End Of The Line - Top 10 Final albums

[Zzzptm]

Another "gone too soon" for my list.

Janis Joplin - Pearl



She died during the recording of the album. The instrumental "Buried Alive in the Blues" was supposed to have her singing, but she never recorded her part, so the band did the track as a sort of "empty chair" memorial for Janis.

The opening track is my favorite, but the whole album is excellent.

Would have loved to have had more from Janis, but this is the last she did.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Note... my top 3 picks will be posted regardless of someone else posting them!

Pick number 8

GZR - Ohmwork



I'm guessing that Geezer has to all intents and purposes, retired.

When released I wasn;t a big fan and didn't listen to it for ages. But a few years back I thought I'd give it another go and after a few listens the impenetrableness of the songs - to some extent - disappeared!!

[Charger]

^^
Another one I was considering but Geezer did say in a recent interview that he's been writing material for a new album so I was thinking that MAYBE he'll do another one...might be wishful thinking though.

[Vyn]

Numero quatro: Adios Amigos! by the Ramones. An absolutely horrible album cover, with a surprisingly solid set of tracks inside. I liked this better than much of their previous stuff after Brain Drain.

[Charger]

My 3rd one is a another final album because of the grim reaper.

TOURNIQUET - Gazing At Medusa



The line up on this album is quite impressive. Ofcourse the band leader Ted Kirkpatrick on drums and bass, Megadeth legend Chris Poland on guitar and mr. Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals.
And what a belter album. Classic heavy metal with some great Thrash elements thrown in.

It is very sad that few years after this album was released Ted sadly passed away....thus ending the band.

The track of choice here is called THE CRUSHING WEIGHT OF ETERNITY! Suberb guitar work here from Chris and Tim's vocals are incredible through out!

[Zzzptm]

I'm actually using this list to do some discovery of whatever happened to bands that used to be happenin'.

In a search for those that didn't dissipate, I looked up Mountain and found they did an album in 2007, called Masters of War. It's all covers of Bob Dylan songs - and it so far shows that Bob Dylan is an excellent songwriter, and his tunes lend themselves to a hard rock vein. It seems like Ozzy agreed, as well, as he's guest singing on the title track that opens up the album:

Leslie West was a guitarist who could play with the best, so he did, as one comment stated. Totally agree with it.

I'm still listening to the rest and am not yet done with it, but it's good stuff. The production style leans into modern blues-rock styles, so it won't sound like a metal album. As such, I think that gives Mountain the ability to go in any direction they choose with the material, and I'm finding that I like it. It's well worth a research listening effort, and if the first song is to your liking, you might just find yourself sticking around for the rest of it. I'm a third of the way through, but I plan to finish it up, it promises good stuff and hasn't missed on a track yet.

[Vyn]

I had never even heard of that Mountain release - lol, thanks for posting it!

Number 5: Witchfinder General's LP Resurrection was to be their, "big return," after 20 years or so, and it's pretty solid. Turned out to be their last hurrah. As with many of these bands, they could conceivably come out with something new but it's unlikely at this point.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Hopefully I'll catchup with this later after a busy weekend

[Charger]

Time for #4!


Doom legends Cathedral called it quits back in 2013 with a killer album called THE LAST SPIRE.



Their previous album was the bit more experimental Guessing Game that left a bunch of fans scratching their heads...me included...eventhough it contained some really great tracks some of it was bit out there venturing into the realm of psychedelic prog...
But The Last Spire was a return to form big time. Really heavy, really doomy and most importantly really good.

Both Gaz Jennings and Lee Dorrian did continue with other projects but for the past few years both have been silent. Sadly.

I don't know if Cathedral will ever return, probably not but I do hope for the possibility one day...maybe do a show or two..
They DID release a single song called Society's Pack With Satan last year, a nearly 30 minute long epic that was recorded during these album sessions but for obvious reasons didn't make it to the album.

The song I'll pick from the album is one called TOWER OF SILENCE which is about as CATHEDRAL as you can get!

[Thelemech]

I can remember when the last Cathedral album came out
It made me feel sad that this would be the final time of hearing a full album from one of my favorite bands

Such an underrated band and some absolute great albums and songs

I  think that the doom sound thing that they had came from a real respect for the bands that they liked from the best in the genre
Bands like Trouble, Candlemass and of course Black Sabbath, among others.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Pick number 7

Black Sabbath - 13



Originally I was going to leave this off my list but with Vyn stealing one of mine and a couple of acts actually releasing new albums in recent months I had to promote it from honourable mention! However, I do actually like quite a lot of it and the only song I actively dislike is God Is Dead? This wouldn't make my top 10 Sabbath albums but it is several spots above the bottom!

[Zzzptm]

I had never even heard of that Mountain release - lol, thanks for posting it!

Number 5: Witchfinder General's LP Resurrection was to be their, "big return," after 20 years or so, and it's pretty solid. Turned out to be their last hurrah. As with many of these bands, they could conceivably come out with something new but it's unlikely at this point.

I'm able to finish off the album today, and it is solid, solid work. "Subterranean Homesick Blues" as a slowed-down hard rock cruncher I did not see coming, and it works amazingly well. I'm definitely acquiring this album. Mr. West knew how to interpret a song and make it his own, that's for sure.

After this, I'll need to hunt down my 4th entry for this list...

[Zzzptm]

My FIFTH (not fourth, lost count there!) find is The Hoople by Mott the Hoople.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEM3T7kT4JI&list=OLAK5uy_k1LXrqJWWOPmBHW9NyF_yYaR3M6fp3WJ4&index=1&pp=8AUB for the YouTube album of the above.

Released in 1974, it was the last studio album from Mott the Hoople, followed by an epic live album (which is even better with the 2CD remastered reissue) and then the departure of Ian Hunter. Once Hunter left, the rest of the band performed as just "Mott" and made two albums that were... ugh... let's just say they were in tune and damn them with faint praise, all right?

But no faint praise for Mott the Hoople proper, with Ian Hunter writing most of their songs and an excellent rhythm section in Buffin Griffin on drums and Overend Watts on bass - seriously overlooked, those two - and solid guitar work from Mick Ralphs on most of their records and Ariel Bender on the last one. Keys are also well-done, in their various incarnations. But their early albums had issues with consistency, often failing to deliver in the studio what they were doing live. This album, The Hoople, I think does the trick and gets very close to their live magic. (Seriously, that Mott the Hoople Live 30th anniversary reissue is some gold to grab!)

While The Faces' album is more a straight-ahead rock effort, The Hoople features the glam side of British rock from the early-mid 70s. Excellent musicianship and it's got a harder edge on most songs, but can still deliver a well-done ballad like "Trudi's Song" that doesn't feel overwrought. Most of the songs on it are good rockers, and it's a fun listen, making this list quite the voyage of discovery for me thus far.

[Vyn]

Number 6: You're All Living in Cuckooland by Budgie. Another one of those "We're back after 20 years!" releases, and it is directly aimed at their original fanbase. Well done for some Welsh guys with four teeth among them

[Charger]

I can remember when the last Cathedral album came out
It made me feel sad that this would be the final time of hearing a full album from one of my favorite bands

Such an underrated band and some absolute great albums and songs

I  think that the doom sound thing that they had came from a real respect for the bands that they liked from the best in the genre
Bands like Trouble, Candlemass and of course Black Sabbath, among others.

Indeed. I always feel like Cathedral should have been way bigger than they were. But then again Doom metal has never really been for the masses.
I think out of all the doom bands Cathedral had the most variety in their sound. They surely weren't afraid the push the envelope and experiment.

Lee and Gaz have always been very open about their admiration to doom bands that came before and it surely played a role in their sound. Hell Gaz was even playing with a Gibson SG almost all the time.