The Great Southern Trendkill is the best Pantera album by far, I'm not a big fan of the band but even I have to concede that that album is fantastic. Funnily enough it seems to get the least amount of attention by actual Pantera fans, so... yeah.

Well said, Emp. I do think that the second paragraph of Lord of the Diamonds aint bad, but that introduction definitely caught me off guard. Reviewers should stick to the music of a band at the end of the day.

... And whoever said it before, I agree that Power Metal is Pantera's best album.

There's a real danger to being too online.

Art carries political messages and artists often are at the forefront of social and political change, so I don't know about that part, but I get what you mean. And like I said, I was not makig a statement about what others should be doing here, but rather pointing out that the fact that Anselmo is a dick has an impact on how I appreciate his music. The fact that he used to spout dumb political discourses on stage, and even said very clearly racist stuff on stage, also doesn't make me want to support him.

On the other hand, if a musician doesn't really carry his political/social views over to his music, it's a bit different. Like how I don't really dig into Josh Homme's political opinions and whatnot, and just listen to his music with Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, etc. If he was to promote his political views through his music, it would probably bother me a bit more.

It can become an unhealthy obsession for sure. I remember checking the forums in which someone said that ''it's not enough whenever bands claim not to be political.'' It's almost as if these folks listen to bands for the wrong fucking reasons.

Yeah but at some point it's not useful to look at it all through a lens of 'is this supporting good politics or bad politics' particularly if you're only talking about mainstream western political things. There's just a bigger world out there than whether or not every single thing, past or present, fits into the lens of current culture war bullshit.

Like, if you're looking at a work and thinking "where does this fit in terms of my views on other things" instead of just seeing what it has to offer, that's what I'm trying to say here...

Manowar are amazing and metal would not be the same without them. Into Glory Ride and Hail to England are their defining albums. Sign of the Hammer was already a disappointment and Fighting the World and Kings of Metal are minor works in their discography. Louder Than Hell and Warriors of the World were actually good surprises - the originality gone, Adams voice no longer the same, but much better than the previous albums.

Kings of Metal is my favorite Manowar album. It all the pure essence of that band in one album. I find Into Glory Ride one I visit less than others. My top 3 would be Kings, Sign, and Hail.

I only listened to the debut (the one that has the eagle with abs on the artwork), and I never got the urge to check out another one. I'm a huge Bathory fan, and I've heard that Manowar was an inspiration for the viking metal era. So what is the one essential Manowar album, assuming I'm a big fan of Hammerheart?

Unpopular opinion: I've never heard a drum solo on a live album that was memorable in the least. They are (so far) 100% a waste time, unless they interact with the bass or synths or something.

Every solo act during the live show is a waste of time.

Into Glory Ride is the closest to Bathory's viking era. The songs on that album are more similar to Cirith Ungol than the inane pop metal they'd go on to make.

Sign of the Hammer,Hail to England and Into Glory Ride but don’t expect Viking metal….

More doom heavy metal,maybe Manowar with some lyrics and corpse paint influenced Bathory in my opinion…

Despite not getting good reviews on this site, I love both superjoint ritual albums . I prefer this project over Pantera and Down.

I love all their albums, my friend they have three, they released a new one in 2016. I think the forum hates Phil for some reason, but all the music that the guy made is awesome. For a guy like me who loves hardcore, Superjoint was a blessing, is basically Phil and Hank Williams III playing in an old school hardcore band.

I know the third album is just superjoint I just consider that album different and not the same. I know its weird but seriously SJR is just the 2 albums in my eyes. Another fun project was Arson Anthem. Hank 3von drums and Phil on guitar.

start trusting a dozen reviewers and not giving importance to the rest, imagine if a project like this isn't massacred…

As much as I like their black metal material, my personal favorite Darkthrone album is Soulside Journey

It depends on the context though. I've seen one too many bands pull the "We're not political" card while taking pictures with overtly racist bands and playing neonazi festivals. Bands like Nokturnal Mortum, for instance. It's also common to have musicians in a band who were in shady or overtly racist projects before, saying they are not political instead of taking a stance regarding past associations. Think of bands like Mgla here.

So yeah, I'm fine with bands not being political and stating it. But far too often it's just hypocritical shit by bands who are actually racists themselves but don't like the bad press, or bands who are way too comfortable hanging out with white supremacists for it not to be concerning.



Of course. We agree on this.

I wasn't thinking about those examples, but yeah, that's a stupid thing for sure. Got to admit that since I don't listen to these kinds of bands, my ideas about this topic might be different from others here.

Of course I'm just trying to nuance the thing a bit, but I knew what you were talking about. Lord_of_Diamonds was notorious for taking it way too far to the other extreme. He was eventually banned from the forum altogether, namely because he condonned harassment of people who bought Hogwarts Legacy, and basically said countless times that if you were not radically aligned with his views on politics (be it gender issues, racism, etc.), you were basically his enemy. So yeah, I also got what you meant when you said "I remember checking the forums in which someone said that ''it's not enough whenever bands claim not to be political.'' It's almost as if these folks listen to bands for the wrong fucking reasons." There's some people in here who might be fighting for a good cause, but not doing it properly...

My only problem is not be judged by the bands that I listen …

I don’t judge you(you in general )for what you listen(and I wouldn't allow myself to do it)

But I suspect that some guys didn’t that…

I whole heartedly agree with this, but then I wholeheartedly DISagree with just about everything else you said in that post.

iron maiden sucks!

Yeah, you said that a month ago. It was not funny or entertaining than, it's not funny or entertaining now.

All their last five albums are awesome, but if I had to choose one, I'd choose Cowboys from Hell. The album changed how metal is played and a good mix between thrash metal, hardcore, and rock n roll.

This is kind of too broad of a statement to really mean anything. I, and most people here, don't "judge you" just because you listen to Peste Noire or Nokturnal Mortum. And that's not really the point of the discussion anyway.

It's crazy that anytime someone mentions their discomfort with one artist/band because of the musicians involved, that it turns into people getting all defensive about their music listening habits.

I'd like to remind you that this discussion started with someone saying that Pantera were actually good on their last live show, and I answered that I could imagine the show being enjoyable for sure, but that I really couldn't bring myself to go to one of their shows because it didn't feature the Darrell brothers AND that I found Anselmo despicable as a person, and that it affected my appreciation of Pantera. There was nothing in my statement saying that you or anyone should stop listening to them or going to their shows.

Listen to Cowboys From Hell all you want. I'm not going to hate your for this, don't worry.

While I wouldn't go as far as calling them the best albums of these bands, both Magma and Prequelle are underrated albums in the upper tier of each band's discography and do not deserve the black sheep status they have (at least on here). Impera is awful, though.

Cowboys From Hell is solid, probably my second favorite. I like their groove metal stuff but they never stood out to me as being an amazing band or anything, just solid, groovy metal. It's great gym music. I also don't get the people who absolutely loathe them, seems a bit performative to me but whatever. There's times where Pantera hits just right for me, admittedly, it just isn't that often.

It's my nail sorry and even if it's not strictly relevant I wanted to reiterate my thoughts, in any case it's my last discussion on these issues

Cowboys > Southern > Vulgar = Power > Driven > Night > my gym towel in 40 degree heat > whatever the other Pantera albums are called

Though Vulgar is, indeed, fantastic gym music.

I think Reinventing the Steel has a enough good tunes on it to be a listenable album. I'd give it a 60%. A good album that is nowhere near essential or exceptional.

Amorphis' "Far from the Sun" is an excellent album and I have no idea why it's considered their "Supercollider". Granted, it took me a few listens due to it being so much softer and deflated when compared to their rest of their output, but so many of the tracks on there have gorgeous melodies.

It's also much more emotive and personal than most of their releases. The title track is a gorgeous folk number, as well as the track that is my namesake on this site. There's one or two that aren't brilliant, but the bonus tracks on the album command something way above what you'd expect from tracks put out as an afterthought. Dare I say If this was any other band it'd be on the podium, probably carrying a silver or bronze.

There are at least three albums from their discography that I rank below it.

Like Gojira Magma that is considerated a soft album but is very emotional and personal…

Requires an active listening

I never got why Brave New World is an Iron Maiden fan favourite (outside their 80s output of course), people say they've become too bloated with overlong songs, but that album is the epitome of that for me. DOD, AMOLAD and Book of Souls were much better to me.

BNW's highs are really high, but there is probably more 'filler' on that one than any other reunion era album (Mercenery, Dream of Mirrors, and Fallen Angel).

The title track and "Blood Brothers" kind of kill the momentum on BNW. Both just too slow and the choruses are boring. "Mercenary" is kind of fun, but it feels rote. I agree about that album - it feels like a lot of people just have some nostalgia for it since it came out when they were getting into metal. But who knows, I guess it hits really well for some. I do still like it... "Dream of Mirrors" is one of my favorites actually, and that one was always nostalgic for me actually.

I suspect "Bruce is back!" is the biggest reason for Brave New World's high esteem.

It is very repetitive at times, but it's also reasonably high-tempo (more than the following albums, I think), so I think that helps.

BNW is a bit bloated, but like Benedict Donald said, the highs on this album are very high. I genuinely love this album, to this day, and it really has a very unique atmosphere, a unique style to it. Thematically, it's very strong with the whole dystopian future themes, and it really carries on into the music with some bleak themes, but with very hopeful, soaring and uplifting sections. For instance, the chorus of Out of the Silent Planet where Bruce sings the melody before it is repeated by the guitars is absolutely insane! It still give me goosebumps to this day.

I can also only speak for myself on this one, but the "Bruce is back" effect has nothing to do with my love for the album, as I got into Iron Maiden around the time BNW was released. So I never experienced dealing with Bruce's departure from the band and his return. For teenage me, Bruce was always in the band, and the two weird albums without him in the middle were just not really all that important. It's only later that I got into the Di'Anno records, and I love both very much. And, to this day, I still don't care about Virtual XI and The X Factor. Not that they are terrible, but they are subpar, in my opinion, and there is more then enough quality Maiden albums for me not to want to spend that much time listening to the weaker cuts.

Fallen Angel is easily my favorite cut off BNW.

And BNW does do a pretty much everything I dislike about modern Maiden that is true. The single edit of Out of the Silent Planet is a huge improvement IMO on the album version, because they cut the fat. Dream of Mirrors has a great 6 minute song in there I think. The Nomad...well never was a big fan of that one. How many times do you really need to repeat "We're Blood Brothers"?

For me a lot of that is nostalgia I think. When Bruce and Adrian came back to Maiden it was incredible and I think I still have kind memories of that record due to that.

Like mentioned, the highs of that album carry it through; those highs are tracks 1,2, The Mercenary, Dream of Mirrors and the last two. But the other songs are at least okayish that it doesn’t ruin anything.