Reviews by metachoz

This is THE Maiden masterpiece... A more artsy Maiden with keyboards/synthesisers used in the intros and background.
Of course albums like Number of the Beast and Piece of Mind rock but Somewhere In Time and especially this one are more mature and complex with a more polished, smoother sound.
This is also one of those few albums I listen to from start to finish, no weak tracks, they're all excellent.
Favorites are "Infinite Dreams": starts off slowly like a ballad with mellow beautiful vocals, then the song speeds up and Bruce's vocals grow louder and stronger, many tempo changes, harmony riffs, ...
"Seventh Son of a Seventh Son": the epic of the album (almost 10 minutes long), mysterious calm part in the middle with spoken voice followed by some fast speed runs.
"The Prophecy": a very melodic song with nice acoustic outro.
"Can I Play With Madness": the most simplistic song but pretty catchy.
Also like the mystical lyrics like 'There's got to be just more to it Or tell me why do we exist I'd like to think that when I die I'd get a chance another time And to return and live again Reincarnate, play the game Again and again and again.'
So I would especially recommend this to those who like melodic, artsy, progressive metal.

Yep, Iron Maiden already made great songs BEFORE Bruce.
I totally dig Di'Anno, he sounds rough and tough but also uses soft (mellow) vocals now and then.
The 4 stars are for 4 excellent tracks, the others aren't bad but also not that interesting.
- "Remember Tomorrow": a power ballad, starts quitely with acoustic guitar, beautiful singing, also has heavier parts with low (deep) guitar and some fast guitar work in the middle.
- "Phantom of the Opera": Epic with catchy fast riffs and solos.
- "Strange World": slow song with dreamy guitar, sweet mellow tune and vocals.
- "Charlotte the Hornet": Catchy, almost trashy rocker.

This sounds like a live album, but it's not, it has overdubbing a pseudo-crowd that shout things like 'You suck' and he talks dirty to them, example: 'Eat shit you fat bastards'.
The music is gothic, doom with punk and hardcore influences. It has everything, slow and obscure parts (like organ, synthesizers, church bells) emotional moments and fast aggressive headbang parts.
Peter Steele is the king of sarcasm, I like his dark humor very much, but he also has very serious lyrics about lost love, depression, anger and aggression, or a combination of being serious and sarcastic.
This album gets me into trance.

The sound quality of the original album was totally fucked up, kinda sounds like being recorded in a crappy public toilet of some old deserted station.
The guys had to fire their producer halfway through it's recording since they couldn't pay him any longer. Combat Records gave Megadeth $8000 to make the album but they spend half of the money on speed and other drugs.
This 2002 remaster has 3 of the best speed metal songs ever made, being: "Last Rites/Loved to Deth" (begins with horror soundtrack like piano intro), "Skull Beneath the Skin" and "Rattlehead".
You can hear these guys were on speed... it's very energetic, perfect to listen to while doing work-outs.
For me the voice of Mustaine is better on this album than on most of the other ones, more raw and aggressive.
Rattle your Goddamn Head!

This is not metal... music to dream away (acoustic guitar, psychedelics).
Only clean vocals on this one. Some tracks are boring, but it also has brilliant moments.
This band is not afraid of experimenting and doesn't follow the mainstream.
Best songs: "Closure", "In my time of need", "Widowpane".

Mind-lifting! When you're in the right mood this is perfect to dream away, at moments the music and Bowie almost sounds divine.
Bowie is spiritual and rational, very intelligent.
2 lousy songs though, "Black tie, white noise" and "I know it's gonna happen someday" are boring.
Best songs : "You've been around", "The Wedding", "Nite Flights" and "Jump they say".

Interesting piece of art... Bowie was pretty low when he made this album but it doesn't sound depressive.
Well, maybe there's some melancholia and despair in "Warszawa", my favorite track together with "Art Decade".
Very atmospheric, the work of 2 geniuses.

This album is very inspiring, it rocks, has peaceful psychedelics, theatrical...
Absolutely essential if you have a mind.
Best songs: "Saviour Machine", "Width of a Circle", "All the Madmen" "Running Gun Blues", "She shook me cold", "After All".
The Beatles and The Stones are simple jokes compared to this.

Very intense, heavy Doom. Deep and powerful guitars, beautiful violins, low growls...
Darkness and a glimpse of pure light, horror and romance, despair and hope, aggression and melody, hell and heaven...
This compilation (collection of tracks earlier released as demos and EP's) isn't for shallow minds.
Favorites: "The Trash of Naked Limbs", "God is Alone", "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium", "I Am the Bloody Earth", "The Sexuality of Bereavement".
This remastered has 2 excellent bonus tracks, a demo of "Vast Choirs" and "Cathing Feathers", the fastest song they ever made.

Melodic, morbid doom with crushing guitars, violins, keyboards and low growls by Aaron.
The 'soft' parts are dark but beautiful, most of the album is slow but there's also some pretty fast in your face death metal.
Favorite tracks: "The Bitterness And The Bereavement", "Vast Choirs" and "The Return of the Beautiful".
This remaster has an improved sound and 1 obscure sounding bonus (demo) track "Unreleased Bitterness".