417. Metallica / Fuel [Single] [Disc 3]. 1998. 4.5/5

Third part of the three-disc single set.

Both of the live versions of "Fuel" and "Until It Sleeps" sound great, while the demo version of "Fuel", as with all demo versions, are good to hear once or twice, and then not again.

Rating: Good extras again. 4.5/5

416. Metallica / Fuel [Single] [Disc 2]. 1998. 4.5/5

Disc two of the three disc single release.

The two live versions of "Wherever I May Roam" and "One" are as good as ever, but of course we've heard them before on the Live Shit: Binge and Purge release. Could have given us some newer stuff that's a bit rarer - but of course there are THREE versions of this single!!!

Rating: Still good stuff. 4.5/5

415. Metallica / Fuel [Single] [Disc 1]. 1998. 3/5

First disc of a three-disc single release, to enable some money grabbing, no doubt. The fact is, I wouldn't have bought them except I got all three for less than the price of one cost originally, second hand.

Apart from the actual single here (which is probably the only decent song that they offered on the abysmal Reload), we have live versions of "Sad But True" and "Nothing Else Matters". OK, they are performed well, but we've heard these songs live before. Did they have nothing else they could have put out there?!!

Rating: Quite honestly, a boring release. 3/5

414. Alice Cooper / From The Inside. 1978. 3/5

Alice Cooper is one of the masters of writing albums with entire concepts locked into the songs. His track record in this respective is almost unparalleled. So, with From The Inside Alice has done it again. Paired with Bernie Taupin, who was co-responsible for so many of Elton John's greatest hits, Alice produced an album that was inspired by his own stay in a sanitarium to deal with his alcoholism.The characters in each of the songs are no doubt inspired by those that he met within the walls of that institution.

So, about the music. OK, it's not as cutting edge as some of his previous work. In some ways it is some of his more mainstream stuff. Whether that was the feel he was looking for, or was the natural influence of co-writer Taupin, who can tell. Overall though, the songs don't have quite the hard feel of his best work from the 1970's. The songs skip along well, and their stories as always are funny and interesting.
Best for me would include "From the Inside", "Wish I Were Born In Beverly Hills", "Serious" and "Inmates (We're All Crazy)"

Rating: Worth a listen if only for Alice's journey through one of his demons. 3/5.

413. Death Angel / Frolic Through The Park. 1988. 3/5

Death Angel, pretty much all minors when they recorded and released their first album “The Ultra-Violence", as is recorded for posterity on an episode in Season 3 of this podcast, had enjoyed an enormous and swift rise to the top of the thrash metal tree in regards to fame and popularity. The band had gone on tours supporting bands such as Exodus and Voivod and the exposure brought them greater and more widespread attention than they had ever had before.
The band returned to the studio in March 1988 to record their follow up sophomore album. What has been interesting in retrospect is the band’s thoughts on what they produced, and its part of the band’s legacy. Most of the members of the band, but especially Mark Osegueda and Rob Cavestany have been highly critical of the album, with their problems generally stemming from the sound and production. In the band's documentary A Thrashumentuary, Cavestany referred to Frolic Through the Park as both their "bastard album" and an "odd album". This perhaps explains somewhat why the band has rarely performed the majority of the album's songs live since their initial disbandment in 1991. There is no doubt that it had to have been a rushed 12 months that preceded the writing and recording of the album, especially for a new band on the rise. But these were the days when an album a year was expected by record companies, so the fact that it has been suggested that the album was not properly produced in the studio isn’t that irregular. What also came from these sessions was a tinkering with the sound of the songs from the first album. Whereas that album can be classified as thrash metal from start to finish, that is not generally the case here on “Frolic Through the Park”, where the songs do have a distinct difference throughout, and with other influences coming into their style, there are a couple of surprises to be found.

Released barely a year after their debut, “Frolic Through the Park” is an album that polarises Death Angel fans. To be fair most fans still enjoy it even if the band themselves are less than excited. I’m not sure that the band believes this to be a bad album, but it does have a feeling of being rushed. And yet, despite this, it also shows a great deal of development and maturity in the songs, incorporating elements of funk that would flow through to their next album as well.
“3rd Floor” opens with an interesting sound bite, but then the band arrives with all guitars blazing, and we kick off in great style. So far, so good. From the very beginning, despite the band’s future protestations, the better production is evident from the start compared to their debut album, and with it a few more risks in the music also being taken. “Road Mutants” is powered by a satisfying bass rumble from Denis Pepa and “Why You Do This” continues that theme, though it does feel like it is heading in several directions at once.
Guitarists Rob Cavestany and Gus Pepa cited U2’s The Edge as a major influence when recording this album and you can definitely hear shades of his playing. It’s an interesting decision really for a couple of thrash metal guitarists to suggest this influence on what they were writing and playing for the album, and changing it up, even if ever so slightly, so soon into their recording career is a brave move. ‘Bored’ amps up the funk, a song that was released as a single and had the video that got heavy rotation on MTV’s “Headbangers Ball” at the time, but it seems a strange one to have put out. For me, it is one of the less interesting songs on the album. "Devil’s Metal” is a CD only bonus track that is slotted onto what was the first side of the album on vinyl, but it does finds the doing what they do best and sets them back on course.
"Confused” is a whole different brand of metal altogether, almost devolving into death metal rather than thrash, with a brooding piece of music that is a full on genre swap (not a gender swap). Even today it is a difficult song to tie in as a Death Angel song. It soaks up seven and a half minutes while barely getting into second gear before the back end of the song. “Guilty of Innocence" returns us somewhat to a more normal standard of transmission, while “Open Up” in places sounds like 1970’s Black Sabbath, but in other still utilises that guitar sound the band was looking for on this album. “Shores of Sin” has definite elements of the next album, a progressive feel that I like even though it was unusual for the band at the time.
The cover of Kiss’s classic “Cold Gin” just feels like filler material. It’s not a bad cover, but it again is a changing up of the style of music on the album. It plays like a B-side which it would have been perfect for, not a main track on the album. It is more or less a carbon copy of the original, with the band failing to put any of their own mark on the song, which would have made it a much better option. The futility of this is proven by the next track “Mind Rape” where the energy and heaviness returns to overshadow what came before it. At least this closes the album is a better style than would have been the case.

I initially came into Death Angel on their third album “Act III”, so it wasn’t until after I had digested that album that I went back and discovered their first two albums. And it would be fair to say that while I loved “The Ultra-Violence", there was a fair amount of disappointment that went into my thoughts on “Frolic Through the Park”. And I don’t know the full reason why that is. Perhaps I expected too much of it, on the back of the brilliance of “Act II” and the sheer unadulterated thrash joy of “The Ultra-Violence". Perhaps I am unable to reconcile the fact that this is a next stepping stone in the band’s development, and that I am missing something here that others find obvious to them. Whatever the reason is, for me the flow of the album is all wrong, that the songs don’t interconnect as well as they do on those other two albums, and indeed on albums going forward in the next century on the band’s rebirth. It was never something that I could nail down to an absolute reason, it was just the way I felt. The fact that, in retrospect, the band aren’t particularly joyous about the album, or that of the people I have discussed this band with over the years, THEIR opinion of the album has been mixed, does give me thought that perhaps I am just sitting in the majority when it comes to “Frolic Through the Park”.
Having spent the past couple of weeks listening to the album once again, and read over my initial review of this album on my blog from almost 20 years ago, nothing much has changed in my mind. I don’t hate this album, but I don’t have the same animated joy that I have when listening to their debut album, or third follow up album to this, or the albums on their comeback in the 2000’s. Like Black Sabbath’s “Seventh Star”, this is an album by a band that seems to be out of alignment with their other releases, and garners a wide ranging opinion with a gap the size of the Grand Canyon separating them.

412. Silverchair / Frogstomp. 1995. 3.5/5

When all the commotion surrounding the arrival of this band, made up entirely of schoolkids, and their ‘discovery’ by the JJJ radio network in their competition, I must admit to some ambivalence. I was happy to see a ‘school’ band make it in such a unique way, but as their style wasn’t quite what my scene was, I used it as my excuse not to follow. In reality, I guess because they were so hyped by the media, I shied away from them, not wanting to be seen as ‘one of the crowd’.

Looking back now, and listening to this album again after some years, I can fully appreciate just how good it is, and how mature it was for their age. It’s not hard to write a song (in theory) but to write one that people will like, and will grab their attention, is a bloody good trick. This album gels together so well, with each song slotting into place perfectly.
Led by the three major singles from the album, “Israel’s Son”, “Tomorrow” and “Pure Massacre”, this is an album that mixed the influences of the band members into a ground-swelling popular movement, especially in Australia. Blending the grunge and alternative scenes, along with a hint of Metallica and Megadeth, Silverchair hit the big time in a big way. Frogstomp still stands as a triumphant entry to the world music scene.

Rating: One of the best Australian albums of the past two decades. 3.5/5

411. Metallica / Fresno 14-3-04 [Bootleg]. 2004. 3.5/5.

An A- quality bootleg from the St Anger tour, which I guess I got purely to hear if the new material sounded better than what came out on the actual album St Anger. As is turns out, it doesn’t really inspire at all.

The return of “Blackened” to the setlist is one of the bonus pieces. However, what this bootleg highlights is that, now that Hetfield does try to ‘sing’ everything, the older songs have lost their grunt. “Blackened” doesn’t sound angry at all – it sounds like a melodic track now. You should be able to hear the growl of ‘Blackened is the end!’, but instead you get a high, almost girlish tone in the voice. Not cool. I understand why James has had to alter his singing, but it really deprives their early material of the emotion that they need when they are being performed live.

Rating: New songs in the setlist for the first time in a long time, but it doesn’t make the heart jump. 3.5/5

410. Dead Kennedys / Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables. 1980. 4/5.

This had been out for a number of years before I was first exposed to it, but it made an impression I can tell you. 15 years old and fairly impressionable, Dead Kennedys debut album came at me like a tracer bullet and intrigued me from the start.

The band’s wonderful punk inspired sound, led at the front by Jello Biafra’s unique vocals, and songs that make you laugh and think at the same time, makes for a winning combination.
I know a few people who are friends of mine who like to spend hours discussing the lyrics of the songs, and what the meaning behind the meaning behind the lyrics are. Personally, I like to just listen to the songs and sing along, and generally laugh. Surely they aren’t meant to be taken seriously… :)
From the opening of “Kill The Poor”, followed by the wonderfully sentimental “Forward To Death”, into the thought provoking “Let’s Lynch The Landlord”, you can’t help but enjoy it. Let’s not forget “Chemical Warfare”, and then the album’s star attraction, “Holiday In Cambodia”.

This is an album that brings back a lot of memories, and putting it on again over the past couple of days has been just terrific. It makes me wonder why I haven’t played it for so long.

Rating: An all-time classic. 4/5.

409. Freddie Mercury / The Freddie Mercury Collection. 1992. 3/5

As one of the greatest singer/vocalists of all time, this compilation concentrates on the material he did apart from Queen.
It contains a mixture of styles and tempos, some of which are agreeable and others which are more painful. Some of the songs still sound good, others are inextricably tied to the era that they were recorded. Obviously, this can hamper your judgement – as it does here with me. To listen to “Love Kills” now is to hear the music that will forever be the mid-1980’s, and certainly most of that style of music still grates in my ears. But when this song was released, I simply could not get enough of it, and played it over and over again. Sometimes now I still listen to this song, and wonder how I loved it so much. I still like it, but more in a reminiscing kind of way.

Other favourites for me here include “Foolin’ Around” and “Mr Bad Guy”, while the diversity of his duet of “Barcelona” with Montserrat Cabelle shows off his versatility perfectly.

You wouldn’t say it was his greatest work, but it is worth listening to in order to see what he could do in a different environment.

Rating: If only for his voice… 3/5.

408. Silverchair / Freak Show. 1997. 2.5/5.

You always wonder how a band that has been phenomenally successful with their debut album is going to be able to follow it up when it comes time to release that second album. It is therefore interesting that my first impressions of this album was from the first time I saw/heard the opening riff to the first single from it, “Freak”. Believe me, it caught my attention immediately!

Freak Show has it’s extremes, probably highlighted by the ferocity of “Freak” and the gentle swooning of “Cemetary”. Both were singles, and both are probably the best two songs on the album.
Apart from these two, I find it difficult to really get into the album. The variation between styles is a little disconcerting for me. It’s almost like a compilation of different genres of music. In particular, "Abuse Me", "Lie To Me" and "No Association" take this to another level. Trying to get into an album with so many technical changes isn't so easy. I’m sure that works for some people, but my opinion is that Daniel Johns just isn’t sure at this stage of the band’s career as to which direction they really wanted to head in – punk, hard rock, grunge or metal. While I think most of the songs are on the good side, none apart from those mentioned really grab you the way you want a good album to do.

Rating: Perhaps too much is sometimes not enough. 2.5/5

407. Iced Earth / Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1). 2007. 2/5

OK, so we are going to make a concept album (or in this case albums) based on the story from an earlier album we have already recorded. Interesting ploy. It does raise a number of questions.
1) Will the storyline be interesting within the framework of the lyrical content?
2) Will the musical content capture the mood of the lyrical content?
3) Will all the strings pull together to produce a good album?

I must say I still think the beginning of the album – “Something Wicked Part One” and “Setian Massacre” – is catchy, and I still sing along to it. I also enjoy “Ten Thousand Strong”. All good songs, sung wonderfully well.
But what is it that, for me at least, turns me off the whole album? I guess there are a few things. There a number of musical ‘interludes’ between songs – mood setters, I guess you could call them – and I think there are far too many to retain interest in. Also, as much as I am a fan of Tim Owens, sometimes he just doesn’t come off, and on some of the songs here he just doesn’t come off. Whether that is in the writing or the performance is open to question.

So in the long run, I think this missed its mark. I don’t know what the answer is. Will Matt Barlow make a difference? Are his vocals what were required here? I don’t think so. I just think the guys had a reasonable concept for an album, but just didn’t quite grab me with their interpretation. No doubt millions think differently.

Rating: On a different plane from what I expected. 2/5.

406. Vanishing Point / The Fourth Season. 2007. 2.5/5

I should begin by saying that this is my first impression of Vanishing Point's work, and having never heard them before it is a difficult thing to come out and review and rate from a novice's point of view. However, that is exactly what I am doing.

I must say this is much more 'progressive' than I imagined it would be, and their sound is certainly a step away from what a generation of Australian hard rock/metal bands have done. Now - while this is a good thing, because originality is important, it didn't quite grab me like I was hoping. Sure, wonderful vocals and vocal range, good musicianship as well. But the keys and synths are probably a bit much for me and my tastes, and the songs don't quite have the 'oomph' factor to really grab my attention.

Perhaps I wanted to like this too much. I was hoping for an Australian metal band to blow me out of the water. And I have no doubt this material would sound so much better in a live atmosphere. But for me, I'm just a little disappointed.

Rating: Missing an ingredient or two. 2.5/5

405. Fozzy / Fozzy. 2000. 3.5/5

For many of us who have been amateur musicians who have put together bands with our mates to get together and jam to our favourite songs, this album is a dream scenario. Go into a studio, lay down a handful of songs from the bands' you love to listen to, and then release it on an album. Awesome. What more could you ask for? A couple of your own original songs in there as well, to hopefully create some interest in your own work so you can expand this in the future? Why not?
Fozzy began life when members of the band Stuck Mojo, led by Rich Ward, decided to go out and play as a cover band and play their favourite cover songs. The addition of high profile wrestler Chris Jericho as lead vocalist lifted the band's image, and brought forth this first album.

The two original tracks on the album are average hard rock songs. , "End of Days" and "Feel the Burn" are fine to listen to without being spectacular. The remaining eight songs on the album are all covers of their favourite tracks, and range from the average to impressive. Dio's "Stand Up and Shout" is handled with aplomb, while there is a certain humorous element lent to Krokus' "Eat the Rich". The middle section of the album continues in this vein, with Twister Sister's "Stay Hungry" followed by Iron Maiden's "The Prisoner" and Motley Crue's "Live Wire".
Perhaps the best two songs here are the versions of Ozzy Osbourne's "Over the Mountain", which sizzles with great riff work from Ward, and Scorpions' "Blackout" where Jericho offers his best work. Judas Priest's "Riding on the Wing" is a tough call to finish on, especially vocal-wise. No easy job trying to match Halford's vocals on this song.

As with most cover albums, there is an initial period where this is listenable, until such time that you just refer back to the original artist for the songs. However, as an introduction for this line-up, this is well worth a listen.

404. Stratovarius / Fourth Dimension. 1995. 3/5

Coming out in the mid-90's, Fourth Dimension comes out with some similar sounds and some interesting arrangements. Starting off with the excellent power metal stylings of "Against The Wind" and "Distant Skies", you can't help but be impressed with how the band has progressed since their early albums. Personally I think it is the most solid start of an album for the band.

Similarities between other artists of their genre are prevalent. The instrumental "Stratovarius" and the song that follows, "Lord of the Wasteland", carry a very Yngwie Malmsteen-ish style to them, probably a little bit too much so. Mind you, by the mid-90's Yngwie had lost his magic, so it was up to someone to keep the dream alive... :)

Overall, this is a very solid album, and another great addition to the Stratovarius discography. If only their later stuff was like this earlier stuff... but I say that about sooo many bands.

Rating: Some quite brilliant pieces blended with other above average material. 3/5

403. Blind Guardian / The Forgotten Tales. 1996. 3/5

An interesting compilation of rearranged tracks from previous Blind Guardian releases, and some cover versions of some slightly left-field songs from other bands.

The rearranged and acoustic/orchestral versions of their songs come across surprisingly well. They come across as almost completely new songs, and sound great.
The cover versions range from the bizarre (“Mr Sandman”, “Surfing USA”), to the surprising (“The Wizard”, “Spread Your Wings”). “Surfing USA" has a ridiculously heavy guitar solo, which certainly ‘updates’ it from the Beach Boys original. “Spread Your Wings” is wonderfully well done without compromising Queen’s original version.

Rating: So, not a new album, and not a best of. But an interesting interlude nonetheless. 3/5.

402. Exodus / Force of Habit. 1992. 2.5/5

Just like a pair of pants that are just a little tight, this album doesn’t quite feel right. It feels OK for awhile, but the longer it goes, the more uncomfortable you feel.
The reason for this? I don’t know for sure. I do know that I’ve had a similar feeling with albums before – Metallica’s Load would be a prime example. But the differences are obviously felt by many fans of the band.

So what is it that this Exodus album is missing that other have? To be honest I really can’t put my finger on it. There are songs that don’t live up to what they could be. For instance, take “Good Day To Die”, a reasonable idea for a song. But why is it really just dead average instead of being top shelf? I keep listening to it, and even now think it should go off in one direction and build to a crescendo, when it takes another route, and ends off diving off a cliff. I think the material is there somewhere, but was like a map that has been folded up wrong – it just doesn’t fit or look right.

“Thorn in my Side” is the opening song, and probably my favourite. After that… well… it’s more average fare.

Rating: You expect better from one of the major influences of thrash. 2.5/5

401. UFO / Force It. 1975. 3.5/5

Moving on from their breakthrough with Phenomenon comes UFO's next album Force It, and further evidence that they were bound for greater things. This album is full of what makes UFO such a great band. Certainly, at the time this was released, it must have been one of those albums that appealed to those who were looking for something heavier in their music. Pete Way and Phil Mogg combine their vocals beautifully. Andy Parker's timekeeping is just great. His drum sound is as good on this album as it ever got. And, possibly for the first time, Michael Schenker's guitaring is blasting front and centre, taking the centre stage it deserved at that time.

Force It has a great range of songs, especially for the era. Combining the heartstarting opener "Let It Roll", rocking "Shoot Shoot", classic "Out in the Street" and timeless "Mother Mary", this album has almost everything covered. Add "This Kid's" as the closer, which has Schenker's "Between The Walls" instrumental combined, which ends the album on a high.

All in all, this has all the best bits of UFO tied into one. Whilst they had even better to come, this album showed that the band had the songwriting and musical talent to become one of the best of their era.

Rating: Great stuff from some great artists. 3.5/5

400. Dream Theater / Forbidden Dreams [Bootleg]. 2002. 3/5

This is an excellent A- bootleg from Dream Theater's Japanese tour, containing pretty much their best material to that point in their career (1994 and 1995). As per usual with Dream Theater, there are five or six instances where the band go off and do their 'instrumental' break for 5-10 minutes at a time. A fan will enjoy and tolerate them. Others may not.

I still think their live DVDs are the best way to appreciate this band. This does have its moments however.

Rating: Good quality bootleg that captures the band at an interesting time of their career. 3/5.

399. Black Sabbath / Forbidden. 1995. 2.5/5

Whether or not this is ever considered the official end of Black Sabbath's legacy, it certainly has the feel of it. While the decision to continue on with Tony Martin on vocals was admirable, given what he had contributed on the albums in the late 1980's, one has to wonder what direction they were hoping to head for. Was the addition of Ice T as a guest vocalist and indication that they were heading for a sound more prevalent of Body Count? I don't know.

In the end, although the album still has some semblance of a Sabbath album, there is something missing that can't help it rise above average. In a similar (yet different) way that Technical Ecstacy and Never Say Die had indications that something in Black Sabbath had to change, the indictations are here on Forbidden that it was time for another radical solution. It turned out to be a reunion of the Original Four for Reunion.

It's not all bad, but it is very average. There are no outstanding Iommi riffs, there are no breakthrough Martin vocals, nor any thrilling Powell drum fills. Even if it was sold off as an Iommi solo piece you would be ambivalent, but with Black Sabbath you always expect great things. However, like they did two or three times in their long outstanding career, this one doesn't quite make it.

Rating: The curtain falls gracefully. 2.5/5

398. Van Halen / For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. 1991. 3/5

By the time this was released, I was probably coming to the conclusion that Van Halen were finished. I mean, they had had a pretty fair run, and even following the departure of DLR they had produced a pretty good follow up with Sammy Hagar and 5150. But not much had come since, and to me the magic was sifting away.

Even when this came out, it didn't grab me like other albums had. Probably at the time I had other parts of the genre grabbing my attention. Still, it begins pretty solidly, "Poundcake" and "Judgement Day" are good solid songs that provided a good sart to the album. The problem for me from that point onward is that the rest of the album, while quite listenable and not awful, doesn't bring anything new to the mix. I think they had a chance to go out on a limb and return the band to its peak, if only Eddie was unleashed and allowed to really hammer on those strings again. For whatever reason it is, the thing that made Van Halen great is being restrained.

This is not a bad album, but it is one that is just above average. Putting it on and listening to it is not a chore. Expecting it to get repeat listens is probably expecting a bit too much.

Rating: More of the same from the Van Hagar era. 3/5

397. AC/DC / For Those About To Rock (We Salute You). 1981. 3/5

Trying to follow up the monster that was Back in Black must have been a daunting task, but with a stellar stable in their back catalogue, AC/DC had been producing consistently brilliant albums for six years, and even with the loss of Bon Scott they had hardly skipped a beat thanks to the recruitment of Brian Johnson. There was no reason to believe it wouldn't continue.

They couldn’t have started off better. Track one, the title track, is one of their all time classics and is still in their live set to this day. It is a quintessential AC/DC track, building up beautifully from the quite guitar at the front to the completion with the cannons firing at random. It is a terrific anthem, directed from the band to the fans, and it is still as powerful today as it was on it's release. A real classic. This is then followed by “I Put The Finger On You”, another up tempo track that keeps the album moving in the right direction. With these two songs to start the album you can only think you are in for something special once again.
From this point on, however, the album falls back into what would become the ‘stock-standard’ AC/DC slew of songs that probably found their beginnings on the previous album, but would seep through their releases for the next 30+ years. You know the ones, the mid-tempo songs with standard 2/4 drum timing with the bass and rhythm guitar locked in to make that solid back beat, while Brian sings his lyrics over the top, which generally contain choruses that just repeat one line over and over again so that it becomes a chant, and Angus throws in his pieces when it feels necessary. This isn't meant to be a criticism as such, because they've done it so well for so long. But it can certainly become repetitive, and sometimes it feels as though it just goes on too long. Here on For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), many of the songs have very little spectacular about them. Some are good, some are just average. Stuff like “Let’s Get It Up” and “Inject The Venom” and "Breaking the Rules" I find that I have to be in the right mood to enjoy, otherwise I just think ‘skip to the next song please’. It became a theme for the band's albums throughout the 1980's. They mixed some standout songs with a lot that many people would have difficulty in placing what album they were actually released on.

This album marks the beginning of a number of albums throughout the decade that all had promise, without ever really climbing back to the heights of the albums that had preceded it. There's no problem with that, all bands face it at some stage. There is nothing bad on this album, but there are a couple of tracks that could be described as boring, and when that happens it can test your mettle.

Rating:  We're just a battery for hire with the guitar fire, ready and aimed at you  3/5

396. Foo Fighters / Foo Fighters. 1995. 4.5/5

1995 was an interesting time for albums for me. One of them was this one. With the demise of Nirvana, a band called Foo Fighters was formed by that funny looking dude who used to be the drummer for the aforementioned band. I couldn’t be sure that he would have many musical ideas – I mean, he was just a drummer, right? OK, so the promotion for the album said that he wrote all the songs and played most of the instruments, and even SANG all of the songs. Wow! Better buy it and check it out!

As history now notes, it was a triumph. Dave Grohl WAS more than just the drummer for Nirvana. This debut disc has a bit of something for everyone – faster rocking tracks, slower melodic tracks – and more than anything else begs the question as to what may have happened had Kurt Cobain hung on a little longer? Would Dave’s writing talent been allowed to surface or not?

It did take a while for the album to grow on me. Although it hooked my interest from the outset, it took awhile to actually like all of the songs on the album. I guess because there is some diversity in the tracklist. This soon sorted itself out over the next couple of months as I grew to love the album.
Favourites here for me include “This Is A Call”, “I’ll Stick Around”, “Weenie Beenie” and “Wattershed”

Rating: Great debut from a band we may never have seen. 4.5/5

395. Sonata Arctica / For The Sake Of Revenge. 2006. 3.5/5

When you aren’t overly familiar with a band, the Live Album can be a real test. The songs on the album could entrance you, which then will leave you a little hollow when you discover the studio versions of the same songs are not as spectacular. The songs may leave you unimpressed, if the vocalist doesn’t seem to be able to hit the correct notes, or the guitars sound a little off if they improvise a little in the live environment. In other words, the Live Album of a band you aren’t overly familiar with can Make It or Break It for you.

Here then is Sonata Arctica, a band I am still relatively new at listening to, and here is their live album, For The Sake Of Revenge.
So what’s the verdict?
The verdict is, I think this has a lot to offer. The vocals of singer Tony Kakko are very much at the front of the mix, and this isn’t really a bad thing, because he really can sing, and does it great live as well. As with the power metal genre, the keyboards are also heavily prevalent, while the guitars and drums are just great.

More to the point, most of the songs are terrific. Some are a bit slow and ‘almost’ of the ballad persuasion for my liking, but overall this is a great collection. Songs such as "Misplaced", "8th Commandment" and "Blinded No More" are perfect examples of what makes Sonata Arctica the band they are. They have an anthemic quality that really attracts me. "Broken" is also a song that I have always enjoyed.

I have given this a solid workout over the past few days, and I still find it easy to return for more. That can only be a good thing, can’t it?

Rating: An excellent live album from this band, who are one of the quiet achievers in European Metal. 3.5/5.

394. Blind Guardian / Follow the Blind. 1989. 3.5/5

From the first time you put this album on, you can’t help but like the way it sounds. Starting off with a recognisable Requiem chant (anyone who has seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail will know it immediately), we then burst straight into “Banish From Sanctuary” at a rate of knots, and we are away. It is important to start an album off on the right foot, and Follow the Blind does that beautifully. "Damned for All Time" careers onward at the same speed, with super drumming being followed by the flying riffs of Olbrich and Siepen's guitars. This is undoubtedly speed metal at its finest. You get a real feel for Hansi's vocals on this album, as they are not as multi-layered as they become on later releases.

"Follow the Blind" brings back to more conventional metal, not utilising the speed aspect, and becoming a little repetitive and cliched towards the end of the song both lyrically and musically, and it probably drifts on a tad too long too. "Hall of the King" is another goos song in the vein as those that openeed the album, as is "Fast to Madness". "Beyond the Ice" is just brilliant, and the duelling harmony Iron Maiden-esque guitars that complete the last couple of minutes of the song are just awesome. "Valhalla" is also excellent, along with guest vocalist Kai Hansen who trades with Hansi throughout the song.

The album concludes with two covers. The first is a great version of the classic Demon song "Don't Break the Circle", which is extremely faithful to the original while also bringing a little Blind Guardian to its output. The second is the Regents and Beach Boys song "Barbara Ann", which is almost a comic way to bring this album to its conclusion.

As a later arrival to the Blind Guardian fold than most, I find this to be one of my favourite albums of theirs. Following in the best footsteps of the forefathers, this album skips along at a hefty pace, driven along by a particularly good drum beat. The vocals are almost anthemic on this album. They do not dominate the songs, just help them to progress. Hansi’s vocals sometime get a little too over layed, but on this album I think he is almost at his peak. There is also not an attempt at a domination of guitar licks and solos as there sometimes seems to be – here they also complement the song and the other band members contributions.
This is a terrific follow up to Battalions of Fear and I love the real speed metal edge it has. It's what sets it apart a little from what was to come.

393. Joe Satriani / Flying in a Blue Dream. 1989. 4/5

When this was first released, I knew little bits and pieces of Joe Satriani’s work, but was not huge on it. I had Surfing With The Alien but that was all.
A lot of people were disappointed with this when it came out, feeling that Satch had sold out by actually having some songs with lyrics in them. Not only that, the lyrics were sung by himself, and he wasn’t much of a singer. All in all they felt it was rubbish.

I felt, and feel, differently. The variety of songs on this album outdoes what he had done previously. The mood and character of them all makes for an eclectic album, there is no doubt about that, and I certainly can’t sat I like everything on it. But the good is very very good, and the bad is probably only ordinary. His instrumentals are still as good as ever. “Flying in a Blue Dream” and “The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing”, the first two cuts on the album, are just great songs, and yet so completely different in arrangement and style. The songs where Joe lets loose on vocals are about a 50/50 mix. I like “Strange” whereas a lot of people don’t. “I Believe” is a pretty sappy song, without a lot of redeeming features lyrically or musically. “Big Bad Moon” is a classic, I just love it. Being 20 and in a band, we used to jam this out when smashed, it was great fun.

Like I said, I love this album, for the most part. I also saw Satch touring on this album, which was just unbelieveably great. The album was a one off, and I probably still enjoy it so much because it brings back such great memories… but isn’t that what music is all about?

Rating: Probably my favourite Satriani album. 4/5

392. Scorpions / Fly to the Rainbow. 1974. 3/5

This was the second album released by the Scorpions, and in their earliest form they still possess the characteristics that have made them who they are today.
Being the early to mid 1970’s their music retains the psychedelic qualities that laced the music of the period. As a fan of the band, I can say that it is not my favourite type of song genre, but I can see past it in instances like this, because the band is who they are.
For me there is no doubt the highlight of the album is the opener “Speedy’s Coming”, the major up-tempo song on the album. For the remainder, it is mostly that early seventies stuff, which while still great in its own way, is not the same as the material they came up with later on. Still a good solid album. Though.

Rating: More from the early days. 3/5

391. AC/DC / Fly on the Wall. 1985. 2.5/5

Once you get on a roll with all of these AC/DC albums, there are times when you really do have to check to see which album you are listening to, such can be the similarity in songs on occasions. Even for those of us who had all of these albums as they were released during the 1980's and listened to them to death, until the grooves in the vinyl had been worn down even further by the needle, it can sometimes get a little confusing when you go back to the albums today as to which songs appear on which albums. Perhaps that's just the brain cells dying off from too much heavy metal or other substances, but any excuse can sometimes be justified.

So here is Fly on the Wall, another AC/DC album, and like pretty much everything they released in the 1980’s, each song has the same solid core, with only a couple of tracks that really come out with some flair to make them stand out from the rest. As with every other AC/DC album from this decade, this can be both a blessing and a prison sentence, but AC/DC do it so well that you can’t help but love the majority of it.
Following on from Flick of the Switch, which I believe was a step up from For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), this album again has some terrific songs. “Fly on the Wall”, “Danger” and “Back in Business” are enjoyable enough, while
“Sink The Pink” and “Shake Your Foundations” are the two standout tracks on the album. Both were released as singles and did well in Australia in pushing this album. However, in all honesty, the album is still a bit uneven. It lacks something that the previous album had, where the format and style of the songs seemed to emit more energy, and move along with less bumps. Here the flow tends to be up and then down, and a lack of cohesion between songs. I don't believe the band rested on its laurels in producing this album, but apart from the three or four songs that are obviously the better tracks, the remainder is quite average in the long run.

Rating:  No one can stop us cause we're feeling too right  2.5/5.

390. Alice Cooper / Flush the Fashion. 1980. 3.5/5

The great thing about Alice Cooper’s music is that it is always cutting edge, and that it has adapted over the years to keep pace with the changes in the culture of the business, without ever losing its individuality. It’s true to say that it hasn’t always worked (in my humble opinion of course), but he has always been one to change, to shed his skin to adapt to the world around him.
Flush The Fashion is a case in point. Moving with the changing world of music from the 1970’s to the 1980’s Alice has updated the sound of his music to coincide, marking a change from his previous albums. Whether his fan base at the time related to it, I can’t say.

I think it works. It took a while to grow on me. On initials listens I was undecided, but after maybe a dozen times of playing the album, I began to get it. From that point on I could put it on without any qualms. Even from a modern perspective looking back, I think it is a good Alice Cooper album. It has the humour infused into the music, which the best Alice music does. Songs like “Model Citizen”, “Aspirin Damage” and “Nuclear Infested” for me are the better songs on the album. There is even the rockabilly sounds of “Leather Boots” which, while it doesn’t really do much for me, showed Alice was willing to continue to move in new directions.

While this certainly won’t ever rate as one of the classic Alice Cooper albums, I think it has been a little underrated. Alice himself is in fine form, and is obviously enjoying the moment.

Rating: Better than your average bear. 3.5/5

389. Iron Maiden / Fear of the Dark. 1992. 3.5/5

Iron Maiden’s 1990 album “No Prayer for the Dying” had been a change of course in writing and recording, with a more political and religious lyrical tone and a stripped back version of their music, along with a change in guitarist as Adrian Smith left the band and Jannick Gers came on board. The loss of Adrian’s song writing was noticeable, and Jannick had come along too late to be involved in that way on that album, but for “Fear of the Dark” he became intricately involved in the writing process.
There seemed to be a lot going on in the lead up to recording this album, and then immediately afterwards. The band had recorded their previous album in Steve Harris’s barn with the Rolling Stone Mobile Studio, and following this Steve had instead converted the barn into a studio – Barnyard Studio. Martin Birch returned, and this ended up being the final album he produced in his marvellous career.
Judging whether or not the style of this album is different simply because the band wanted to go in a newish direction, or whether it was influenced by the sound that was popularised in the early 1990’s, is not an easy question to answer. Jannick was a co-writer on five songs on the album, and in some circles was lumbered with the blame of the developing more intense feel of the songs. This always seemed a cop out, because nothing happens in Iron Maiden without Steve Harris’s tacit approval. Later on, with the departure of Bruce Dickinson confirmed, there were stories that it was his ambivalence with the album and writing that led to the way the album became seen. This also seems irrelevant, as those decisions came well after the album was written and recorded. Adrian had left the band because he felt the direction they were going, by stripping back the sound, was not in the band’s best interest, and perhaps he felt vindicated after both “No Prayer for the Dying” and this album’s release. It is all very difficult to nail down. What I do know as a fan of the band now and then is that both of the albums that came after the departure of Adrian from the band had an entirely different appeal than the ones he had participated on.

How then, does one go about judging the album “Fear of the Dark”. On my reaction at the time of its release? Or how I felt 6-12 months after its release? Or on how I feel about it now, 30 years later? Certainly a combination of all three would be a sensible option, but I must confess that my love of this album has stretched peaks and troughs over those 30 years.
When this album was first released, I was just excited to have a new Iron Maiden album out. All of those usual anticipations were there. I was interested to hear how Jannick Gers would contribute to the writing of the album. I was hoping for more of a “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” vibe than a “No Prayer For The Dying” vibe. With changes going on in my life with both work and girlfriend becoming fiancé, I guess I wanted the security that another Maiden album could provide, that warm blanket that new Maiden music would bring.
Looking back now, even on first impressions, I was confused when I first got the album. Sure, the rollicking opening of “Be Quick or Be Dead” and “From Here to Eternity” grabbed me from the start, both terrific tracks made you feel that Maiden was back! Then there was the lull into the moody “Afraid To Shoot Strangers” which while different was also effective, and further enhanced the feeling that the album is on the right track.
However, it was always at this point that I began to wonder what direction we were heading in. “Fear Is The Key” has a very Deep Purple mood to it, and considering that Jannick used to play in Ian Gillan’s band I guess this is understandable. Whether it fits my idea of a Maiden album is another question. “Childhood’s End” has always had what I consider to be a strange musical format, unsure as to whether it wants to be an orchestral piece or a fast paced metal track. The solo section is terrific, by far the best part of the song, but the rest seems completely out of place. And then there is the power ballad – and dear god I never thought I’d have to use that terminology with an Iron Maiden song – “Wasting Love”. Now, I am incredibly biased on this issue, but here it is – this is AWFUL!! To me it denigrates the name of Iron Maiden. I’m sorry, this just can’t be true. It is trash, and is the low point of the album. And it is interesting to me that it is written by Bruce and Jannick, and apparently came from sessions of Bruce’s solo album “Tattooed Millionaire”, which as we know was not a metal album. However, as i said earlier, nothing happens in Iron Maiden without the Guv’nor being in favour of it, so the question of this becoming a recorded Iron Maiden song was the world’s biggest heavy metal mystery until Metallica recorded “Mama Said”.
The second half of the album just doesn’t seem to recover. These are, without putting too fine a point on it, half arsed, B-side material songs, not the quality that you associate with this band and these writers. I guess most of them aren’t really bad songs, but you expect so much more from a band like Iron Maiden. They are just average fare – “The Apparition”, “Chains of Misery”, “The Fugitive”, the rather ordinary “Weekend Warrior” – one has to wonder how they happened to become album-worthy. “Judas Be My Guide” rates slightly above this lot and avoids that list as a result, but it is listenable without being absorbing.
Even the title track, “Fear of the Dark” has been cruelled for me. As much as I loved it when this album first came out, the vast number of times it has now been in the band’s setlist, and therefore on every live release ever since, has dulled that love. I don’t hate it, but I can do without hearing it anymore.

How much did the fact that Bruce was on the verge of leaving the band affect this album? Who can tell. When it was released I still played it as much as any other new album at the time. I would go to my car at lunch from work and listen to it every day for weeks. I knew, and still know, all the words to every song. At that time, it was my most played album every week. How long did that go on for? I’d guess at least three months. It culminated in finally seeing the band live on that tour in October 1992, which had its own problems, including the sound being the worst of any concert I’ve ever been to, and Dave Murray playing while having his leg completely cast in plaster. It actually summed up for me the “Fear of the Dark” album and the resulting lingering doubts that I had about it. There is no doubt that at the time I was blinded by the fact that it WAS Iron Maiden, so it HAD to be great… didn’t it? Once those feelings all wore off, and the album went back on the shelf, I had time to reconsider the album as a whole, and those eventual thoughts came down to what I have already mentioned about the songs. There are some terrific tracks here (but to be honest, I think Blaze Bayley ended up singing “Afraid to Shoot Strangers” better than what Bruce did) and there are average tracks. In the years following this, fans seemed to abandon the band on the back of the two albums they released with Blaze as lead vocalist, and reclaimed the band as their own on the return of Bruce and Adrian in time for the “Brave New World” album. But it was obvious that in that five years, Bruce rediscovered passion and brilliance in music, and Adrian had also managed to find his way back. And for me, the two most troubled albums in the Iron Maiden discography are not those helmed by Blaze, but indeed were the final two albums helmed by Bruce before he moved on to his solo career. And for whatever reason that was, it has been proved since that the break of Maiden from their most decorated lead singer and writer turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for the band.

388. Deep Purple / Deep Purple in Rock. 1970. 5/5

A rather marvelous thing happened way back in 1970. Deep Purple had threatened to do something extraordinary, what with their combination of John Lord’s keyboards vision and Ritchie Blackmore’s emergence as a great and innovative guitar player. Though their first three albums were stuck firmly in the flower power of the 1960’s, a new decade awaited, and a fresh sound was what was needed. Vocalist Ian Gillan had come on board, and the band produced their first album together.
Deep Purple In Rock was recorded, and the legend that is Deep Purple had finally emerged.

The jump in quality of song writing and performance from Deep Purple to Deep Purple in Rock is quite astounding. The whole band lifts a couple of notches in their performance, while Ian Gillan is instantly awesome as the frontman, his soaring vocals fitting the new harder edge that the songs had attained.
This is the album where this band began kicking. Every song is a classic. Kicking off with the brilliant “Speed King” and “Bloodsucker”, the band shows their wonderful diversity with the awesome “Child In Time”, a song they simply couldn’t have done without Gillan’s voice. If it was fate that brought these five men together, then fate is a wonderful thing.

This is an album for the ages, an album that helped to kickstart the heavy metal revolution. Deep Purple as a band never looked back from this moment. This is an album every lover of music must listen to, as its historical significance is just as important as the wonderful outlay of music it contains.

Rating: One of those albums everyone must be exposed to. 5/5

387. Iron Maiden / Flight of Icarus [Single]. 1983. 5/5

The song that first enabled me to find myself into Iron Maiden was "Flight of Icarus". Sure it was a single, but it was while listening to Piece of Mind that this song drew me in, and as a result the rest of the album, and as a result... well, Iron Maiden became the band that was #1 in everything in my life.

I didn't get the single until a few years later, and as with all singles it was the B-side songs that I mainly got it for (as well as adding it to my collection of course). Here there is only one song, a version of Montrose's "I've Got the Fire". The band had already covered this earlier in their career with Paul Di'anno on vocals. here we have Bruce Dickinson showing us his pipes. It is easy to say that this version gives both Maiden's earlier version, and Montrose's original version, a swift kick in the pants. Awesome.

Rating:  Top shelf.  5/5

386. AC/DC / Flick of the Switch. 1983. 3.5/5

AC/DC had survived losing their lead singer after their most revered album to that time, then creating their commercial masterpiece with their newly recruited lead singer, and following that up with another popular album over their last three releases, and they had climbed to the top of the mountain that they had always aimed for during that period. And while success will always breed success, at some stage you look around from the top of the peak you have traversed, and can only see what lies below you. And while many have regarded the “Flick of the Switch” album as being the slippery slope down from that peak, the conversation continues even 40 years after its release as to whether that is a fair comment.

After the tour to promote the “For Those About to Rock” album had been completed, the band began its steps to its next studio album, and while they returned to the Bahamas studio where they had recorded “Back in Black”, not everything remained the same. Mutt Lange was gone, replaced by Malcolm and Angus as the main producers, and looking for a slightly new direction. The band had had enormous success with their past three albums with Lange at the helm, and the production of those albums had been top shelf. But the band had decided that it wanted to return to their roots as such and write and record an album with a more natural feel, that it was a live feeling in the studio, stripping back the production tricks and just having the band being heard. The band was quoted as saying they wanted to go back to a ‘raw’ sound. Angus himself was quoted as saying “We wanted a natural, but big, sound for the guitars. We didn't want echoes and reverb going everywhere and noise eliminators and noise extractors”.
Along with this, the band was exhausted from the constant cycle of tour album tour album, and reports suggest that it wasn’t a happy experience in the studio. This culminated in long time drummer Phil Ruddbeing sacked halfway through the recording process, though as he had completed all of his drum tracks they did not need to find a replacement immediately. Years of drug and alcohol abuse finally caught up with him, and had caused a major rift in his relationship with Malcolm which finally came to a head and saw his exit from the band. Thus was the atmosphere that “Flick of the Switch” came into the world.

What marks this album the most when you listen to it is... this is AC/DC. The style of songs on the album were what was by this stage being described as AC/DC’s template. And you know what I am talking about – that locked in rhythm of Malcolm Young on guitar, Cliff Williams on bass and Phil Rudd on drums, creating the base of every song in perfect synch. Yes, the style was similar, the template solid, just like when you watched them live, and Malcolm and Cliff would stride up to the mics in unison to sing the backing vocals, and then march back the same way. They had perfected their craft, and saw no need to drift away from it. This allowed Angus to weave his spell over the top, and Brian Johnson to croon or cry his vocals to create each songs completion.
Here on “Flick of the Switch” though, there was no syphoning these parts through a gauze and having knobs twiddled to create a perfect sound. Here you had the guitars, the drums and the vocals, almost in a natural environment. Some were disappointed in this, others felt it was a return to their best days.
The songs themselves, in my opinion, are a grade up from “For Those About to Rock”. The opening track “Rising Power” does all those things that AC/DC do great – solid rhythm, great vocals, excellent chanting support vocals through the chorus, and Angus playing a great lead. A solid opening into the album itself. The remainder of side one plays along at a good clip and gives you plenty of anthemic fist pumping moments in songs such as “This House is On Fire”, the title track “Flick of the Switch”, “Nervous Shakedown” and “Landslide”. All good tracks. The second half of the album pulls back a little, and has moments where the same line is chanted over and over, such as in “Guns for Hire” and “Bedlam in Belgium”. “Deep in the Hole” suffers a little here, and it is not as strong a song as others present. “Badlands” has a nice southern guitar sound to emphasise the title of the song which is an unusual twist for an AC/DC song, while the album signs off with the rocking “Brain Shake” that gives everyone the chance to showcase their wares in the perfect finish.
And yet, this album saw a drop off of album sales, and of crowds attending concerts. It was the era where glam and new wave was beginning to take hold, and for a hard rock band determined to hold onto their jeans and t-shirt philosophy (apart from the schoolkid with the guitar at the front), surely it was the mood of the fans rather than the perceived quality of the album and songs that was behind this? Or perhaps I am just naïve.

I had a vague recollection of some of the tracks of this album through my early years of high school, occasionally through AC/DC being played in the school yard but more so from the music videos as they appeared on Sounds and Countdown in those days. But it wasn’t until I left high school that I began to regularly hear and find these types of AC/DC albums and discover them for myself.
This for me has always been the standout of the 1980’s AC/DC albums, because I think it avoids the mistakes of those albums of that era in the song writing process. All of those other albums have some good songs but then also have others that come across as filler. “Flick of the Switch”, in much the same way as “Powerage”, may not have any massive stand out hits, but the great consistency of the songs throughout the album makes it a much better album overall because of it.
Every song on “Flick of the Switch” is upbeat, fun and full of energy. There are good anthems and sing along choruses, terrific vocals from Brian and the usual high velocity leads from Angus. The tempo of most of the songs here is significant because it stays faster than most AC/DC albums, and this consistency is one of the reasons which raises it above most of the later releases. The first side of the album comes at you with that determination and has most of my favourite tracks. The second side has a lot repeating lyrics to encourage you to sing along wherever you are listening, songs such as “Guns For Hire” and “Bedlam in Belgium” along with the great closing track “Brain Shake”. “Flick of the Switch” stays consistent to its formula, and I think is one of the reasons AC/DC fans of all eras can still relate to it.

I have been listening to it again this afternoon as I prepare this review, and I’m still drawn along by songs such as “Landslide”, “Brain Shake” and “Flick of the Switch”. I really think this album has a bad rap in some places, one that is unfounded. It still went #3 in Australia, #4 in the UK and #15 in the US. But, as we all know so well, there is no accounting for individual taste.

385. Queen / Flash Gordon. 1981. 3/5

This is a difficult album to rate. Of course, it is first a motion picture score, the music behind the movie, not a bunch of songs that have pieces of them played at different times of the movie. Unlike future release A Kind Of Magic which was all songs that were used in the film “Highlander”, this is actually the score used in the film, therefore it’s not your typical Queen album.

Now, taking that into consideration, if you are going to listen to this album, do it at dusk with a glass of red, and just let it flow over you. OK, there is some hokey stuff in there, but you have to approach this almost like it is elevator music to get the most out of it. “Flash’s Theme” and “The Hero” are the two actual songs on the album, and they both rock like only Queen can.

Rating: Still better than most original scores. Makes the movie what it is as well… 3/5.

384. Anthrax / Fistful of Metal. 1983. 3.5/5.

Listening to this album almost 25 years after its recording and initial release, you have to be subjective when it comes to rating it. It was different era in recording, it was a new era of metal that was beginning to seep through, and it was the first release of a band that became huge and release some of the all-time classic metal albums.
Taking all of that into consideration, and leaving aside the production values for the moment, this is a solid debut with some good songs mixed with some average songs. The core of the band was to survive for many years, but listening to the album I guess it was always a forgone conclusion that vocalist Neil Turbin was expendable. His is a very uneven performance given the material written here. There doesn’t appear to be any consistency in his wailings, it goes up and then even further up. Perhaps that’s his style, but it does drag the material down a little in places.

The good songs are very good. “Deathrider” and “Metal Thrashing Mad” are classic Anthrax songs, and along with “Panic” and “Anthrax” are the best on the album for me. The cover of Alice Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen” isn’t bad either, but seems a strange choice to go with on your debut album. I’m sure there was a reason behind it somewhere.

Overall, an average debut. Better was to come, but all of the qualities that you love about Anthrax are found here in their earliest form.

Rating: Got my foot pinned to the floor, you can hear the engine roar! 3/5.