Metal Church

Not that I did not like their version of Highway Star, but agree that Big Gins was a good album closer. It is a curiosity as to why the track was dropped...

I beleve I may have tracked down former bassist Duke Erickson, who played with the band from genesis to the late 90's. Always thought he was a great player. Anyway, he's listed on LinkedIn as a sprinkler fitter at McKinstry--in the greater Seattle area. That's all the evidence I could find, but it's a chance. Anyone else know about his whereabouts?

It was a curious (read stupid) decision by the record company to drop Big Guns from the cd. It's a good song and good album closer. I used to have that on my other computer (downloaded from their site) and should get it on this one, if I still can.

007 wrote:

It was a curious (read stupid) decision by the record company to drop Big Guns from the cd. It's a good song and good album closer. I used to have that on my other computer (downloaded from their site) and should get it on this one, if I still can.

I just wish we could know why. Sometimes they do this for length or maybe the song doesn't fit or there's a side a/side b issue, but none of that applies here. Hell, Highway Star is cool but I'd rather hear Big Guns in its place.

corplhicks wrote:

007 wrote:

It was a curious (read stupid) decision by the record company to drop Big Guns from the cd. It's a good song and good album closer. I used to have that on my other computer (downloaded from their site) and should get it on this one, if I still can.

I just wish we could know why. Sometimes they do this for length or maybe the song doesn't fit or there's a side a/side b issue, but none of that applies here. Hell, Highway Star is cool but I'd rather hear Big Guns in its place.

The original release of the album had the song Big Guns (the cassette not LP) on Ground Zero. SPV released the LP/cassette with the song. Other and subsequent releases seemed to follow suit with the Big Guns on the cassette version only. May have something to do with the LP not being able to fit the song. Why would the German released version be the only one with the song on the LP.

I played the CD again, and while I appreciate the songs, I have a hard time with the vocals. I understand what he's trying to do, aggression and melody and power, but he just doesn't have the voice!

But, well, even if he is not a great power vocalist, it's still better than the guys who don't even try and sing with their speaking voice. So hey, it's bareable.

I only own the debut album. What would be another Metal Church album worth owning?

Lari wrote:

I only own the debut album. What would be another Metal Church album worth owning?

All of them ! But actually, you can't go wrong with any of the albums fronted by Mike Howe. Those 3 (Blessing, Human and Hanging) are brilliant.

007 wrote:

Lari wrote:

I only own the debut album. What would be another Metal Church album worth owning?

All of them !  But actually, you can't go wrong with any of the albums fronted by Mike Howe. Those 3 (Blessing, Human and Hanging) are brilliant.

007 is correct, no matter which album you choose, you'll have a good time. MC is known for never compromising. The first three albums--which of course someday I'll go over in this thread when I'm not so lazy and deliberate--have a classic metal sound, the fourth has a more upfront and rocking production, the fifth is very HEAVY despite the terrible cover art, and everything after is straight up metal although varies in quality (ie mix). The latest, Generation Nothing, is brilliant, and their best album since Human.

I suggest Blessing in Disguise next with Mike Howe. That's my second favorite album and really has a lot of power behind it.

Lari wrote:

I played the CD again, and while I appreciate the songs, I have a hard time with the vocals. I understand what he's trying to do, aggression and melody and power, but he just doesn't have the voice!

But, well, even if he is not a great power vocalist, it's still better than the guys who don't even try and sing with their speaking voice. So hey, it's bareable.

I only own the debut album. What would be another Metal Church album worth owning?

Blessing in Disguise. Then the other two and Heretic's Breaking Point. Mike Howe is one of the absolute best singers ever. Actually, he is the sole reason why I don't care for other MC albums.

I realize I'm in the minority, but Metal Church's debut doesn't really do all that much for me. I enjoy it while it's on, and it has some standout tracks, but I thought the follow-up albums were stronger overall. I like The Dark better than the debut, but the Mike Howe records blow the first two away, IMO.

Fantastic album!! And the blueprint for power metal, in my opinion. It's a desert island album for sure.

Excellent debut in my mind. I still listen to this a lot.

Dark Horseman wrote:

Excellent debut in my mind. I still listen to this a lot.

Agreed. One of the best debuts, I think.

kmorg wrote:

Fantastic album!! And the blueprint for power metal, in my opinion. It's a desert island album for sure.

Which is interesting to me because I love the debut Metal Church album and the Savatage stuff from the same era but....I CAN'T STAND POWER METAL!   

Are you talking the American style like Sava, MC or Vicious Rumors or the Euro style?

Dark Horseman wrote:

Are you talking the American style like Sava, MC or Vicious Rumors or the Euro style?

The Euro style, which inspires such loathing that I want to smash things.   

 

S.D. wrote:

Dark Horseman wrote:

Are you talking the American style like Sava, MC or Vicious Rumors or the Euro style?

The Euro style, which inspires such loathing that I want to smash things.    

So, we won't see you with a Stratovarius avatar anytime soon, I take it .

corplhicks wrote:

BTW everyone here's the Big Guns track that was dropped. I always thought it a great mystery why this was dropped. It's a f*cking sweet song, would have rounded the tracks to 10, and hell there was plenty of time anyway: 

Big Guns was on the original cassette version of the debut LP , the track ended the album.
It sounded a little different, so maybe what I heard was true, it was just a bonus track they took from a demo recording.

Cool news. Metal Church just put up a new website and within posted eight rare tracks. Some of them are Kurdt's demos when the name was Shrapnel, one is a Jap track from Hanging in the Balance, one is live in 84, and one is Big Guns. Go download for free: http://www.metalchurchmusic.com/multimedia.asp

I posted this in Free Legal Downloads but I thought this is where all the MC fans look.

Someday I'll get around to continuing this thread lol.

Thanks.

They had those rare tracks posted on their old website. I had them before but on my old computer. Good to see them back in circulation.

Very cool, thanks.

007 wrote:

They had those rare tracks posted on their old website. I had them before but on my old computer. Good to see them back in circulation.

Man if I would have known that back then, I would have been all over them. Also glad they finally have a website again, albeit a bit archaic in design.

And I noticed that they still haven't fixed the lyrics on the new site . Check out (My Favorite) Nightmare to see what I mean.