Tomorrow all goes dark for a week or so. But as I song I love goes... by the light of the moon...
Alright, so in sort of honor of Brutal Legend and the heavy music kick I have been on... I present my favorite ten heavy albums of all time. Some rules... I judged based on personal preference as well as overall influence and importance. Only one album per band (or else several spots would go to Metallica). Has to be in hard/heavy rock/metal for the most part... no super genre benders. I am not a music critic or musician. I give other albums that are close and a track from the selected. So, in no particular order...
JUDAS PRIEST - BRITISH STEEL
I love Judas Priest. Most of the time. Without a doubt one of the most influential metal bands of all time. This is their best album and one that shows why they are so fun. Songs that are heavy and still manage to be fun... but serious. An album with Living After Midnight and Breaking the Law is a winner already... but the whole album is great.
Honorable mentions: Screaming for Vengeance, Angel of Retribution
Powerful piece: United
MOTORHEAD - ACE OF SPADES
Along with the above mentioned, really a huge catalyst for the genre. Motorhead brought the heavy and the loud. Ace of Spades is hands down their greatest album and one of the best heavy rock albums around. Every song is a killer.
Honorable mentions: Motorizer (yup, 2008's album was a beast)
Powerful piece: the Road Crew
METALLICA - MASTER OF PUPPETS
Maybe the best metal album of all time from their greatest act. One of the best albums from any genre top to bottom. A complete and utter master stroke. Can't say much else. Every song is a killer. On top of the musicianship the album was very topical at the time.
Honorable mentions: ... And Just for All, the Black Album
Powerful piece: The Thing That Should Not Be (top shelf Met meets Lovecraft = one of favorite songs ever)
WHITE ZOMBIE - ASTRO CREEP: 2000
An incredibly heavy and groovy album from Rob and Co. Easily one of my personal favorites. Rob understands showmanship and knows that you can be silly and still write a killer and catchy song. Despite the funk and fun, this album brings the heavy. Every song is a winner.
Honorable mentions: Nothing close in their catalog.
Powerful piece: Electric Head pt 2.. but here is More Human Than Human due to embed issues...
AC/DC - BACK IN BLACK
Band loses an amazing frontman... done? No. They return with Brian Johnson and release a flat out beast of an album. A top to bottom monster of hard rock. All the radio songs and all the rest slay.
Honorable mentions: Nothing in that category, but Razors Edge and Black Ice are both fantastic albums.
Powerful piece: the opener Hells Bells
MASTODON - CRACK THE SKYE
Hey... this one is from this year! I think these guys are the new kings of heavy music. This is their best album, even if it only has 7 songs. Great technical players and song writers who know how to put together a complete album (every time thus far). It is great to know that a group can still push the boundaries and take over the mantle.
Honorable mentions: Blood Mountain
Powerful piece: Oblivion
PANTERA - VULGAR DISPLAY OF POWER
The great Southern heavy band (at least until the Don). Funny that these guys started as a glam hair band and went on to define a certain kind of groove oriented heavy. Was hard to decide between this one and Cowboys... but out of respect (har) I went with this one.
Honorable mentions: Cowboys from Hell
Powerful piece: WALK!
GUNS N' ROSES - APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION
Ahh.. GNR. One of the most powerful debuts ever... and then proceeded to go off the rails almost immediately. Regardles, Appetite stands as an amazing achievement in hard rock. Yes, the band members have issues... but don't tell me you don't want to be taken to the paradise city.
Honorable mention: nope.
Powerful piece: It's So Easy... why not.
MEGADETH - RUST IN PIECE
I used to like this band... then I didn't... now I do again. Regardless, easily at the top of the speed metal game with only Metallica in their way. Rust in Peace is a great album and one of the shining examples in this genre. Mustaine is always killing it on guitar and always has something political to say, which I can respect.
Honorable mentions: Countdown to Extinction, Endgame (new album is great)
Powerful piece: Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
BLACK SABBATH - PARANOID
A fantastic album from a fantastic band... the album came out in 1970... 1970. Seriously. The closest we get to that on my list is Ace of Spades, Back in Black and British Steel... all 1980 (what a year!). The group's second album and amazingly in top form. Paranoid and Iron man... oh yeah. Group sort of did the opposite of Judas Priest... Sabbath exploded out and then fizzled after 4 albums... Priest took about 4 albums to really warm up in the first place. Other fun fact... both bands were formed in the same English city (Birmingham) about a year apart (68-69)... what was in the water there.
Honorable mention: I'll go... Master of Reality
Powerful piece: War Pigs
Friday, November 13, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuckered... thoughts on a book and a game.
I am super tired. Hooray. Huzzah.
Been super busy. All will be dark for a bit come Friday.
Below are thoughts on a recent book I read and game I have played.
THE DEATH OF BUNNY MUNRO
Nick Cave's second novel is the Death of Bunny Munro. When I first started this book, it wasn't what I would immediately expect from one of the better song writers around. Well... maybe if you count his Grinderman project. The book is crude and seemed a bit off kilter at first. I stuck with it (of course) and was glad I did.
Coming in at 288 pages, the book is a fairly brisk read. It is written largely in the way the lead characters think... a TON of sentences end in "or something." Anyways... what started out as a seemingly crude and simple story evolved into a fairly deep and involving tale. It details what happens when you just do what you want and think you have life in a headlock... and all it takes is one important bolt to come loose and all starts spiraling out of control.
That's all I can really say about it without getting into plot and what not. Not really where I want to go. I will say I definitely recommend it to any man. As for women, it would just depend on how much you can stomach a crude character who acts like a man with no restraint.
BRUTAL LEGEND
I recently played through Tim Schafer's Brutal Legend on PS3 (also on 360). This game is a weird amalgam of action and real time strategy that takes the world of heavy metal and makes it real. Think heavy metal album covers and that is the world you are thrust into. Jack Black is the voice of the lead character and coupled with Schafer's dialog is quite hilarious (Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmeister, Rob Halford, Tim Curry, and others provide voices as well).
The gameplay is fresh and the game looks like concept art come to life. It has a great style. The soundtrack also is composed of over 100 hard rock tracks (this game has very much put me in a heavy metal frame of mind). I had a blast. The game has a great multi-player mode as well.
I highly recommend this game to anyone who values fresh concepts, original IPs, action or RTS games, heavy music, and/or quality writing. A trailer follow below... followed by a reminded that you can't kill the metal.
WATCH A BRUTAL LEGEND TRAILER!
Been super busy. All will be dark for a bit come Friday.
Below are thoughts on a recent book I read and game I have played.
THE DEATH OF BUNNY MUNRO
Nick Cave's second novel is the Death of Bunny Munro. When I first started this book, it wasn't what I would immediately expect from one of the better song writers around. Well... maybe if you count his Grinderman project. The book is crude and seemed a bit off kilter at first. I stuck with it (of course) and was glad I did.
Coming in at 288 pages, the book is a fairly brisk read. It is written largely in the way the lead characters think... a TON of sentences end in "or something." Anyways... what started out as a seemingly crude and simple story evolved into a fairly deep and involving tale. It details what happens when you just do what you want and think you have life in a headlock... and all it takes is one important bolt to come loose and all starts spiraling out of control.
That's all I can really say about it without getting into plot and what not. Not really where I want to go. I will say I definitely recommend it to any man. As for women, it would just depend on how much you can stomach a crude character who acts like a man with no restraint.
BRUTAL LEGEND
I recently played through Tim Schafer's Brutal Legend on PS3 (also on 360). This game is a weird amalgam of action and real time strategy that takes the world of heavy metal and makes it real. Think heavy metal album covers and that is the world you are thrust into. Jack Black is the voice of the lead character and coupled with Schafer's dialog is quite hilarious (Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmeister, Rob Halford, Tim Curry, and others provide voices as well).
The gameplay is fresh and the game looks like concept art come to life. It has a great style. The soundtrack also is composed of over 100 hard rock tracks (this game has very much put me in a heavy metal frame of mind). I had a blast. The game has a great multi-player mode as well.
I highly recommend this game to anyone who values fresh concepts, original IPs, action or RTS games, heavy music, and/or quality writing. A trailer follow below... followed by a reminded that you can't kill the metal.
WATCH A BRUTAL LEGEND TRAILER!
Friday, November 6, 2009
My new favorite funny video at the moment...
But don't forget the classic... Rollins vs Techno Viking...
Thursday, November 5, 2009
7 for 7....
I just cleaned up some dialog that needed to be cleaned up... based on a read through... think it was last week. Hard to keep up as my brain has been mush the past few weeks.
Too much going on.
I noticed while discussing this script a few weeks back that all of my scripts intended to be first features share a lot of elements. A ton. This would be cause for alarm if all my story ideas were like this... but for whatever reason it always just applies to whatever will be "first." After that, things go crazy. I hope a get to go a little crazy. I know I'll get a little bit with the first one though.
I was laying awake the other night and cracked an old story idea wide open. Really happy with what happened with it and where it could go. Still get to keep all the cool elements from before too... woo.
In about a week I will be sans technology for a week or so... all will be dark. I'll post some more before that and then when I get back up and running.
For my Bday I am getting myself Windows 7. Woo. Found an upgrade for students with edu email addy for only 30 bucks. M has an addy just like this... what a steal!
Too much going on.
I noticed while discussing this script a few weeks back that all of my scripts intended to be first features share a lot of elements. A ton. This would be cause for alarm if all my story ideas were like this... but for whatever reason it always just applies to whatever will be "first." After that, things go crazy. I hope a get to go a little crazy. I know I'll get a little bit with the first one though.
I was laying awake the other night and cracked an old story idea wide open. Really happy with what happened with it and where it could go. Still get to keep all the cool elements from before too... woo.
In about a week I will be sans technology for a week or so... all will be dark. I'll post some more before that and then when I get back up and running.
For my Bday I am getting myself Windows 7. Woo. Found an upgrade for students with edu email addy for only 30 bucks. M has an addy just like this... what a steal!
Monday, November 2, 2009
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