RAGE

I am falling for this band once more. When I first heard them many years ago i thought they were interesting but I couldn't quite get into Peavy's vocals. I thought his voice sounded either too weird or just lacking tonality. In any case, I have now gone back to Rage and I like them so much more than I did initially so much so that I am on a quest to get all of their albums.

I was able to track down all of their 80s and early 90s albums and with some perseverance and determination I have now acquired all the 2002 Noise re-issues of those albums. I am now looking at getting all the albums post-Missing Link, which is a lot considering this band has a total over 20 releases!

Rage is one of these music mysteries. There is nothing wrong with their sound. In fact their style easily rivals the likes of Megadeth and Helloween - which is in fact how I would describe Rage's style a mix between thrash and power metal with some prog undertones. However, I find it bemusing that even after nearly 3 full decades of touring and recording Rage remains an extremely underrated band. I believe it is due to the poor distribution of their albums throughout the years. Most of their earlier albums were released via Noise and GUN, while their more recent albums were released by SPV/Steamhammer - none of these albums have terribly good distribution outside of Europe. It's only in recent times, since the band signed with Nuclear Blast that they've become a bit better known outside of Europe.

Anyways, given that they have such a vast and varied back catalog what are some of your favorites and what do you think about this band?

I own their whole catalog, so I like them a lot. I like periods of Rage, with the more recent ones getting a lot of plays like Unity, etc.

Love Rage ! I have their whole catalog except for the most recent release,Strings To A Web. This is a band that's been all over the place stylistically but I love all their releases especially Secrets In A Weird World.

I have:

Perfect Man
Trapped!
The Missing Link
Black in Mind
Lingua Mortis
End of All Days
XIII
Ghosts
Unity
Soundchaser
Strings to a Web

For the longest time Perfect Man was the only one I had. I loved it, still do, but only from like two years ago did I start buying the rest. I actually haven't had too much trouble finding their albums so far. There's a bunch of CD stores nearby that carry their albums. New and used. Not to mention online stores.

As for favourites, I think Black in Mind would be it, at this moment. I like all of them though, with the exception of Lingua Mortis. The sound is just not very good.

I love just about every album they released except the Lingua Mortis Orchestra. I didn't quite get that one. The orchestra was so loud in the mix. It just sounded really bad. I wasn't too happy with Speak Of The Dead either. The first half of the album was really good then it kind of died towards the end. Otherwise I think they have a pretty strong discography.

I felt the same way about them too when I first heard them. I wasn't too crazy about the vocals. When I heard the song War Of Worlds though that got me really into them.

I am a big fan of this band and have everything they released of course. Their last album is not bad but from the last 4 or 5 albums my fave is CARVED IN STONE (2008).

Big fan!

Faves are execution garanteed, reign of fear and unity.

They are on my endless wantlist but I only have Carved In Stone. There are just so much that my dwindling funds can't keep up.

I just got Strings to a Web a couple of days ago, I've had a chance to listen through it 2 or 3 times and I like it. I'm not familiar with any of the older stuff so I can't really do a comparison, but for a band called Rage, they are really nice and melodic and not so much raging as I would have thought. Good riffs and nice use of keys without overpowering the other elements, very catchy tunes, good songwriting, too. Once again, a band I will have to catch up on later when funds allow.

I need to get perfect man. Read some great reviews and enjoyed the samples i heard.

Quote :

for a band called Rage, they are really nice and melodic and not so much raging as I would have thought

I used to hate Secrets In A Weird World for that very reason. Today it is one of my favorite Rage discs. The Missing Link and Execution Guaranteed would be my top Rage discs. But really, there aren't any that I don't at least think are very good. Got lucky in finding all of the reissues (and during a 20% sale too).

I'd also recommend their DVD Full Moon In St. Petersburg. Mine is a three disc Steelbook with the coolest cover art of any disc I own. Funny thing about it was I picked it up in an ebay lot with a bunch of other dvds that I really were trying to score. As an after-thought bonus it ended up being the thing that gets played the most.

jstate wrote:

Quote :

for a band called Rage, they are really nice and melodic and not so much raging as I would have thought

I used to hate Secrets In A Weird World for that very reason. Today it is one of my favorite Rage discs. The Missing Link and Execution Guaranteed would be my top Rage discs. But really, there aren't any that I don't at least think are very good. Got lucky in finding all of the reissues (and during a 20% sale too).

I'd also recommend their DVD Full Moon In St. Petersburg. Mine is a three disc Steelbook with the coolest cover art of any disc I own. Funny thing about it was I picked it up in an ebay lot with a bunch of other dvds that I really were trying to score. As an after-thought bonus it ended up being the thing that gets played the most.

I'll have to check those discs out. I listened to Strings to a Web again this morning on my way to work and it's really growing on me, I'm going to have to find some more Rage discs SOON.

back in the 80's I had everything up to Reflections Of A Shadow but I kinda gave up on future recordings by Rage after that album. I've been rediscovering them lately, great stuff.

Got Reign of Fear in the mail today, listening to it now. Good stuff! Never listened to 'em before.

Metal Misfit wrote:

Got Reign of Fear in the mail today, listening to it now. Good stuff! Never listened to 'em before.

IMO, this is a very underrated classic album, a must for each collector.

I was lucky enough to find a used copy ( in perfect shape) at a record store in europe last spring.