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Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 6:52 pm
by nightsblood
Been playing a lot of the old classics lately, especially lots of Savatage, WASP, Riot, etc, so I figured I'd spin 'Metal Church' for the first time in a short age.
I still just don't quite get this album.
Decent band. Decent songwriting. Nothing much to complain about. But I just don't hold it in the same high esteem as many headbangers seem to.
Wayne's voice is slightly grating.
Production could be a bit better.
Drums are a little simplistic.
But none of these are offensive enough to ruin the album. And it's not a BAD album, it's just never, ever been a personal favorite on any level.
Can't quite put my finger on why i feel very 'eh' about this album.
Closing on a cover is kinda lame, but they do a good job covering a good song.
Having an instrumental at Track 3 is a poor choice for most albums, but it's not a felony.
The other songs are good, but only a 6 out of 10- kinda good. OK I'll give the eponymous track 8 out of 10.
Is this album overrated?
Am I deaf?
Is it just one of those albums that ya just don't like even though there's nothing wrong with it?

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 7:43 pm
by malegys
Drums? simplistic? the drumming is incredible on this album.Very varied & inventive, let alone tight & powerful. You strange man!

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 2:27 am
by Cochino
I feel the exact opposite. I just can't find any albums I like as much as Metal Church's self titled (only speaking about that style of Metal, of course). Every recommendation I've checked out for something similar hasn't been able to scratch that itch, not even other MC albums. The only thing I don't like about it is the Highway Star cover, but fortunately it's at the end so I just stop listening to it before it starts (or I don't include it in the rip if I'm listening in a mobile device).

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 3:05 am
by Helstar
I'll just express my feelings about the first post with one simple meme/gif ...

Image

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 3:34 am
by wicked keeper
nightsblood wrote: Fri Sep 14, 2018 6:52 pm Been playing a lot of the old classics lately, especially lots of Savatage, WASP, Riot, etc, so I figured I'd spin 'Metal Church' for the first time in a short age.
I still just don't quite get this album.
Decent band. Decent songwriting. Nothing much to complain about. But I just don't hold it in the same high esteem as many headbangers seem to.
Wayne's voice is slightly grating.
Production could be a bit better.
Drums are a little simplistic.
But none of these are offensive enough to ruin the album. And it's not a BAD album, it's just never, ever been a personal favorite on any level.
Can't quite put my finger on why i feel very 'eh' about this album.
Closing on a cover is kinda lame, but they do a good job covering a good song.
Having an instrumental at Track 3 is a poor choice for most albums, but it's not a felony.
The other songs are good, but only a 6 out of 10- kinda good. OK I'll give the eponymous track 8 out of 10.
Is this album overrated?
Am I deaf?
Is it just one of those albums that ya just don't like even though there's nothing wrong with it?

ImageImageImage

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 3:37 am
by Cochino
In a way, I kinda understand how he feels. There are several big classics I just don't get. There's nothing wrong with them, and I don't think they suck but they don't grab me either and I never feel like listening to them. But as I said earlier, that's not the case with MC at all.

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 8:19 am
by Noisenik
:lol:

keeper, you're really off your chump.

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 12:19 pm
by Cyrcka
Masterpiece!!!!

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 6:09 pm
by doomedplanet
I will admit what I like MORE than the 1st MC is the demo recordings that precede it.

If you want to get a laugh it is to read the liner notes from this Melvins cd https://www.discogs.com/Melvins-Mangled ... ase/539516 . The melvins dude comes across as very very strange in these notes.
melvins.jpg
melvins.jpg (198.01 KiB) Viewed 5565 times

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 10:44 pm
by Northwinds
You know what? It's ok not to like an album but still see merit in it. I am biased as I like the album. For a cover, a cross in a spooky graveyard made with a well played Hamer Standard 4 digit is pretty badass and promises heaviness inside

Wayne's vocal styles do sometimes intrude on an otherwise good song or few wierdly but people like Accept and to me, Udo type shrieks are just to be lived with. Other songs he is great

At the time, it was one of the heaviest albums out there and a still masterpiece in Metal history. I like their follow up also, Burial At Sea absolutely crushes. Reverend is good to check out to

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 10:48 pm
by martinsane
I'm not tracking the "meh" feeling toward the S/T MC album. Maybe I have a little bias as the band is "local" to me but I have not listened to an album more in the past 30 some odd years and not many bring such a joy as this one does. As already mentioned the band was a force on all fronts: drums, guitar, vocals and song writing, the Highway Star cover is good but my cassette always ended on Big Guns so no complaint about a cover ending the record.

The title track and Gods of Wrath are quintessential but there is not a song to skip on this record.

The Dark was tasty as well but lost a little luster in comparison the the S/T imho.

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 11:32 pm
by bigfootkit
No matter how hard anyone tries to be objective, the way you feel about a record is often predicated upon so many other factors besides the music that it's no wonder consensus is hard to reach.
What age you were when first exposed to the record plays a big part, as we all know how far nostalgia can elevate a record to the point where it's shortcomings, no matter how obvious to you later on, simply don't matter to you. Also, the memories you have connected with it down the years, (the company you kept, that girlfriend you had then, who introduced you to it etc), easily colour the judgement.
I've known many records that i considered average save for a few outstanding tracks that kept the album in my collection, but over the years the tracks that failed to impress initially gradually grew in my estimation to the point where i rate the entire LP far higher now than i did then.
What happened there? The songs are unchanged. Am i now better able to appreciate them because i'm older & have a greater knowledge of & a different appreciation for music? Is it just down to sheer familiarity? Does the time you invest in listening play a greater or lesser part in the way you see it? Does the price you paid for it influence you?
So many questions, and as usual, no firm answers.
:lol:
To deal specifically with Metal Church, i feel much the same way about that album as you do Alan. There's nothing wrong with it that i could point to, but for whatever reason it just never lit up my neurons & synapses the way it seems to do for others here. Maybe if i'd heard it at it's time of release or if it was the first record by them i caught i'd hold a different opinion now, but 'Blessing In Disguise' was my introduction to the band.
I still like a few songs from 'B.I.D.', the epic 'Anthem To The Estranged' & 'Badlands' in particular. The singer they had at that point, (Mike something?), had an unusual & interesting tone to his voice, like an odd hybrid of Klaus Meine & Blackie Lawless, and John Marshall & Craig Wells played some nice geetar on that record too.
The recollections from the Melvins guy in those sleevenotes were hugely entertaining & quite possibly libellous to boot, thanks for posting that doomedplanet.
If only everyone who wrote CD liners was that unguarded/mischievous/vindictive. :twisted:

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 3:54 am
by Cochino
I find it kinda strange to read so many comments that are ambivalent or downright disapproving of Wayne's vocals, I always thought they were brilliant and one of the main reasons the album stays apart from other similar works. The again, Blaine from The Accüsed is one of my favorite vocalists from all time (and from Seattle as well), and no other vocalist ever have provoked the "how the fuck can you listen to that/can you shut that shit off?" as much as he's done. Not even the most extreme Death Metal vocalists have caused such a reaction in my life :lol:

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:39 pm
by doomedplanet
bigfootkit wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 11:32 pm The recollections from the Melvins guy in those sleevenotes were hugely entertaining & quite possibly libellous to boot, thanks for posting that doomedplanet.
If only everyone who wrote CD liners was that unguarded/mischievous/vindictive. :twisted:
That was an interesting random discovery while I was researching something else. Even more random was this thread to share it in.

Re: Why Don't I Like METAL CHURCH s/t More?

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 12:06 am
by bigfootkit
doomedplanet wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:39 pm
bigfootkit wrote: Sun Sep 16, 2018 11:32 pm The recollections from the Melvins guy in those sleevenotes were hugely entertaining & quite possibly libellous to boot, thanks for posting that doomedplanet.
If only everyone who wrote CD liners was that unguarded/mischievous/vindictive. :twisted:
That was an interesting random discovery while I was researching something else. Even more random was this thread to share it in.
It's always nice when the stars align to hand you a little gift like that.