It's at this point we start to drift away from what was big and into what I've mainly listened to, as was the nature for the Anniversary Articles. For 2000, I primarily focused on power metal, and in the end, it also dominates my Top 5 for the year as well. However, I did want to give an honorable mention to Rob Halford's return to heavy metal with his solo band Halford. Quite the Resurrection indeed! I also made sure to give the stuff I heard last week its chance, but in the end, they didn't make it, mainly because these five are some of my personal favorites!
After cutting their teeth on a few albums, they decided to record their debut demo, and it's a considerable improvement, as they have their power metal sound worked out by this point. Kicking off with "Hallowed" and "Misguiding Your Life," their songs crackle with Helloween-like energy, with the epic "Eyes of the Tyrant" being the highlight of the album, in my opinion. While the band might be MIA these days, they were definitely one of the big stars during the swell of power metal bands growing at this time.
Back before they were doing more progressive, cinematic metal, Nightwish was the premier symphonic metal band at the time. Seeped in a gothic tone, and powered by Tarja Turunen's operatic voice, they were as epic as a band could get. While I do think Oceanborn is a slightly better album, this one had plenty of great songs, like the bombastic title track, and the twisted "Kinslayer."
Nostalgia can be a pretty powerful stuff. I was in high school, and post-grunge was really blowing up, with this album dominating my attention at the time. While "Kryptonite" was the big hit, the album has so much more, with the somber "Be Like That" and the tense "Duck and Run, to the energetic tracks like "By My Side" and "So I Need You." This was a contender to take the #1 spot, but after listening to everything, it settles comfortably at #3.
Back when I did my big retrospective for this band, I considered this one to be caught between two very good albums. However, classic HammerFall will always have a massive place in my heart, and this album is no exception. With so many great tracks from beginning to end, from the pounding opener, to the electric title track, to the epic closer, it was going to take something pretty incredible to beat it.
Speaking of incredible! I admit I haven't talked about Stratovarius very much here on my blog, and that's kind of a shame, as their albums were instrumental in getting me into power metal, with their blend of proggy keyboard solos and neo-classical riffing and shredding. While Visions might be their best, Infinite is probably my second favorite of theirs. Starting with the catchy "Hunting High and Low," the album just excels above the rest, with tracks like the near thrashy "Phoenix" and the epic "Infinity." While it's not perfect, I can't deny the majesty of this album, and so it takes the top spot of 2000 for me!
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