Ok, I never was a fan of Limp Bizkit. Always thought about them as the worst that nu metal can offer – and I simply plain hated nu metal for a long time, haha. I don’t hate the genre anymore, there are some good things there. Although I am convinced that the “nu metallers” never fullfiled their potential. There were never a band from this genre I can say “Wow, they make amazing music!”.

And after listening to Still Sucks, the most recent release of LB… Well, I don’t changed my mind about the genre, haha! I haven’t found that GREAT nu metal album yet. But I do changed my mind a bit about this band. Still Sucks is a decent album, actually. It’s varied – there’s even a good ballad, Don’t Change, and a pleasant poppy tune, Goodbye – and don’t overstay its welcome. In fact, this is probably their shortest release ever, barely passing the half hour mark.

I must praise the work of Wes Borland, he creates some good riffs and nice acoustic passages, I would even like to hear some solos… The electronics are well used, the rapping doesn’t annoys me that much. Unfortunatelly, there’s not a great track here. Surprisingly, the best thing their ever made, the track Endless Slaughter, isn’t here.

Anyways, I can revisit this album in the future, but it’s not an essential release. 3 stars.

The first Metallica album, like most debuts, has the energy and excitement generally found in young musicians. The sound is rougher and cruder than any of their late albums, the songs have an urgency that would be more polished later. We are talking about thrash metal, so these aren’t bad characteristics in this context.

And like most the debuts, their early influences are more obvious here. Kill E’m All is basically a mix of Motorhead, Diamond Head, Budgie, Misfits, even some Iron Maiden… Again, nothing wrong, they manage to package all these influences with a Metallica flavour after all. Songs like Seek and Destroy and Whiplash would become immortal thrash classics, and other less known tracks, like Hit the Lights and Metal Milita are pretty great too! There’s even some experimentalism, with the instrumental (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth.

And I have a personal story with this album. When I was a kid, I remember seeing a brazilian TV show named Fúria MTV. It was, for a long time, one of my only sources for metal these days, since the radio was crap (still is…) and only few friends shared my musical tastes. Anyways, the opening theme of this show was Metal Militia, the closing track of this album! And only years later I would know it, because in that pre-internet era all we could listen were the songs from the Black Album onwards, which played ad nauseam in the media at the time. So, Kill ‘Em All has a place in my metal heart since I’ve listened to it first time. Recommended!

I never was a fan of Manowar. In fact, I despised them when I was younger, thought they were overrated. The only album I listened was their debut, which failed to impress me: some good songs, but most average hard'n'heavy rock.

I never cared to listen their other albums, until now...

...let's say I changed my mind a bit!

For example, this Sign of The Hammer, is actually a good album! Excellent songwriting, powerful tracks, and the band seems actually excited to play! This albums irradiates that raw energy who every headbanger loves to hear from an eighties album. Even the cheesiness of some lyrics is an inseparable part of that "thing" that makes this release one of the best from Manowar. There's no filler here, but tracks like Thor (The Powerhead), Mountains and the instrumental Thunderpick are my personal highlights. Check it out!

Riffs, riffs everywhere!

One of the creators of the death'n'roll subgenre (the kind of music I need to listen more), Entombed shows in this Morning Star why they were the masters of their game. In this album one can listen an almost perfect blend of death, thrash and stoner/doom metal, with exciting riffs, great production and the awesome vocals of the late Lars Göran Petrov. I just can imagine now how these songs would sound alive - and I am not talking about seeing mere live videos!

I don't know what the long term fans thinks about Morning Star, but for me it's a class A album with no fillers. It helps the facts it's short, the listener will always return to this release wanting more. I can't recommend enough!

I think this is their best album. Iron Maiden always flirted with prog rock, and Seventh Son... is the best example of how to make a prog metal album with mass appeal without being over indulgent or losing its edge. There are short and anthemic songs (Can I Play With Madness, The Evil That Men Do, The Clairvoyant), and most complex but catchy tracks (Infinite Dreams, the eponymous epic song).

After this album, they changed the direction and tried to make something more simple, a nod to the two first albums (I believe), but the music sounded a bit forced and the results weren't that great. Seventh Son is still the pinnacle of Maiden music in the 80's, and possibly their best album ever. Check it out!