Blog Archives
Mik’s Top 100 Favourite Albums of All Time #86-90
A while ago, at the same time as Matt and Reggie, I posted my Top 100 All Time Favourite (Metal) Albums over at the forum The History of Metal on FB. It took a good amount of time and effort to put it together, but it was so much fun! My taste in metal is always changing, so the list will not always look the same. In fact, it’s already a bit different than it was when I first put it together and posted it on the forum seven months ago.
Mik’s Top 100 Favourite Albums of All Time #91-95
A while ago, at the same time as Matt and Reggie, I posted my Top 100 All Time Favourite (Metal) Albums over at the forum The History of Metal on FB. It took a good amount of time and effort to put it together, but it was so much fun! My taste in metal is always changing, so the list will not always look the same. In fact, it’s already a bit different than it was when I first put it together and posted it on the forum seven months ago.
I tried to limit myself to three albums per band to make the list a little more diverse and interesting. I don’t really consider the ‘test of time’-factor when selecting what albums that will go on my list, instead I measure it by how strongly the album has affected me emotionally and how much/often it has helped me through both good and bad phases in my life. That’s why you can find quite a few newer releases among my favourites too.
Reggie’s Top 25 Favorite Cover Songs: #25 – Hell Is For Children
Children of Bodom is one of several well-known bands that records numerous cover songs; some quite good while others are just entertaining (see their Britney Spears cover). It’s hard to take the band seriously sometimes; they seem to joke around a lot with their music. Setting comedy aside, they covered Grammy winner Pat Benatar’s Hell Is For Children and did a great job with it. The song appears on the album Skeletons in the Closet released in 2009. The album of covers features Billy Idol, Suicidal Tendencies, and Slayer remakes to name a few. Their rendition of Hell Is For Children is their own, but still holds true to the original. I like it mainly for nostalgic reasons.
When MTV first came out in 1981, Pat Benatar was one of a few artists that filmed videos which were on heavy rotation. There weren’t many videos at the time. I was 8 and I thought Pat Benatar was a cool rockin’ chick. I liked a lot of her songs. Little did I know she was setting the foundation for the metalhead I am today. I think it was her song You Better Run which was the second video ever played on MTV. Hell Is For Children was a controversial song (at the time) about child abuse. The song appears on the 1980 album, Crimes of Passion which remained on the U.S. album charts for 93 weeks. Just a tidbit, Pat Benatar was the first solo female artist played on MTV.
Here is the original song by Pat Benatar featured on the album Crimes of Passion, 1980.
Below is the cover song by Children of Bodom which is featured on the album Skeletons in the Closet, 2009.
Reggie’s Top 100 Favorite Albums of All Time: #85-81
Continuing on with our Top 100 list at The History of Metal, I bring you my next five with a little bit of justification. If you haven’t checked out The History of Metal or THOM as we call it, please do it’s a cool forum to talk about and share metal. The page creator does a great job as keeping topics fresh and he also takes the time to pose challenges to the group; Top 100 Albums being one of them. I think the best part of this whole challenge besides getting to see everyone else’s choices is to reminisce about why I love these albums so much. It gets me listening to some of these I haven’t heard in a while. Not to mention, seeing everyone elses favorites gets me to explore some things I haven’t heard yet. Enjoy!
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Music Video Mania- Finnish Metal
If heavy metal had a Mecca right now I would say it is Finland. The cold country seems to be the breeding ground of a myriad of high quality metal bands spanning through many genres. I don’t know what the Finns are drinking (maybe some of that ceremonial thunder brew that was the inspiration for Korpiklaani‘s latest album Ukon Wacka), but if there is one thing that they can do, it’s write some of the best metal that the world has to offer. According to many statistics, Finland has the most metal bands per person with for every 4 people there’s 1 metal band. That’s a lot of metal.
This updated repost of a Music Video Mania I did last year will be the first part of a 2 part series. Next week I will take a look and give my opinion as to why Finland has so much great metal going on in the country. If any Finnish readers (or any readers) would like to give their opinion why Finland is so rich with metal, I’d really love to hear it!!! Enjoy the videos!!! Peace Love and Metal!!!
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Concert Footage – Amon Amarth
This took a while to post, but this is footage from the Children of Bodom show I went to in Norwich, England on the 1st of April 2011. Special guests were Amon Amarth, Ensiferum, and Machinae Supremacy. Amon Amarth was the primary reason I went, but the entire show was really good. Here is a clip I took of Amon Amarth – The Pursuit of Vikings. If you are looking for something high-def just stop now. This is recorded with small camera so it’s pretty raw. If you know the song you will be able to follow, if not you might want to hear the recorded song first. Enjoy!
