603. Metallica / 2011-12-10: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA, USA. 2011. 4.5/5

This is the fourth and final of four nights that Metallica played as their 30th Anniversary celebrations, bringing together old band mates and musician friends to have a rocking old time.
All four nights had a similar theme and arrangement, though with different songs and guests.

Each night started with an instrumental, and the fourth night was the turn of the brilliant "Orion" to be played in all its glory. What a magnificent song it is.
For the 'back catalogue collection' on this evening, there was more great songs. "Through the Never", "Ride the Lightning", "The God That Failed" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)".

Then came the "new song" of the night, one of the four songs that had come from the Death Magnetic sessions but not made the cut for the album. All four were later released on the Beyond Magnetic EP. Tonight's addition was "Rebel of Babylon", which to my ears would have been the closest to making the Death Magnetic album.

From here we move into the 'special guests' stage of the evening. First was Dennis and Annette Diaz, who had scored a YouTube hit with the performance of "Master of Puppets" at their wedding. Tonight they were on stage for "Blackened".
Bob Rock, who produced four Metallica albums, and replaced Jason Newsted when recording the St Anger album, came out to play two songs off that album, "Dirty Window" and "Frantic".

One of the highlights came next, with legendary bassist Geezer Butler joined the band on stage to play their medley of the Black Sabbath classics "Sabbra Cadabra" and "A National Acrobat". To top that off, Ozzy Osbourne himself then made his way on the stage to perform the stock standard "Iron Man" and "Paranoid". Just brilliant.

For the fourth and final time, Jason Newsted returned for another two song stint with his former band mates. One wonders how he felt at the end of playing "King Nothing" and "Whiplash", knowing it would probably be the final time he did so.

The end of the night, and the four nights, was left to the originals.
Hugh Tanner, who came on to play "Motorbreath" was in band's with Hetfield at school. 30-odd years later, to play with them on stage, must have been a moment.
This was followed by the moment that probably every Metallica fan around the world had been waiting for, the return of Dave Mustaine. After 30 years of ill words between the parties, they were all back on stage together. They belted out original Metallica classics "Phantom Lord", "Jump in the Fire" and "Metal Militia" to great applause.
To top this off, original Metallica bassist Ron McGoveny and another former guitarist in Lloyd Grant, who played on the original recording of "Hit the Lights", joined the mass on stage to play this song. It was a real trip down memory lane for everyone.

The evening finished with an all-star jam, everyone from the night coming together to play the party encore, "Seek & Destroy".

There was plenty of interesting pieces on this recording, and in most ways it was the perfect way to conclude the first 30 years of Metallica.

602. Metallica / 2011-12-09: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA, USA. 2011. 4/5

This is the third of four nights that Metallica played as their 30th Anniversary celebrations, bringing together old band mates and musician friends to have a rocking old time.
All four nights had a similar theme and arrangement, though with different songs and guests.

Each night started with an instrumental, and the third night was only the second time ever that "Suicide & Redemption", was played live.
For the 'back catalogue collection' on this evening, well... what more could you ask for really. "Master of Puppets", "... And Justice For All", "Of Wolf and Man", "Fade to Black" and "The Thing That Should Not Be", all awesome songs. These were followed by "I Disappear" and "The Outlaw Torn"

Then came the "new song" of the night, one of the four songs that had come from the Death Magnetic sessions but not made the cut for the album. All four were later released on the Beyond Magnetic EP. Tonight's addition was "Hell and Back", which is listenable enough, if overdrawn.

From here we move into the 'special guests' stage of the evening. First was another member of Metallica's 'MetClub' fan club, Joseph Guariglia, who came up to play on "Blitzkrieg". This was followed by Jerry Cantrell from Alice In Chains coming out to help with two songs, "For Whom The Bell Tolls", and vocal harmonies on "Nothing Else Matters".
Animal from Anti-Nowhere League came out to sing his standard "So What" before Cantrell returned with Pepper Keenan from Down, big Jim Martin from Faith No More, and Gary Rossington from Lynard Skynard to do the Skynard song "Tuesday's Gone" which Metallica had covered on the Garage Inc. album.
Jason Newsted returned for his third night in succession, this time to belt out crowd favourites "Fuel" and "Fight Fire With Fire".

Tonight's main event was the arrival of Glenn Danzig to help perform Metallica's favourite Misfits covers, those of course being "Die, Die My Darling", "Last Caress" and "Green Hell". It's great to hear the great man with the band behind him.

Can you top that? Well, you go close when you bring out the Godfather, Judas Priest's Rob Halford, to perform "Rapid Fire". Brilliant stuff.

The evening finished with an all-star jam, everyone from the night coming together to play the party encore, "Seek & Destroy".

Once again, the night was an eclectic affair, with something for everyone. The recording shows it off well, as an historic moment in the band's career.

601. Metallica / 2011-12-07: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA, USA. 2011. 4/5

This is the second of four nights that Metallica played as their 30th Anniversary celebrations, bringing together old band mates and musician friends to have a rocking old time.
All four nights had a similar theme and arrangement, though with different songs and guests.

Each night started with an instrumental, and the second night was the first time ever that "To Live Is to Die", was played live, the brilliant instrumental from ... And Justice For All which is the last recorded material with Cliff Burton's name on the writing credits. It was a wonderful way to start the gig, and perhaps left it far too much to live up to following it.
We are again then presented with an assortment of the back catalogue - the ever present crowd favourite "Enter Sandman", the great and under-utilised "Holier Than Thou", the awesome "Disposable Heroes", "Bleeding Me", "Wasting My Hate" and "My Apocalypse".

Then came the "new song" of the night, one of the four songs that had come from the Death Magnetic sessions but not made the cut for the album. All four were later released on the Beyond Magnetic EP. Tonight's addition was "Just A Bullet Away", which is okay, but shows why it didn't make the cut initially.

From here we move into the 'special guests' stage of the evening. First was another member of Metallica's 'MetClub' fan club, Andrew Dowis, who came up to play on "Breadfan". Again, how lucky is this bastard. This was followed by "The Memory Remains" with Marianne Faithfull, who provided supporting vocals on the song on the album Reload, followed by a great version of Sweet Savage's "Killing Time" featuring the band's lead vocalist and bass player Ray Haller.
Then band then rolled out "Turn the Page", a Bob Seger song that Metallica covered for Garage Inc. and then spent eleven weeks at #1 in the US. This was sung by Kid Rock, who has also covered the song, and sung it with Metallica in the past. After this, John Bush (whose band Armored Saint had played earlier as support) came out and crushed a version of "The Four Horsemen", bringing the house down.

The next set of songs brought Lou Reed onto stage, to perform three songs from the collabarative album that he and Metallica had released earlier in 2011, Lulu. It had been a controversial move, and the album that was the result of this was panned. Those that like the album will enjoy this. I do not, and really don't.

Jason Newsted came out for the second evening in a row, and helped to return the set to the heights it should be at with blistering versions of "Creeping Death" and "Battery".
The pinnacle of the night came with the original member of Mercyful Fate coming out to perform Metallica's tribute to the band released on Garage Inc., titled "Mercyful Fate", which contains the songs "Satan's Fall", "Curse of the Pharaohs", "A Corpse Without Soul", "Into the Coven" and "Evil". Just awesome.

The evening finished with an all-star jam, everyone from the night coming together to play the party encore, "Seek & Destroy".

Though not as terrific overall as the first night, this still has enough interesting moments to fill a couple of listens.

600. Metallica / 2011-12-05: The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA. 2011. 4/5

This is the first of four nights that Metallica played as their 30th Anniversary celebrations, bringing together old band mates and musician friends to have a rocking old time.
All four nights had a similar theme and arrangement, though with different songs and guests.

Each night started with an instrumental, and the first night was a wonderful version of "The Call of Ktulu", one of their best, just a brilliant song. This was followed by an eclectic selection of songs from their back catalogue that are rarely heard live - "No Remorse", "The Shortest Straw", the awesome "Leper Messiah", recent opener "The Day That Never Comes" and "Carpe Diem Baby" for the first time ever live.

Then came the "new song" of the night, one of the four songs that had come from the Death Magnetic sessions but not made the cut for the album. All four were later released on the Beyond Magnetic EP. Tonight's addition was "Hate Train", which is arguably the better of the four over these nights. This was followed by the Nazareth cover, "Please Don't Judas Me".

From here we move into the 'special guests' stage of the evening. First was a member of Metallica's 'MetClub' fan club, John Dent, who came up to play guitar on "Wherever I May Roam". You would probably be just a little bit stoked about being able to do that. Then Metal Church's guitarist John Marshall, who was also a guitar tech with the band, and has on occasions filled in for James Hetfield when he has been incapacitated, came up to play on "Sad But True", before Rob Trujillo did a bit of doodling with "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth".

Support act for the night, the Finnish cello group Apocalyptica, who started out their life as a Metallica cover band, came out to join Metallica on stage and help out on a great version of "No Leaf Clover" as well as adding their unique style to the first half of "One". Following this, former bass player Jason Newsted made his way out to perform "Harvester of Sorrow" and "Damage Inc." with his former band mates, taking obvious glee in providing backing vocals once again in both of these songs.

More cover songs followed this. Saxon's lead vocalist Biff Byford came out and sang on a rousing version of that band's (probable) most famous song, "Motorcycle Man". After this, arguably the two people most influential in Metallica's musical love and direction came out, the mighty Diamond Head's lead singer Sean Harris and lead guitar Brian Tatler. To the delight of fans and band alike, they performed four of their songs that have been made more famous by Metallica than they probably could ever have been - "The Prince", "It's Electric", "Helpless" and "Am I Evil?", all absolute classics. This is what makes this night special, this kind of coming together of a legendary band, and the band that THEY looked up to and was inspired by.

The evening finished withan all-star jam, everyone from the night coming together to play the party encore, "Seek & Destroy".

This is a great live album of a great event and it is well worth a couple of listens for posterity.

599. Tenacious D / Rize of the Fenix. 2012. 3/5

It was somewhat of a surprise to learn that the D was going to release another album. Not because I thought they were done, how do you approach a new album after the previous album was the soundtrack to your own movie, which bombed big time at the box office? Well, you make the album (or part of it, anyway) the story of that, and just move onwards!

It is great to hear Jack and Kyle back again, and for the most part the songs are upbeat and humorous. It is probably unfair to try and compare to their earlier efforts. Their self-titled debut album contained the very best of everything they had written and played for a decade. Their second album was also the soundtrack to their movie, and as such the material was well done. On this new album, they had to start from scratch and come up with new material and new ideas. It's not like they could just come together and write a bunch of songs about love or any other subjects. They also had to be amusing and clever, because that is what the D do. And in a lot of ways that is even more difficult to do, because the backlash can be twofold.

Without trying to overanalyse the whole production (which I think I have already done), it is an album that is enjoyable to listen to without the great memorable tracks that their previous two albums have. "Rize of the Fenix" answers the questions of what the D have been doing since 2007. "Deth Starr", "Roadie" and "Throw Down" are all in the classic sense Tenacious D songs. On the other side, songs like "Rock is Dead" and "To Be the Best" remind me of songs off the Team America: World Police soundtrack ("Montage" anyone?), but probably not quite as good. And as clever as a song like "39" is, I really think it is drawn out far too long.

I haven't got the same vibe about this album as I did with the previous two albums. This may well change over time and more spinning of the album. It's clever and funny, but without the memorability of that which came before.

598. Primal Fear / Unbreakable. 2012. 3.5/5

Primal Fear have built themselves up to the kind of band that you want to be - they have the reputation that, once you know they have a new album on the way, you are excited about it, and look forward to hearing it and buying it. As a band you couldn't ask for much more than that. Given the excellent quality of  their previous release, 16.6: (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, this was one I was looking forward to.

Overall, it is another great Primal Fear album. The songs here are more melodic that those on recent releases, and the keys are more prominent. From the very beginning the album is kick-started and driven by the powerful drumming of Randy Black, who again excels in the precision and speed of his tubs, and the vocals of Ralf Scheepers, who just keeps the intensity of the songs at a premium. These two are the stars on the album for me.
You won't find anything too different on here than you can find on other Primal Fear albums. There is the mix of the faster speed metal type songs as well as the power metal slower ballad style songs. My preference has always been for the faster, heavier songs, such as "And Then There Was Silence" and "Unbreakable (Part 2)", whereas the token balled "Born Again" for me is in the category of song filler - not a bad song, but not one that does anything for me.

It may sound a little generic in places, but that is a small price to pay for a band that continues to produce such wonderfully adept albums. For me it doesn't quite match the previous album, but it certainly ranks ahead of its predecessors New Religion and Seven Seals.

597. Unisonic / Unisonic. 2012. 3/5

It was pretty difficult not getting excited about the release of this album. Since their short time together in Helloween in the late 1980's (which produced two of the finest metal albums of that or any other era, the magnificent Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1 and the incomparable Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 2), Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen have moved in opposite musical directions. Hansen formed Gamma Ray, the premium metal band, and produced some of the best albums of the past 25 years. Kiske was involved in one of the worst, Helloween's Chameleon before renouncing his heavy metal spurs and producing some average albums that never ever showed off what an amazing vocalist he is.

Despite Kai Hansen's presence, I did not come into this expecting a heavy metal album, and that is not what this is. The music and songs had to be written in a style that would have pleased the leader - a compromise of styles, if you will. What you get is an assimilation of the band's that all of these members have been in, and an attempt to make that work.
There is plenty to like, and plenty to take stock of. The two major writers are Hansen and bassist Dennis Ward. While the album isn't fractured, it comes across as slightly schitzophrenic.

Hansen's contributions are a standout, and able to be separated from the pack. His are the songs that inject a bit of speed and a bit of grunt in the guitars, as well as the better lead break from both guitarists."Never Too Late" is one example. The similarities to Gamma Ray's "Time to Break Free" from the Land of the Free album, both musically and lyrically (yes, Kiske actually provided lead vocals on the song) are very easy to ascertain. But his contributions have been 'scaled back' from the absolute heavy and speed metal style of Gamma Ray, to fit in with the much more hard rock style that this band is about, no doubt to fit Kiske's preferred style.
On the other hand, Ward's contributions obviously reflect the style of his previous band's, such as Pink Cream 69 and Place Vendome (of which Kiske was also a part). They swing more towards the hard rock ballad style of song, rewuiring Kiske's soaring vocals to be at the forefront of the moody musicianship, much in the way that Whitesnake's "Is This Love?" did a quarter of a century ago. There is nothing wrong with that if you like that kind of stuff, but really, we've heard this before in Ward's afore-mentioned bands.

Compare, for instance, "Renegade" and "My Sanctuary", which are back to back in the middle of this album. "Renegade" is a Ward song, and it has that moodiness about it, and almost floats along with Kiske soaring to that mood. Then comes "My Sanctuary", essentially a Ward song, that Hansen has contributed to the music. It feels like a Ward song, but Hansen has come in and added some grunt, added some metal to it, and the song is all the better for that influence. To me, if this could have been done to the WHOLE album, rather than just the two or three songs that Kai 'helped out' with the music ("Unisonic", "My Sanctuary" and "We Rise") it would have been a better mix throughout. As it stands, the  momentum of the album ebbs and flows between the somewhat faster and heavier tunes, and the slower more circumspect soft rock moments.
Michael Kiske has the writing credit for one song on the album, the closing ballad "No One Ever Sees Me". It is the perfect example of the direction Kiske prefers his music in this incarnation of his life. It is pure syrup both musically and lyrically, and even the solo break from Kai can't redeem it for me. I am sure there are plenty of fans out here who will love this song. To me it may as well be Mariah Carey singing it, because it is a travesty.

I wanted to love this album. I wanted it to be a pinpoint, the album that all other bands would have to better if they wanted to have the best album of 2012. That hasn't  - and couldn't - happen. Despite the calibre of the musicians collected here, their styles were, for the most part, unable to combine to bring about the miraculous. There are good songs here, including "Unisonic", "Souls Alive" "Never Too Late" and "My Sanctuary", but the average tends to hold back the good. Instead, this is an album that is well worth a listen, but at the end of the day will become a shelf-filler.

596. Iron Maiden / En Vivo! 2012. 5/5

The simple review for this is "Here is another Iron Maiden live album. It's Iron Maiden, performing their songs live. It's a no brainer. It's brilliant. 5/5"

The major problem with putting out a live album or live DVD or both after almost every tour is that, for half of that release, you are hearing the same songs over and over again. And I honestly disagree with the band, that you MUST play a certain selection of songs at every gig ever. And so it is here. Once "The Evil That Men Do" has come to its conclusion, you can for all intents and purposes turn off the album, because you have heard the conlusion to an Iron Maiden concert before. It is a shame, and of course the songs themselves are still brilliant, but how many live versions of the same songs do you need to hear?

Anyway, getting over that, this is another terrific entry into Maiden's live collection. All of the new songs from The Final Frontier sound as brilliant live as they did when I saw them in concert in Sydney on this tour - they certainly sound better live. I was never overly taken with "Coming Home" and "El Dorado" when I bought the album, but they are better in this atmosphere. "The Talisman" proves itself again as the best song from that album, and one of their best since the reformation in 1999.
It was good to have some other songs back into the setlist as well, such as "Dance of Death", "The Wicker Man" and "Blood Brothers" which are fantastic. I again wonder at why "Fear of the Dark" remains in the setlist. I am very over that song.

It's simple. An Iron Maiden live album is pretty much a 5/5 album, given the song selection, musicianship and production. And this is no different. It was a great concert to see, and this is translated wonderfully to this album. One wonders why, after all of these live releases in the past 13 years, why there was no live album released from the A Matter of Life and Death tour, especially when on that tour they played that entire album live! Wonders may never cease...

595. Overkill / The Electric Age. 2012. 3/5

Given that as I write this review, the only two Overkill albums I have heard are this one and its predecessor, I guess I don't have the history of the band to help guide my judgement. This could be a positive or a negative in many respects, but it is what I have.

So, given that Overkill are a thrash metal band from the 1980's, you would have to say that this album holds up well, given it is a thrash album in 2012. OK, so it's not any great leap from what thrash metal was back in the early 1980's, though the production is a lot better than it was in those days, and to be honest, even these songs would be faster if they were written and recorded then. But this is a fair album given that.

In an age where the giants of the thrash metal age are still out there putting metal to the masses, albeit in a less angry and not-quite-thrash-anymore-but-heavy-metal kinda way, this album can still find a place amongst the groove metal and progressive metal and metalcore and power metal bands that flourish in greater quantity (though not necessarily quality) than pure thrash metal does.

If you like this style of metal, there is plenty here to like. Solid song structure, good rhythm section, solo's to suit and vocals that hold it all together. I would include "Electric Rattlesnake", "Save Yourself" and "Good Night" as some of my favourite songs from the album.

It's easy to say that there isn't a whole lot new here, and by that I mean that you could easily hear this coming from a thrash album in 1985. In the same way that bands like Exodus and Death Angel are still out there producing good albums in this day and age, Overkill have proven here they can still do the same.

594. Lamb of God / Resolution. 2012. 2.5/5

From the very beginning, there is no doubt that this is a Lamb of God album. And I say this simply because to me it sounds like every other album of theirs that I have heard or own.
Is this a bad thing? Well, it is up to interpretation. Everyone knows an AC/DC album when it is put on, because they are almost the same through out their career. But if you love AC/DC this doesn't diminish your love of the band or the music.
In reality, this is the same with Lamb of God. The production is similar, the guitars and rums and vocals are all in a similar vein to everything they have done. What it comes down to is - what is your opinion of Lamb of God as a band? If you love the band, you will probably be head over heels in love with this album. If you dislike Lamb of God as a band, you will dislike this album much as you have their previous efforts.

I sit on the fence with both this band and this album. I was hoping for more of Wrath when I heard it, and for the most part was disappointed. I came into Resolution with an open mind and hope of something different, something more. What I found was a stock standard LoG album. The start of the album just doesn't grab me, which is a problem for any album. I don't mind the mid-section songs, there is a little bit there that raises the senses slightly, and then it fades out towards the close again.

In summary, fans will probably enjoy this. As Lamb of God are not one of the bands that I have an obsession with, this perhaps drag down my assessment of the album in the same way my love of some bands drags my assessment upwards.