Anniversary Series - 1999!

This article should be better than the last one, even if it means I gush about power metal most of the time, but it was great year for that genre.  After HammerFall had opened the gates, tons of new bands got signed, making it a ripe year for fans of the style.  However, I promise I'll talk a little bit about other genres, and we'll kick things off with some hard rock.

The big album of the year was definitely Creed's Human Clay.  Between the Matrix cameras in the music video and the anthemic post-grunge sound, this was when Creed cracked into the mainstream and became a big name.  I remember hearing "Higher" on the radio and thinking I needed more of this band.  I ended up loving them so much, they ended up being my first band retrospective article three years ago (the fact that they had such a small discography certainly helped as well.)

Other rock highlights include a few bands coming back in one form or another.  Def Leppard got back to their classic sound with Euphoria, Styx tried to make another concept album for Brave New World, and Santana teamed-up with Rob Thomas to give us "Smooth."  Classic rock might not have been the charting success it once was, but they still had plenty of good ideas and fun music.

I've delayed it long enough, though.  Power metal was really strong this year, with plenty of options to pick up.  Primal Fear came back with Jaws of Death, Gamma Ray and Iron Savior carried on their space crusade (which I reviewed earlier this month), Kamelot went into their Fourth Legacy now with epic vocalist Roy Khan helping with the songwriting, Edguy criticized the Theater of Salvation., and Helloween pulled out a Metal Jukebox for some interesting covers.

There were some solid debuts.  Freedom Call started their happy style of metal with Stairway to Fairyland, Metalium rang in the year with Millennium Metal, and Sonata Arctica blew everyone away with their debut Ecliptica.  With magnificent songs like "Kingdom for a Heart" and "Unopened," it was clear they were poised to become a champion of the second wave of power metal.

Of course, prog was making good stuff as well.  Dream Theater would reach a creative peak with their psychodrama Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, Alan Parsons would check out The Time Machine, and Yes would blow my teenage mind away with The Ladder.  I've gushed about this album before.  Despite being 25 years old now, I still sing along to every word and note and beat whenever I put it on.  Honestly a modern prog rock masterpiece in my opinion.

So there's my thoughts on a pretty dang good year of rock and metal.  As always, check out the playlist below for more, recommend what I missed in the comments, and try to stay cool out there!  August is looking to be a hot and busy month for me, as I have a lot of album reviews planned, so keep an eye out for those.  Until then, rock on!  \m/

New Videos - October 2023!

Happy Halloween!  Once again, I've got another handful of new videos for you to rock out while you celebrate the spooky season.  Well, okay, not all of these are really Halloween-themed, but they're all pretty good songs, which are never out of season!  Check these out!

While this is a band I keep meaning to catch back up on, but it seems they're plowing ahead with a new single, which hopefully will lead to a new album!  As expected, it's a solid anthemic rocker with a good chorus, as it seems the band hasn't lost a step in all these years!  I'm definitely looking forward to what they do after this.

After they blew me away a few years ago, Sorcerer is back to bring another slab of epic doom metal, with the emphasis on "epic!"  Back are the thick guitars, intense noodly solos, and Anders Engberg's soaring vocals, channeling a bit of Rainbow-era Dio a little.  The hard tempo shift for the solo also got my attention, as this song is more than just another plodding doom rocker!  I need to get into more of this band!

Trying to find a vein of hope in the midst of all the negativity, Firewind sticks with their heavy/power metal sound, which is still pretty solid.  Herbie Langhans gives the song the energy it needs with his charismatic gritty vocals and Gus G provides his pyrotechnic fretwork, making for a crunchy-but-anthemic piece of uplifting music.

While I admit I haven't kept up with Sonata Arctica lately, a number of folks are calling this a return to form of their old school power metal days, and I hear it!  The uptempo harpsichord synths channel the likes of Ecliptica and Winterheart's Guild in a way I haven't heard from them in a while!

I can't believe it's been five years since Firepower.  That was a good album, and with a bit of a synthy start, these legends are intent on carrying on their classic metal assault with another album due next year.  While there are no surprises here, the band is still executing their sound at a high level.

Anniversary Series - 2001!

The middle of the month means another anniversary article!  Once again, I'll mostly be relying one what I've listened to instead of being a comprehensive look at the year.  Fortunately, I have a lot for 2001, so let's get into it!

Once again, power metal comes up big, with some great albums from bands that would go on to do big things.  Let's start with Kamelot and their album Karma, which is a great follow up to their previous album, pushing the band to even bigger heights with songs like "Forever," "Wings of Despair," and the title track.  They even start to push their concept-based songwriting with a three part epic called "Elizabeth."

Speaking of storytelling, 2001 would give us the debut of Tobias Sammet's Avantasia with The Metal Opera.  While only having the first part of the story, it would kick start a run of albums telling all kinds of stories over the years, and their first is an excellent one, featuring tracks like "Breaking Away" and "The Glory of Rome."  We'd also get great power metal from Edguy's Mandrake (highlights include "Tears of the Mandrake," "Golden Dawn" and "Nailed to the Wheel) and from Sonata Arctica's Silence (which has "Weballergy" and "Wolf & Raven").  Just a great year for power metal.

The other big genre would be post-grunge, with two of its biggest acts releasing big albums.  Creed provided Weathered, and album that I think brings their gritting side with their radio-friendly side together very well, something I covered in that retrospective I wrote earlier this year.  The other big release came from Nickelback, with their breakout album Silver Side Up, which provided big hits like "How You Remind Me" and "Too Bad," though I think their deeper cut "Money Bought" is just as good.  Another kind of big album was the debut of Andrew W.K., I Get Wet, ensuring that Parties would always be Hard from then on.

Finally, I just want to bring up Yes's Magnification.  It's an interesting album because instead of having a keyboardist (as is standard for the band), they went with a full-on orchestra.  The songs have some fascinating variety, and it's probably the closest they have come to recapturing the majesty of their 70s material.

So that's 2001.  Kind of dedicated to some specific genres, but it's what I'm familiar with from this year, and definitely worth checking out.  As always, if there's something I've missed let me know.  Until then, rock on! \m/