When you need Ultra-Hard Rock/Metal?

[Trapper]

Sometimes I feel like there is nothing that will satisfy me besides some really hard rock.

For me that is Alice in Chains's album Dirt.

"Would" is pretty much the only track I've ever put money into a juke-box to hear.

When you want to hear nothing but something that will smash you, what do YOU listen to?

Never really got into Tool, but from what I've heard that would be an excellent choice.

But I'd like to hear any views.

[balon!]

Rarely do I listen to anything super heavy, but when I do, I ussually put on something grungy. Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins, and turn them up SUPER loud.

[Waddley]

Tool.

Edit- Or Disturbed. Or NIN. Or Metallica. I listened to Slipknot once, which I'm not nearly as ashamed of as I am the fact that I know every lyric to every song on the Spice Girls' "Spice World" album.

[Cail]

"Dirt" is one helluva album.

One of these days I'll post my dissertation on the difference between hard rock and metal. For now I'll just say that there's a huge distinction and leave it at that.

For me, the definitive hard rock albums are Def Leppard's "High 'n Dry", Whitesnake's "Slide it In", and Van Halen's "Fair Warning". There are lots 'o good hard rock albums, but those three define the genre for me.

Now metal....

Maiden's "Powerslave" and "Number of the Beast", any Priest up to "Turbo", especially "Point of Entry" and "British Steel", BOC's "Cultasaurus Erectus" and "On Your Feet or On Your Knees", All Dio-era Sabbath, Ozzy-era Sabbath up to "Volume 4", Dio's first two solo albums, and every once in a while when I'm really pissed off, a little Slayer or Pantera.

Then there's the whole '80s metal sub-genre. All Dokken, Ratt's "Out of the Cellar", all Great White up to "Twice Shy", Blue Murder, Diamond Dave's "Eat 'Em and Smile", Living Colour's "Vivid" and "Stain", and Lynch Mob's "Wicked Sensation".

[Cheval]

Scorpions, Ted Nugent, Ozzy and/or Black Sabbath, Great White, or Deep Purple usually get my blood pumpin'.
Oh yea, it's gotta be LOUD!

[Usivius]

Living Colour's "Vivid" and "Stain",

Excellent choices Cail. They were a very underrated band that knew how to grind those power chords and had some ripping lines...
I miss them.

Now I'm not going to break out any Crimso discussion , so I will say, Faith No More's "King For a Day, Fol For a Lifetime" is a great hard album.

John Zorn's "Naked City" albums are ripping!

Oh, throw in some Godflesh ... they are hard core grunge-metal.

Praxis "Sacrafist"...

[Zarathustra]

Definitely Tool (though I like the Crimson suggestions . . . . ) . I don't really understand the description of AIC as "Ultra-hard rock/metal." They're grunge. Definitely not utra-hard or metal.

Cail, I love Living Color's Vivid and Time's Up. Is Stain on par with those two?
Don't forget King's X . . . that 12-string bass is awesome.

I love everything Van Halen/Hagar. This was my favorite band in 7th grade through 10th. (Then I discovered Rush). I recently picked up Balance, and was blown away. I didn't realize that the last Hagar album was the best of that era. Fantastic, and slightly more "dark" than previous keyboard-laden Van Hagar.

I also picked up Whitesnake's Slide It In, an album I hadn't heard since '85 or so. I wish I'd just left it in the realm of fond memories because it didn't hold up at all. The guy's got a great voice, but those are some cheesy songs. Maybe I need to pick up Coverdale/Page. Nah, screw that, I'll just get some The Firm.

Eat 'em and Smile was awesome! I loved Shy Boy. Apparently, Diamond Dave is fluent in Portugese. He made a Portugese version of this album. It is freakin' hilarious. It's really him singing these songs in badass, lightning-fast Portugese. That's some f*cked up sh*t!! "Timido, timido . . . timido, timido."

[Cail]

"Stain" is a much harder album than "Vivid", I didn't care for a lot of "Time's Up".

I've actually never heard all of "Balance". I didn't care for the two singles, so I never gave the album a chance.

OK, "Slide it In" has some goofy lyrics, but it's a really solid album musically. "Coverdale/Page" kicks major ass. Get it.

[Zarathustra]

Yeah, I never liked the singles from Balance either, so I waited 10 years to pick it up. What changed my mind was reading reviews on Amazon and listening to the samples. If you like the Hagar period at all, this one is the best--with 5150 a close second.

After listening to "Can't Stop Loving You," again (the biggest "hit"), I realized that this isn't a love song, but a break-up song. They're splitting up, and he can't take it. Kind of appropriate for Van Hagar's last album.

I remember C/P on cassette being okay. I think there was one song I really liked, and the rest were just okay.

If Stain is harder, I'll definitely have to give it a listen. Did it feature the original line-up? I thought they got a different singer, or something. Time's Up was definitely harder, but it had way too much filler. I listen to about 3 songs whenever I pop it in the CD player. The first song (the title song) is a monster! Blistering fast, groovy, with a solo that still boggles my mind. The first part of the solo with those off-beat hi-hat taps always gets a rewind. I have to hear it twice before they plunge into a cacophony of fuzzy arpeggios.

[Edit--after listening to samples, Stain obviously has the same singer. Maybe it's a different bassist.]

[CovenantJr]

Rarely do I listen to anything super heavy, but when I do, I ussually put on something grungy. Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins, and turn them up SUPER loud.

Don't make me go "pfft" at the suggestion that Nirvana/Pumpkins are in any way "super heavy".

Oh no, it's too late!

Heavy? Pffffffffffft.

[dANdeLION]

I didn't think I was much of a hard rock/metal fan, but I love BOC's "Cultasaurus Erectus", Living Colour's "Vivid", Van Halen's "Fair Warning", and pretty much all the Scorpions and Great White I've ever heard. I like Whitesnake, too, so I guess I'm more of a fan than I thought I was.

[Cail]

IIRC, "Stain" had a different bassist. I think the song Leave it Alone is one of Living Colour's best songs.

As far as Van Hagar, I really liked "5150" and "0U812", didn't care much for "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge".

[dANdeLION]

Hey, I know that one! Muzz Skillings is Living Colour's original bassist, and Doug Wimbish replaced him around their 3rd album. As awesome as Doug is, Muzz was noticeably awesomer.


And Sammy Hagar isn't fit to wear David Lee Roth's chaps!

[Usivius]

"Stain" was Living Colour's best album. feak'n great! And yah, they did reforma couple years ago I heard, but the lead singer, Cory Glover, got replaced due to an illness... (or so I heard...)

[Cail]

And Sammy Hagar isn't fit to wear David Lee Roth's chaps!

This is an absolute truism.

Sammy's a better singer. I think Eddie's playing on "5150" & "OU812" is easily his best, but......Dave was a far, far better showman, and the band was in top form during the Dave days. I've seen the band with both singers (don't even mention the other guy), and while the Sammy shows were great, seeing Van Halen with Diamond Dave was an experience.

BTW, the reason I hold Whitesnake's "Slide it In" in such high regard is John Sykes's guitar playing and Cozy Powell's drums.

[Usivius]

BTW, the reason I hold Whitesnake's "Slide it In" in such high regard is John Sykes's guitar playing and Cozy Powell's drums.

Can't comment on the guitar playing, but the drumming is medeocre at best (in my humble drumming opinion).

[Cail]

Cozy Powell mediocre?

He was the guy that Led Zeppelin was going to replace John Bonham with!

[drew]

Any of the 90's Seatle influenced hard rock..well other than Nirvana..I was a fan...but they got tireing.
Pearl Jam's firt two albums I still listen to all the time.
As well as Temple of the Dog.
Screaming Trees, Sweet Oblivion Album was great.
As were Green Apple Qick Step.

Soundgarden's Superunknown was incredible.

Some other heavy stuff I like.

The Tea Party (Probebly only Cail and Usivius know who they are)...their album Transmition was one of the greatest real havey albums I've owned

Now that the thrill of the masacre's over/isn't it sweet when she sucks on your veins

They just don't write lyics like that anymore...too bad TTP went all wussy.

I Mother Earth's first two albums..when Edwin was still the singer were realy rocking good one's too.

Something has to be said about Metallica's black album...but Load was even better.

And although they were borderline Hair/Glam rock.
I love me some Gun's 'N Fing Roses.
If you need to rock out; nothing does it Like Appetite for Destruction.

[Cail]

Meh, Metallica's only good album was "Kill 'em All".

Drew, I think I'm the only non-Canuck that knows who The Tea Party is, and yes, "Transmission" is an awesome album.

I never got into G'nR, and I never understood their appeal. "Appetite" is a sloppy album, and they were absolutely terrible live.

[Trapper]

OMG, I can't believe how active this thread has been.

I'm intrigued by the references to "Stain" by Living Colour. I loved "Vivid", but I pretty much gave up on them after "Time's Up". Truly pretentious album, IMHO.

And I'm also a big fan of Van Halen. For me their best albums were "Van Halen" and "5150". (The best songs (for mine) on those being "I'm the One" and "5150", respectively.)

But I'll just put in two cents for Faith No More ("Angel Dust") and Pantera ("Vulgar Display of Power") as well (I was kinda touched when I heard that Diamond Darrell was buried with Eddie Van Halen's homemade guitar from the first two VH albums).

And Cail, I haven't listened to it for almost 20 years, but you're right about Def Leppard's "High 'n Dry", that was a great album. (For those who might be thinking that's a joke, they started off with a 16-yr old guitarist called Pete Willis (IIRC), kicked him out for alcoholism after their second album, and only then did they get commercial).

Also a big fan of Soundgarden and Jane's Addiction (not always hard, but did it very well when they wanted to).