Building a Solid Heavy Metal Collection: Part 11 of 25

Seeing that today is the 28th birthday of Master of Puppets, I figured I take the opportunity to talk about my favorite album of all time. I know I say, "man I love this CD," or "this is my favorite!" quite a bit. I 100% mean it when I talk about Master of Puppets by Metallica.

Master of Puppets was released approximately four months and six days before I was born. It took me ten years to listen to it for the first time, but I couldn't really help that since toddlers don't usually thrash it up. Mine will, but unfortunately my parents weren't into the heavy metal scene.

Now where do I start to discuss the genius of this album? I consider it the best thrash album of all time, front to back. How about I start with the cover art? When I first saw the image of hundreds of crosses, being controlled the puppet master's hand, I didn't know what to think. It's not until my 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. and experienced Arlington National Cemetery for the first time, when I finally realized the message Metallica was trying to convey. That trip was special because it was my first dose of reality. Sure you've heard of all the craziness that's happened throughout history, and it just goes in one ear and out the other, but seeing those gravestones amassed in perfect alignment resonates heavily on a young mind. We hit up the mall that trip and I was able to find a Master of Puppets flag and I spent most of my money obtaining it, but I still have it to this day.

Just by the cover, I can tell this is a serious album. The musicianship is equally serious. Cliff Burton, the greatest bass player to ever grace the Earth, wrote a lot of the guitar riffs on this album. Cliff studied classical, old school rock and punk to create his sound. So when you mix that with the Kirk Hammett solo machine and James Hetfield's lyrical apex, you have a stainless piece of heavy metal steel.

It's hard to pick a few tracks off of here to spotlight. Master of Puppets is worth your time, every time. Orion could be the most beautiful metal song ever. Every time I listen to it, I get goosebumps. From Burton's memorable bass to Hammett's wailing guitar, Orion is full of passion and enchantment. A truly magical song. Disposable Heroes attributes to the unwieldy tone of the album. It's fast, unrelenting and almost punishing. The song Master of Puppets will go down as one of their most popular songs of all time. When I was in a thrash band in high school, Puppets was my favorite song to cover because of its energizing pace, and its shifting pieces. Its the fastest eight minute song, and I don't mean tempo. Its so awesome, you don't realize how long you've been listening to it. I had a complete blast tearing through that song every time.

Any music collection should include Master of Puppets. Its the most important metal CD of all time. Self-titled sold more records, but the importance of Master of Puppets is paramount. I feel like I grew up along with Master of Puppets and I am glad to celebrate its birthday.

Oscar Picks

I'm in no way a movie expert, but I do watch a lot of movies. Even though lately I've been engrossed with the WWE Network. I've watched a bunch of it. I mean who would pass up watching ECW Heatwave '98 or anything with Mean Gene Okerlund? Am I right or am I right? But I digress, I've watched a few of the nominees and have read my fair share of reviews for all the best pictures. So here are my picks for the 2014 Academy Awards.

The Big Ones:
Best Picture: American Hustle
Best Director: David O'Russell - American Hustle
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey
Best Actress: Amy Adams
Best Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o
Best Documentary: 20 Feet from Stardom

The Rest:
Animated Feature Film: Frozen
Cinematography: Gravity
Costume Design: Great Gatsby
Documentary Short: Facing Fear
Film Editing: Gravity
Foreign Language Film: The Missing Picture
Makeup: Dallas Buyers Club
Original Score: Her
Original Song: "Let it Go" from Frozen
Production Design: Gravity
Animated Short Film: Possessions
Live Action Short Film: Do I Have to Care of Everything?
Sound Editing: Captain Phillips
Sound Mixing: Captain Phillips
Visual Effects: Gravity
Adaptation Screenplay: Philomena
Original Screenplay: Blue Jasmine

Building a Solid Heavy Metal Collection: Part 10 of 25

My buddy Stephen described this CD as, "Metallica with a real singer." With that description, I had to check these guys out. In 2002, the renaissance of my metal youth, Shadows Fall was as integral as Metallica was in years past. They were the next evolution of heavy metal and revived thrash metal to its former glory. Many thrash bands followed suit and some classic thrash bands got back together. It has been a glorious ten plus years of thrash.

The Art of Balance was Shadows Fall's second major release. Of One Blood was a great record, but was lacking the variety and intensity that The Art of Balance brings. Balance is definitely a theme throughout the record. Aggression, inner peace, brutality and meditation are contributing elements to the music that make this album whole.

Idle Hands lures you in with its intense inception and sets the mood for the rest of the album. Thoughts without Words enters the mind of Brian Fair and the way he questions life, always looking for answers. Destroyer of Senses is a short, anthem dedicated to sorrow and dependence on alcohol, and how easily you can fall into its traps. There are two acoustic interludes on this album, Casting Shade and Prelude to Disaster, which are absolutely beautiful, but serve a purpose as well. They balance the heavy and the melodic concocting a perfect potion of heavy metal.

The Art of Balance officially ends with A Fire in Babylon, a seven and a half minute piece of perfection. The musicianship is top notch, solos are perfectly paced and placed, and the message is meaningful.

As a bonus, Shadows Fall includes a Pink Floyd cover of Welcome to the Machine. Sometimes I wish they didn't put this on the album, but its a great cover. Listen to the album all the way through to A Fire in Babylon and press stop. After some thought, listen to the Pink Floyd cover. It has a much better flow that way.

Mechanical Bull

Kings of Leon were pretty cool in 2008. It was something different, and indie music was definitely on the rise at the point. I completely skipped the following album, not because of disinterest, I just didn't know they had put out a new album. So I decided to check out Mechanical Bull from my local library and gave it a listen.

I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't very impressed at first. Supersoaker and Rocky City didn't get me excited to listen to the rest of the album. I stuck it out and continued to listen to the Virginia "rockers." A few tracks caught me off guard and rewarded my time.

Tonight, Beautiful War and especially Last Mile Home are worth listening to. Lyrically they are the best. The guitar is simple but it is effective and gets to the point. Track 8, The Comeback Story,  has the potential to be a karaoke staple with the clever chorus: "I walk a mile in your shoes, Now I'm a mile away, And I've got your shoes."

All in all, this album wasn't the best. It had some highs, but a lot more lows.

I give Mechanical Bull by the Kings of Leon 2.5 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

Talk is Jericho

Tallllllkkk isssssss Jerichooooooo

A lot of wrestling Podcasts have hit the scene lately. I think people are finally realizing the potential of this format. Colt Cabana has mastered the art form over the last couple years. Stone Cold Steve Austin has jumped on board and created a very entertaining show. There are talks that WWE just started their own podcast as well. Now my ears will be flooded with more wrestling talk, which is cool in my book, with the addition of Chris Jericho.

Y2J has always been one of my favorites, even his days with Ralphus as his bodyguard. He's always been a natural one the mic, and it really translates well onto the podcast. He doesn't have the energy of a Colt Cabana or has the intensity of Stone Cold, but he can deliver a good interview. I think the quality of his first few guests have really attributed to that. I've listened to the Stone Cold two parter along with Edge's two part interview. Edge is a guy that doesn't really get talked about a lot, but he was fantastic. He made John Cena matches worth watching back in the early Cena days. His story is pretty unique and his "retired" life is very interesting as well. Jericho's third guest was Bret the Hitman Hart, and I can't wait to get that one started.

Jericho's podcast is a little different because it doesn't always focus on wrestling. One of his guests was his father Ted Irvine. His father was a pro hockey player and has a huge influence on Chris' life. The most recent episodes feature members of the bands Anthrax and Dream Theater, so the topics vary. If you can fit another podcast into your schedule, Talk is Jericho is definitely worth checking out.

You can listen to it here: http://podcastone.com/Talk-Is-Jericho

All New X-Men Vol. 1

The X-Men have always been my favorite Marvel comic characters to follow. They've had some great stories over the years: Deadly Genesis, Days of Future Past, Age of Apocalypse, Phoenix, etc. The more recent stories have included a struggle against extinction starting with the Avengers Disassembled arc in 2005. I would highly recommend reading the Marvel events following Disassembled up to and including the Civil War.

This book is a perfect place to start if you haven't read an X-Men book in a long time or would like to start reading X-Men stories. All New X-Men Vol. 1: Yesterday's X-Men follows the epic Marvel event, Avengers vs X-Men. Some truly devastating events happened in that story and this book is the aftermath.

Scott Summers aka Cyclops has become this generation's Magneto. He has disbanded from the X-Men and started his own group. New mutants are popping up once again and he's made it his mission to recruit them. Beast, on the verge of death, travels back in time to visit the original X-Men. He brings them to the present to show them what Cyclops has become.

Michael Bendis as the author and Stuart Immonen as the illustrator make a hell of a team and have really knocked it out of the park with his one.

I give All New X-Men 5 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

Plagues of Babylon

I'm going to start with a bold yet very true statement. Iced Earth is my favorite band of all time. I've been listening to them since 2001, I have every album, EP, live album and DVD they have ever released. I've seen them live 3 times with a different singer each time. I've never been disappointed in what they've released and Plagues of Babylon is no exception.

Plagues of Babylon was released exactly a week ago and I've listened to it 6 times since its release. I will probably listen to it another 10 - 15 times before the month of February is over.

If you aren't familiar with Iced Earth, they are a progressive thrash/ power metal band. Their instrumentation is very heavy and fast, but slow it down for ballads and well crafted choruses. Their singer has always been the focal point. They've have some amazing talent leading their charge. Matt Barlow, Tim "Ripper" Owens and now Stu Block. Block's range is quite dynamic and gives this album some depth. It's his second album with the band so you can tell he finally feels comfortable as their front man. Their last effort, Dystopia, was a triumph in of itself.

Plagues of Babylon is definitely their most unique sounding album. Iced Earth usually puts out concept album that revolve around a certain topic. Some songs on Plagues fall into that category, but as a whole its just a plain old awesome heavy metal album.

The album starts with the title track and in epic Iced Earth fashion. The first three tracks are definitely the heaviest of the bunch. Democide and The Culling are a throw back to old Iced Earth fans, especially fans of the very underrated Burnt Offerings. Among the Living Dead is a very cool track about zombies and I'm a sucker for zombies. Track number six, The End? is where the album really took off in another direction. Its the first sign of slowing down, but don't get too comfortable because there is some killer guitar work going on in this tune. If I Could See you Now, sounds like your traditional Iced Earth ballad but adds to that lighter side of the album. Peacemaker is one of my favorite songs on the album and it sounds like nothing Iced Earth has put out before. It sounds like a song that Bon Jovi would put out if they had some brass, but they don't so Iced Earth wrote it.

The album concludes with a cover of Highwayman. It was originally written by Jimmy Webb who was an american song writer. They Highwaymen, consisting of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings, made the song popular. Iced Earth's version actually contains four different singers on it from the metal genre. Stu Block (Into Eternity, Iced Earth), Russell Allen from Symphony X, Jon Schaffer from Iced Earth and Michael Poulson from Volbeat. The song isn't very metal, but the talent involved makes it a very unmissable song.

Give Plagues of Babylon a listen. Its a damn good album. I'm so glad that Iced Earth continues to make the music they want to make.

I give Plagues of Babylon by Iced Earth 5 out of 5 Burning Lariats.