This was quite a motivating debate on a relatively ''handy'' discography, from a group who benefits from a worlwidely conceded privilege - the one of reverence and respect which is naturally shown towards precursors and originators. Including the Nuns ep, the first five releases, up until Time, constitute an interchangeable block, depending on sheer preference. It's the last 3 that's hard to decide upon factual, palpable flaws; the saturation effect as Alan points out is quite significant, as mr Bendix hit an absolutely crazy maximum album output since 1993 to Y2K (that is from In the Shadows to The House of God, 9 studio albums in 7 years). Anyway, it was because of Mercyful Fate (and HR recs too) that I went on re-discovering/re-encountering Danish gems from the heydays, like Randy, Witch Cross or Alien Force. When i add this relatively small ''patrol'' to the sound of some contemporary Norwegian bands, as presented on compilations like ''Norway Rocks!'', namely Anesthesia, Manitou or Shellshock, you get the sudden notion that the 80s Swedish Metal Monopoly was due more to uneven record contracts and dire distribution, rather than pure talent and Metalness or anything of the sort.
Thanks. It's a record store promo poster form when the CD came out. I recommended that my local store stock it b/c I knew it was going to do well. They sold a bunch of copies and as a thank-you gave me the promo kit that they got from Century Media.
Thanks for the support Chris! Glad you enjoy the videos. I may be wrong but Marty may be sending out free samples of green bean casserole with each shirt ordered this week! LOL
Great show guys. Melissa is my number one; for me it is more consistently great where Oath has a couple lesser songs. Million dollar idea: an LP of some of Alan's greatest rants on a green bean casserole picture disc!
Fun stream as always. Here’s mine 1 Don’t Break the Oath 2 Melissa 3 9 4 In the Shadows 5 Time 6 Into the Unknown 7 Dead Again On a completely different side note. One thing nobody mentioned and maybe it’s because none of you are big Megadeth fans but man! The guitar tone and riffs to MF and KD especially the 90s era on both are very similar to Megadeth’s or maybe Mustaine’s is similar to Denner’s, Sherman’s and LaRocque’s who knows but Megadeth are my number 2 favorite band of all time. Mercyful Fate is my number 4 and King Diamond is my number 5. So its one of the main reasons why the three bands are so close in my ranking. Ah well? It’s probably just me.
Interesting, I've never thought to compare Megadeth and MF. I lost track of Megadeth after 'Countdown' (one of my least favorite albums ever) so I can't say how much they do/don't sound alike.
@@letstalkmetal your strong dislike for Countdown caused a little piece of me to die inside. 😂 but yeah like i said you’d have to be pretty familiar with both bands full catalogs. I just remember sitting in in school and an older kid walked by and saw my Megadeth shirt and told me “Oh you into Deth?” “Check a band called Mercyful Fate” and the rest was history.
@@letstalkmetal its all good man. I do enjoy it quite a bit but it is my number 5 favorite Deth album. Another thing KD related too is David Byron from Uriah Heep. He is King’s biggest influence vocally. He has said it in interviews. I found that pretty dead on. Im also a big Uriah Heep fan and the Byron era of the band is by far the greatest in their catalog. Byron was such an underrated vocalist for his time and he had such a powerful yet subtle falsetto that was definitely at times sounded like a proto King Diamond. Even that early Heep stuff a had just a touch of prog that Mercyful Fate definitely had too. I think thats one if the big reasons why I love King’s portfolio. It’s rooted in 70s hard/Prog rock and I love that stuff so much. It’s the beginnings of heavy music. King and the boys payed attention to what came before them and used it magnificently
Spot on for the majority of the rankings. My uncle introduced me to MF and King via "Melissa" in the early 90's and after the initial shock of the vocals, I was hooked and have been an avid, sometimes rabid fan. "Melissa" is definitely my tip pick
Hey guys, nice stream as usual. Melissa, Dont Break the oath, In the Shadows and Dead Again- My top 4. No brainer. And a very special place for me. As far as the later 90's material, I love "Dead Again" I know of many many MF/KD "obssessos" that consider it amongst the discography as a highly regarded unique work . For me "Dead again" is an absolute 'hidden' gem. His vocals are him (and the highs) and great on that album, it has precisely a more organic production/sound no other album has ever had in those years, amongst more stale and artificial overproduced-productions of the time and other albums of his. It stands out very positively for me and ending the 90's and a very rocknroll vibe. Love it Love it Love it. And it ages even better for me. An eerie rocker MF greatness. "Least" favorite?: 9.
Cool stream, catching up on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon. Have to confess, I own no Mercyful Fate. Nine of my friends were into them, and I only picked up the King Diamond solo stuff. I feel I need to educate myself, and at least pick up the first 2. Agree Marty, the new Voivod album is killer. Cool to see Melanie lives Death Metal again. Cheers 🍻🤘
That was a cool show. Satans fall is too long. You are right. My three faves are Charon, the sister song Gypsy and Evil. That brings us to my wishlist: Make an album with songs between 3 and 4 minutes long. No concept, only well written Heavy Metal hits.
This was quite a motivating debate on a relatively ''handy'' discography, from a group who benefits from a worlwidely conceded privilege - the one of reverence and respect which is naturally shown towards precursors and originators. Including the Nuns ep, the first five releases, up until Time, constitute an interchangeable block, depending on sheer preference. It's the last 3 that's hard to decide upon factual, palpable flaws; the saturation effect as Alan points out is quite significant, as mr Bendix hit an absolutely crazy maximum album output since 1993 to Y2K (that is from In the Shadows to The House of God, 9 studio albums in 7 years). Anyway, it was because of Mercyful Fate (and HR recs too) that I went on re-discovering/re-encountering Danish gems from the heydays, like Randy, Witch Cross or Alien Force. When i add this relatively small ''patrol'' to the sound of some contemporary Norwegian bands, as presented on compilations like ''Norway Rocks!'', namely Anesthesia, Manitou or Shellshock, you get the sudden notion that the 80s Swedish Metal Monopoly was due more to uneven record contracts and dire distribution, rather than pure talent and Metalness or anything of the sort.
Children of the grave sounds like the doctor who theme
I know nothing about Dr Who so I can't say.
Mad respect to Alan for his Iced Earth “The Dark Saga” poster!
Hope he doesn’t get called to testify in front of congress
Thanks. It's a record store promo poster form when the CD came out. I recommended that my local store stock it b/c I knew it was going to do well. They sold a bunch of copies and as a thank-you gave me the promo kit that they got from Century Media.
@@letstalkmetal Cool story. It's by far my favorite Iced Earth album.
Owned a copy of Melissa for years before I could actually see the cover.
Just bought a shirt. You guys are awesome! Watch every post. Coming from a 53 year old metal head who still loves this music.
Thanks for the support Chris! Glad you enjoy the videos. I may be wrong but Marty may be sending out free samples of green bean casserole with each shirt ordered this week! LOL
Aaaaaa-aahaaaa green bean casserole - INTO MY OVEN!
And enjoy Lucifer’s chow
Don't Break the Corningware Andy!
You all are always great :)
Great show guys. Melissa is my number one; for me it is more consistently great where Oath has a couple lesser songs.
Million dollar idea: an LP of some of Alan's greatest rants on a green bean casserole picture disc!
Any opinions on Zoser Mez?
Good question! I haven't heard it
Fun stream as always.
Here’s mine
1 Don’t Break the Oath
2 Melissa
3 9
4 In the Shadows
5 Time
6 Into the Unknown
7 Dead Again
On a completely different side note. One thing nobody mentioned and maybe it’s because none of you are big Megadeth fans but man! The guitar tone and riffs to MF and KD especially the 90s era on both are very similar to Megadeth’s or maybe Mustaine’s is similar to Denner’s, Sherman’s and LaRocque’s who knows but Megadeth are my number 2 favorite band of all time. Mercyful Fate is my number 4 and King Diamond is my number 5. So its one of the main reasons why the three bands are so close in my ranking. Ah well? It’s probably just me.
Interesting, I've never thought to compare Megadeth and MF. I lost track of Megadeth after 'Countdown' (one of my least favorite albums ever) so I can't say how much they do/don't sound alike.
@@letstalkmetal your strong dislike for Countdown caused a little piece of me to die inside. 😂 but yeah like i said you’d have to be pretty familiar with both bands full catalogs.
I just remember sitting in in school and an older kid walked by and saw my Megadeth shirt and told me “Oh you into Deth?” “Check a band called Mercyful Fate” and the rest was history.
@@metalneanderthal Sorry, 'Countdown' is not the Megadeth album for me. But if you like it that's cool; lots of folks do!
@@letstalkmetal Yeah, same here. Countdown is very average for me and the production is a bit too dense.
@@letstalkmetal its all good man. I do enjoy it quite a bit but it is my number 5 favorite Deth album.
Another thing KD related too is David Byron from Uriah Heep. He is King’s biggest influence vocally. He has said it in interviews. I found that pretty dead on. Im also a big Uriah Heep fan and the Byron era of the band is by far the greatest in their catalog. Byron was such an underrated vocalist for his time and he had such a powerful yet subtle falsetto that was definitely at times sounded like a proto King Diamond. Even that early Heep stuff a had just a touch of prog that Mercyful Fate definitely had too. I think thats one if the big reasons why I love King’s portfolio. It’s rooted in 70s hard/Prog rock and I love that stuff so much. It’s the beginnings of heavy music. King and the boys payed attention to what came before them and used it magnificently
Spot on for the majority of the rankings. My uncle introduced me to MF and King via "Melissa" in the early 90's and after the initial shock of the vocals, I was hooked and have been an avid, sometimes rabid fan. "Melissa" is definitely my tip pick
Cool way to learn about MF! 'Melissa' definitely has fans who rank it #1. It's a great album!
wait alan can't pick don't break as his number 1 since he picked awaking the guardian over it so it doesnt exist remember haha
You think you're funny Devon but you're not! :-b
@@letstalkmetal 🤣🤣🤣
Hey guys, nice stream as usual. Melissa, Dont Break the oath, In the Shadows and Dead Again- My top 4. No brainer. And a very special place for me. As far as the later 90's material, I love "Dead Again" I know of many many MF/KD "obssessos" that consider it amongst the discography as a highly regarded unique work . For me "Dead again" is an absolute 'hidden' gem. His vocals are him (and the highs) and great on that album, it has precisely a more organic production/sound no other album has ever had in those years, amongst more stale and artificial overproduced-productions of the time and other albums of his. It stands out very positively for me and ending the 90's and a very rocknroll vibe. Love it Love it Love it. And it ages even better for me. An eerie rocker MF greatness. "Least" favorite?: 9.
That's cool that you like 'Dead Again' a lot. I like it more now than I used to.
Saw the in the shadows tour with cathedral! Great show! Many priest rip offs in the riffs but crafty! Dbto is the beast!
Cool stream, catching up on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon. Have to confess, I own no Mercyful Fate. Nine of my friends were into them, and I only picked up the King Diamond solo stuff. I feel I need to educate myself, and at least pick up the first 2. Agree Marty, the new Voivod album is killer. Cool to see Melanie lives Death Metal again. Cheers 🍻🤘
That was a cool show. Satans fall is too long. You are right. My three faves are Charon, the sister song Gypsy and Evil. That brings us to my wishlist: Make an album with songs between 3 and 4 minutes long. No concept, only well written Heavy Metal hits.