Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 121

ARTIST:  Pantera
ORIGIN:  Arlington, TX (United States)
TITLE:  Reinventing the Steel
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  2000
GENRE:  Groove Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Uplift"
NOTES:  Ah yes Pantera.  This would turn out to be the band's last full-length album.  They broke up in a flurry of bad blood soon after.  I actually liked this album pretty well for awhile.  I would place it above Vulgar Display of Power personally, but below Far Beyond Driven.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 118

ARTIST:  Metallica
ORIGIN:  San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE:  S&M
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1999
GENRE:  Thrash Metal/Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "One"
NOTES:  This is of course the live album featuring the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Kamen, who died just a few years later.  For a long time this became the definitive Metallica that was played on the radio.  Hell they even played with the orchestra again for an awards show performance.  It actually works pretty well and I really enjoy this one.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 68

ARTIST:  Metallica
ORIGIN:  San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Load
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1996
GENRE:  Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
FAVORITE SONG:  "Wasting My Hate"
NOTES:  As I mentioned in a previous post, I remember the massive amount of hype leading up to this release.  Then word starting spreading that Metallica had cut their hair.  Horror upon horrors.  Then the album was released.  I was very disappointed with it personally.  There are some decent songs here, but for the most part, it was completely unlike anything Metallica had previously released.  The thrash was gone completely.  It was some time before Metallica would be good again.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 53

ARTIST:  Motley Crue
ORIGIN:  Los Angeles, CA
TITLE:  Dr. Feelgood
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1989
GENRE:  Heavy/Glam Metal, Hard Rock
FAVORITE SONG:  "Dr. Feelgood"
NOTES:  Yet another of the albums that was a hand-me-down from my older brother.  There are a few very good songs on this, and a whole lot of really embarrassing ones too.  Quite simply this is the quintessential glam metal release with some hard rocking tracks ("Dr. Feelgood", "Kickstart My Heart"), some sleazy rockers ("Slice of Your Pie", "Sticky Sweet"), and ballads ("Without You").  I do not listen to it very much and don't have anything else from the band.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 51

ARTIST:  Down
ORIGIN:  New Orleans, LA (United States)
TITLE:  NOLA
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1995
GENRE:  Southern Metal
FAVORITE SONG: "Stone the Crow"
NOTES:  A side project featuring members of Pantera (Phil Anselmo), Corrosion of Conformity (Pepper Keenan), Crowbar (Kirk Windstein and Todd Strange) and Eyehategod (Jimmy Bower).  This has been one of my favorite albums for a long time.  Each song is incredibly catchy.  Each of the members brought their own unique style to the proceedings.  I have seen Down live once opening up for Metallica.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 33

ARTIST:  Anthrax
ORIGIN:  Yonkers, NY (United States)
TITLE:  Stomp 442
LABEL:  Elektra Records
YEAR:  1995
GENRE:  Groove Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Random Acts of Senseless Violence"
NOTES:  Anthrax's second album with John Bush singing is one of the band's most reviled albums.  I never quite got why.  It definitely does not hold a candle to their early material with Joey Belladonna, and it is not as good as their first album with Bush, but I do not think it is a terrible release.  There are some pretty good tracks here, such as the song listed above, "Tester", and a few others.  That being said, I do not listen to this as often as some of the band's albums.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 14

ARTIST:  Anthrax
ORIGIN:  Yonkers, NY (United States)
TITLE:  Sound of White Noise
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1993
GENRE:  Thrash Metal/Groove Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Hy Pro Glo"
NOTES:  Maybe it is because it was my first Anthrax album, but I really like this one.  Maybe it would have been different if it was heard after some material with Joey Belladonna on it, but it does not really matter at this point.  This was Anthrax's first album with former Armored Saint wailer John Bush behind the mic.  His voice never quite fit the typical Anthrax sound, but the band sounds a little different, a little more serious this time around.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 5

ARTIST:  Metallica
ORIGIN:  San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Kill 'Em All
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1983
GENRE:  Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "The Four Horsemen"
NOTES:  Metallica's debut was the last of their albums I picked up, that they had released to that point in time.  It is another one I find myself going back to time and time again.  The raw energy on this album is unmatched by anything else Metallica has ever done.  Dave Mustaine wrote most of the most riffs on this album and it would have been interesting to hear Metallica with Mustaine on lead guitar.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 4

ARTIST:  Metallica
ORIGIN:  San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Master of Puppets
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1986
GENRE:  Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
NOTES:  When I was younger, my parents used to make me go to church.  One of the advantages was that every summer there would be a work camp trip.  On my first trip to Chicago, I picked up this album.  This is one of my favorite Metallica albums and is easily one of their most complete.  Every song on this album is great and it is one of the albums I have listened to the most.  It is also widely considered the greatest metal album of all time.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 3

ARTIST:  Metallica
ORIGIN:  San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Metallica
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1991
GENRE:  Thrash/Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Holier than Thou"
NOTES:  I do not really remember when I got this one or how.  Obviously it was a matter of time until I did.  Metallica was huge at the time that I was getting into metal, so of course I got The Black Album.  Oddly though it never really grabbed me like their earlier stuff.  I liked it, I just did not love it.  Nevertheless, there are some great songs here.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 2

ARTIST:  Metallica
ORIGIN:  San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE:  ...And Justice for All
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1988
GENRE:  Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "One"
NOTES:  My second metal album.  I remember buying this at Target and having to return it once because there was a problem with the tape.  I lost the album insert a long time ago.  This is the album that put Metallica on the map from a mainstream sense due to the massive success of the epic video for "One", which is still one of my favorite music videos.  It would have been even better if you could hear the damn bass.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 1

ARTIST: Metallica
ORIGIN: San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE: Ride the Lightning
LABEL: Elektra
YEAR: 1984
GENRE: Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG: "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
NOTES: This is the first metal album I ever owned.  My grandmother bought it for me for my birthday when I was 13 years old.  I remember that I convinced her that Metallica did not use bad language, which was important to her.  So I lied.  This is still my favorite album of all time, partly due to the fact that it was my first.  I still have the cassette that I got way back then and it still plays well.  I also bought the reissue on vinyl a couple of years ago.