The Purple Album / Whitesnake (2015)

1. Burn

2. You Fool No One

3. Love Child

4. Sail Away

5. The Gypsy

6. Lady Double Dealer

7. Mistreated

8. Holy Man

9. Might Just Take Your Life

10. You Keep on Moving

11. Soldier of Fortune

12. Lay Down Stay Down

13. Stormbringer

14. Lady Luck (Bonus Track)

15. Comin' Home (Bonus Track)

  

I believe that a cover song rarely exceeds the original. It applies to this album. I am not saying this negatively. I am pretty sure that David did not intend to do that.

 

I love MK III Deep Purple. It brought new essence and variety to their hard rock music. I love every song in those two albums, "Burn" and "Stormbringer". Unfortunately, all of the songs in the album are down-tuned due to David's voice. It is kind of "modernized".

 

Yet, songs such as tracks 4 and 8 have great acoustic arrangement and I really loved it. Particulary, track 4 is revived as a new song! Even though he cannot sing as high as he used to, his mid-to-low range voice is very attractive.
 

☆☆☆



Redeemer of Souls / Judas Priest (2014)

1. Dragonaut

2. Redeemer of Souls

3. Halls of Valhalla

4. Sword of Damocles

5. March of the Damned

6. Down in Flames

7. Hell & Back

8 Cold Blooded

9 Metalizer

10. Crossfire

11. Secret of the Dead

12. Battle Cry

13. Beginning of the End

Deluxe Edition Disc 2

1. Snakebite

2. Tears of Blood

3. Creatures

4. Bring It On

5. Never Forget

Finally, Judas Priest released a new album. Since that controversial album, "Nostradamus", metal fans were waiting for their METAL album. I personally liked "Nostradamus", but it was not a typical metal album that people would expect as the members called "rock opera". Since then, they went on long tour after tour. Somewhere in my mind, I was afraid that "Nostradamus" would be the last album when they announced "Epitaph Tour". However, they came back with a pure metal album.

To be honest, I did not have much impression when I heard the entire album for the first time. It went so fast even though the album contained 18 songs. I guess it did not have as much impact as "Angel of Retribution". Nevertheless, as I listened to the album more and more, I realized the essence of Judas Priest everywhere in the album, and this album brings all of their musical 

When I first listened to "Angel of Retribution", that album recaptured their music all the way back to "British Steel". Nevertheless, this album takes us back all the way to 70's. The songs such as tracks 10, 13, and 4, 5, in disc 2. They showed their extensiveness of music at the same time as pure metal. If you are expecting the same singing as "Painkiller", probably you would be disappointed. Rob cannot singing like before, yet he still has attractive and strong voice in mid-low range.

I guess the reception largely depends on which aspects of Judas Priest you are expecting. I think they released a killer album at this point of their career.

☆☆☆☆

Hydra / Within Temptation (2014)

1. Let Us Burn

2. Dangerous (featuring Howard Jones)

3. And We Run (featuring Xzibit)

4. Paradise (What About Us?) (featuring Tarja)

5. Edge Of The World

6. Silver Moonlight

7. Covered by Roses

8. Dog Days

9. Tell Me Why

10. Whole World Is Watching (featuring Dave Pirner)

I did not know much about this band before I purchased this album. I knew only few of their songs such as "What Have You Done?" When I went to Tower Records in Shibuya, I found this album. When I started playing the album form track 1, it was almost an electric shock. It was powerful, dramatic, and beautiful metal song. 

The album is all killer no filler. Every song has catchy hook and dramatic arrangement. The guest musicians are doing great job in the songs such as tracks 2, 3, 4, and 10. Especially, I did not know what expects with track 3 when I heard that they were featuring a rapper, but surprisingly it fitted the song really well. The album has been one of my heavy rotation this year.

☆☆☆☆☆

Baptized / Daughtry (2013)

1. Baptized

2. Waiting for Superman

3. Battleships

4. I'll Fight

5. Wild heart

6. Long Live rock & Roll

7. The World We Knew

8. High Above the Ground

9. Broken Arrows

10. Witness

11. Traitor

12. Undefeated

13. Cinderella

14. Battleships (Acoustic)

 

It seems like every time Daughtry releases a new album, he strips down hard rock sound. The last album had a lot of acoustic sound, yet this time is a complete departure from his initial hard rock sound. I don't hear electric guitar or hard beat. I guess he wants to head this direction more. I miss him playing hard rock.

However, I have to admit the this album also has some good hooks.

☆☆☆

 

Novum Initium / Masterplan (2013)

1. Per Aspera Ad Astra

2. The Game

3. Keep Your Dream Alive

4. Black Night of Magic

5. Betrayal

6. No Escape

7. Pray On My Soul

8. Earth Is Going Down

9. Return From Avalon

10. Through Your Eyes

11. Novum Initium

Unfortunately, Jorn left the band once again, and Rick Altzi (Thunderstone/At Vance) joined the band as a new singer. Even though his voice type is very different from Jorn's, he is also has powerful low to mid range. Their last album is still one of my favorite playlist. It had many dramatic songs, yet it was not so commercial friendly. The first impression of this album was that it sounded more like their first album. Songs are more varied and colorful than the last one.

After the opening SE, the album starts with a perfect opening tune, track 1. It reminded me of songs like "Sprit Never Die" and "Crimson Rider". The track 2 is the single from the album. I don't know why, but they always choose mid-tempo tunes as their singles. Overall, they put more up-tempo tunes in this album and created easiness to listen through the album. Tracks 3, 5, and 9 have the same feeling as their first album. 

Before I listened to the album, I was a bit skeptical about the matching of Rick Altzi and Masterplan, but I think he fit well in the sound. I am pretty sure he would manage singing songs from their past catalogues as well. I heard that they would actively play on tour this time and am hoping that they would come to Japan once again.

☆☆☆☆

Super Collider / Megadeth (2013)

1. Kingmaker

2. Super Collider

3. Burn!

4. Built for War

5. Off the Edge

6. Dance In the Rain

7. Beginning of Sorrow

8. The Blackest Crow

9. Forgot to Remember

10. Don't Turn Your Back...

11. Cold Sweat

12. All I Want

13. A House Divided

14. Countdown to Extinction (Live At Fox Theater, Pomona, CA./2012)

Since Dave restarted Megadeth, he has been releasing the albums that meet expectation of Megadeth fans. Especially recent years, his music style has returned to his roots, "Intellectual Thrash Metal".

So, when I heard the leading tune from this album, track 2, I was bit surprised and worried. I was wondering if the band shifted their music direction. However, soon after I listened to this album, I figured that that was needless anxiety. When I first listened to track 1, it confirmed that Megadeth is Megadeth. It was a perfect thrash metal tune for the album. Track 2 is actually a good metal tune as well. 

The listening journey of the album went through quickly. I personally think that the highlight of the album is track 6. This song is very cold and dark yet dramatic. This kind of songs shows that how Dave grew as a songwriter. At the end, this song becomes fast and loud. This dramatic progression shows his true worth as the songwriter. David Draiman of "Disturbed" collaborate with Megadeth in this song. Track 9 is a killer tunes that has good riffs and catchy melody. A cover song, track 11, fits well in this album.

This album was not as exciting as last four albums. I guess the reason why is because this album does not have as many fast tunes as those three. Overall, this album showed that the band kept faith. It has essence of all of their past catalogues in 80's and 90's and successfully mixed them. One thing, I realized was that the tuning of music was dropped by one full note. Well, I understand that Dave is getting old, it was obvious that he was having hard time hitting high notes on the last tour. He still delivers great music, and there is nothing to complain.

In late 80's, Metallica turned into more progressive, their songs became longer. On the other hand, Megadeth  (or I would say Dave) was different. Their songs are complicated and dramatic, but they put that essence in 4 to 6 minutes. I am not comparing those two bands (which many people do, and I seriously think pointless...) but just saying that it is very interesting their music style was very different in this small music genre called thrash metal. It is applicable to bands such as Anthrax, Slayer, and Exodus, and maybe that is the reason why they are all still around today. Megadeth is Megadeth. I really hope that they will tour with this album. 

☆☆☆

The Nexus / Amaranthe (2013)

1. Afterlife

2. Invincible



3. The Nexus

4. Theory Of Everything

5. Stardust

6. Burn With Me

7. Mechanical Illusion

8. Razorblade

9. Future On Hold

10. Electroheart

11. Transhuman

12. Infinity

13. Afterlife[Acoustic]

14. Leave Everything Behind(Early Version)

 

Swedish metalcore/modern metal band, Amaranthe, released their second album. Basically, their music style has not changed from their first one but is more refined and processed. I felt that electronic music influence became more obvious and could hear a lot of synthesizer and keyboard sound.

 

I mentioned before that I had impression that their songs sometimes sounded the same as other songs. My impression has not changed, yet I could see some improvement in songwriting. Each song in this album stands out better than their first album. The songs such as tracks 5, 6, 8 became good accent in this album.

 

Their unique style of having three different types of vocals really stands out in this music scene. I heard Andreas has left the band, but I hope they would keep this style and continue improving their music style.

 

☆☆☆☆