What Makes a Great Album?
I spend a lot of time writing album reviews, but a big part of the process is sorting through the hundreds of releases out there. Now more than ever there is a massive amount of metal music to be found; sometimes for better and others for worse. Between the dozens of albums sent directly to my inbox weekly and my own browsing of various groups, forums, and Bandcamp, it can become a daunting process. Even after weeding through the crap, it still leaves a glut of choices when it comes to what I spend my time listening to and covering. And as I started thinking more about all of this, I thought it might be fun to share not only why I choose the albums that I do, but ultimately what I, subjectively, think seperates the good from the great, and the 7's and 8's from the 9's and 10's. Let's break down my scales a bit.
Enjoyability
While I tend to give this scale a little less weight in my overall impression of an album's worth, this is where it all starts. At the end of the day, if an album doesn't light my fire, I'm not going to give it much time. Life's just too short.
So what all plays into this scale? Well the initial kiss of death for most comes with the vocals. If your frontman/woman lacks the power in delivery necessary for a fist-pumping, headbanging listening session, you might as well go home. And if you really want to stand out from the pack, they need more than just intensity; they need a defining quality. Most of my favorite albums have a vocalist that you can pick out from a lineup with just a few words.
Off the top of my head, I'm thinking Mike Patton, Septicflesh, Korn, Enslaved, The Black Dahlia Murder, and love 'em or hate 'em Periphery. All of these bands have vocalists that maximize impact while also embracing the unique qualities of their own vocal chords. It matters. All of this is not to say that an instrumental band can't be a top tier group, but if you go that route you need to deliver the same amount of character in the instrumentation.
Speaking of which, there are obviously other important factors when it comes to creating a truly enjoyable album. Another cardinal sin is staying at the same pace and volume from start to finish. If you really want to keep your audience captivated, you need to master dynamics. Know when to pick up, slow down, and deliver the perfect climax. Think Schammasch's Triangle. Relating the concept to film, this is why Michael Bay movies can be so tiresome in their constant explosions while thrillers like Drive and Alien get the critical respect.
A few more protips: less is more. I can't count how many times a 20-30 minute album has beaten out one that was over an hour. Unless you really have the compositional skills, don't drag things out. It used to make sense to pack a CD with as much content as possible to create a value, but in this digital age that's no longer relevant.
Another one: production isn't everything. If you don't know what you're doing, it is worth going into a real studio with a knowledgeable tech, but ultimately match the final sound to your subgenre. There's a reason people love Under A Funeral Moon despite its purposeful roughness while bands like Born of Osiris get away with a more pristine aesthetic. At a most basic level: make it sound good, but leave some edge. This is metal after all, not pop.
I could go on and on, but for the sake of brevity I think it's time to press forward...
Musicianship
Like I said, Enjoyability is only the beginning. I see a lot of people stop here when choosing their top albums of the year, but in my opinion accolades don't belong to simply fun releases. I still think that Billy Madison is f#$king hilarious, but I'm not going to give it an Academy Award. No, as someone who listens to more music than I probably should in a given week, I demand more than just thrills.
And so musicianship is where we start to seperate the men from the boys. Most people can pick up an instrument and get good enough to throw an album's worth of material together, but I have to give extra props to the true, diehard musicians out there. I'm talking Artificial Brain, Gigan, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Ulcerate, Absu, and Vektor. Bands like these have drummers, guitarists, and bass players that deserve a higher recognition than your average 4/4 time, power-chord heavy Joe Shmoe (which again can still be fun, but this is about excellence). There's no shortcut around this one: practice.
Now mind you, it isn't always about speed and dexterity. Certain genres aren't always meant to be technical, but notable musicians and composers rise above via adept songwriting skills and expert implementation of other instruments and sounds. These are the Nokturnal Mortums, the Moonsorrows, the Dimmu Borgirs, and the Rotting Christs out there. Those with a clever ear and creative mind can spin "simpler" music into some really unique and rewarding listening experiences.
This is a nice segway to my third and final scale...
Innovation
For me, this is where the rubber truly meets the road. There are weeks where I give out 9's and 10's in the other 2 categories like it's going out of style, but it's very rare for an album to score above an 8 and really even pass the C-average of 7 in this area.
Returning to visual mediums as an example, a remarkable film or television series is more than one that is great to rewatch or even very well-written. Years from now, people will talk about The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, but at the end of the day they aren't all that exceptional (I love both, mind you). When I think television that deserves the limelight and shiny awards, I think series like Twin Peaks: engrossing, visually masterful, unusual, and unlike anything else you're going to catch on a Sunday night.
But enough of my endorsement of David Lynch and Mark Frost. Albums that come to mind that really do something exciting and different include Emptiness' Not For Music or Nothing But The Whole, Igorrr's Savage Sinusoid, Celtic Frost's Monotheist, Ulcerate's Everything Was Fire, and The Number Twelve Looks Like You's Worse Than Alone. If you want your band reach the top of the heap and deliver the 2001: A Space Odyssey of albums, you need to do all of the above and find ways to reinvent the wheel. Nothing less can be a 10.
Final Thoughts
So while some pick on me for rating so many releases with an 8.3-8.7, you'll only find maybe 5 records that have recieved the coveted 10/10. But to recap in short for those looking to put their art above all else:
Obviously this is easier said than done, but nothing worthwhile comes easy. The best albums take skilled individuals with not only mountains of passion but also a willingness to suffer for their craft even when they know it's not going to sell a million copies. Are you up to the challenge? Do you want to be Michael Bay rich or demand the same respect as Stanley Kubrick? Maybe you'll luck out and end up with both, but in my experience you still have to genuinely care more about the latter to make that happen. See you in the trenches...
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