Friday, February 15, 2013
King Diamond Tribute
Again a few weeks back I posted the Dwell tribute to King Diamond. Again sub par tribute. This time around I'm posting the Necropolis Records 'Tribute To King Diamond'. Some more well known bands on here including Dark Funeral, Ancient, and Usurper. The music here is a lot more polished and while retaining their own sounds, tend to sound more like the originals. This is the better tribute of the two released.
Metallic Storm
Time for a NWOBHM compilation. 'Metallic Storm' was released by the tiny label Ebony Records back in 82. The album featured a collection of unknown bands at the time. In fact the only bad to gain attention off the label is Mercyful Fate. This record features the first recording of "Black Funeral" by the band. Different versions would appear on 'Melissa' and 'The Beginning'. The album if anything is somewhat a sought after record. This is a vinyl rip of the record, so quality is a bit off. Perfect for the NWOBHM fan though.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Tribute To ABBA
Another tribute album here and perhaps one of the more bizarre ones. In 2001 Nuclear Blast released 'A Tribute To ABBA', which features some hard rock and metal bands covering the mighty ABBA. Now you might question how well this works. Well on some levels really good and on others it's quite laughable. For the most part there's only a few big named bands on here, Therion, Sinergy, Flowing Tears, and Helloween. The rest is filled out by underground bands that never really went very far. Worth a download if you are really an ABBA fan or just really curious.
Metallic Assult
Another week and some more compilations and what not. Starting things off is a tribute to Metallica entitled, 'Metallic Assault: A Tribute To Metallica'. This is a tribute album that featured musicians from many different bands covering some Metallica classics. Musicians include the likes of Scott Ian and Joey Belladonna from Anthrax, Jon Oliva (Savatage), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Mikkey Dee and Lemmy from Motorhead, Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer from KISS and loads more. The covers aren't too far off from the originals, but they maintain their own identity. Stand out track for me is the cover of "Nothing Else Matters" featuring Jon Oliva and Lemmy. Worth a listen if you're a Metallica fan.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Metal Massacre
Closing out the week with Metal Blade Records most famous release perhaps. 'Metal Massacre' was the compilation album that brought a little band called Metallica to the masses. Originally released in 82, the album featured bands, Steeler, Bitch, Malice, Ratt, Avatar, Cirith Ungol, Demon Flight, Pandemonium, and Metallica, who were actually listed as Mettallica incorrectly. The track "Hit The Lights" was the bands first real recording and featured Lloyd Grant on Guitar. The album was reissued again in 84, this time with some slight tweeks. The Ratt track was omitted and the Steeler track was replaced by Black 'N Blue. In addition "Hit The Lights" was reworked and now featured Dave Mustaine on lead Guitar. Up for sampling is the 2nd pressing of the album. Nice slice of the early days of Heavy Metal.
Mercyful Fate Tribute
Few weeks back I posted a Mercyful Fate tribute from Dwell Records. Not the best tribute album, but there were some stand out tracks. This time around I have another Mercyful Fate tribute, this time around from Listenable Records. Released in 97 by the French label, this tribute features some more well known acts covering Mercyful tunes. Featured here are bands like Emperor, Dimension Zero, Dark Tranquillity, Immolation, and former Mercyful Fate drummer Snowy Shaw. This tribute focuses solely on material from the bands first few releases. A little more darker and evil is this tribute, but musically it's done very well all the way around.
Maiden Heaven
Another tribute album from the lads over at Kerrang!. This time it's an Iron Maiden tribute. 'Maiden Heaven' was released in 2008 with Kerrang Issue 1219. This tribute album features the likes of Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold, Black Tide, Dream Theater, DevilDriver, Coheed and Cambria, Machine Head, Trivium and many more putting their spin on some Iron Maiden classics. This is a pretty solid tribute through and through here. Metallica covering 'Remember Tomorrow' properly this time around instead of goofing on it during live shows like they have done in the past. This is one of the better Iron Maiden tribute albums out there. Worth a listen in my books.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Kerrang! Presents Remastered
Time for another tribute album, this one a little more true in the sense of the word. Kerrang! Magazine has been a fine magazine in the UK for many years and recently have starting doing tribute albums. Released in 2006, 'Remastered: Metallica's Master Of Puppets Revisited'. The album features bands such as Mastodon, Funeral For A Friend, Machine Head, Bullet For My Valentine, Chimaria, and Trivium, playing a track from Metallica's landmark record 'Master Of Puppets'. Nothing really special here, a good idea for a tribute record though.
Judas Priest Tribute
Back with some tribute albums this week. First up is a Judas Priest tribute. 'A Tribute To Judas Priest: Legends Of Metal' was released in 97. There are two volumes that were released, up for grab is the first Volume. Released by Century Media stateside the albums features bands like, Mercyful Fate, Devin Townsend, Testament, Saxon and Fates Warning covering some of Judas Priest's classics. Some really good cuts here including the live version of 'Sinner' by Devin Townsend and the not found anywhere else cut of Mercyful Fate's take on 'The Ripper'. Somewhat of an overlooked tribute album that is worth a listen.
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