you have heard them pull of classic covers. This may well be a case in point.

Overall the album is good enough. It isn’t special, and won’t make any “Great Albums Of All Time” lists, but the heart is there. The most noticeable thing is that most of the songs are very similar. Both the music and the vocals seem to retain the same tone throughout the album. Trying to listen to an album that is so similar in structure eventually will bore the living daylights out of you.
To me, Godsmack appear to be somewhat of a combination of the sound of bands like Therapy? and Pearl Jam, but without the angst and emotion in the vocals that both those bands have with their vocalists, and certainly not the intensity in the music that I believe Therapy? have. Perhaps they were trying a little hard to be someone else rather than being their own band. That might be a harsh call, but that’s what it sounds like to me on constant listens.

There’s no doubt the lyrics are trying to evoke an emotional response. I just don’t think that, on this occasion, it works for them.

Rating: Despite the effort, they miss the mark. 2.5/5

366. Trivium / Ember To Inferno. 2003. 2/5

Like everything Trivium has done, the majority of people really love it, or really hate it. For some reason I have sat on the fence with all three of their albums. Sure, I have made my point that the vocals that the group employ are not my cup of tea. Funny thing is, with clear vocals there would be no power in the music, which means there is something lacking there. But with guttural screaming, I find it difficult to enjoy the songs. So there is something lacking there.

Ember To Inferno, the group’s first album, has similar problems to the other two albums. And it’s not that I really hate the album – but I don’t love it either. There are just too many obstacles set up that can’t allow me to appreciate it like many people do. Can I listen to it? Sure, if someone puts on the album, I can get through it without shrieking. But so help me if they decide to play it again!

Rating: Still sitting on the fence somewhat I guess… 2/5

317. Black Label Society / The Blessed Hellride. 2003. 3.5/5

I guess I’ve always had overly high expectations of this album. Following up the previous three albums Black Label Society had done, it had a bit to live up to. In places, it does so admirably. In others, it doesn’t quite gel.
Now, there is nothing wrong with doing the odd slow song, if it is done right and in the right company. Book Of Shadows for instance is excellently done. And I don’t want to suggest that songs on here such as “The Blessed Hellride” and “Dead Meadow” aren’t fine, but they are in my opinion dead boring, and don’t enhance the album as a whole. No doubt many will disagree with me.
I just don’t see the point of doing songs like “Stoned and Drunk” and the absolutely brilliant “Stillborn” (with Ozzy Osbourne also lending a hand on vocals) on an album if you are going to go against the mood and do these other songs in the same company. Perhaps I just missed the point, but I think it was a mistake.

The potential for this album is still in the shrinkwrap. But I can’t deny that there are some great tunes here that generally make up for the one or two lapses.

Rating: Not quite up to where it could have been. 3.5/5

297. Arch Enemy / Anthems of Rebellion. 2003. 3/5.

I have only recently come into Arch Enemy, and this is the first album I have given a good listen to apart from their most recent release, Rise Of The Tyrant.
This being said, I must make it clear that the growling style of vocals is not at the top of my list. Some I can handle, others I can’t. Here, Angela Gossow is bearable.

What is outstanding is the musicianship. Great guitars and riffs are what makes this album. In fact, every time I have put this album on and heard the music, I still expect a completely different style of vocals to come out. However, as I said, great riffs, good solos and harmonies.

This is a good album. Fans of Arch Enemy will love it. Non-fans will probably despise it. My prejudices about the vocals hold my rating back, but that is only my individual taste.

Favourites for me include “We Will Rise”, “Dead Eyes See No Future”, “Marching On A Dead End Road” and “Despicable Heroes”.

Rating: Overall, an album I could put on occasionally, but not constantly. 3/5.

274. Stratovarius / Elements Part 2. 2003. 2/5.

Given that Part 1 was somewhat shrouded in the shadow of Symphony X's Odyssey, I bought this hoping it could redeem what I thought were the weaknesses of the first release. This didn't become the case.

By this stage of their career, it felt to me that Stratovarius were just repeating themselves. It would be nice if I could say that was a good thing, but really, everything they release has the same feel to it, and I get to the stage that I don't know which album I am listening to. Elements Part 2 in particular does this to me. I was listening to a lot of my music on random the other day, and I could pick one of the songs as Stratovarius immediately, but just could not pick the album. As it turned out, it was off this one.

Having your own style is what keeps every band different from all the other bands out there. Not being able to mix it up with your style is a death sentence.

Rating: Unable to inspire me whatsoever. 2/5.

273. Stratovarius / Elements Part 1. 2003. 3/5.

This album tries hard to lift Stratovarius into the higher echelons of power metaldom, and though it has a lot right with it, unfortunately it doesn't quite make it.

It starts off well, with Eagleheart and Soul Of A Vagabond getting the album off on the right foot. Then, once again, they seem to lose their way a little bit.
No doubt this is their style, and this is the way they like it, and that is fine, but it really isn't to my taste. I certainly don't expect them to pander to what I like, but it gets a little disappointing when you hear albums that, time and time again begin really well, and then they do not take full advantage of that.

Given that, this is still a solid effort. I can't go without explaining that I acquired this album at the same time as Symphony X's Odyssey, and I always find myself comparing the two. That is a little unfair on it, too.

Rating : Another for the middle of the roaders. 3/5.