When S.O.D brought out the ground-breaking Speak English Or Die album, it was a novelty as well as an underground smash. It was not meant to be taken seriously, and wasn't, but it's popularity grew.
This second album, almost two decades after the first installment, is more of the same, but without the same impact as Speak English Or Die created. It is just as I described earlier – a novelty. It is worth a listen, but after two or three listens that novelty begins to wash off, and you go in search of albums of fuller quality.
I'm sure the guys did this album for fun, not money. I'm sure they enjoyed themselves making it. When I am in the right mood, I can always go and put this on. If I'm not in that mood, I am searching for something closer to Among The Living than Bigger Than The Devil.
Rating : More devious humour capers from the lads. But the party stops here. 3/5
Thursday, April 20, 2006
125. Twisted Sister / Big Hits And Nasty Cuts : The Best Of Twisted Sister. 1992. 4/5.
Twisted Sister are still considered in many circles as a one-hit wonder. Indeed, ask many pundits what they think of Twisted Sister's back catalogue, and they will swear blind that they released only one album.
As good as Stay Hungry was, and is, this album gives the novice TS fan a broader range of their hits, and would no doubt open a few eyes.
There is some great stuff on here. In fact, the mix of studio and live tracks gives the listener a terrific overview of the band in both scenarios.
In many ways, it is a shame that they didn't make more of their initial fame. But here for everyone is a chance to relive the best that was the freak of Twisted Sister.
Rating : Worthy of a listen or two. 4/5.
As good as Stay Hungry was, and is, this album gives the novice TS fan a broader range of their hits, and would no doubt open a few eyes.
There is some great stuff on here. In fact, the mix of studio and live tracks gives the listener a terrific overview of the band in both scenarios.
In many ways, it is a shame that they didn't make more of their initial fame. But here for everyone is a chance to relive the best that was the freak of Twisted Sister.
Rating : Worthy of a listen or two. 4/5.
124. The Cult / Beyond Good And Evil. 2001. 2.5/5.
Bloody hell I tried to like this album. I really tried.
I have this problem with The Cult. I thought Sonic Temple was magnificent... at the time it was released, for that time. Since then, whenever I have listened to them, I've been wishing for the song or album to finish so I can put something else on.
This is a fairly difficult thing to get past.
Kearo gave this to me when it came out, and I gave it a real go. It was then cast aside. Listening to it again over the past few days, I have been unable to get enthused about it, which is a shame. I know Kearo thinks I'm a little mad because of this.
I just think that The Cult's style has now grown out from me, and my tastes have moved onto other things. Maybe in the future I will rediscover what it is about them that I loved, but this album failed to bring that back to me.
Rating : This is the best I could muster for it. 2.5/5.
I have this problem with The Cult. I thought Sonic Temple was magnificent... at the time it was released, for that time. Since then, whenever I have listened to them, I've been wishing for the song or album to finish so I can put something else on.
This is a fairly difficult thing to get past.
Kearo gave this to me when it came out, and I gave it a real go. It was then cast aside. Listening to it again over the past few days, I have been unable to get enthused about it, which is a shame. I know Kearo thinks I'm a little mad because of this.
I just think that The Cult's style has now grown out from me, and my tastes have moved onto other things. Maybe in the future I will rediscover what it is about them that I loved, but this album failed to bring that back to me.
Rating : This is the best I could muster for it. 2.5/5.
123. Black Sabbath / Between Heaven And Hell. 1995. 4/5.
This is a really strange compilation, which I assume is just a money making exercise.
Look – the songs are great, and there are some strange choices, but you have to wonder who would buy this if they had all of Sabbath's stuff already?
What? People like me? Oh yes. I guess you are right...
Rating : Another 'sorta' best-of. 4/5.
Look – the songs are great, and there are some strange choices, but you have to wonder who would buy this if they had all of Sabbath's stuff already?
What? People like me? Oh yes. I guess you are right...
Rating : Another 'sorta' best-of. 4/5.
122. Helloween / Better Than Raw. 1998. 3/5.
This album falls into a strange bracket for this band. After the falling-out phase that came from Pink Bubbles Go Ape and the atrocious Chameleon, a change of personnel had brought two further studio albums and a live album that had well and truly gotten the band back on track.
Here however a change is in the air, which succeeds on all levels on the album that FOLLOWS this release. For me, though, Better Than Raw doesn't click at all. The songs seem a bit rushed, with little in the way of a hook to drag you into the album.
The first single, Hey Lord, has a very radio feel about it, but also sounds out of place in the mix of the album. It is probably just me, but there doesn't appear to be a lot of cohesion in the song writing, or the arrangement of the songs themselves.
Perhaps I am being a bit picky. I don't know for sure. I do know that from the time I bought this album it just didn't sit right. Having given it three straight listens again today, my opinion remains the same.
Rating : There is not a lot here that grabs my attention. However, that doesn't make it an altogether poor album. Just a disappointing one in my book. 3/5.
Here however a change is in the air, which succeeds on all levels on the album that FOLLOWS this release. For me, though, Better Than Raw doesn't click at all. The songs seem a bit rushed, with little in the way of a hook to drag you into the album.
The first single, Hey Lord, has a very radio feel about it, but also sounds out of place in the mix of the album. It is probably just me, but there doesn't appear to be a lot of cohesion in the song writing, or the arrangement of the songs themselves.
Perhaps I am being a bit picky. I don't know for sure. I do know that from the time I bought this album it just didn't sit right. Having given it three straight listens again today, my opinion remains the same.
Rating : There is not a lot here that grabs my attention. However, that doesn't make it an altogether poor album. Just a disappointing one in my book. 3/5.
121. Y&T / The Best Of Y&T (1981-1985). 1990. 4/5.
Here is another Best Of that was released when there were more albums to come from the band – but here they got it spot on.
No one could deny that Y&T's glory days were between the years of 1981 and 1985, and this collection captures the best that the band released.
You can choose your own favourites out of those on the album sleeve. I loved the album Mean Streak, and all the songs on it. Mean Streak, Midnight In Tokyo, Hang 'Em High, Hurricane and Black Tiger probably classify as my favourites from this collection.
Good albums were still to come – 1987's Contagious is another of my favourites – but certainly the best they came up with finds itself here in the glory years of the early-to-mid-80's.
Rating : An excellent collection that shows off the best that this band could produce. 4/5.
No one could deny that Y&T's glory days were between the years of 1981 and 1985, and this collection captures the best that the band released.
You can choose your own favourites out of those on the album sleeve. I loved the album Mean Streak, and all the songs on it. Mean Streak, Midnight In Tokyo, Hang 'Em High, Hurricane and Black Tiger probably classify as my favourites from this collection.
Good albums were still to come – 1987's Contagious is another of my favourites – but certainly the best they came up with finds itself here in the glory years of the early-to-mid-80's.
Rating : An excellent collection that shows off the best that this band could produce. 4/5.
120. Van Halen / The Best Of Van Halen, Volume 1. 1996. 4/5.
There is no argument from me that Van Halen are a great band, and that early on they were one of the front runners when it came to guitar bands. Hundreds of bands that have made it since can than k Van Halen for their influence upon the scene.
To me, however, I still think they were a little bit hit and miss. They had some great stuff, but they also had some stuff that still makes me sit there and think “What the hell were they thinking there?!”
This Best Of is a bit like that as well. There are some brilliant songs on here, from both the DLR era (Ain't Talking 'Bout Love, Unchained, Jump, Panama) and the Hagar era (Dreams, Why Can't This Be Love, Can't Stop Loving You), but others are just lukewarm offerings.
They were also very optomistic with the title. Only VHIII was released following this, and that has been 10 years now since this came out...
Rating : Great tunes from a great band, but not the best they could offer. 4/5.
To me, however, I still think they were a little bit hit and miss. They had some great stuff, but they also had some stuff that still makes me sit there and think “What the hell were they thinking there?!”
This Best Of is a bit like that as well. There are some brilliant songs on here, from both the DLR era (Ain't Talking 'Bout Love, Unchained, Jump, Panama) and the Hagar era (Dreams, Why Can't This Be Love, Can't Stop Loving You), but others are just lukewarm offerings.
They were also very optomistic with the title. Only VHIII was released following this, and that has been 10 years now since this came out...
Rating : Great tunes from a great band, but not the best they could offer. 4/5.
119. Iron Maiden / Best Of The B-Sides. 2002. 3/5.
This was the third and final double disc from the Eddie's Archive collection, and it holds some interest without getting too excited about it.
I mean, let's face it. Most of us had this material from when they released the Ten Years singles collection in 1990, with all the singles re-released. So the first disc would appear superfluous.
The real point is this – there is a reason all of these songs were on the B-side of singles... they are mostly very ordinary songs. They were songs that were culled from albums before their release, they are cover songs the band did in the studio to fill the back end of 7” and 12” singles, or they are muck-around things done in lay times while recording.
OK, some have some historical significance, and a couple are outstanding (Reach Out, sung by Adrian Smith, is the prime example here), but the rest are the kind of songs you'll listen to once, and then file away for some time when you have absolutely nothing else to listen to.
Rating : As an album, it does not rate highly. But it is not designed that way, it is just a collection of songs of interest to real fans. But not of eternal interest... 3/5.
I mean, let's face it. Most of us had this material from when they released the Ten Years singles collection in 1990, with all the singles re-released. So the first disc would appear superfluous.
The real point is this – there is a reason all of these songs were on the B-side of singles... they are mostly very ordinary songs. They were songs that were culled from albums before their release, they are cover songs the band did in the studio to fill the back end of 7” and 12” singles, or they are muck-around things done in lay times while recording.
OK, some have some historical significance, and a couple are outstanding (Reach Out, sung by Adrian Smith, is the prime example here), but the rest are the kind of songs you'll listen to once, and then file away for some time when you have absolutely nothing else to listen to.
Rating : As an album, it does not rate highly. But it is not designed that way, it is just a collection of songs of interest to real fans. But not of eternal interest... 3/5.
118. Iron Maiden / Best Of The Beast. 1996. 5/5.
I guess the band, or the record company, or both, thought that it was time that a best-of package came out. After ten albums, that's fair enough.
The two disc package contains a cross section of songs from Maiden's history – though with no real rhyme or reason behind the selections. A new song, Virus, is also part of the package, and it is a shame this song gets lost in the history of the band by only being found on this compilation. There are live versions of some songs as well. At the conclusion of the second disc, fans are treated to versions of songs off the rare Soundhouse Tapes EP, which catapaulted the band to their initial record contract.
This was a difficult time in Maiden's history. Dickinson had left, Blaze was entrenched but fans were lukewarm. This may have been an attempt to appease all before the next album arrived.
Rating : Now – it is a difficult thing to put out a best-of album for a band like Maiden, and please everyone. Impossible, even. And that is true here. But you can't deny how great the songs are that HAVE been included, so what else can you rate it? 5/5
The two disc package contains a cross section of songs from Maiden's history – though with no real rhyme or reason behind the selections. A new song, Virus, is also part of the package, and it is a shame this song gets lost in the history of the band by only being found on this compilation. There are live versions of some songs as well. At the conclusion of the second disc, fans are treated to versions of songs off the rare Soundhouse Tapes EP, which catapaulted the band to their initial record contract.
This was a difficult time in Maiden's history. Dickinson had left, Blaze was entrenched but fans were lukewarm. This may have been an attempt to appease all before the next album arrived.
Rating : Now – it is a difficult thing to put out a best-of album for a band like Maiden, and please everyone. Impossible, even. And that is true here. But you can't deny how great the songs are that HAVE been included, so what else can you rate it? 5/5
117. Rainbow / The Best Of Rainbow. 1981. 5/5.
This is an excellent compilation of the formative years of Rainbow, and the songs that made them the group they were.
Formed when Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple, and picked up a rising star in Ronnie James Dio, this double CD features the best songs from Rainbow's first five albums.
OK – so it is close to their best. I have a problem with Tarot Woman not being included here, but I guess everyone has their own choices. What this album does show is the wonderful force that Blackmore and Dio made as a writing team – Stargazer, Man On The Silver Mountain, Long Live Rock And Roll, Kill The King, Gates Of Babylon... and the list goes on.
It also makes you wonder what may have happened if Graham Bonnet had stayed with the group. His one release as vocalist, Down To Earth, contains great hits like Eyes Of The World, All Night long and Since You Been Gone.
Joe Lynn Turner gets a couple of token songs tacked on, with Difficult To Cure having only just been released when this came out, but he contributed just as much as these other two to Rainbow's legend in coming years.
Memories : I remember Rainbow getting me through a lot of the early stage of Uni in 1988. Think I had listen to Dio to death, and put this album on one day, and didn't take it off for about two months. Kill the King, A Light In The Black and Gates Of Babylon in particular were songs that helped me out a lot at the time.
Rating : Though there were more albums to come, and there has not been a definitive best-of done since, this is pretty much as good as you can get anyway. 5/5.
Formed when Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple, and picked up a rising star in Ronnie James Dio, this double CD features the best songs from Rainbow's first five albums.
OK – so it is close to their best. I have a problem with Tarot Woman not being included here, but I guess everyone has their own choices. What this album does show is the wonderful force that Blackmore and Dio made as a writing team – Stargazer, Man On The Silver Mountain, Long Live Rock And Roll, Kill The King, Gates Of Babylon... and the list goes on.
It also makes you wonder what may have happened if Graham Bonnet had stayed with the group. His one release as vocalist, Down To Earth, contains great hits like Eyes Of The World, All Night long and Since You Been Gone.
Joe Lynn Turner gets a couple of token songs tacked on, with Difficult To Cure having only just been released when this came out, but he contributed just as much as these other two to Rainbow's legend in coming years.
Memories : I remember Rainbow getting me through a lot of the early stage of Uni in 1988. Think I had listen to Dio to death, and put this album on one day, and didn't take it off for about two months. Kill the King, A Light In The Black and Gates Of Babylon in particular were songs that helped me out a lot at the time.
Rating : Though there were more albums to come, and there has not been a definitive best-of done since, this is pretty much as good as you can get anyway. 5/5.
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