Fear Factory-Transgression
I listened to this record with my friend Andrew so many times in high school, trying to convince myself that it was good because it was Fear Factory, that I now weep thinking of all the things I could've done with that time. Thankfully, the record label seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth and took this one with it.
Children of Bodom-Are You Dead Yet?
What hath this record wrought? A decade of brutally produced, yet monotonous releases that have only served to lull this listener into a disinterested slumber. It continues to boggle my mind that Alexi Laiho, as talented a guitar player as he is, has managed to bore me as consistently as he has and continues to. I'm not saying that if they'd kept the power metal influence they wouldn't have gotten stale all the same, but it does seem suspicious that after they dropped it things went downhill, right?
Trivium-Ascendancy
Arguably, the breakout record of 2005. I wasn't tapped in enough to the blogs and online chatter yet, so I basically learned that Trivium were a capital letter Big Thing when the t-shirts became kind of hard to miss. I find this a hard record to go back to, given the great strides Trivium have made since. Matt's voice just sounds so much better on the later records that it's a little hard to hear him try here, and the material is a little more conventional. It's still pretty easy to see why these guys got big so fast though. I can still sing most of this one front to back ten years later.
System of a Down-Mesmerize/Hypnotize
Hypnotize is probably the record on either of these lists that I still hear about the most. People still really love to dogpile on that record. For the record, it is definitely my least favorite SOAD record, and the lesser of these two. I still like it though. If it hadn't been the last record for so long, I'm assuming it will not be the last record forever, I think people would have forgiven it by now. Mesmerize, on the other hand, has settled into the place I think it deserves. Still their funniest record I think.
Judas Priest-Angel of Retribution
I remember hearing this album's big single, Revolution, a LOT that year. The band's first album with original singer Rob Halford in fifteen years, this was a highly anticipated record that year. I must be honest though, even at the risk of a lot of hate, I'm not really wild about anything Priest have put out since the reunion. They've really become a band that I'm just interested in the hits and don't really need to follow the new stuff. This is the best of the three post-reunion efforts, but that doesn't say much.
What hath this record wrought? A decade of brutally produced, yet monotonous releases that have only served to lull this listener into a disinterested slumber. It continues to boggle my mind that Alexi Laiho, as talented a guitar player as he is, has managed to bore me as consistently as he has and continues to. I'm not saying that if they'd kept the power metal influence they wouldn't have gotten stale all the same, but it does seem suspicious that after they dropped it things went downhill, right?
Trivium-Ascendancy
Arguably, the breakout record of 2005. I wasn't tapped in enough to the blogs and online chatter yet, so I basically learned that Trivium were a capital letter Big Thing when the t-shirts became kind of hard to miss. I find this a hard record to go back to, given the great strides Trivium have made since. Matt's voice just sounds so much better on the later records that it's a little hard to hear him try here, and the material is a little more conventional. It's still pretty easy to see why these guys got big so fast though. I can still sing most of this one front to back ten years later.
System of a Down-Mesmerize/Hypnotize
Hypnotize is probably the record on either of these lists that I still hear about the most. People still really love to dogpile on that record. For the record, it is definitely my least favorite SOAD record, and the lesser of these two. I still like it though. If it hadn't been the last record for so long, I'm assuming it will not be the last record forever, I think people would have forgiven it by now. Mesmerize, on the other hand, has settled into the place I think it deserves. Still their funniest record I think.
Judas Priest-Angel of Retribution
I remember hearing this album's big single, Revolution, a LOT that year. The band's first album with original singer Rob Halford in fifteen years, this was a highly anticipated record that year. I must be honest though, even at the risk of a lot of hate, I'm not really wild about anything Priest have put out since the reunion. They've really become a band that I'm just interested in the hits and don't really need to follow the new stuff. This is the best of the three post-reunion efforts, but that doesn't say much.
Korn-See You on the Other Side
The band's first album without Brian "Head" Welch, this still remains one of the best produced records I've ever heard. I wish every band could sound this good. As for the songs, well, there are the worthy setlist staples like Coming Undone and Twisted Transistor, and then there are total stinkers like Politics. Really, considering the turmoil the band was going through, it's amazing that they pulled this one off as well as they did. It's too bad that they took the experimentation from this level straight up their own asses with the Untitled record.
Avenged Sevenfold-City of Evil
Look, I still think Bat Country's a pretty fun song. I can't defend the band or this album, not that they need or want me to, but I've always liked that song.
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