Ronnie James Dio - Holy Diver (1983)

Tracklist: Stand Up And Shout Holy Diver Gypsy Caught In The Middle Don't Talk To Strangers Straight Through The Heart Invisible Rainbow In The Dark Shame On The Night

Ronnie James DIO had a lot to prove with this his first solo offering since departing rather unceremoniously from BLACK SABBATH and prove he did and the rest as they say is history. DIO had salvaged the flagging career of the Ozzy-less SABBATH resulting in two of SABBATH'S finest recordings: "The Mob Rules" and the classic "Heaven And Hell". Portraying a much stronger and consummate singing voice that has since become world renowned DIO was not only a better singer than Ozzy but also an intelligent songwriter and composer who wielded a myriad of thoughts and ideas for Tony Iommi. He was also a man who know that his destiny lay out side of SABBATH so after nursing wounds brought on by his leaving he delivered, some would say his solo bands finest hour - "Holy Diver". Free from the constraints of SABBATH DIO quickly ensconced himself in the fantasy imagery and world that he wanted to bring to the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal playing field. The album cover depicting the malevolent DIO creature attempting to do away with a member of the clergy was an effective image as any one could imagine to the contents of the album. "Stand Up And Shout", "Holy Diver", "Don't Talk To Strangers", "Straight Through The Heart" and "Rainbow In The Dark" all bona fide Rock classics. Masterminded by the voice of DIO the music is a mixture of classy Hard Rock in "Gypsy" and "Caught In The Middle" supplemented with American style Metal with the likes of "Stand Up And Shout", "Straight Through The Heart" and "Shame On The Night", the colossal title track "Holy Diver" complete with an Iommi riff that the Master himself would dearly have loved to have written to the sublime intro of "Don't Talk To Strangers" climaxing in "Rainbow In The Dark". Yes, this is still a very good album and one that deserves to sit proudly in your collection. (Online June 8, 2003)

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SLAYER - South of Heaven(1988 )

Tracklist: South Of Heaven Silent Scream Live Undead Behind The Crooked Cross Mandatory Suicide Ghosts Of War Read Between The Lies Cleanse The Soul Dissident Aggressor Spill The Blood

How does the band that wrote "Reign In Blood" try to top that album? The answer: You don't. You create something different. I'll spare you why "Reign In Blood" was/is so influential and important to the Metal scene in general, and SLAYER wrote whatever they wanted to (I'm assuming), but to re-write its faster, heavier and more extreme version would probably sound forced and unnatural. Enter "South Of Heaven". From the slow, haunting, melodic intro riff that starts off the title track, you can tell that SLAYER has matured. They realized that forcibly going 200+beats per minute for most of an album would make it redundant and boring, due to lack of dynamics (well, most of the time). Heaviness can also be achieved with dissonant melodies or a slower, more chord-based riff, and the band decided to plod into those territories as well. Speed is not altogether gone from this album, though. "Silent Scream", "Ghosts Of War" and "Cleanse The Soul" are all at warp speed, the way that SLAYER showed the Metal world to do. However, being the only 3 songs that are blazing fast, they stand out from the rest (also, each has a different 'style' of riffing and song structure, plus the tempos vary a bit) of the album. Making each song longer also always them to develop better, making each one distinct and memorable in its own right. The riffing has also gotten more technical than before, forgoing the simple tremolo picked chromatic chaos that was featured on "Hell Awaits" and "Reign In Blood", and goes for a more interesting mixture of the aforementioned tremolo picking and down-picked notes, making the music far more interesting than before. I'm not saying that the songs on this album are anything of technical genius of MARTYR's or DEATH's calibre, but the musicianship has improved. Added also is a sense of subtlety present in the melodies (anyone ever notice the SECOND guitar line in the intro of "South Of Heaven"?). Tom Araya has also started to SING, instead of just screaming his lungs out like he used to, adding further dimension to the songs, and making it more memorable. The solos actually start to make some musical quality to them, compared to the random flurry of whammy bar dives and endless notes (I don't want to go on a rant about why SLAYER solos have always fit the music, but that's another topic, and too long to dwell into). Furthermore, the legend of Dave Lombardo was born on this album. The crazy fills he throws in during nearly the entire album (Listen to "Behind A Crooked Cross" and "Silent Screams" for the best examples). He truly starts to shine on this album, moving away from the fast yet rather monotonous drum beats of "Reign In Blood" (in come the flurry of hate mail……). This album has aged truly gracefully, showing a band that has matured both lyrically and musically, and one that is full of unsung classics. (Online October 18, 2003) http://www.mediafire.com/?qgm1lflbd64s1p1

Guns N' Roses ( Appetite for Destruction, 1987 )

Appetite for Destruction' Album Review

One of the most telling marks of an indispensable album is when its lesser-known tracks equal or even exceed the hits. That is certainly the case with this record, a merciless 12-track journey through danger, excess and chaos that never lets up its brutal assault, even for its obligatory power ballad. We all know the famous tunes, as MTV probably burned them into our brains long ago. But the most rewarding aspect of repeated listens is undoubtedly the stunning level of quality from start to finish. "It's So Easy" stands as a particularly strong early highlight, confidently hitting the listener while his or her nose is still bloodied from "Welcome to the Jungle." Then "Nightrain" and "Mr. Brownstone" continue to plumb the seedy depths of modern urban life, supported to perfection by Steven Adler's thunderous drumming and the unbelievably deft, dueling dual-guitar contributions of Slash and Izzy Stradlin. I mean, twin guitars had been used impressively before in rock, but with all due respect, Boston and even Iron Maiden could never muster the raw passion and improvisational feel that these two guitarists deliver here.
Very arguably the best song on the album could be "My Michelle," a blistering and devastating song about doom and lost innocence in the city that contains a lyrical opening that just slams the listener over the head as if with an unidentified blunt object. The ultimate result of listening to this album is the kind of exhilaration that only comes when good parts make up a better whole.

1. Welcome to the Jungle
2. It's So Easy
3. Nightrain
4. Out ta Get Me
5. Mr. Brownstone
6. Paradise City
7. My Michelle
8. Think About You
9. Sweet Child O' Mine
10. You're Crazy
11. Anything Goes
12. Rocket Queen

http://www.mediafire.com/?nungtywmzqd

Megadeth - [1994] Youthanasia

Featured review by: Rattlehead666, on november 21, 2005

Sound: This is Megadeth's sixth release. It was released in 1994 after Countdown To Extinction. The chart osition for this album was at no. 4. This album has a pretty heavy sound. There are four new tracks on the remixied and remastered version of this album. They are Millinium Of The Blind, New World Order, Absolution and A Toute Le Monde (demo). Millinium Of The Blinds intro riff is similar to the track 1000 Time Goodbye. New World Order is a pretty cool song. Absolution is an instrumental that later on when Megadeth released Cryptic Writings part of that intrumental would be in the Trust solo. A Toutle Le Monde demo is basically a demo of track 4 on the album which is A Toute Le monde but the demo is better. Dave Mustaine is a pretty great guitarist seeing all the albums he released over the years. /
Lyrics and Singing: The lyrics are pretty cool to. Dave Mustaine is a good vocalist also but he's a better guitar player. The lyrics to track 12 Victory is cool to because he put all the names of songs he made in the past in the songs for lyrics. One song on this album you can realy relate to his life because it talks about traveling and stuff which is called The Killing Road which is another great song on this album.
Impression: This is one of my favorite Megadeth albums that I own. This is way better than Metallica's sixth release "Load." But three years later the next Megadeth album ain't so good and that is "Cryptic Writings." It's still pretty good but not that good. I noticed that the artwork is very strange on this album and actually my friend has a purple Megadeth shirt with a babay from the album on it and on the back it has one of the verses to Youthanasia on it. A lot of people at school make fun of him for wearing that shirt but he dosen't care cause it's Megadeth. I don't hate anything about this album and if it were lost I would definatley look for it.

Tracklist:

 01 Megadeth - Reckoning Day

02 Megadeth - Train Of Consecuences

03 Megadeth - Addicted To Chaos

04 Megadeth - A Tout Le Monde

05 Megadeth - Elysian Fields

06 Megadeth - The Killing Road

07 Megadeth - Blood Of Heroes

08 Megadeth - Familiy Tree

09 Megadeth - Youthanasia

10 Megadeth - I Throught I Knew All

11 Megadeth - Black Curtains

12 Megadeth - Victory

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Queen - A Night at the Opera [1975]

Few bands embodied the pure excess of the '70s like Queen. Embracing the exaggerated pomp of prog rock and heavy metal, as well as vaudevillian music hall, the British quartet delved deeply into camp and bombast, creating a huge, mock-operatic sound with layered guitars and overdubbed vocals. Queen's music was a bizarre yet highly accessible fusion of the macho and the fey.

Tracklist:

1. Death on Two Legs
2. Lazing on Sunday Aftermoon
3. I'm in Love With my Car
4. You're My Best Friend
5. '39
6. Sweet Lady
7. Seaside Rendezvous
8. The Prophet's Song
9. Love of My Life
10. Good Company
11. Bohemian Rhapsody
12. God Save the Queen

If Ground and Sky were still a prog-only site, I'd say this album doesn't really belong here, as it's mostly a pop/rock album with the exception of the proggy vocal showcase "Prophet's Song". But it's a damn good pop album, which ranges all over the map of popular musical styles from old fashioned to heavy metal. The vocals are stunning and the mood is mostly infectiously upbeat (with the exceptions of the viciously bitter opening track and the over-the-top prog epic mentioned above). Each misstep, like the goofy lyrics of "I'm in Love With My Car" ("Cars don't talk back, they're just four-wheeled friends now!") and the sappy "Love of my Life" is offset by absolute classics like "'39" and "Bohemian Rhapsody". A great album, prog or not.

review by Bob Eichler — 7-31-03 

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http://www.mediafire.com/?p8sqptcg75rw4ce

AC/DC - Highway to Hell (1979 )

Highway to Hell is the sixth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in July 1979. It is also AC/DC's fifth international studio album. It was the last album featuring Bon Scott, who died early the following year from over-consumption of alcohol.
It was originally released by Albert Productions, who licensed the album to Atlantic Records for release outside of Australia, and was then re-released by Epic Records in 2003 as part of the AC/DC remasters series. On 25 May 2006, Highway to Hell was certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA. In 2003, the album was ranked number 199 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

01. Highway to Hell
02. Girls Got Rhythm
03. Walk All Over You
04. Touch Too Much
05. Beating Around the Bush
06. Shot Down in Flames
07. Get It Hot
08. If You Want Blood (You've Got It)
09. Love Hungry Man
10. Night Prowler

http://www.mediafire.com/?dxbkmydkryj

Black sabbtah - Paranoid (1970 )

The album "Black Sabbath" got attention for the band, but "Paranoid" was truly the disc that put them over the top. According to the film Black Sabbath: Paranoid: Classic Albums, the original title of the disc was to be "War Pigs," but the label refused to use that title while the United States was embroiled in the Vietnam War.
Paranoid continued Black Sabbath's musical progression. The band focused on the heavier, more metallic sound, similar to the ending of the song Black Sabbath, and the song N.I.B. Tracks such as War Pigs, Iron Man, Fairies Wear Boots, and Electric Funeral show off the band's more metal-esque sound. Gloomy riffs are still found on the album, Electric Funeral's main riff being an excellent example of this. Black Sabbath also has a few new tricks up their sleeves in the form of Planet Caravan and Rat Salad. The former is an attempt at a psychedelic song, and though I'm no expert on this kind of music, the band does an excellent job with the song. Planet Caravan is quite relaxing, and a change from the destructive riffs found in previous Sabbath songs. The highlight of the song is quite easily the jazzy, two minute long guitar solo from Iommi, one of the most enjoyable solos on the album. The other song, Rat Salad, mainly consists of a drum solo from Bill Ward, with Tony Iommi pitching in some riffs for the first half and the remaining 25 seconds of the song. Think Moby Dick by Led Zeppelin, and that's what you'll find here, only a minute and a half shorter. Though these two songs are well done, Paranoid's most memorable moments are definitely when they are thrashing up the set with their brand of heavy rock.

Tracklist

1. War Pigs
2. Paranoid
3. Planet Caravan
4. Iron Man
5. Electric Funeral
6. Hand of Doom
7. Rat Salad
8. Fairies Wear Boots

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METALLICA - Kill 'Em All (1983)

Metallica's debut album Kill 'Em All is thrash metal at its finest; machine-gun palm muting, technical riffs, and blistering guitar solos.

1983 oversaw the evolution of the metal genre. While Death Metal began to rear its head Metallica would release their first album, Kill ‘Em All, which would receive very little mainstream recognition. However, nine studio albums and twenty-five years later, Kill ‘Em All remains one of Metallica’s strongest albums.

Thrash Metal

This album would serve as a template for many thrash metal bands that would emerge in the wake of Metallica’s success. Unfettered by convention, fan expectations, or tyrannical producers, Kill ‘Em All is the fuse that ignited the popularization of the thrash metal genre.

Legacy of Kill 'Em AllThis album is the catalyst that began Metallica's success at the most popular heavy metal band for the next 25 years with no end in sight. This album is their most simplistic, but that gives it a certain appeal to listeners. This album is a good example of thrash metal in its most basic form.

01 - Hit the Lights
02 - The Four Horsemen
03 - Motorbreath
04 - Jump In The Fire
05 - (Anesthesia)-Pulling Teeth
06 - Whiplash
07 - Phantom Lord
08 - No Remorse
09 - Seek and Destroy
10 - Metal Militia

http://www.mediafire.com/?my61pc2vgm9j225

Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind (1983)

This is Iron Maiden's fourth studio album, and their first with current drummer Nicko McBrain. In fact, every band member on this album can still be seen with the band today, so if you've ever wanted to see them on tour, this is five-sixths of the band you'll be getting:

Bruce Dickinson- Vocals (Amazing vocalist with a unique voice)
Steve Harris- Bass (Arguably the best heavy metal bassist around)
Adrian Smith- Lead/Rhythm Guitars (Great melodic, bluesy solos)
Dave Murray- Lead/Rhythm Guitars (Great shredding solos)
Nicko McBrain- Drums (Awesome drummer)

Here's the actual review:
1. Where Eagles Dare (6:10) This is a pretty good song, but for an Iron Maiden opener, it's not really that great. It's far too long, and the instrumental passage drones on without a solo for long enough to make me fear I was listening to St. Anger. But don't worry, the awesome vocals of Bruce and Steve's descriptive lyrics carry this song pretty far. 3.5/5

2. Revelations (6:48) This song starts out with a hymnal passage of some sort, but then the 'real' opening riff comes on and it is one hell of an awesome riff. Especially for how few notes it contains. But that riff is even better when it appears toward the song's end and Bruce yells "Go!" Then we get some nice solos and a quieter close to the song. 4.5/5

3. Flight of Icarus (3:50) The album's first single has a killer opening riff, then a great verse. The pre-chorus/chorus kind of runs together in an awesome display of underlying bass, and Bruce's overlapping vocals really bring this song together. The solos from who I assume is Adrian are equally impressive, especially when Bruce is singing over them. 5/5

4. Die With Your Boots On (5:25) A great opening riff doesn't really follow through in the rest of the song, in my opinion. The chorus is too long, but it's still a really great song. One of the best song titles anyway. My favorite part of the song is the rockin-out ending, especially when it leads into a classic song. 3.5/5

5. The Trooper (4:11) This is one of my favorite Iron Maiden songs ever, and also one of their most popular. The call-to-arms opening riff and the galloping bass lines fit so well with the lyrics of a soldier's futile battle that it brings shivers to my spine almost every time. Bruce's singing of Steve's lyrics and the wordless chorus really bring this song together, and it's fun to play for all you bassists out there! 5/5

6. Still Life (4:55) A bit of backwards talk brings us to the unofficial title track of the album (since it mentions the album title somewhere in the song) I like this song, especially as I listened to it in Mexico, where sacrificial religious wells abound in the Yucatan. The chorus is a bit poppy, but don't deny the power this song holds over your ears! 4.5/5

7. Quest For Fire (3:41) Some people describe this as Maiden's worst song ever. I don't know about that, but it's certainly the most anachronistic song since "Rock Me Amadeus." Dinosaurs and cavemen did not live in the same time period, you silly Brits! Other than that, I'd call this song skippable. 2/5

8. Sun and Steel (3:26) Another poppier song, but I like this one. I guess because it still manages to incorporate some galloping rhythms into it, which is always a plus for me. The chorus is sing-along quality, which isn't bad if you're not afraid to sing in the shower or something. Rambling, sorry. 3.5/5

9. To Tame a Land (7:25) In the grand tradition of epic closers, this one's another great Maiden classic. It's based off of the book "Dune," which I haven't read. But the theme is evident in that Egyptian scale also found in the band's title track to "Powerslave," so you'll get a feeling for it. The last three minutes or so of the song is instrumental, but it's a great instrumental section! Especially at the beginning, where the guitars and bass play this insanely fast riff over and over again. Definitely a challenge, just like the whole song. It closes with riff similar to the opening, with a slightly complex guitar melody.

Overall, this is another great early period Maiden album. Now you know why metal ruled the world back in the 80s; because the non-glam stuff was too awesome to ignore. 

Tracklist:
1. Where Eagles Dare
2. Revelations
3. Flight of Icarus
4. Die With Your Boots On
5. The Trooper
6. Still Life
7. Quest for Fire
8. Sun and Steel
9. To Tame a Land

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