Persuader - Evolution Purgatory (2004)
This is a continuation of the previous album, just more refined, It's more focused on melodies, which they have crammed in as many as possible. Not a dead spot on the entire album. The sing-along factor is sky high. And as usual with Persuader it's pedal to the metal from beginning to end.

There's a few things to say about the production: all the backing vocals are gang vocals only, there's keyboards doubling a lit of the guitars, and it doesn't really add anything. Doesn't take away anything either. And lastly, it needs to be played loud! I first listened to it on headphones on a reasonable volume, and had no problem ascertain it is a great album. Then I listened to it on my car stereo at an unreasonable volume, and it got much better. Impossible to not headbang along. 5/5

A typical song: Sanity Soiled
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiO-5uA41NI

I admire your ability to choose the Youtube videos with the absolute worst quality possible for each of your songs, it keeps things trve and kvlt! (I change the quality to 144 for extra rawness)

I usually just pick the first one, but you're right, that one was a bit much.

Fantastic album, it's the one that introduced me to Persuader, it was love at first sight.

Persuader - When Eden Burns (2006)
This one is both heavier and nicer. The tempos has been slowed down a bit, and the choruses are smoother. Every album has an overall slightly different feel, yet they are so consistent. 5/5

A typical song: Sending You Back (2006)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR29lu6Lxo8

Persuader - The Fiction Maze (2014)
This one I think is darker and denser. The vocal melodies are - relatively speaking - more adventurous. Other than that, business as usual. 5/5

A typical song: Son of Sodom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unusqz9Vzqw

Persuader - Necromancy (2020)
Time to say goodbye to Persuader. They had a good run - 20 years and five albums and not a single bad song!
The songs here are bigger and wider, almost epic but not quite. They are also much more varied than before.
They will be missed, but they went out on a high note. 5/5

A typical song: Hells Command
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLnKVt-k_9k

Pharaoh - Be Gone (2008)
I like the sound here, and I love Tim Aymar's voice, but why are they making things so difficult? They are doing all these off beat accents and turning the drum beats around, and it's just confusing. I don't see it serving any purpose other than making it seem like it's somehow progressive. It would be so much better if they straightened out the arrangements. The best song is Cover Your Eyes and Pray, which is simple and straight forward.
Most of the choruses are really good, they've got a nice, unique sound and some really good ideas throughout. 4/5

A typical song: Rats and Rope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jA5MHjh8R4

Pharaoh - Bury the Light (2012)
Again, I would love this if it had been more straight forward. The acoustic bits in The Year of the Blizzard are amazing! They could have built a whole album on this song, with a grand, epic sound like While Heaven Wept. But, alas 4/5.

The Year of the Blizzard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98-yil0olG8

Nah I wouldn't have wanted them to cut back on any of the tech stuff. Just wild and fascinating to hear - that kind of involved musicality and layering can kill some bands, but Pharaoh just had such great songs under it all and they made it really pop. Glad you like em well enough at any rate, one of the best bands.

Pink Cream 69 - Endangered (2001)
Very, very competent hard rock. Great musicianship and great songs. The only thing that might be missing is something that stands out.
The unnecessary cover (covers are almost always unnecessary) of Pinball Wizard also lowers my overall enjoyment somewhat. 4/5

A typical song: Trust The Wise Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRP-zKlweJI

Place Vendome - Place Vendome (2005)
This is pretty much Pink Cream 69 with Michael Kiske on vocals and songs written by the song writer from Pink Cream 69 so this sounds like Pink Cream 69 with Michael Kiske on vocals. Quite unnecessary though since Kiske is mostly singing in his mid-range, and that's not where his strength lies. This wouldn't be any worse with Pink Cream 69 singer David Readman. Would probably be better.
Okay songs, but they lack identity, and the two ballads are bad. 3/5

A typical song: I Will Be Waiting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKvdqhnzjz4

Primal Fear - Seven Seals (2005)
They got everything right here. Riffy heavy metal with great melodies, what's not to like? I love the drumming here, and the shreddy solos are often downright funny, in a good way. There are three "ballads" on here, and they are all absolutely great. That in itself is a feat. 5/5

A typical song: The Immortal Ones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1jfcXOqa9Y

Queensrÿche - The Warning (1984)
Peak Queensrÿche right here. A concept album about the end of the world (we thought it was imminent already back then). The atmosphere is amazing and every little detail on the album has it's place. Best of all: Geoffs vocals. He really was untouchable here! 6/5

A typical song: Deliverance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A81eBOS2OIY



Queensrÿche - Rage for Order (1986)
Second album and they are already slipping. Production is subdued, the distortion is rolled back, and I think they stuffed cotton into the drums. It's like they wanted to join the New Wave movement five years after the fact. The songs are mostly metal at the core, but the sound is not. 3/5

Surgical Strike should be a fast, aggressive banger. Instead it sounds like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBuAFQIs7aA

It is sort of strange the drop-off between The Warning and Rage For Order, especially considering that Rage For Order has a couple of outstanding tracks. It's just not as consistent.

Also, that Primal Fear record is amazing. One of my many favourites of theirs.

Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime (1988)
This might be for the unpopular opinion thread, but I don't love this one. Lots of good songs, but there's someting about them that makes them seem sterile to me. Like when an audiobook has a narrator with a boring voice. And for the concept: I can picture what it would look like if it was a movie with lots of scenes with dark, rainy streets and badly lit rooms, but I don't feel it.
Suite Sister Mary in the middle of it is just a road block. 4/5

A typical song: Operation: Mindcrime
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAI2QOBMlTA



Queensrÿche - Empire (1990)
Not much metal here, but some damn fine rock music. 4/5

A typical song: Another Rainy Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVQ8MeMVmoM

I like most of 80s Queensryche but I have to agree that there's a bit of a dip in quality between The Warning and Rage For Order. Mindcrime I think was definitely revolutionary for the time and still holds up well.

"Rage For Order" is stellar, IMO. I initially hated it in '86, especially in light of the killer albums released by nearly every other band that magical year, but eventually grew to love it.
Their first ~10 years were remarkable.

It took me forever to get Rage for Order, but it's really best for those moodier, more melodic songs... the dramatics are amped way up and it really works and has a lot of feeling to it. They did a few speedier regular metal cuts on there but they aren't really as good.

I quite liked it back then, especially for the futuristic sound of it. Now it sounds dated, which I don't think their other 80s albums do.

Queensrÿche - Promised Land (1994)
And that's the end of Queensrÿche. Here's a bunch of strange sounding slow and repetetive songs that makes no one happy. 2/5

A typical song: Promised Land
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5SVkjJYMOw


Queensrÿche - Hear in the Now Frontier (1997)
Queensrÿche playing grunge. What an incredibly bad idea! 1/5

A typical song: Get a Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bA49AzCdmA


Queensrÿche - Q2K (1999)
This is just dumb.

A dumb song: Breakdown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZIVTKO_nSE

I realize I only jump in to this thread when I disagree but I love Promised Land. People call Operation: Mindcrime a progressive metal masterpiece (what really makes it progressive metal I don't know - its great heavy metal) but Promised Land really is progressive in the true sense of the term. Lot's of experimenting in a wide variety of ways. There is always something interesting happening and the vocals are out of this world.

edit: Here's a bunch of strange sounding slow and repetitive songs that makes very few people happy.

It's Rage week!


Rage - Perfect Man (1988)
Peavy hasn't developed his songwriting skills and sense of melody yet. But he's getting there. The songs seem mostly just like vehicles for the riffs.
But as far as snotty speed metal goes, this is definitely adequate. 4/5

A typical song: Don't Fear the Winter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d12Kep5Zj4

Rage - Secrets in a Weird World (1989)
Much better song writing and much better playing. This is more like polished speed metal. 4/5

A typical song: Invisible Horizons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-rPw1h8Fc

I have never listened to Rage before, but they recently announced a world tour that involves a date in Toronto and no other dates in North America. It makes no sense and I don't understand how they'll break even playing a 400-person venue here, but I'm probably going to go since this might be my only chance to see them.

Do you recommend I just buy any CD that they have for sale at the show?

Kind of hard to say since they have different eras. Perfect Man is a pretty good starting point for the more straight ahead speed metal period, Trapped! is a good intro to their shift to a more power metal sound and Lingua Mortis and XII are when they went symphonic.

Perfect Man, Trapped! and The Missing Link are the best Rage albums imo

They do have different eras, my favourites are the post speed metal and orchestral albums. From Trapped! until Ghosts.
I was disappointed in the Smolski albums, but I'm about to re-listen to them now and we'll see.

Rage - Reflections of a Shadow (1990)
This one seems like a transition album. It contains not only speed metal but also some slightly proggy songs and some power metal songs. There are also some of those big, sweeping choruses that will become somewhat of a trademark on subsequent albums.
And Peavy has gotten control of his voice. 5/5

A spacey and proggy song: Flowers That Fade in My Hand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJFgLtGqzm0

A power metal song: Saddle the Wind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdUxREuiyqg

Rage - Trapped! (1992)
It just kepps getting better! This is straight up speed metal, but not really straight up. Outstanding songwriting and outstanding riffing. 5/5

Doing it live: Enough Is Enough / Invisible Horizons (live 1993)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iea9OnpM1wo

Rage - Black in Mind (1995)
Guitarist Manni Schmidt leaves, but new guy Sven Fischer turns out to be a fantastic riff maker too. So the Rage sound is still intact. If there's a difference, this album is slightly more melodic than it's predecessors.
Worth noting is that there's not a single grunge riff or any down tuned nonsense here. Rage might be the only old-school band that made it through the 90s unscathed. 5/5

A typical song: Start!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1BRQ3kxv0A

How about a 10 minute speed metal epic: In a Nameless Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbIpPmIeq6I[/b]

Rage - Ghosts (1999)
This is my favourite Rage album. It's definitely not their heaviest, but it's their most well written. I like how there's been this growth trajectory throughout their career where they have developed the sound until they got to the natural conclusion that is Ghosts. All the earlier ingredients are there, and so much more.
As far as "symphonic metal" goes, this is the only one I have heard where the effort to put in classical instruments makes sense. It's not just brass doubling the riffs and strings playing the harmonies. All instruments have their own arrangements and their own place in the music, and it's subtle.

Now call me stupid, but I always assumed the Lingua Mortis thing started with the addition of Victor Smolski, since he and Mike Terrana are in the group picture on the album(!), but it's the same line up as before with Sven Fischer and Chris Efthimiadis. Strengthening my beliefs that Fischer is a seriously underrated musician.
Anyway, how could this be anything but 6/5?

A typical song: Wash My Sins Away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5adhYNWSCQ

Probably the best metal ballad: Vanished in Haze
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALlTbcX-9_w

Rage - Unity (2002)
I am so very disappointed! Smolski is a horrible fit for Rage! He's completely useless as a rhythm guitarist, and his soloing suffers from the Chris Broderick-syndrome: the solos come out of nowhere, are incredibly technical and has absolutely nothing to do with the song.

It seems like three different wills are fighting for attention here. Smolski doing hard rock/power metal to play his solos over, Peavy writing his usual melodic choruses, but without any interesting riffs to back it up, and Terrana doing his own thing in the background. Nothing gels. 2.5/5

Rage isn't supposed to sound like this! Living My Dream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRIa48bRt8o

Yeah I can't get into that album either. I don't like the tune of the guitar on that one. I agree with you that the solos and choruses don't gel right and sound off.

Hey Opus, did you miss Rage XIII? That was my favorite for a long time and definitely my fav of the Lingua Mortis era.

There are too many Rage albums! I notice now that I need to get End of All Days and XIII.

Thank you! I thought I was going crazy, considering the ratings it has here on MA. I guess those reviewers never heard the early albums, or they just hate good riffs.

Rage - Soundchaser (2003)
This is just power metal now. The soul of Rage is gone, ie. the speed metal riffs. Maybe Almanac is a good band where Smolski can do his thing, I'm not going to check because I hate what he did to Rage.
I need to check out Rage's latest album though, with the new guitarist. Again, the only redeeming factor here is Peavy's choruses. 2.5/5

A song: Human Metal (Is this Dream Evil? No it's not, because they are actually good at what they do.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7YVt_Hu_3Q

I can only imagine Welcome to the Other Side wouldn't even get a 1 from you

Unity and Soundchaser used to be my overall favorites from Rage, but over the years my preference has shifted towards Trapped!. Their greatest material is still the first half of Black in Mind, though.