Stratovarius "Stratovarius" - Interesting disc. This is Strato's new one, and it's a bit of a departure from their power metal Iron Maiden on speed approach. This album has more of a Megadeth meets Motley Crue feel to it IMO. The songs are tightly focused, the compression on the overall mix seems to thump with the beat of the music, and the vocals actually sit with the music better than on previous discs. Having said that, though, the lyrics absolutely suck "We do the maniac dance!!". The guitar tone is tight, and the songs are nicely crafted, now drop the juvenile lyrics and lets get to it.
In Flames "Reroute to Remain" - One of the best and freshest sounding metal discs of the last 5 years. This CD is a couple years old, and it's really the one that defined In Flames' sound. The guitars are extremely heavy, with an over-gained sound that no one else really uses. I do believe they actually fed white noise into their guitar sound, but regardless it's really cool to listen to. The music has a kind of ethereal Queensryche-meets-Nine-inch-Nails kind of sound to it, and the vocals over top add a wonderful new dimension. The vocals edge from melodic to hardcore, and they don't get old as you go through the album. Definitely a must-buy CD for metal fans, and I should've bought this CD long ago
Stratovarius "Elements Pt 2" - Elements Pt 1 sucked. It's a total cop-out album. Elements Pt 2 is far from it. Released at the same time back in 2003 I believe, it's a back to basics power metal album. Fans of Hammerfall, Iron Maiden, Helloween, Symphony X, Yngwie Malmsteem, etc. owe it to themselves to check out some old strato, and this album is a throwback to their earlier heavier releases such as Episode, Destiny, and Visions. Great power metal disc.
Stratovarius "Double Live" - I used to own this, sold it back in 2002, and just re-bought it because I missed it. It's Stratovarius' greatest hits played live. Mind you, this band was one of the biggest European success stories of the last 15 years. They routinely played to crowds of 10,000-20,000 all over Europe and Japan, while barely getting a sniff of success in the States because of their style. The highlight of the double live CD to me, is when the singer has to stop singing on the gorgeous ballad "Forever" because the crowd of 10,000 in attendance is singing it so loudly back to him that he's rendered inaudible. That's incredible.
Testament "Live in London 2005" DVD - Just got this DVD as well. It's great to see Murphy and Skolnick back together on stage, and they sound amazing. The band has definitely changed in appearance, but they're just as heavy and tight now as they ever were. I can't explain how incredible the sound is on this DVD. It's maybe the best recording I've ever heard of a live performance by a rock band, and the producer or team that mixed the sound should be up for some kind of award. The production on this live DVD is better than most of Testament's album releases!! The music is great, tons of Testament's old hits and thrash numbers, tons of great guitar from Skolnick, and in front of a packed house in a huge London club no less. The only notable flaw is the exclusion of "Low". I mean seriously, what the hell? It's like Metallica not playing "Master of Puppets" (oh wait, they can't play that one anymore
).
In Flames "Reroute to Remain" - One of the best and freshest sounding metal discs of the last 5 years. This CD is a couple years old, and it's really the one that defined In Flames' sound. The guitars are extremely heavy, with an over-gained sound that no one else really uses. I do believe they actually fed white noise into their guitar sound, but regardless it's really cool to listen to. The music has a kind of ethereal Queensryche-meets-Nine-inch-Nails kind of sound to it, and the vocals over top add a wonderful new dimension. The vocals edge from melodic to hardcore, and they don't get old as you go through the album. Definitely a must-buy CD for metal fans, and I should've bought this CD long ago
Stratovarius "Elements Pt 2" - Elements Pt 1 sucked. It's a total cop-out album. Elements Pt 2 is far from it. Released at the same time back in 2003 I believe, it's a back to basics power metal album. Fans of Hammerfall, Iron Maiden, Helloween, Symphony X, Yngwie Malmsteem, etc. owe it to themselves to check out some old strato, and this album is a throwback to their earlier heavier releases such as Episode, Destiny, and Visions. Great power metal disc.
Stratovarius "Double Live" - I used to own this, sold it back in 2002, and just re-bought it because I missed it. It's Stratovarius' greatest hits played live. Mind you, this band was one of the biggest European success stories of the last 15 years. They routinely played to crowds of 10,000-20,000 all over Europe and Japan, while barely getting a sniff of success in the States because of their style. The highlight of the double live CD to me, is when the singer has to stop singing on the gorgeous ballad "Forever" because the crowd of 10,000 in attendance is singing it so loudly back to him that he's rendered inaudible. That's incredible.
Testament "Live in London 2005" DVD - Just got this DVD as well. It's great to see Murphy and Skolnick back together on stage, and they sound amazing. The band has definitely changed in appearance, but they're just as heavy and tight now as they ever were. I can't explain how incredible the sound is on this DVD. It's maybe the best recording I've ever heard of a live performance by a rock band, and the producer or team that mixed the sound should be up for some kind of award. The production on this live DVD is better than most of Testament's album releases!! The music is great, tons of Testament's old hits and thrash numbers, tons of great guitar from Skolnick, and in front of a packed house in a huge London club no less. The only notable flaw is the exclusion of "Low". I mean seriously, what the hell? It's like Metallica not playing "Master of Puppets" (oh wait, they can't play that one anymore
).
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