Lists by Mark Ayoub
Top 10 Metal Albums I Thoroughly Enjoy That Everyone Else Puts Shit On
Reading through the comments section throughout these pages you would be mistaken if you thought it was an anti-metal site given the huge amount of negativity. "Oh I'm a fan of this band, really,…
| 1. | Metallica - Re-Load |
| 2. | Megadeth - Risk |
| 3. | KISS - Creatures Of The Night |
| 4. | Metallica - Load |
| 5. | Korn - Issues |
| + 5 more |
20 Bands Who Have Never Released A Dud Album
Every band with longevity has its career peaks and troughs. Some pull through relatively unscathed and some disappear like vapour. In this list, in no order, I define bands who have managed to release…
| 1. | Opeth - Sweden. Do I really need to explain why they made this list? |
| 2. | Led Zeppelin - England. Many folk will say anything after "Physical Graffiti" is crap but is it? No. Problem was Zep set the standard so damn high it would have been impossible to replicate or top it. John Bonham's increased alcohol abuse and Jimmy Page's heroin habit didn't help either. |
| 3. | Emperor - Norway. This band released such consistent music they decided to disband to finish on a high. Little man typing this believes it was still too soon. |
| 4. | Aria - Russia. The Soviets' Iron Maiden, who unlike their counterparts managed to release albums in the 90's that didn't get critically beaten to a pulp. |
| 5. | Moonsorrow - Finland. Very dense music with 15 - 30 minute song lengths. A recipe for failure. But not for Moonsorrow. Incredible for a band who started releasing their 'heathen metal' music in their late teens. |
| + 15 more |
Best 16 comeback albums after a breakup
Comebacks are greeted with excitement and trepidation. Albums released after a band break-up can either send bands into the heavenly stratosphere or the basements of hell. I'm compiling the former.
| 1. | Faith No More - Sol Invictus |
| 2. | Septicflesh - Communion |
| 3. | Celtic Frost - Monotheist |
| 4. | Heaven And Hell - The Devil You Know |
| 5. | At The Gates - At War With Reality |
| + 11 more |
Top 10 Metal Albums I Have That I Don't Thoroughly Enjoy
In my previous list I was critical of MS being flooded with negative comments. Now I've decided to vent about albums that I don't quite enjoy. Ah, the hypocrisy! But this one has a slight twist.
| 1. | Korn - The Path Of Totality |
| 2. | Limp Bizkit - Results May Vary |
| 3. | Slayer - Undisputed Attitude |
| 4. | Discharge - Grave New World |
| 5. | Destruction - The Least Successful Human Cannonball |
| + 5 more |
Women In Metal. A Celebration
Women in metal. There's just not enough of them, Wish there were more. At the current rate, a 50/50 ratio is millennia away. Rather than complain I decided to celebrate 10 important influential figures…
| 1. | Girlschool - If Sabbath are considered the Godfathers of metal then surely Girlschool are the (slightly younger) Godmothers. It would be an insult to women and the history of metal not to put these lasses at the top or pick individual members past & present. Simply put, the longest running all women metal band proved that women could play and play hard. As Lemmy once quipped "Play well for chicks? They're better than you!" Here, here. |
| 2. | Rock Goddess - Out of the 500 or so NWOBHM bands known to exist only two had all female members with a decent profile. One was Girlschool and the other is this pick. They also happen to share the same bassist Tracey Lamb. What makes this band stick out apart from the rarity of an all women metal band in the 70's was their age when they first formed. Drummer Julie Turner was only 9 years old! And they were managed by their dad. Cool dad. |
| 3. | Vixen - Ah glam metal, the sausage-fest that tried to cover their...ahem...sausages in hairspray, maquillage and lots and lots of grog. Thankfully we got a reprieve with this bunch who were not groupies for Motley Crue or the roadies for Poison. They wrote, they played and while they didn't achieve the same level of fame as their male counterparts (gee, I wonder why) still an important stepping stone for women in metal. |
| 4. | L7 - If NWOBHM and glam were sausage-fests then grunge was a bull farm. L7 showed that women could pull off the grunge aesthetic, flannel shirts and all with a venom and bite that kept grunge's controversial relationship with metal in-tact. Don't believe me? The band is featured on MS with some even referring to them as alternative metal rather than the grunge label. |
| 5. | Doro - Warlock |
| + 5 more |