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Metal Reflections 2011

Another year is over. Now it's one of my favourite times of the year as I reflect on what happened in metal during the last 12 months. As always I will always start with what I consider the best albums of 2011.

Top 10 Albums

Children Of Bodom Relentless Reckless Forever
Pagan's Mind Heavenly Ecstasy
Devin Townsend Deconstruction
Sepultura Kairos
Anthrax Worship Music
Leaves Eyes Meredead
UDO Rev Raptor
Divine Ascension As The Truth Appears
Saxon Call To Arms
Megadeth Th1rt3en

I bought more albums than previous years making it more enjoyable and difficult than previous years. Children Of Bodom just beat Pagan's Mind who both delivered flawless albums. I was extremely impressed with Devin Townsend's Deconstruction, wish I could say the same thing about his other effort Ghost. Anthrax returned with a release that I played flat out for months. Locally Divine Ascension put out a debut album anyone would be proud of. Finally Saxon and Megadeth again proved you can't go wrong with them.

Best Live Performances

Iron Maiden
Motorhead
Voyager
Anarion
Crimsonfire
Divine Ascension
Alice Cooper
Heart
Choirboys

The moment I heard the opening of Dance Of Death I knew Iron Maiden would be the best band I would see in 2011. They also played Running Free on a night that was a dream come true. Motorhead most years would have topped the list, Lemmy showed no signs of slowing down. I am pleased to say local gigs dominated. Voyager amazed me once again they blow away pretty much every Australian band when it comes to playing live. After some time away Anarion and Crimsonfire reminded me why I rate them so highly. And for sentimental reasons it was awesome to see the Choirboys for the first time.

Best Nights

Def Leppard/Heart/Choirboys
Metal Central Crimsonfire and Divine Ascension
Metal Central Black Majesty and Anarion
Metal Central Voyager and Hemina
Metal Central Eyefear and Taberah
Iron Maiden/Rise To Remain

I could not go past Def Leppard, Heart and Choirboys. 3 quality bands, a lot of fun and numerous stories that I will remember for the rest of my life made it the best night of the year. Metal Central was a blessing. Great music, plenty of humour and I was amongst friends. They never disappointed and will be missed.

Most Disappointing Live Act

Def Leppard

I love Def Leppard but they basically played the same set as last time. They should have been better.

Top Discoveries

Circadian Pulse
Taberah
Heart
Cell

As usual I discovered new and old bands. Circadian Pulse were the best new band while Heart had me wondering why I don't own any of their albums.

Local gigs and strong international albums made 2011. Let's hope 2012 continues with this with hopefully more international bands heading our way.

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January 21st 2012 @ 03:45

Posted By: Lachlan McLeod - Category: No Category

Def Leppard Live At Rod Laver Arena

Sell outs. Too pop, too soft. Not metal. I've heard it all about Def Leppard and yet they remain one of my all time favourite bands. As much as I was thrilled to be seeing them again on their recent tour, the main thrill was that the Choirboys were supporting them. Being a fan of theirs since I was 9, I could barely contain myself. Before you start they do have more songs than Run To Paradise.

It was a larger gang than usual, which added value to the taxi ride in. Politics, human rights and music were all discussed passionately. To make things more interesting we had an altercation with parking staff, which had everyone fired up.

Despite lift problems and paranoia I managed to get inside in plenty of time to see the Choirboys. To get us in the mood the Judas Priest classic The Green Manalishi was played.

Choirboys came out with Talk Big, which had me going immediately. Next up was Struggle Town, the song I wanted to hear most, something I won't forget in a hurry. Then came the standards Never Gonna Die and Boys Will Be Boys, which is where my voice gave out. Surprisingly they threw in a B side, a nice song but I would have preferred Midnight Sun or Empire. Of course they closed with Run To Paradise, which was awesome. It was an extended version and the whole crowd was singing along. Without doubt one of the most special moments I've had at a concert.

A short time later Heart came on, a band I knew little about. I was quickly impressed with their music. Songs like Magic Man and Barracuda were particularly enjoyable. Strangely their set included 2 covers, John Farnham's You're The Voice and The Who's Love, Reign O'er Me, which was kind of annoying. Still Heart are a talented band I need to check out further.

After ACDC's For Those About To Rock, Def Leppard kicked off with Undefeated a new song, which was decent. Let's Get Rocked followed and I was already thinking this was not the best start in the world. Thankfully they played Animal and Foolin, which was more to my liking. However this was an up and down performance from Def Leppard. There were songs I love like Hysteria, Armageddon It and Photograph. Unfortunately there was also songs that were a waste of time like Rock On, Two Steps Behind and an inferior version of Bringin' on the Heartbreak. The set was predictable too with not one surprise. I found this frustrating because there are so many better songs they could have played. Too Late For Love, Another Hit and Run and Wasted to name a few.

It was more of the same on the way home with the language getting worse. Everyone found something to enjoy. I was exhausted by the end as it had been a long night.

While Def Leppard were not at their best this was one of the better concerts I've been to this year. I finally got to see the Choirboys, Heart were great and I came away which stories I'll never forget. All in all a top night.

Set list

Undefeated
Let's Get Rocked
Animal
Foolin'
Make Love Like a Man
Love Bites
Bass Solo
Rock On
Rocket
Two Steps Behind
Bringin' on the Heartbreak
Switch 625
Hysteria
Armageddon It
Photograph
Pour Some Sugar on Me

Encore
Rock of Ages

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November 21st 2011 @ 14:11

Posted By: Lachlan McLeod - Category: No Category

Alice Cooper Live At The Palais

The more that time goes on, the more I become a fan of Alice Cooper. I own most of his recent albums and he is still capable of putting on an impressive show.

Thankfully Alice Cooper remains popular in Australia returning recently for his No More Mr Nice Guy Tour, which I needed no encouragement to go to.

I missed the opening act, but wasn't overly concerned particularly as I had a great spot to see the concert. This was very pleasing because a downfall of the Palais has been that it is difficult to get a decent view there.

The voice of Vincent Price comes on, The Black Widow kicks in and Alice Cooper appears high above the stage. Pretty much the perfect start to the point I thought it couldn't get much better than this. I was quickly proven wrong. After this some familiar industrial music followed and I thought it couldn't be. Sure enough it was Brutal Planet. Clearly this was the best song of the set. Being a track I never imagined hearing live made it very special.

While being less theatrical than last time this was a stellar performance from Alice Cooper. With classics like Billion Dollar Babies and No More Mr Nice Guy, surprises like Hey Stoopid and Feed My Frankenstein and personal favourites like Cold Ethyl and Poison I was enthralled throughout.

The theatrical side saw Alice dancing and throwing a doll, which I thoroughly enjoyed. At one point a massive puppet appeared that actually put Iron Maiden's Eddie to shame. During School's Out large balloons were thrown into the crowd and Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall was incorporated, which had everybody singing. To top off the night the encore of Elected saw Alice appear with the Australian flag. I totally wish I had photos of it.

Reflecting this was not as good as last time. There was no Department Of Youth or Welcome To My Nightmare and I would like to have heard something from Dragontown.

Being critical of Alice Cooper though is simply being pedantic. He continues to defy his age, once again showing he has plenty left. If he keeps touring, I'll keep going.

Set list

The Black Widow
Brutal Planet
I'm Eighteen
Under My Wheels
Billion Dollar Babies