End Of The Line - Top 10 Final albums

[Charger]

^^^
Still haven't gotten that one....might have to.


At number 9 it's another band that most certainly was not suppose to end that suddenly.

JON OLIVA's PAIN and the album is FESTIVAL




The lead guitarist and a very close personal friend of Jon Matt LaPorte suddenly passed away in April of 2011, just a year after the release of the album.
Jon did do few already arranged live shows with Bill Hudson on lead guitar and there were even talks about continuing the band but then Jon had a nasty fall injuring his back and neck and Jon putting his focus then on the return of Savatage JOP was put to rest.

The band was brilliant from start to finish...all the 4 albums are very different yet very Jon. There were pieces of Jon's later brother Criss music on every single album...

The song I'm gonna go with from the album is called DEATH RIDES A BLACK HORSE which is a frase soldiers used about the enemy. Jon also dedicates this song to the Troops.

[Zzzptm]

Found my #7...

The Sisters of Mercy - Vision Thing



The band hasn't made an album since this released in 1990, and Andrew Eldritch seems pretty set on not ever making another album. So this is their last album. In terms of Goth Rock, it's great. First off, the band denies being a Goth band, so you know it's top-notch Goth stuff. Top tracks for me are Doctor Jeep, Detonation Boulevard, and More.

If you don't like Goth, this ain't for you. If you do, it's required listening.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Pick no. 1

Rush - Clockwork Angels



No surprises here. The final album from Rush released in 2012. A return to their rock-prog heyday, and knocking it out of the park. Not sure they thought it was their final album as they toured for quite some time after its release. And now their drummer and lyricist has passed I doubt it could be the same.

Fans are hoping that the current touring line up might record a new album, but it wouldn't be until the end of their 2027 dates and its not like the band themselves are openly discussed it. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a live CD/DVD if things go well.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

@Zs

I like goth, not that familiar with The Sisters of Mercy though. I did wonder about adding Siouxsie and the Banshees to my list but then I would have to listen to it first... which would mean buying it or something! The Rapture came out in 1995 so I don't think they're active anymore!

Bauhaus might be another choice but I only know 1 song by them...

But if I only know one song it's a doozy!!

[Vyn]

My last couple may not happen - I am currently at a loss to come up with "good quality" final albums, that I like. I mean, my musical palette is diverse, but the depth therein varies greatly. So, discovering something from a genre I';m not all that familiar with would require more listening time than reasonably fits with the unspoken cadence of these lists. Lou Rawls is great, but finding, listening to critically, and determining how I feel about his last album would take a lot of time, since I never listened to it before, for example. If something comes to mind soon, I'll post it, but I think at this juncture I'm out of juice.

[Charger]

^^
I thought this would have been harder for me too but actually I got few left out!


So my final pick.

This is another album that most certainly was their last. Too many bands on this list ended prematurely because of the grim reaper. This is no different.

TYPE O NEGATIVE and their waay too aptly entitled DEAD AGAIN



Sometime before the writing of this album there was a rumor that Peter Steele had passed away, which ofcourse turned out to be false and Peter thought it was funny so he wrote a song about it called Dead Again. Little did he guess that little over 3 years later he would actually pass away!

This is hands down my favourite Type O album. I can't call myself a big Type O Negative fan but some of their stuff is excellent....some again very boring. But nothing boring about this album. This all in all is among their faster albums and doesn't have so much of those ultra slow songs. They keep it on the rockier side here which is great.
The band was on top notch condition here which makes it even more sad that this ended up being their final outing.

This one goes out to Peter Steele and the track I'll go with is my favourite one and it's called THE PROFIT OF DOOM!

[Zzzptm]

My last couple may not happen - I am currently at a loss to come up with "good quality" final albums, that I like. I mean, my musical palette is diverse, but the depth therein varies greatly. So, discovering something from a genre I';m not all that familiar with would require more listening time than reasonably fits with the unspoken cadence of these lists. Lou Rawls is great, but finding, listening to critically, and determining how I feel about his last album would take a lot of time, since I never listened to it before, for example. If something comes to mind soon, I'll post it, but I think at this juncture I'm out of juice.

This is where I am regarding the list. The Sisters of Mercy was discovering that the guy ain't making more records, so I got one. Bolin and Joplin I had. The rest of my picks were exploratory, and, yes, there's some wading through bad stuff that just isn't quality enough to put on a list. Unlike a sports league, I don't want to fill a slot to keep it from going empty.

And that last album of Rawls' is a modern gospel album with too much synth and trap drumming for my liking. I like better his work with The Pilgrim Travelers...

[Zzzptm]

Some albums I'm familiar with, but *not* going to include...

The Beatles - Abbey Road... John's not on Side 2, and "Sun King" drives me up the wall. The jam at the end has energy, but it's all over the place and even when I was a kid, I thought it was at best a set of puzzle pieces shoved together at the last minute and made to fit with a hammer and scissors.

Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door... It's OK as an album, but I'm just not listening to it as an album anymore. It has not worn well with time the way Janis Joplin's album did.

Heaven and Hell - The Devil You Know... never got into it, I wish Dehumanizer was their last studio album, that was a total banger.

Blue Oyster Cult - The Symbol Remains... might not be their last album and it was a dud.

It's hard to find albums that are both good *and* a final issue.

[Charger]

I'm adding a few honorable mentions here.

DIO- MASTER OF THE MOON

This pained me a little to leave out, but honestly it's not among the band's finest releases, eventhough One More For The Road, Shivers and The Eyes are suberb tracks, there also are a couple I'm not that keen on like The Man Who Would Be King and the Title track. The Devil You Know is far superior album.

CIRCLE II CIRCLE - REIGN OF TERROR

This on the other hand A SUBERB album, BUT Zak never officially called CIIC quits. The band just kind of disbanded after record label problems and money issues...and ofcourse the whole SAVATAGE reunion thing...but once Savatage ends who knows...Zak might bring this one back...atleast I would love it if he did...ofcourse the guitar player Bill Hudson is now with DORO.

BENEDICTUM - OBEY

This too a brilliant album and it was gonna be on my list BUT then I got news from Veronica Freeman that she is interested in bringing the band back...haven't heard anything from the guitarist Pete Wells yet but there sure is buzzing going on around this so that's why I left it out.

RAINBOW - STRANGER IN US ALL

Not nearly as good obviously as the DIO-era stuff but it does have some good songs and Doogie White sure blows Joey Lynn Turner out of the water vocally. But not something I'd consider a GREAT album by any means.

SOLITUDE AETURNUS - ALONE

SUBERB album BUT the band did get back together two years ago and eventhough there have been no word out on a possibility of a new album they are doing some shows again next summer so I have my hopes up for a mighty return of the DOOOM legends so I dared not include this one.

Feel free to pick one though if you need to complete your lists!

[Zzzptm]

I got my #8, and it's a doozie:



Devo - Something for Everybody

This came out in 2010, after a 14-year gap from their previous release. I'm trying it out now and it's a banger! Yes, it's 80's throwback synth-pop, but it's Devo doing it! The tracks are all listenable, danceable and have a great energy to them. So tick the box by "great album" - I want to play this again many a time.

As for "last album", well, it took Devo 14 years to get around to this and since then, it's only been live albums and outtakes from these sessions. 16 years later, I don't think they're making another album. This is an example of why I keep digging to get to 10 albums. The pain of digging through dreck is worth it when I hit a gem of an album like this one. Fun as hell and takes the edge off of typing up technical documentation for a major financial firm.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I did consider Master of the Moon... but I haven't listened to it in forever.

One album I have since thought about but only know maybe half of it, and one of those songs I no longer like, is

The Police - Synchronicity

The tracks I do know are pretty good... Every Breath You Take aside

[Zzzptm]

I had a crash it seems that took out my post for #9, which was Right Move by The Chambers Brothers



It's a funky album, and the band didn't know at the time that it would be their last effort, but a label change and other bands' recruiting basically ended The Chambers Bros. in 1975. Of note on this album is the drumming of "Bigfoot" Brailey, who would go to Parliament the next year and help compose "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof of the Sucker)". One of the best drummers in the biz, Mr. Brailey, and his work is great on this platter.

[Zzzptm]

And I have my final entry:



Rory Gallagher - Fresh Evidence

Gallagher's health was quite poor during the recording of this album, but he still pushed through and made a record that might be rather mid for his body of work, but really stands out as a strong album in its own right. It's been quite underappreciated because it was done in the shadow of greater things and because his death shortly after recording meant it didn't get support in touring or airplay. Radio doesn't play dead artists that haven't been massively popular, simple as that.

But Gallagher's sound, style, and passion for blues-based rock is still here and it's yet another fun discovery for me. I had stayed away because I had heard bad things about it, but after clawing through all the other subpar final albums, I decided those naysayers were rubbish and I'd give my guitar hero his due. I'm glad I did, as this was a great listen.

Glad for this list activity, as it's opened up my ears to some sounds I wouldn't have otherwise heard.