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Crystal Logic and Mystification for me !

I almost wanted to go with Invasion just to be contrary (and also because I love that record)........ but in all honestly, Crystal Logic is sentimental, as the first one I heard and the one that got me into the band!

After a long and painfull thought I've chosen Metal! This album gives a pure, unique feeling that rarely exists on the other Manilla Road releases...I love that old, grey jaded memory that gives me when I listen to its tracks...it reminds me old days, when things were different...Maybe this depends on its date of release, that is just before the classic dynamite Crystal Logic...I mean that it prepared the ground for the explosion veery well..it came out of the Invasion style with its own Metallic elements, and drew the thin line between Rock and Metal..its hard to describe it, but I hope you understand what I wanna say...

BlackStele wrote:After a long and painfull thought I've chosen Metal! This album gives a pure, unique feeling that rarely exists on the other Manilla Road releases...I love that old, grey jaded memory that gives me when I listen to its tracks...it reminds me old days, when things were different...Maybe this depends on its date of release, that is just before the classic dynamite Crystal Logic...I mean that it prepared the ground for the explosion veery well..it came out of the Invasion style with its own Metallic elements, and drew the thin line between Rock and Metal..its hard to describe it, but I hope you understand what I wanna say...

I feel what you're saying. Metal is probably the most important Manilla Road album after Crystal Logic for me.

Ha, didn't remember this thread anymore. Was thinking about making one but it already happened.

Still Mystification for me.

Listening to "Out from the Abyss" a lot lately. That second track alone makes this album almost perfect.

What about your favourite tracks? Here's my top-10:

1. Veils of negative existence
2. Avatar
3. Necropolis
4. Friction in mass
5. Dragon star
6. The fires of Mars
7. Helicon
8. Dementia
9. The empire
10. Mark of the beast

My favorite Manilla Road song is "Metalstrom"... mostly for nostalgic reasons I think, it was the first Manilla Road song I ever heard and I instantly knew I had found something special.

Other favorite songs (I can't bear myself to put them in a specific order) are Necropolis, Veils of Negative Existence, Fires of Mars, Astronomica, The Fall of Iliam, The Deluge, Mystification, War in Heaven, Spiral Castle... and countless others.

Some of my favorite songs (no particular order that's way too hard ...) :
The Deluge, Shadow in the Black, Necropolis, White Chapel, Mystification, Witches Brew, Dreams of Eschaton, ...

My fav' songs are : Necropolis, The Ram, Dreams Of Eschaton, Metalstrom, Astronomica, Witches Brew, Flaming Metal System.

Well, I'm not into the band after The Deluge ..so, any recommendation?

Melkor wrote:Well, I'm not into the band after The Deluge ..so, any recommendation?

Check "Mystification" and in their recent releases "Atlantis Rising".

Melkor wrote:My fav' songs are : Necropolis, The Ram, Dreams Of Eschaton, Metalstrom, Astronomica, Witches Brew, Flaming Metal System.

Well, I'm not into the band after The Deluge ..so, any recommendation?

The two albums that followed The Deluge, Mystification and Out of the Abyss, are both very good. The albums since the reformation are also very good, Gates of Fire being my favorite.

I've voted for "Open The Gates" for two reasons. The first one is the "Ninth Wave". It is my opinion that this track is the one and only absolute song in the "sword ,axe ,steel" kinda metal and along with Cirith Ungol's "King Of The Dead" it's absolute definition.

The second reason is the lead part of "Fires Of Mars". I really do believe that this lead part is one of Heavy Metal's shining moments. Shelton just took all of his "Comfortambly Numb" lessons and put them in this solo doin' a ,far more than, fantastic job.

I ended up going for The Deluge. The most advanced MR I've heard yet. Need more 'Nilla!

It's always close between Crystal Logic and Open the Gates for me. I went w/ Crystal Logic b/c I reach for that album more often than OtG.
Fave songs: Necropolis, Riddle Master, Ninth Wave, Fires of Mars, Mystification, Aftershock

TBH these are the only 2 essential MR albums IMO. I hate to rag on the band, but I think MR is overrated; they get a ton of respect for having a few good releases, and most fans completely overlook the large amount of filler material in their catalog. Yes, CL and OtG are two all-time classics, but overall their discography isn't very impressive IMO (and to be fair, I haven't heard some of the more recent albums, simply becuase I got tired of hearing sub-par MR albums).
The voting in this thread sort of reflects that opinion. Polls of other long-running bands like Iron Maiden show a lot more variety in the answer to 'Choose Your Favorite'. Here, almost everyone has picked CL or OtG.
After 49 votes:
--79% have chosen CL or OtG
--7 out of 13 albums- over half the band's catalog- has not received a single vote, including 6 of their 7 most recent albums.
--If you take away the 1 vote for Spiral Castle, then no album recorded since 1987 (22 years) has a single vote.
--No album since 1985 (24 years) has gotten more than 8% of the vote.
--In order of percentage, from 1st to last release:
0-4-67-12-8-6-0-0-0-0-2-0
This is not the signature of a consistently great discography.

Granted, people may like some of the later albums but just not rank them as their favorite MR album. Still, for a band as revered as this one, I'd expect to see a more even distribution of votes.

nightsblood wrote:Still, for a band as revered as this one, I'd expect to see a more even distribution of votes.

I wouldn't, and I don't know why you would either. Most revered bands have an album or two that stand head and shoulders above the rest with respect to them being the albums the majority of their fanbase cite as their greatest work. That's a bit of a short-sighted observation to say that Manilla Road's discography "isn't very impressive" simply because a lot of their albums haven't received any votes for being the band's best album.