948. Exodus / Shovel Headed Kill Machine. 2005. 3.5/5

Exodus' previous album Tempo of the Damned had a lot of good things going for it, and had instilled in me a belief that perhaps there was life still left in the old thrash body. Despite this it still had gaps that I hoped would be filled by the new album. The changes that came forth in personnel before this - something that hasn't been unusual in the history of Exodus - probably left more questions unanswered than fulfilled.

The departure of Steve Souza for a second time after that album's release had brought Rob Dukes into the fold. Guitarist Rick Hunolt had also moved on to be replaced by Lee Altus. Finally, drummer Tom Hunting also took leave of the band, and his replacement was the well credentialed Paul Bostaph. With an almost completely revamped line up, it could be argued that it is difficult to say that this was in fact an Exodus album. Of course, songwriter and guitarist Gary Holt was still in charge, and given this position as the holder of the Exodus flame the general theme of the music holds its authenticity.
Everything holds together here apart from the fragility of the band members. Rob Dukes puts in a pretty fair first up effort, channelling the intensity of the music and driving forth with his punishing vocals. Gary Holt's guitaring is as superb as always, especially his soloing which is as instantly recognisable as always. Bostaph's drumming again, as in his other gigs with thrash bands, brings everything together whether it is in the slower intermediate places, or blitzing along with the lead breaks from Holt and Altus.
The danger from thrash albums is that they can get a little bit samey, and then it just depends on the quality of the songs as to whether you can get past that. Personally I think it probably does tend to blend together a bit towards the back half of the album, but the opening carnage of "Raze", "Deathamphetamine" and "Karma's Messenger" is a super way to start the album. "Shudder to Think" has a riff that sounds a little to close to a few Megadeth songs to be comfortable (think "Angry Again" and "Sweating Bullets"). "I Am Abomination" and "Going Going Gone" are the best of the rest.

I still have no qualms putting this album on and giving it a whirl, but I do think that this may be the last of the Exodus albums that I think like that about. From this point on not only is there a decline in the writing, but also the amount of time Gary Holt has with the band, due to becoming #1 fill in at Slayer. This is still worth a shot.

Rating:   "The world spins out of control, all amped up, nowhere to go".  3.5/5

823. Gamma Ray / Majestic. 2005. 5/5

Those of us who have a mild to insane case of obsession with music will gather together a collection of bands that they will consider to be their favourites, and will be the first in line to buy every new release from that band on the first day it is available. It could be one band, it could be twenty. Inevitably there must come a time when a band releases an album that doesn't really come up to the standards that you expect from them. It can't be that a band can so consistently release albums that grab your imagination and hold on to your attention in a way that makes that album not only instantly brilliant, but that you feel the same about it ten, twenty... thirty years later. It is impossible that a band can continue to crank out albums that make you feel that way about every single one of them.

Unless the band is Gamma Ray.

As their building catalogue continued to show the same brilliance with each new album, the thoughts as above began to rise in my head - when would that fall in quality come? When would come the day that a new Gamma Ray album failed to ignite absolute adoration within me? Such was the quandary I found myself in as I approached the release of Majestic back in 2005. In had been four years since the brilliant No World Order and I guess I was beginning to doubt if they could do anything rival their previous back catalogue. Those fears were pretty much erased by the time I got to the middle of this album on my first listen through, but I guess it did take a little time to grow on me to the point where I now find myself.
The first thing that eased my fears and drew me deeper to the core was the speed at which the majority of the album is played at. This is what European speed metal is supposed to sound like. This is what Gamma Ray is supposed to sound like, at least in the modern phase of the band. Dan Zimmerman's drumming is again quite superb. Everything is perfectly in time, and it is not just the speed and precision at which he plays on hi-hats and double kick through the faster pieces of the songs. When it is supposed to be heavy and hard, such as through "Blood Religion", he picks the perfect tom and cymbal combination to draw the most out of that song. He does the same in "Condemned to Hell", moving beautifully between the heavy section to start before moving into the double kick through the chorus, and the rota-toms between the solo section. Dan's work has always been terrific, but here it is almost the star turn of the album. Kai Hansen and Henjo Richter's guitaring is again just magnificent, melodically blending throughout and then seamlessly switching between the two in shared guitar solos that there hardly seems a point when something is not going on. As a result, sometimes it is easy to miss the great work of Dirk Schlächter if you aren't paying attention, such is the way that it perfectly sutures itself to the music throughout. But have a good listen to the album, and you will hear that his work on the bass guitar is as good as ever, especially through "Strange World" and "Majesty". I guess if you have fingers as long as he has you can reach those frets to make those amazing bass runs better than most.
From the moment that the album kicks in with "My Temple" all indicators point to a fast, heavy album. And those indicators are correct. There are no pregnant pauses or power metal ballad like songs here, just fast guitars and drums combined with wonderful lyrics and brilliant vocals that scream or harmonise whenever necessary. "Fight" is one of my favourite Gamma Ray songs - in fact, it has been the ringtone on my mobile phone for the majority of the time since this albums release. "Strange World follows up in style, and then into the heavy and fast "Hell is Thy Home" which barnstorms through the first half of the album.
"Blood Religion" is just brilliant, set up magnificently for the live rendition when the crowd can interact and chant through the quiet phase in the middle of the song, before breaking out into the stellar solo section. "Condemned to Hell" is set up in a similar way, and is driven along to its heights by Dan's drumming master class. This then hammers its way into "Spiritual Dictator" where the shared chorus is the highlight of the song.
"Majesty" has bit of a middle eastern Egyptian feel in the initial intro guitaring and throughout the song, and while it may lead you into thinking it is about pharaohs and kings, the lyrics go a little darker and lower than that. "How Long" follows this, and is a brighter, lighter vision after darker lyrics and heavier atmosphere of the previous song, much more open to be sung along with.
Gamma Ray has made a habit of pulling off an epic-sounding song to finish their albums, and "Revelation" is no exception. Layered with choir-like vocals throughout and enhanced by excellent atmospheric keyboards to combine beautifully engineered melodic guitars and hard fisted drumming, this not only finishes off the album in style, it also encourages you to play it over once again. Which, instantaneously, I almost always do.
Once again this is a true band effort. Since Kai took on the lead vocals as well as guitar back on the Land of the Free album, Gamma Ray has been a true band. Kai has been one of my musical heroes since... forever... and his vocals here are still just as brilliant as they have been. But all five members here make their own statements, as well as meshing into the brilliant band they have become, and it is a pleasure to hear a band when they are so close and like clockwork.

Gamma Ray toured Australia on this album, the one and only time I have seen them, and it was quite magnificent. The songs taken from this album played their part and sounded just awesome. What stays in my mind with clarity is the band members on stage, all with huge smiles plastered over the faces for the entire gig. I have never seen a band happier as they played on stage. It was so refreshing to see, and it isn't hard to see how they keep producing albums as brilliant as this one when they are so obviously enjoying themselves immensely. Majestic is yet another triumph from a band that for me remains as the pinnacle of heavy metal.

Rating:  Where am I meant to be, what is my destiny, the path I've chosen now has led me to a wall. 5/5

812. Black Label Society / Mafia. 2005. 3/5

Given the output on the previous two albums, I was beginning to ask myself where it was all heading for Black Label Society, and whether or not I was going to continue on the ride. While I wasn't looking for a clone of Ozzy Osbourne or Black Sabbath music, I certainly wasn't looking for a lot of the stuff that had been prevalent in recent times either. Still, I was never going to find out for myself unless I went out and bought the album, and so I did, and prepared myself for what was to come.

You can't criticise people when they look at performing in a different style or genre of music than you would prefer to hear from them. Sometimes people change, or sometimes their preferences change. Some people are just so talented on more than one instrument that they want to be able to showcase that on their albums. And there's no doubt that Zakk, apart from being a wonderful and innovative guitarist, is also a talented piano player. So when you start having piano based tracks coming onto Black Label Society albums, it's not something you can be particularly surprised about. And it's not as if I despise them either, because Zakk plays them well. But it is difficult to put on an album that mixes the style of songs so much that there is no cohesion. It messes with the mood you are in when you are listening to it. I need to have a solid base around what music I'm listening to depending on the mood I am in. That is practically impossible when you listen to Mafia.
There is a bit of everything here, and while the hardcore fans of the band will most probably love it, I find it too mixed to be completely in love with it. The first half of the album (for the most part) restores my faith a little in the capability of Black Label Society to put out a great album. "Fire It Up" goes for the slow grind that is reminiscent of some early BLS songs, and is followed by "Who's In You" which retains the same mid-level tempo but removes the grunge from the guitars and allows the song to play freer and with more space. "Suicide Messiah" is an atypical BLS song, featuring Zakk's grating vocals over a slowish tempo rhythm with his solo dominating over the top. "Forever Down" works well in a similar way. "You Must Be Blind" fades into the song that has already started, a great way to get going, but then it stops and starts in tempo too much (as is Zakk's way in a lot of his songs) when to just continue along would have improved it to no end. "Say What You Will" is the shining light of the album. If the whole album had been more in this direction it could have been a classic.
The other songs are all okay without showing anything outstanding. However, when the piano creeps in it changes the whole mood of the album. "In This River" is nothing but piano and a little guitar thrown in for good measure. And let's repeat most of the lyrics over and over again. "Dirt on the Grave" is more of the same, piano driven muzak. Like I have said, the songs themselves aren't terribly bad, and if you listened to them as part of an album of similarly performed songs you would no doubt enjoy them immensely. But when you hear them in the context of an album that is for the most part supposed to be guitar driven riff filled hard and heavy songs, it just isn't a good fit.

This isn't meant to be a negative review in regards to the quality of the content of the album, but I certainly question the variety of the content that is found here. On an individual song basis, the songs here are the best that Black Label Society has put forward since 1919 Eternal. The musicianship across the board is fabulous, with everyone performing fantastically. But when you want to mix the band's well-known brand of heavy material with the complete change of spectrum of piano driven retrospective songs, then it's more a case of not pleasing everyone, but dividing those that you are trying to please. The end result may have trouble in gaining a majority verdict for either party.

Rating:  I'll give you everything beyond the truth.  3/5

787. Brides of Destruction / Runaway Brides. 2005. 1/5

Having been drawn in to buying the first album, Here Come the Brides, by the lure of a project containing Nikki Sixx, John Corabi and Traci Guns, and having been unsatisfied completely by the results of said album, I approached this follow up release, Runaway Brides, with a positivity I probably didn’t completely believe. Nikki had moved on, and whilst the debut had its moments, could the sophomore release build on that? Or would it fail dismally to live up to any type of expectation? Sadly, in the long run, it is the second thought that dominates this release.

My greatest problem with this album is the lack of vitality in the music. At least there were songs on the debut that were up tempo numbers, ones you could drum along to on the table or air guitar along to. For the most part, Runaway Brides plods along at an interminable tempo with little to be joyous about I any form. If the band was looking for a latter day grunge of morbidity, then they have succeeded. But why would you head in this direction? Like so many ‘project’ bands, I guess you generally only do them to indulge in music that is different from what your main focus is. So, if you come looking for a Motley Crue/L.A. Guns knock off here you aren’t going to find it. What we do have here is some slow, grinding, passionless drivel, from the somewhat pointless intro of “Aunt Biente” which then moves straight into “Lord of the Mind” with its moaning monologue and motionless music, all the way through to “Dimes in Heaven” which with its grunge guitar riff that a thousand bands have played in the 90’s and lacklustre vocal performance isn’t sure whether it should be a punk or hardcore extravagance. Between these two extremities of the album there is some rather more ordinary material, with a couple of songs that break the mould and could be classed as ‘not as bad as the other tripe’. “Criminal” is awful. Truly, some of these songs sound like garage band demos, ones that have just been thrown together and then put on a disc. “White Trash” and “Brothers” especially sound like this.

There’s no a lot of doubt why this was the Brides’ last album. Sure, Traci went on to re-form one version of L.A. Guns, but this album and the material within just isn’t very good at all. Some may say it is vile crap. More is the pity after the promise of some songs on the first album. None of that promise appears here.

Rating:  And I’ll never say never again. Well, something like that.  1/5

Listen to full album here

690. Russell Allen & Jorn Lande / The Battle. 2005. 4/5

How do you go about putting together a "super group" project? Usually it will be a couple of people from separate bands, who might get together over a beer and suggest to each other that they should "do something together". Demons & Wizards, the project put together by Iced Earth's Jon Schaeffer and Blind Guardian's Hansi Kursch can be seen in this situation. Or a group of musicians who aren't doing a whole lot at that point in time decide that they should get together and do a project, a little like Mike Portnoy and Russell Allen with Adrenaline Mob.
Back in 2004, session guitarist Magnus Karlsson was asked to put to write and record an album that would feature two high profile vocalists singing in duet and duelling on vocals. Those two vocalists ended up being Symphony X's front man Russell Allen and Masterplan front man Jorn Lande, and the album because The Battle.

The majority of the songs have these two great vocalists sharing duties, while there are also songs where each vocalist has the duties to themselves. Karlsson wrote all of the songs and lyrics, and played all of the instruments except for the drums which are handled with aplomb by Jamie Salazar. In this respect Karlsson has done a wonderful job of writing and performing. The mix of songs is terrific, ranging from heavy and faster metal songs to solid hard rock songs, most with a very progressive edge to them. The mix between the keyboards and guitars is performed excellently, allowing for the distinction between the out-and-out metal songs and the keyboard-hinted power metal songs.
Both parts of this work perfectly. The music never interferes with the brilliance of the vocals of both Allen and Lande. When they are singing, they are dominating the songs. In between however, there is some sensational guitar work from Karlsson, and some of his solo work is awe inspiring. It may only be a studio project, where all of these pieces have been fused together to make great songs and a terrific album, but that does not detract from this in any way.
The songs on which Russell dominates are the naturally strong heavy metal songs, while those where Jorn is the driving force tend more towards the power metal side of the coin. It is quite possible that the songs were written in such a way, or that the vocals of these two just naturally flow the music in that direction. No matter which way you look at it, this album is able to juggle the slight changes in music without ever losing the completeness of the album. It's middle ground is the progressive nature of the music without losing the basic concept of hard rock's beat and rhythm and metal's guitar-based heaviness. Certainly there are songs on here that are my favourites, and there are others than I can quite happily gloss over if given the opportunity. But on the whole this album should please most people who enjoy this genre of music, and certainly anyone who knows the vocalists will not be disappointed.
While the mix of vocals is great, I must admit that it would have been good to hear somewhere in the list a bit more of a duelling effect between the two singers. I'd love to have heard them going off against each other during the middle of a song, exchanging vocals in a lyrical battle in a way akin to the name of the album.

The success of this album has led to two further being produced, and a fourth apparently in the pipeworks. This was a pleasant surprise when I first acquired it, and that feeling hasn't subsided when listening to it to this day. Perhaps some people would think it to be too much of a formula-driven effort, given that one person performed the majority of the roles in getting the album to its completion. Perhaps that is the case, but it is an enjoyable album to listen to in all respects, and that should be the key no matter how or who got it to that point.

674. Sweet Savage / The Raid - The Ripper [EP]. 2005. 3.5/5

The songs on this single/EP/whatever you want to call it, were recorded back in 1980, when Sweet Savage had their core group together of Haller, Campbell, Fleming and Bates. Though rumours abound that it was released, or was supposed to be released, as a single back in 1984 or 1985, it had never been confirmed. this "EP" as it is called was released in 2005 with the original songs. Both of these songs, "The Raid" and "The Ripper" are the original 1980 versions, while a demo version of "The Raid" is tacked on as the third song to make it look like value (I guess). Before listening to this, I had visions of "The Ripper" being a cover version of the classic Judas Priest song, but it is in fact its own enjoyable version of the age old story.

Both songs here are as enjoyable as most of the smallish repertoire the band had prior to 1983, and if you enjoy those songs then you will certainly enjoy these as well. Perhaps you will also reflect as I often do as to how they were unable to make it with the talent they had in this band.

549. Foo Fighters / In Your Honor. 2005. 1.5/5

Having just praised the coming of Foo Fighters in my previous review (for Nirvana's In Utero) I now have to backtrack a little and try to understand how this album came together, and the purpose it serves.
OK, so we have a double disc release here, and the early reports did inform (warn) me that the first disc would be the 'rock' album, while the second disc would be a quieter reflection on things. No problem. It's the Foo Fighters, right? How bad could it really be?

Well, 'Album 1' has some reasonably worthwhile tunes on it. Not a solid album overall, but enough there to make you think there is something worth salvaging from the slight wreck.
...and then comes 'Album 2'. Why? What?! Really?!? Look, I'm sure this does cater to some people's tastes, and to those people go my sympathies. Perhaps a more important question is probably - did this band really have this inside them? Was it just a means to release this stuff from their systems? It's not as if they can't write decent ballad-type songs - "February Stars" is probably the finest example of this - but this is just boring, dreary and uninteresting.
Is this by the same man who came up with his concept for the Probot album? Did that album drain all sense of hard rock and metal from his veins? Seriously!!?! I cannot begin to conceive just what was going on here.

Unfortunately this was, and is, a huuuuuuge disappointment. Putting myself through the agony o listening to it all once again over the last couple of days should be penance enough for any wrongs I've done over the past 12 months.

Rating: Completely illogical. 1.5/5

517. System of a Down / Hypnotize. 2005. 2/5

Whatever these guys are on, I think I need to either avoid at all costs, or get me some at all costs…

I can alternately (no pun intended) enjoy or hate this. It really does depend on what mood I’m in. Actually, it probably depends on how much alcohol I’ve had, because I seem to enjoy it more after half a dozen beers. It really isn’t an album I can enjoy sober, or while driving in the car, or while at my desk at work, or while sitting back on the lounge at home listening on the stereo. So, seeing as most of my time is spent in one of these positions, it is difficult to give it a positive rating.

There is no doubting the uniqueness of the music and the band. The similarity in some songs to the Dead Kennedys (or, in particular, the vocals of Jello Biafra) is startling, and does throw you off.
Then again, take a song like “Holy Mountains”, which is probably my favourite on the album. It is unique in its own way, and as close to an SoAD epic as they are likely to compose, which is immediately followed by the completely off-beat “Vicinity of Obscenity”, which is just complete madness. How on earth can you write songs like this?!

In the long run, it is just a little bit too far out there for me to absolutely be able to take to heart.

Rating: Send in the crazed, hepped-up loonys. 2/5.

479. Michael Schenker Group / Heavy Hitters. 2005. 3.5/5

The fact that this has been released under the MSG moniker is a bit misleading. It is in fact a collection of covers played with Michael Schenker on guitar, and a number of guest musicians lending their support to different songs. Like other ‘tribute’ albums he has been involved in, Bob Kulick again put together this compilation, and in reality it probably should have been promoted as such.

Anyhow, leaving that behind us, here are ten songs, selected from the word of hard rock and heavy metal, featuring the legendary guitarist on all tracks, with different vocalists lending their voices. For me this is a rather strange selection of songs, and most sound better in their original environment. I mean, why would you try and do “All Shook Up”? Sure, Joe Lynn Turner tries to do something different with the vocal, but why would you ever try and beat the original? Then, for some reason they do a ‘cover’ of “Doctor Doctor” which he’s played a billion times in his life. Why? “War Pigs” with Tim “Ripper” Owens is worth a listen, and though I like the song, the version of “Out In The Fields” is a bit blah really, certainly compared to the original.
Most of the other songs? Well, average fare again.

As a way of showcasing his talent, I don’t think this quite pulls it off. Most of us know how great a guitarist he is, and listening to him playing cover songs does nothing to diminish that, but nothing to enhance it either. From someone who has helped to write some of the best songs of all time, as well as some of the most well-known lead guitar breaks, what purpose does this album really serve?

Rating: It sounded better in promotion than it turned out to be. 3.5/5

459. Megadeth / Greatest Hits: Back to the Start. 2005. 5/5

It would be very hard to stuff up a Megadeth greatest hits album. Most of the tracks suggest themselves. Of course, you wouldn’t fit them all onto one disc, so more will miss out than will (or did) actually make it. Still, no harm done. This album does a pretty good job of covering every era of the band. The songs you would expect are there - “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”, “In My Darkest Hour”, “Wake Up Dead” and “Hangar 18”. Of course some personal favourites were going to miss out – “Looking Down The Cross”, “Reckoning Day” and “Set The World Afire” – but you live with that decision making process.

As with all greatest hits albums – and because of the order I am reviewing all my albums, I’ve listened to a few in recent times – it’s hard to argue with the quality of tracks here. I would have done it a little differently, but the quality would still have been the same.

Rating: Best of the best. 5/5.

418. Tony Iommi & Glenn Hughes / Fused. 2005. 4/5.

After a number of years, Tony Iommi finally got his head around what he wanted to do, and so came forth this collaboration with Glenn Hughes.

Following on the demise of the Black Sabbath era with Tony Martin and Cozy Powell, the one-off Iommi album with many guest musicians and the annual reunion of the original Black Sabbath to play at Ozzfest – but not to record – Iommi really needed to find a project that was outside of this Sabbath scene. By coming together with Glenn Hughes again, there was an opportunity for them both to do something that was different.

I love this for the fact that it isn’t a Black Sabbath album. It is the coming together of two wonderful musicians, and gelling their different styles into one album. It isn’t like Seventh Star, where they tried to sell it off as a Black Sabbath album, which it quite obviously wasn’t. This has been packaged and released as a separate entity, which is exactly correct.

So settle back and listen to this NOT expecting Black Sabbath, and I think you will be pleasantly surprised for how good it really is. Glenn Hughes has one of the most amazing voices in all of music, and it is showcased here again. Combined with those awesome Tony Iommi riffs and you have a terrific album. The album’s tempo and mood are constant all the way through, which helps to set it apart from the previous work of both these artists. I think the best songs are the ones that bookend the album, “Dopamine” and “I Go Insane”. Both are perfect examples of where Hughes’ vocals and Iommi’s guitaring are the leading features. “The Spell” and “Face Your Fear” and “Wasted Again” are others that I believe are standout tracks.

Rating: Not what you expect, and probably better for it. 4/5.

359. Arch Enemy / Doomsday Machine. 2005. 3.5/5

Doomsday Machine mixes touches of brilliance with pieces of monotonous boredom, and one can only wonder how. It is difficult to fathom just how an album that has so much in its favour, and so much potential, can fail to ignite and find the higher reaches. Perhaps it is Angela’s vocals – ahh, my old prejudices rise again… J

Certainly, listening to the album four or five times in a row at work today, I felt no need to suppress any particular songs, or not to put it back on again when it was over. I think it holds its own quite easily. But I can’t shake that nagging feeling that they left something in the kit bag when they had an opportunity to do better.
The guitaring is as great as it always is, and there is still much to like about the release.

Favourites for me include “Enter the Machine”, “Nemesis” and “I Am Legend / Out for Blood”.

Rating: Middle of the road for the guys and gal. 3.5/5

300. Trivium / Ascendancy. 2005. 3/5.

Another in the line-up of bands to be suggested as saviours of the metal genre in the new century, and another of the bands that I think have just missed the mark a tad.
Yeah OK, I’m old, and I know what I like, and I probably want everything to be an extension of that, and I know that won’t happen.

Trivium are another band that dice with the scream/clean vocals, and of course you either like it or loathe it. I’m never a big fan of it, and yet there is a twist here on Ascendancy. Whereas those songs that concentrate on the growling work for the most part, “Dying In Your Arms” comes up weak and lifeless, probably because it has a lack of those exact type of vocals.
In fact, it is that song that suggests to me that there is a hook which, if it disappears, so does the popularity of the band.
I digress…

For me, this is an average album from an average band. I don’t dislike either – in fact, I think my rating is indicative of that. However, it isn’t something I can put on too often, nor listen to over and over again. To do so just gives me a headache. Some out there may just think that is old age, and I couldn’t disagree.

Favourites for me include “Rain”, “Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr” and “A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation”.

Rating: The Album is over. My headache is waning. 3/5.

288. Dio / Evil Or Divine: Live In New York City. 2005. 5/5.

This is a fantastic live album from the Voice. Originally released on DVD (which is great) this CD showcases Dio in the new millenium.

The setlist is a variety of newer material from Killing The Dragon and Magica and the best from his glory days pre-1986, including his Black Sabbath and Rainbow days.

Dio's voice, though obviously not of the same strength and height from his Rainbow/Sabbath days of the 70's and 80's, is still just magnificent. How he can sing this well live is a mystery, but he is still the king. Simon Wright on drums and Jimmy Bain on bass are as great as ever, but the star here is the guitaring of Doug Aldrich. Though he has his own flourishes and style, what I admire most about him is his desire - and ability - to play all the solos as they were written and performed. He is a master at it, and I think it brings more power to him and his own performance.

This is a great live album - a better showcasing of the band than their previous Inferno - Last In Live - and well worth a listen or two.

Rating: We Rock! You Rock! 5/5.

272. James LaBrie / Elements Of Persuasion. 2005. 4/5

I picked this up after the heavier effort that Dream Theater dished up with "Train Of Thought" hoping it would translate to Labrie's own material. I must say it came as a surprise when it did!

This is an immediately enjoyable album. Though showing the obvious influences of his work with Dream Theater, "Elements Of Persuasion" is sufficiently diverse to ensure it is not comparable with that band's releases.
Labrie's vocals are as always at the forefront, while the musical direction is on the heavier side of his previous releases.

Favourites for me on the disc include Crucify, Alone, Freak and Invisible.

Rating: A surprisingly good release. One of the surprises of 2005. 4/5.

268. Eddie Ojeda / Axes 2 Axes. 2005. 3.5/5

This was a really interesting find one day on a music trawl, and an impulse acquisition that has not disappointed since.

This is a solo album by Eddie, better known as the guitarist for Twisted Sister. He has recruited some all-star vocalists to guest for him here, and it is interesting to note how they perform around the material. I'm not sure whether Eddie wrote each song with the vocalist in mind, or whether it was a coincidence, but each songs mood suit the music and vocals almost perfectly.
Ronnie James Dio is his usual brilliant self on Tonight. Cohort Dee Snider has a crack at Eleanor Rigby. Joe Lynn Turner on Livin' Free is great as usual, while Eddie himself sings on the other tracks, where he is a perfect match for Evil Does (What Evil Knows).

Eddie's instrumentals are also worth the price of admission. They lose nothing in comparison to the other songs on the album.

Overall, this is a pretty slick effort. Very much in the Twisted Sister type mainstream of hard rock and heavy metal, this showcases Eddie's guitaring extremely well, and is well worth grabbing a hold of and having a listen to.

Rating : Eddie Ojeda in his own forum to display his skills. 3.5/5.

237. Alice Cooper / Dirty Diamonds. 2005. 4/5.

Alice Cooper just keeps on keeping on, and has another great album here.

What you will notice about this album is that it is a real throwback to his early work. It is a real danger to compare albums, especially to bonafide great ones, but Dirty Diamonds reminds me a lot of the way Billion Dollar Babies and Welcome To My Nightmare were written and arranged. There is plenty of fast and heavier material, then slow and retrospective material. The guitaring on this album is different from just about anything else Alice has ever done, and it gives the album a modern feel that agrees completely with the style and arrangement.

This is an Alice album for the new millenium. It is an impressive advancement once again. Alice has already shown his ability to adapt from the 70's to the 80's and 90's, and here he had made the slight adjustment that he needed from Brutal Planet and Dragontown to find the right balance.

My favourites from the album include Woman Of Mass Distraction, You Make Me Wanna, Dirty Diamonds, Steal That Car, Your Own Worst Enemy and Stand.

Rating : A great entry into the Alice Cooper discography. 4/5.

215. Iron Maiden / Death On The Road. 2005. 5/5.

Given that Iron Maiden has basically admitted that they will never tour Australia again, this is as good as we are going to get it seems – a live album from every tour they do.

Yes, I am bitter about it. Surely the band is not short of cash. Surely they can afford a couple of shows at huge venues in Australia.

Anyway, I digress. Here is another Iron Maiden live album, and the quality is what you expect from Iron Maiden – fantastic. Recorded on the Dance Of Death tour, it contains numerous songs from that album – "Wildest Dreams", "Dance Of Death", "Rainmaker", "Paschendale", "No More Lies" and "Journeyman". While the album didn't always grab me, I must say that the songs do sound much better live, especially "Wildest Dreams", which I have always felt is rather weak.

OK – now the beef. Some of these songs surely need retiring from the live set. Only "Lord Of The Flies" remains from the Blaze era. If I was living in Europe, and seeing them every year (bastards!) I'd be sick to death of "Fear Of The Dark" and "Iron Maiden" and "Run To The Hills" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" – and perhaps even "The Trooper"! Come on guys, inject some new blood into the setlist!

Anyway, get over it Bill! This is another great Maiden live album, showcasing their amazing skills and talents. They are still the best around, the band that everyone must look up to as the greatest of all time.

Rating:  Another brilliant encapsulation of a live performance of this magnificent band.  5/5.

73. Anthrax / Anthrology : No Hit Wonders 1985-1991. 2005. 5/5

In line with the Big Reunion Tour of 2005, Anthrax brought out this double CD compilation of the best of their years together - basically, the albums Spreading The Disease, Among The Living, State Of Euphoria and Persistence Of Time.

The song selection is perfect (I mean, they condensed 4 albums into 2, and added a couple of extra tracks, so you should certainly have the best!), and the remastered editions have great sound quality.

There is little else really to say. Great songs, great performances. Of course, if you already have the albums, as most people will, it is money spent on items already procured.

Rating : You can't beat it. 5/5

66. Judas Priest / Angel Of Retribution. 2005. 3.5/5

Much as had been the reaction in 1999 when Iron Maiden had announced the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith to the band after a lengthy absence, when Judas Priest had announced the return of Rob Halford to the band in 2004 the masses went wild. The experiment with Ripper Owens had passed, and now that the band was back together again everyone could expect a massive new album and world tour. Not only that, Roy Z had come on board to produce the new album, and after what he had done for the solo releases of both Dickinson and Halford, you could only expect that the album was going to be outstanding. Well… no…

Hey, I can admit it. I got way too excited and was looking forward to this far too much. I hyped it up in my head so much that I didn’t see where problems could lie until they had already passed. And they were there, no doubt. Because so many people had problems with the two albums that were done without Halford, it was almost forgotten that they had been almost completely written by both Downing and Tipton, and they were again two-thirds of the writing team for this new album. OK, so Halford had returned to bring back the triumvirate that had composed so many legendary tracks in the past, but still, his recently released second album under the Halford banner Crucible was in my opinion very hit and miss. Mostly miss. So the recent history of song writing wasn’t in the most popular class.
Did I want something comparable to Painkiller? Yep, I’m not ashamed to admit it. That’s what I wanted. I wanted Roy Z to make sure this band produced another album exactly the same as that. They did not. Is it all bad? No, and far from it. It’s just that the best songs on the album in no way approach the great songs from previous albums.
“Judas Rising” is a good starting point, giving us a little bit of everything we were looking for – a Halford scream, fast drums, heavy guitar. “Deal With the Devil” comes back to the heart of the best Judas Priest songs with a great drum back beat, perfect bass line running underneath while Downing and Tipton riff over the top, and Halford gives a great vocal performance. It’s a hard rocking song that grabs your attention. “Revolution” sounds like it is trying to parallel the T-Rex song “Children of the Revolution”. It has a very 70’s sound to it and is not what you would call a typical Priest sound. To be honest I can’t say I love it, but it isn’t the worst available here. On the other hand, “Worth Fighting For” is very understated, and I love the mood that the music creates for the song, along with Halford’s moody vocals. It’s a real changer for Judas Priest, it doesn’t hit you with speed or heavy attitude or off the scale guitars, but it has a great heavy and brooding mood about it all the way through, and the solo break adds so much to the atmosphere. This is probably my favourite song on the album which is a surprise to me, but it works.
“Demonizer” comes with a rush, full of that great Scott Travis double kick and Rob Halford screaming vocals all overlaying the hard ripping riff and a super solo section from Tipton and Downing. Honestly, if the whole song had been like this it would have been a classic. As it stands it is one of the better songs through the back half of the album, even though I feel it could have been so much better if it started like it finished. “Wheels on Fire” doesn’t do anything fancy and doesn’t proclaim itself to be the fastest or heaviest track around. Indeed, it is a solid Judas Priest track that sticks to its own pace throughout while Rob discerns his vocals in a sedate but forthright manner. It seems pretty standard, but I think its simplicity is its strength. It’s a good song that can sometimes be glossed over. “Hellrider” leaves nothing in the bag, giving us more screams and energy in the vocals than “Demonizer” does which probably lifts it above that song for me.
“Angel”, “Eulogy” and “Lochness” are three of the final four songs on the album, and this is where I think there is a huge letdown. “Angel” is very much the power ballad of the album, and while it isn’t terrible I just think it doesn’t fit with what has come before it. But this doesn’t even compare when you talk about the closing tracks. “Eulogy” is the quiet contemplative song that feels so out of place. I know bands feel as though they have to do songs like this, but this is where other artists fall down, because they get trapped thinking this is a great move. This segues slowly and quietly into the final track, the ‘epic’ track “Lochness”. I have ‘epic’ in quotes, because to me this is a poor finish. The track is thirteen and a half minutes long, it meanders along like a slow moving stream, lazily trying to gain momentum without ever able to do it. This is not “Beyond the Realms of Death” or “Victim of Changes”. This is a somewhat painful way to end the album. It was probably a great idea in the studio, but for me it really does not work.

My opinion of Angel of Retribution has mellowed over the years. In 2005 I had great reservations about it and was probably overly harsh in my rating of it. I have played it twenty times over recent days in revisiting it and I find that the first half of the album is much better now that I probably thought it was a decade ago. My opinion of the close of the album hasn’t changed, but as an album overall this is above average. The plus marks are the rediscovering of the Judas Priest sound that wasn’t overly prevalent on the two Ripper-era albums. It won’t rank as one of their best ever but it still has plenty to offer to fans of the band.

Rating: “From what I knew before, some things are worth fighting for”. 3.5/5