Was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. Recently heard some amazing covers live of Deftones stuff and decided to give them another go. Chino’s vocals really grew on me over my two listens of the album, and the instrumentals were really fun. Notable tracks include “Sextape” and “Diamond Eyes” with my hidden gem being “Royal”.
JHSuth1843's reviews
Disturbed’s fifth outing, “Asylum”, is the first time I would consider Disturbed becoming formulaic. Familiar melodies, driving yet boring riffs, it makes for an enjoyable enough album but nothing wows me. Notable tracks include “Warrior” and “The Animal” with my hidden gem being “Sacrifice”.
Robbie Williams’ maiden voyage into swing and big band vocals, “Swing When You’re Winning” is a fantastic change in style for the singer. Whilst not being an album I would revisit often, the style works really well for him. Notable tracks include “Something Stupid” and “Mr. Bojangles”, with my hidden gem being “Things”.
Williams’ third release and first venture of the new millennium, “Sing When You’re Winning” is equally as consistent as it’s predecessors. I also will give the Spotify version of this album credit in that the final track (not including the Spanish rendition of “Better Man”) does not feature a bonus/hidden track after 20-odd minutes of silence allowing for relistens without having to skip through silence. Notable tracks include “Rock DJ” and “Kids” (ft. Kylie Minogue), with my hidden gem being “Forever Texas”.
Robbie William’s sophomore album, “I’ve Been Expecting You” is a solid follow up from his debut. I do believe that “Life Thru A Lens” is a better album start to finish, but it’s undeniable that “I’ve Been Expecting You” still has some excellent songs. Notable tracks include “Millenium” and a (more well known) cover of World Party’s “She’s The One”, with my hidden gem being “It’s Only Us”
The follow up to “Ten Thousand Fists”, Disturbed’s “Indestructible” continues a somewhat consistent quality across the record. Wouldn’t say there was as many somgs I loved outside of the hits, but overall a pretty consistently solid album. Notable tracks include “Indestructible” and “Inside The Fire”, with my hidden gem being “Perfect Insanity”.
Disturbed’s third album, “Ten Thousand Fists”, is a return to form after “Believe”, with the quality of the album being closer to that of “The Sickness”. I had a great time with this album, although preferred the debut more (may be biased after having seen the album in full live however). Notable tracks include “Stricken” and “Ten Thousand Fists”, with my hidden gems being “Pain Redefined” and their cover of Genesis’ “Land Of Confusion”.
Following “The Sickness”, Disturbed released “Believe”, their sophomore record. Although, not as good as their debut, this album was still a decent listen, although felt a little bland in my opinion. Notable tracks include “Prayer” and “Awaken”, with my hidden gem being “Bound”
Disturbed’s debut album “The Sickness” is a great album front to back, Draiman’s vocals sound great on this release, the instrumentation hits hard as expected from this band, and overall just a fantastic contribution from all 4 members. Notable tracks include “Down With The Sickness” and their cover of Tears For Fears’ “Shout 2000”, with my hidden gem being “Meaning of Life”
The follow up to “Lateralus”, Tool’s “10,000 Days” provides a fantastic musical journey. Overall, less chaotic than previous releases, this album is a little more ambient, e.g. the two halves of “Wings”, whilst still having some crushing riffs. Notable tracks include “The Pot” and “Rosetta Stoned”, with my (somewhat) hidden gems being “Vicarious” and “Jambi”
Tool’s 2001 release, “Lateralus”, is the pinnacle of Tool’s creative endeavours without question. The performances on this album from all 4 members is off the charts, but Carey’s drumming and Chancellor’s bass make up the heart and soul of this album. Notable tracks include “Schism” and “The Grudge”, with my hidden gem being “Ticks & Leeches”. One of, if not the greatest, progressive metal albums ever put to vinyl.
Tool’s second album, “Ænima”, is our proper introduction into Tool’s progressive metal style, with the almost tribal, percussive based instrumentals, bass heavy leads and not a huge focus on the vocals. “Ænima” provides a fantastic listen front to back, with the introduction of Tool’s famous interludes between tracks. Notable tracks include “Forty Six & 2” and “Stinkfist”, with my hidden gem being “Hooker With A Penis”.
“Undertow” is the progressive metal legends Tool’s debut album, and it’s a strong start from the LA based outfit. Less progressive, more grungy, this album hits hard and soft-launches us to Tool’s more complex compositions, whilst remaining in that more Alternative Metal scene. Notable tracks include “Sober” and “Prison Sex”, whilst my hidden gem for the album is the titular “Undertow”.
The Fratellis’ 2013 output “We Need Medicine” marked a undeserved decline in the band’s performance, only reaching No. 26 in the UK Albums Charts. Containing some of my personal favourite Fratellis tracks, “We Need Medicine” is an enjoyable listen front to back. Notable tracks include “She’s Not Gone Yet But She’s Leaving” and “Rock And Roll Will Break Your Heart”, with my personal hidden gem being “This Old Ghost Town”.
Modern metalcore done right, Ice Nine Kills’ “Welcome To Horrorwood: The Silver Scream II” is a really creative and impressive work encapsulating horror movies through music. Some hits from the album include “Rainy Day” and “Hip To Be Scared”, with my hidden gems being “Ex-Mørtis” and “Wurst Vacation”
Good introduction to the Fratellis, well varied across the album, heavy hitters are “Chelsea Dagger” and “Whistle For The Choir”, with “Vince The Loveable Stoner” and “Ole Black ‘n’ Blue Eyes” being my personal hidden gems
My personal favourite Metallica album, this is their best songwriting. The riffs on this album are absolutely unrivalled, Ulrich’s drumming is the best he has to offer, and of course, Burton’s replacement - Jason Newstead - joins the band. Only, you wouldn’t know, as you can’t hear him at all on the album. The production sadly lets this masterpiece down a little.
The quintessential 80s metal record, this is Metallica at their absolute best. Unfortunately the final release before the bus accident that tragically took Cliff Burton’s life, Master of Puppets’ “Orion” allowed Burton to have his unknowing swan song in the best way possible. A perfect album, cover to cover.
Ride The Lightning is everything Kill ‘Em All is done better, it’s raw but with better production, it’s angst with even angstier riffs and it’s still somewhat written by Dave Mustaine… a must-listen to any fan of hard rock/metal.
The birth of thrash, Kill ‘Em All is raw, it’s angst, it’s mostly written by Dave Mustaine, but damn is it a good start from the Bay Area boys.
Don’t relisten to this EP often, only really revisit Hush, although it’s a great introduction into Tool to start with from the beginning
My favourite progressive rock album of all time, Jethro Tull’s Aqualung provides a unique listening experience, with Ian Anderson’s mesmerising flute playing making me light up everytime I hear the solos in “Cross Eyed Mary” and “My God”
Potentially one of the greatest concept albums ever made, The Black Parade tells the story of a cancer patient in their final days of life, and their journey from anger and denial at the unfairness of the world, to their acceptance of the situation and eventual passing, whilst also showing the personification of death in the Parader, who has a contrasting story as he comes to love the patient and begs for them to hold on and keep fighting, coming to the climactic fight of “Sleep” as the Parader screams over and over telling the patient to wake up, but to no avail.
Steely Dan’s magnum opus, Aja provides the perfect jazz rock experience. A true masterpiece and a must-listen for anyone who’s a fan of music, Donald Faegen and Walter Becker’s writing comes to an peak on this album.
The final album before Mercury’s tragic death, Innuendo truly is his goodbye to the world, and you can feel his time coming to an end across the album. “These Are The Days Of Our Lives” is his goodbye in song form, and it’s perfect as it is, the titular “Innuendo” revisits the earlier experimental era, with it’s longer runtime and extended flamenco solo featuring Steve Howe of progressive rock legends Yes, and “The Show Must Go On” is widely renowned as one of Mercury’s greatest vocal performances, showing his sheer strength and determination to push all the way to the end of one of the greatest vocalists to ever walk this world.
With Mercury’s declining health, I feel the music took a turn as well, The Miracle provides a listening experience that was just satisfactory, nothing really blew me away that I didn’t already know. “I Want It All” features some of May’s fastest guitar playing, and is a fantastic hard rock track from the band.
A Kind of Magic is Queen’s last fantastic album in my opinion. The unofficial “Highlander” soundtrack gives us some amazing tracks such as the titular “A Kind of Magic”, “Who Wants to Live Forever” and “One Vision”, with “Friends Will Be Friends” and “One Year of Love” being some underrated favourites of mine
A refreshing return to normality for Queen, The Works is 80s Queen done right. It has it’s flaws, but not many. Hits include “I Want To Break Free”, “Hammer to Fall” and “Radio Gaga”, with hidden gems being “Tear It Up”, “Man On the Prowl” and “Is This The World We Created?”
The controversial Hot Space is Queen’s actual venture into disco, the use of electronic drums and the coming change of 80s sound. It’s not as terrible as people make it out to be, it’s no Sheer Heart Attack, but it’s alright. Notable tracks include “Under Pressure ft. David Bowie”, “Cool Cat” and “Las Palabras De Amor”
The 80s rolled in, the hair was cut, and the leather jackets were out, The Game ushers in a slightly new era of Queen. The first ventures into disco with “Another One Bites The Dust”, the older and the rockabilly “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” are the main hits from this album, but some hidden gold on this album comes from “Rock It (Prime Jive)”, sung by Roger Taylor, and “Need Your Loving Tonight”
This album took the longest for me to appreciate, however once I did, I realised how good some of these tracks are. The combination of “Fat Bottomed Girls” and “Bicycle Race” are iconic, and everyone knows “Don’t Stop Me Now”, however some lesser known songs that I couldn’t recommend enough including “Let Me Entertain You”, “If You Can’t Beat Them” and “Dead On Time”
News of the World is one of the album which took time for me to truly appreciate. Obviously the world over knows the combination of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions”, likely played at every sporting event in recent history, the Spanish guitars of “Who Needs You” and the bluesy “Sleeping On The Sidewalk” are favourites of mine as a guitar player, with “Spread Your Wings” and “All Dead, All Dead” being notable piano based tracks.
The sister to A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races provides a somewhat calmer experience, with less experimental sections and more piano based tracks to belt your heart out at. The gospel “Somebody to Love” and fun “Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy” are the standout hits, with “Teo Torriate” being a personal favourite and hidden gem in their discography
Possibly Queen’s most popular album, A Night At The Opera is a fantastic release, obviously with “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Love of My Life” being on this album you know you’re in for an experience, however I gravitate towards the stellar “‘39”, performed by Brian May, the haunting “Prophet’s Song”, featuring a delayed vocal solo akin to the guitar solo from “Brighton Rock”, and the short and sweet “Seaside Rendezvous”. This album is slightly brought down by “Sweet Lady” and “Good Company”, otherwise this is a perfect album.
Possibly Queen’s greatest album in my opinion, Sheer Heart Attack still has snippets of the earlier Queen that I love on tracks such as “In the Lap of the Gods” and “Bring Back That Leroy Brown”, whilst also being the start of their huge collection of hits, with “Killer Queen” and “Now I’m Here”, I’d make a case for this being the quintessential Queen album
My personal favourite Queen album, Queen II’s fantasy rock venture is something of dreams or nightmares depending on your personal taste, but for me, the album was made in heaven, as there are some musical marvels across it’s runtime. Shame that this early era of Queen is somewhat forgotten about bar “Seven Seas of Rhye”
A fantastic debut, Queen’s earlier experimental era is a favourite of mine, this rock experience is something special, although I appreciate that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea
Don’t revisit every song on this album, however “Turnstiles” has my favourite tracks from Joel hands down: “Summer, Highland Falls”, “Miami 2017” and “Prelude/Angry Young Man” are hard to beat.
Joel’s magnum opus, this album is the epitome of songwriting to me, most songs on this album are as popular as they are for good reason, and those that aren’t should be bigger. Nothing but praise
One of the greatest debut albums of all time, Tom Scholz’ writing is incredible, whether it be the harmonies across the album, the iconicity of a lot of these tracks, or the synth solo on “Smokin’”, definitely one of my favourite albums of all time
Almost as good as BooH, just not quite as much of a classic, and not every song needs to be 10 minutes long (although I’m not complaining personally, just thinking generally)
Possibly my favourite album of all time, an absolute masterpiece of an album, I think some people would get put off by the longer durations, but honestly doesn’t feel like that when you listen. “For Crying Out Loud” is one of Steinman’s greatest song in my opinion
Absolutely fell in love with this album on first listen, a fantastic composition front to back from Wayne, highly recommend to anyone who likes wacky, progressive rock
Potentially contains some of the best Britpop I’ve heard that didn’t come from Oasis, a fantastic debut from Williams, hoghly recommend
Fantastic release from Williams, fell in love upon first listen, would rather not have the 10 minutes or so of silence in “Nan’s Song”, but no complaints otherwise
Has grown on me with each listen, not as good as SnS, but still had a good time
Took me by surprise how much I enjoyed this album, have since revisited (the deluxe) many times. Don’t tend to relisten to Don’t Smile/Lie To Girls much, but overall very good
Basic pop instrumentals where original, a lot of interpolations and such, lyrically not amazing.