AC/DC - Rock or Bust (2014)
Really not a bad album at all - in fact I appreciate Rock or Bust's compact 34 minute length, especially considering it's predecessor - 2008's Black Ice - was a little bit of a slog at 55 minutes long. And yet out of the entire AC/DC catalogue, Rock or Bust is likely the album I've listened to the least! Even if Black Ice had more filler, the singles on that album were great. Rock or Bust is just a solidly consistent record from start to finish - it sounds like AC/DC alright, and it's good. But in my opinion nothing on here is particularly great, and that's probably why I don't listen to it very often.
ANNIHILATOR - Criteria for a Black Widow (1999)
Ironically I actually consider Criteria for a Black Widow to be one of the more underrated albums from the Annihilator camp, yet I still manage to forget about it's existence more often than not! It saw the return of Randy Rampage on vocals... but in my head I often seem to think that Alice in Hell was the only Annihilator record he sang on! Plenty of good tracks on this one either way - I mean, 'Bloodbath' is absolutely one of the fastest and most frantic thrashers Jeff Waters ever laid down! I also really like 'Punctured', 'Nothing Left' and the throwback to Never, Neverland's 'Fun Palace' titled, erm, 'Back to the Palace'! You know what, this album's getting a full listen once I've finished writing this article!
BIOHAZARD - New World Disorder (1999)
The worst Biohazard album is still a somewhat decent one (in my opinion of course). But New World Disorder is still an album I very rarely revisit - I re-reviewed it this year when I rewrote my Biohazard page, and it was the first time in about 8 years I'd given it any sort of attention! The songs - although punchy and gritty as they should be - don't capture the same magic as their first 3 records. Thankfully Biohazard minus lead guitarist Bobby Hambel and performing on autopilot is still listenable to my ears, but it's difficult to pick any real standouts from this one.
BLUE OYSTER CULT - Spectres (1977)
I think a lot of fans would consider Spectres to be a classic album, but I always found it to be significantly weaker than any of BOC's previous 4 records. It still has plenty of strengths - for starters, 'Godzilla', 'Fireworks' and 'Golden Age of Leather' are tremendous - but there's a couple of tracks here such as 'Celestial the Queen' and the stupidly-titled 'R. U. Ready 2 Rock' (*facepalm*) that never quite settled well with me personally. There's something in the musical formula somewhere the previous 4 albums had, that Spectres doesn't. As it stands however, it's still far from one of their worst albums, but it's certainly one I don't turn to very often.
DEEP PURPLE - The House of Blue Light (1987)
The House of Blue Light might actually be my least favourite Purple record these days. For years and years I would've said either The Book of Taliesyn or Slaves and Masters, but both of those albums have gone up in my ranks a lot over time. Blue Light remains a fair, passable album at best for me. No terrible tracks to speak of, and even a couple of borderline classics did manage to crawl their way into the tracklisting ('Bad Attitude', 'The Spanish Archer', 'Black & White'...)... but this is largely just a semi-decent record for me. It came after 1984's amazing comeback, Perfect Strangers, and before the polarising Joe Lynn Turner-fronted Slaves and Masters. But hey, there is no such thing as a bad Deep Purple album in my world, and I still enjoy the bulk of Blue Light even if it's not a regular listen.
FAITH NO MORE - Sol Invictus (2015)
Despite having only made 7 studio records in total, I don't find myself listening to Faith No More's 2015 and still most recent album Sol Invictus almost ever. Generally the smaller a discography, the more likely I am to listen to each album semi-regularly, but Sol Invictus nearly always gets a pass from me - even though I still find it to be rather good overall. The problem is, I find every other album Faith No More's catalogue to be great. This one is a significant downgrade in my books, even if it is still decent. Every album prior had a personality of it's own; Sol Invictus feels a bit by-the-numbers in comparison. FNM were always full of surprises - but here, there aren't any. I mean, songs like 'Superhero' and 'Motherfucker' are playlist-worthy, and the rest of the album certainly sounds like FNM... but I can hardly call it memorable. Yeah, I think I'll just grab Angel Dust or even We Care a Lot instead.
GRAVE DIGGER - The Living Dead (2018)
I've been on a massive Grave Digger binge this year - I managed to finish off my collection and review the catalogue in full. 2018's The Living Dead seems to be the one I've heard the least, even though I wouldn't rank it at the bottom of the pile. It's my least favourite of the Axel Ritt guitar-era, sure, but either way the album is still a good'un from beginning to end. Other than the fun folk metal experiment 'Zombie Dance' at the end (which I still like), the album confidently continues the band's usual brand of speed/power metal. I suppose when you have such a large and often similar-sounding discography like Grave Digger's, some records just won't get the same attention as others... despite the quality of the music.
IRON MAIDEN - Senjutsu (2021)
Even though I re-wrote my Iron Maiden page last year, there's an album on that page that I didn't re-review - 2021's Senjutsu, which is still their most recent effort to date. My relationship with 21st century Maiden is a bit ropey - some of the albums I like (2015's The Book of Souls I'm a big fan of), others not so much. But one thing that's for sure is Maiden in the 21st century will never top anything they recorded in the '80s - for me anyway. I bought this double album within a few months of it's launch in 2021, yet didn't actually listen to it for at least a year! Like pretty much all their other albums of this century, it doesn't sound great from a production point of view and the tracklisting mostly consists of lengthy, proggy epics. Actual band performances/playing is impressive as always, but the songs take a lot of listens to really digest. I reviewed it in 2023, gave it a 7/10 and have barely touched it since. I guess the reason I didn't re-review it last year is because I still felt it was too soon for an update. Well, I still didn't bother listening to Senjutsu again last year, so maybe I'll finally revisit it in 2026?
MAGNUM - Breath of Life (2002)
When Magnum reformed in 2001 after a 6-year break, the first album they put out was 2002's Breath of Life. If you've read my Magnum review page, you'll see that I don't think they ever made a bad album. I gave this particular one a 7/10 - but out of all 23 of their studio records, it just happens to be the one I listen to the least. Similar to 1992's Sleepwalking, this is a largely very mellow Magnum album save for tracks like 'Cry' and 'This Heart', and that's probably why it isn't a go-to disc for me. But like I said, I think every Magnum CD is worth hearing - and this being one of the most mellow one's in their library isn't necessarily a bad thing. The music is as majestic as ever, it's just not one of my favourites! Still a good album either way!
MEGADETH - Th1rt3en (2011)
Th1rt3en sits between what is generally considered to be a modern Megadeth classic (2009's Endgame), and also what many fans claim to be their worst (2013's Super Collider, an album I actually liked!). And guess what? Th1rt3en is a mostly-solid, decent-enough Megadeth record with no real classics to be found - but also no turkeys either. 'Public Enemy No. 1', 'Sudden Death' and 'Never Human' are fine tracks, but far from legendary... too many mid-tempo songs let things down a bit. To be honest I find this thing to be almost interchangeable with 2007's United Abominations and 2005's The System Has Failed. But even those albums get more play from me because UA was the first Megadeth album I bought as a new release when I was at school and thus have more history with, while System is just about the strongest album of the bunch.
METAL CHURCH - Generation Nothing (2013)
Every Metal Church album is at the very least good, but 2013's Generation Nothing is maybe the most stale if I had to pick one. But like I said, it's still good. The punky opener 'Bulletproof' is very cool in particular, but overall this CD seems to get the least amount of spin-time from me. Simply put, there's just better Metal Church albums out there! And that includes all the other 3 Ronny Munroe records! Not much else to say about this one.
MOTORHEAD - The World Is Yours (2010)
Considering the first time I saw Motorhead live they were touring in support of this album, I really haven't listened to it much at all since it dropped in late 2010. It comes from the late stage Cameron Webb-produced era of the band, so it sounds very similar to albums such as Kiss of Death, Motorizer and Aftershock - and I'm a big fan of this period of Motorhead, so what exactly holds back The World Is Yours for me is difficult to say. Other than maybe March or Die, there's absolutely zero dodgy Motorhead studio records, and TWIY is certainly no exception. But I'm looking at it's tracklisting right now and other than maybe 'I Know How to Die' and 'Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye', I'm struggling to remember any of these songs. This is going on in the gym at some point this week.
SAXON - Solid Ball of Rock (1991)
Other than the 2 covers albums (Inspirations and More Inspirations), 1991's Solid Ball of Rock seems to gather more dust in my Saxon collection than the rest. It's sandwiched between what is in my opinion their worst album (1988's Destiny), and an underrated one that I really like (1992's Forever Free). So I guess that's a big part of the reason why Solid Ball of Rock only gets a play every once in a blue moon for me. It doesn't really help that the band still couldn't decide if they wanted to go back to their roots or break the charts - so the music is a mish-mash of pure heavy metal thunder and arena rockers. The good news is that even the more accessible stuff like 'Requiem (We Will Remember)' and 'I'm On Fire' are still far better than what Destiny tried to pull off. And speed metal songs like 'Altar of the Gods' and 'Baptism of Fire' are pure Saxon classics. A decent, if flawed album.
SLAYER - World Painted Blood (2009)
I'm a Slayer fan, really. I love the first 6 albums - yes, including Divine Intervention! And I also love the Haunting the Chapel EP and Live Undead live album. But everything after 1994 in my opinion has been mostly solid, if unspectacular. Naturally then, there's gonna be some albums that get less attention than others. 2009's World Painted Blood is the one I feel I've touched the least overall. I actually think the songs are pretty strong on this one, and certainly more Slayer-sounding in the traditional sense than the patchy Diabolus in Musica or God Hates Us All (which are still okay in my books to be fair). I'd even argue that the songwriting on WPB still comes out above their swansong, 2015's Repentless... but the dry production really lets this one down. It's a shame, because the tracks are as nasty as ever (save for maybe 'Beauty Through Order'). I still think WPB is a good album - like I said, I think the songs are actually strong overall - but I guess the sub-par production plays a large part in why my copy has been shelved for years at this point.
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES - 13 (2013)
This album is essentially Suicidal Tendencies on autopilot - no duff tracks, but nothing really spectacular to speak of either. Only 'Slam City' makes playlists for me, but whenever I hear 13 in full it's still a largely enjoyable listen overall. More of the same hardcore-infused thrash metal that they're known for without many of the funk influences that seeped into their way into a lot of the '90s albums. I genuinely think the last time I listened to this disc in full was at the start of 2022 when I updated my Suicidal Tendencies page. I just listened to a few songs again from it as I type ('This Ain't a Celebration', 'Shake It Out' and 'Cyco Style'), and they're good! Maybe this one is simply overshadowed by 2016's World Gone Mad? I like that one a lot, so it makes sense.
UFO - The Visitor (2009)
In general I think the Vinnie Moore era of UFO has it's share of strong and underrated albums - Sharks, You Are Here, The Monkey Puzzle... these are all great in my books. As for 2009's The Visitor - this one's actually pretty good too, but there's a definite emphasis on blues-based rock songs... maybe a little too many blues-based tracks for my liking. Not that there's anything wrong with blues rock of course (and not every song is bluesy either) - in fact, I get strong '70s blues rock vibes from this album at times, and Moore's fretwork is superb as always (in a different way this time). But I don't often get strong UFO vibes from it either!! The songs don't excite me in the same way the hard rock-focused classic Michael Schenker era does, nor is the album delivered with the same levels of ballsy riffage that the Paul Chapman era had. It's my least favourite of the Vinnie Moore albums - apart from that covers record they made in 2017 anyway. Still a good album in it's own right though, even if I don't listen to it very often. Hence why it's made this list!
VAN HALEN - A Different Kind of Truth (2012)
It makes me happy that A Different Kind of Truth even exists - it was the first Van Halen album since 1998's critically-panned Van Halen III (an album I actually like!), and the first with their classic frontman David Lee Roth since 1984's, erm, 1984! And yet it's still the Van Halen record I listen to the least. Musically it's a competent beast - it does hearken back to their early works somewhat, and is certainly not trying to replicate the Sammy Hagar-era either. Eddie's guitar work is stellar as always. But I forget it even exists some days! I can't really pinpoint why exactly. It could be down to the fact I find it has less standout cuts than other Van Halen records despite being more consistently strong compared to say, Balance or Van Halen III. Perhaps the absence of Michael Anthony irks me? Maybe I'll give this one a listen again in the gym tomorrow. Or maybe I won't.
VENOM - Storm the Gates (2018)
Still the most recent Venom album to date, and probably the one I've listened to the least overall. The music is as raw and ugly as you'd expect, and I actually like Storm the Gates' primal production job - but the songs aren't memorable enough to really make me want to revisit this one regularly. Certainly not bad, but it doesn't come close to the band's early run in the '80s nor is it even one of their strongest latter-period albums. It's Venom by the numbers, so it's fine. But that's also why I don't reach for it all that often.
