Best and worst of ANVIL...

Rate the ANVIL catalog. What's your favorite and least favorite?

Hard n Heavy (8)
Metal on Metal (10)
Forged in Fire (10)
Strength of Steel (9)
Pound for Pound (8)
Past and Present (live) (8)
Worth the Weight (8)
Plugged in Permanent (9)
Absolutely No Alternative (8)
Speed of Sound (9)
Plenty Of Power (10)
Still Going Strong (9)
Back To Basics (7)
This Is Thirteen (8)

Compilations:
Backwaxed* (7)
Anthology (8)

I didn't rate anything lower than a 7/10 as I like Anvil's whole catalog. However, I think that "Back to the Basics" is their weakest album. Favorites would have to be "Metal on Metal" or "Forged in Fire". They don't make 'em more classic than those two. Also, I thought that "Speed of Sound" through "Still Going Strong" were excellent CDs.

Metal On Metal and Forged In Fire are both classics! I like those two the best. But their entire catalog is really good with the exception of Back To Basics. Back To Basics is easily their worst album.

Well, for me, my favorites would be Metal on Metal, Forged in Fire, Strength of Steel, and Pound for Pound.

Back To Basics and This Is Thirteen would be the weakest, imo.

There are a couple of those on Ult's list I don't have, though...



Arttie

arttieTHE1manparty wrote:

This Is Thirteen would be the weakest, imo.


Arttie

Really?

F.I.F.

My Anvil collection is far from complete, but out of the albums I have, I'd rate HARD N HEAVY the worst, with METAL ON METAL as the best.

I also love FORGED IN FIRE, POUND FOR POUND and STRENGTH OF STEEL.

HARD N HEAVY never did much for me. Maybe it's cuz I didn't hear that one till I already owned several other Anvil albums and was expecting to hear more "Metal on Metal" style heaviness, but HARD N HEAVY sounded like bad '70s rock. Neither hard nor particularly heavy IMO.

I really dont think Ive ever heard but maybe one Anvil song and the video had some bulldog in it and the song was pretty lame.

zombiewalkin wrote:

I really dont think Ive ever heard but maybe one Anvil song

Same here.

Fat Freddy wrote:

My Anvil collection is far from complete, but out of the albums I have, I'd rate HARD N HEAVY the worst, with METAL ON METAL as the best.

I also love FORGED IN FIRE, POUND FOR POUND and STRENGTH OF STEEL.

HARD N HEAVY never did much for me. Maybe it's cuz I didn't hear that one till I already owned several other Anvil albums and was expecting to hear more "Metal on Metal" style heaviness, but HARD N HEAVY sounded like bad '70s rock. Neither hard nor particularly heavy IMO.

I think Hard n Heavy is one of those "had to be there" albums. It has such a 70's sound compared to the rest of the band's catalog. Best songs "Bondage", "School Love" and "AC/DC. I also like the Stones cover.

zombiewalkin wrote:

I really dont think Ive ever heard but maybe one Anvil song and the video had some bulldog in it and the song was pretty lame.

Cause I'm a mad dog, a mad, mad dog...

Most Anvil fans don't seem to like that album. It was the band's sole attempt at commercialism. It didn't work. If you like classic metal, you need to give Metal on Metal or Forged in Fire a change before dismissing them.

Yea, I suppose if I hadn't already been familiar with METAL ON METAL, FORGED IN FIRE, etc. when I first heard HARD N HEAVY then I might've been more charitable. To me that album just sounded like wanna-be Ted Nugent. Nothing against the Nuge of course but that's not what I wanted to hear from Anvil.

I understand that record was originally released under the band name "LIPS" before it became an Anvil album.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I understand that record was originally released under the band name "LIPS" before it became an Anvil album.

That is correct.

The only two Anvil albums I have heard is " Metal on Metal" and "Forged in Fire" and I really liked both of them, but it has been several years since I have heard them.

As far as the video for " Mad Dog" that is one of the lamest videos I have ever seen.

manny wrote:

As far as the video for " Mad Dog" that is one of the lamest videos I have ever seen.

I love that video!! It's totally cheap and goofy... in other words, it's SO Anvil!

When I saw Anvil back in '95, someone in the crowd yelled out "Where's the dog?" (meaning the bulldog seen in that video)... Lips made a sad face, paused for a minute, and went "The dog DIED, okay? Thanks for bringing up bad memories, a**hole!"

Fat Freddy wrote:

manny wrote:

As far as the video for " Mad Dog" that is one of the lamest videos I have ever seen.

I love that video!! It's totally cheap and goofy... in other words, it's SO Anvil!

I am still recovering from the horror of that Pretty Maids video you once linked on one of these threads.

Fat Freddy wrote:

manny wrote:

As far as the video for " Mad Dog" that is one of the lamest videos I have ever seen.

I love that video!! It's totally cheap and goofy... in other words, it's SO Anvil!

When I saw Anvil back in '95, someone in the crowd yelled out "Where's the dog?" (meaning the bulldog seen in that video)... Lips made a sad face, paused for a minute, and went "The dog DIED, okay? Thanks for bringing up bad memories, a**hole!"

That's friggin' funny! I can picture Lips saying that.

BTW, I like that song and video too.

ultmetal wrote:

That's friggin' funny! I can picture Lips saying that.

BTW, I like that song and video too.

Anvil is a hella-funny live act... trust me, you haven't lived till you've seen Lips jump off stage, jump up on the bar, and walk around doing a guitar solo using a vibrator as a guitar slide

manny wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

manny wrote:

As far as the video for " Mad Dog" that is one of the lamest videos I have ever seen.

I love that video!! It's totally cheap and goofy... in other words, it's SO Anvil!

I am still recovering from the horror of that Pretty Maids video you once linked on one of these threads.

Pretty Maids? That wasn't me, man. Maybe it was that Kick Axe video ("On The Road To Rock")?

Fat Freddy wrote:

manny wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

manny wrote:

As far as the video for " Mad Dog" that is one of the lamest videos I have ever seen.

I love that video!! It's totally cheap and goofy... in other words, it's SO Anvil!

I am still recovering from the horror of that Pretty Maids video you once linked on one of these threads.

Pretty Maids? That wasn't me, man. Maybe it was that Kick Axe video ("On The Road To Rock")?

I stand corrected it was Kick Axe, amazing that someone at the record label saw this video and green lighted it.

manny wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

manny wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

manny wrote:

As far as the video for " Mad Dog" that is one of the lamest videos I have ever seen.

I love that video!! It's totally cheap and goofy... in other words, it's SO Anvil!

I am still recovering from the horror of that Pretty Maids video you once linked on one of these threads.

Pretty Maids? That wasn't me, man. Maybe it was that Kick Axe video ("On The Road To Rock")?

I stand corrected it was Kick Axe, amazing that someone at the record label saw this video and green lighted it.

that kick ax video rocked

as far as anvil goes I haven't heard enough to make any judgments

manny wrote:

I stand corrected it was Kick Axe, amazing that someone at the record label saw this video and green lighted it.

Amazing how that "Talking Vice" mascot of theirs never became as big as Eddie or Vic Rattlehead.

Hard n Heavy 7
Metal on Metal 9
Forged in Fire 10
Strength of Steel 9
Pound for Pound 6
Past and Present (live) 8
Worth the Weight (DONT HAVE THIS ONE)
Plugged in Permanent 8
Absolutely No Alternative 7
Speed of Sound 7
Plenty Of Power 7
Still Going Strong 7
Back To Basics 7
This Is Thirteen (DONT HAVE THIS ONE)

A question. My copy of F.I.F on CD is very old. It's in a funky little slimline case with a paper label. Are these rare?

SAHB Healer wrote:

A question. My copy of F.I.F on CD is very old. It's in a funky little slimline case with a paper label. Are these rare?

Yes. Very rare. They use to sell for a lot of money on Ebay, but the price came down a bit once it was re-released a couple years ago. Still a cool collector's item. I have the first Tokyo Blade in that same "funky little slimline case with a paper label".

ultmetal wrote:

SAHB Healer wrote:

A question. My copy of F.I.F on CD is very old. It's in a funky little slimline case with a paper label. Are these rare?

Yes. Very rare. They use to sell for a lot of money on Ebay, but the price came down a bit once it was re-released a couple years ago. Still a cool collector's item. I have the first Tokyo Blade in that same "funky little slimline case with a paper label".

That's cool. Unfortunately my paper label didn't wear very well, so it's kinda beat now. But I like to keep my beat up old collectors items rather than sell anyway. I have two beat up old Babe Ruth baseball cards that I've kept forever.

A band I'm sadly lacking albums from. I've only got Plugged In Permanent (which I REALLY enjoy).

One of these days I'll get off my duff and buy more of their albums.