Rushmoras

Third Laura Branigan album "Self Control" (1984). Yeah, three albums in three years really does show in terms of quality I guess. Kinda meh album in general, but nothing overly bad. Best song was probably With Every Beat of My Heart.

Second Laura Branigan album "Branigan 2" (1983). Very chill and slow songs. For me, weaker then her first album.

First album of Laura Branigan "Branigan" (1982). Pretty good for a debut album.

Eleventh and final (so far) Powerwolf album "Wake up the Wicked" (2024). Songwise enjoynment, better than their last one, but album-wise, kinda on par. Little bit less of religious blasphemy (hahaha) and little bit more of historical fiction to fit their lyrical narrative. Nah, but in all seriousness, their all shtick is supernatural warewolf themes shrouded in historical fiction. So, in a sense, they are more of an artistic theatre play than a band [kinda like Rammstein or White Skull, I'd guess...] As always, subjective assessments of each album: 1. Return in Blood Red (2005) - 8.9/10 [Best songs: Mr. Sinister; Black Mass Hysteria; Montecore; The Evil Made Me Do It] 2. Lupus Dei (2007) - 7.3/10 [Best songs: In Blood We Trust; Vampires Don’t Die; Mother Mary is a Bird of Prey; Tiger of Sabrod] 3. Bible of the Beast (2009) - 9.2/10 [Best songs: Raise Your Fist, Evangelist; Moscow After Dark; Catholic in the Morning… Satanist At Night; Seven Deadly Saints; Warewolves of Armenia; Midnight Messiah; St. Satan’s Day] 4. Blood of the Saints (2011) - 7.3/10 [Best songs: Sanctified with Dynamite; We Drink Your Blood; Murder at Midnight; Son of a Wolf; Night of the Warewolves] 5. Preachers of the Night (Deluxe Version) (2013) - 8.2/10 [Best songs: Amen & Attack; Sacred & Wild; Kreuzfeuer; Nochnoi Dozor; Extatum et Oratum; Headless Cross; Nightcrawler; Cardinal Sin – Orchestral Version] 6. Metallum Nostrum (2015) - 6/10 [Best songs: Edge of Thorns; Shot in the Dark; Headless Cross; Nightcrawler] 7. Blessed & Possessed (2015) - 7.3/10 [Best songs: Blessed & Possessed; Armata Strigoi; We Are the Wild; Christ & Combat; Sanctus Dominus; All You Can Bleed; Let There Be Night] 8. The Sacrament of Sin (2018) - 8.2/10 [Best songs: Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend; Incense & Iron; Where the Wild Wolves Have Gone; Stossgebet; Nightside of Siberia; The Sacrament of Sin; Nighttime Rebel] 9. Call of the Wild (2011) - 7.3/10 [Best songs: Faster Than the Flame; Dancing With the Dead; Varcolac; Alive or Undead; Blood for Blood (Faoladh); Glaubenskraft; Undress to Confess; Reverent of Rats] 10. Interludium (Deluxe Edition) (2023) - 7/10 [Best songs: Wolves of War; My Will Be Done; Wolfborn; Stronger Than the Sacrament; Living on a Nightmare; Bete du Gevaudan] 11. Wake up the Dead (2024) - 8.2/10 [Best songs: Sinners of the Seven Seas; 1589; Viva Vulgata; Wake Up the Wicked; Thunderpriest; Vargamor] Average score: 7.72/10. Next stop... probably... Laura Branigan (since I heard that one song on the radio today "I live among the creatures of the night, I know I do not have a will to stand and fight" :D)

Tenth and penultimate album of Powerwolf "Interludium (Deluxe Version)" (2023). Deluxe version consist of 3 CDs, and only one CD is relevant, because it has new songs, second CD is repeat of some previous album, and the third CD is orchestra version of the first CD (i.e., no vocals, and orchestra added to the arrangement). Kinda like their previous album. Good, but not that good to warrant from me any recommendation... Also, all songs kinda feel soft? I don't know how to explain it, but it lacks their usual oompf and rawness...

Ninth Powerwolf album "Call of the Wild" (2021). Song wise - pretty good, album wise - kinda meh. I know, strange assessment, but out of their main albums, this is one of their meh ones, barely a seven out of ten to me ;)

Eight Powerwolf album "Sacrament of Sin" (2018). Almost 10 out of 10, but a couple of songs that I don't particularly like. Anyways, they even put a lyrical song in this album ;)

Seventh Powerwolf album "Blessed & Possessed" (2015). Eh, alright I guess, nothing special, kinda like their cover-album, maybe a bit better.

Sixth Powerwolf album or fifth and a half, cause it's covers of other bands metal songs... "Metallum Nostrum" (2015). As a Powerwolf album, I'm going to say - mostly meh as far as covers go.

Fifth Powerwolf album "Preachers of the Nigh (Deluxe Edition)" (2013). It seems they somewhat cut back on the religious imageries in their songs, and this time decided to go Sabaton's route and sing about wars and whatnot (still, with religious undertones).

Fourth Powerwolf album "Blood of the Saints" (2011). Eh, not as good as the previous one, but pretty solid; not as much iron maidenisms in this one (hooray for me).

Third Powerwolf album "Bible of the Beast" (2009). Just like the second one, filled to the brim with religious undertones. For some, it would be borderline blasphemous, if you care about such a thing. Anyways, probably their best work so far. On enjoyment level, on par with the first album.

Second Powerwolf album "Lupus Dei" (2007). If I remember what little Latin I studied back in university, I'm guessing the English title would be The Wolf God or something akin to it. Um, a lot of religious undertones. Album wise, probably on par with their debut one, but enjoyment wise really not on par. Also, with their overly repeating lyrics and riffs reminds me of Iron Maiden with this album. Eh...

Started Powerwolf discography. Did not know that they were relatively new (product of 2000s). First album "Return in Bloodred" (2005). As a debut album, pretty good.

Listened to Nightwish newest album "Yesterwind" (2024). Eh, it was alright, better than their previous one "Human II Nature" (2020), however suffers from kinda being uninspired, bland and sounding kinda pop metal, but this is a trend with them ever since "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" (2015) came-out. Best songs: An Ocean of Strange Islands; The Day Of…; The Children of Ata; Spider Silk; Hiraeth; The Weave; Lanternlight. 8.3/10

During my two-week vacation in Greece, had the time to finish re-reading Stephen King's Salem's Lot - book about a vampire and his thrall that come to a sleepy little town in order to feed and make more vampires. And started book two of James Clavell's Tai-Pan (actually, the original was just one long 800 or so pages book, but translator's in my country decided to cut the book in half).

Fresh from Brit Floyd (Pink Floyd cover band) concert in Kaunas Žalgiris Arena in Lithuania. I guess they did everything right, but I just did not enjoy their set-list much. Out of 2:30 hours, I probably enjoyed 30-45 min., if at that (High Hopes, Learning to Fly, Wish You Were Here, Us and Them, Another Brick in the Wall, and Comfortably Numb (you know, the songs that you'd recommend for anyone wanting to get in to Pink Floyd, which are not overly long or have overly weird guitar solos that go on forever). The mixing quality in my opinion was meh - vocals barely heard over the instruments at majority of points. Also, not a lot of people in the arena, only the front rows were filled (seated), with some people here and there sitting in the stands...

Last (so far, cause they are working on another one) album of Helloween "Helloween" (2021). Eh, it was alright, nothing memorable though. Better than the penultimate one. As always, subjective assessments of each album: 1. Walls of Jericho (2024 Remaster) (1985) - 7.3/10 [Best songs: Walls of Jericho/Ride the Sky; Reptile; Metal Invaders; Gorgar; Judas; Ride the Sky – Live; Guardians – Live] 2. Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I (2024 Remaster) (1987) - 7.5/10 [Best songs: Initiation; A Tale That Wasn’t Right; Future World; Halloween; Follow the Sign] 3. Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II (2024 Remaster) (1988) - 9/10 [Best songs: Eagle Fly Free; Dr. Stein; We Got the Right; I Want Out; Save Us] 4. Pink Bubbles Go Ape (Expanded Edition) (1991) - 6.7/10 [Best songs: Kids of the Century; Number One; Heavy Metal Hamsters; Goin’ Home; I’m Doing Fine, Crazy Man; Your Turn; Shit and Lobster; Les Hambourgeois Walkways; You Run With a Pack] 5. Chameleon (1993) - 7.5/10 [Best songs: Crazy Cat; Giants; Windmill; Music; Step Out of Hell; I Believe; Cut in the Middle; Windmill (Demo)] 6. Master of the Rings (Expanded Edition) (1994) - 7.8/10 [Best songs: Where the Rain Grows; Why?; Mr. Ego (Take Me Down); Take Me Home; Still We Go; Star Invasion; Cold Sweat – Single Version; Silicon Dreams – Single Version] 7. The Time of the Oath (1996) - 8/10 [Best songs: Steel Tormentor; Power; Forever and One (Neverland); The Time of the Oath; Electric Eye; Magnetic Fields; Rain; Light in the Sky] 8. Better Than Raw (Expanded Edition) (1998) - 6.7/10 [Best songs: Hey Lord!; Don’t Spit on My Mind; Time; A Handful of Pain; Lavdate Dominv; Midnight Sun; A Game We Shouldn’t Play] 9. Metal Jukebox (1999) - 5.5/10 [Best songs: Locomotive Breath; Lay All Your Love on Me; The White Room; Mexican] 10. Rabbit Don't Come Easy (2003) - 10/10 [Best songs: Open Your Life; Never Be a Star; Sun 4 the World; Don’t Stop Being Crazy; Do You Feel Good; Hell Was Made in Heaven; Listen to the Flies; Nothing to Say; Far Away] 11. Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy (2005) - 8.5/10 [Best songs: The King For a Thousand Years; Silent Rain; Occasion Avenue; Light the Universe (feat. Candice Night); Do You Know What You Are Fighting For?; The Shade in the Shadow; My Life for One More Day] 12. Gambling With the Devil (2007) - 8.6/10 [Best songs: The Saints; Paint a New World; The Bells of 7 Hells; I.M.E.; Dreambound; Heaven Tells No Lies; Find My Freedom; See the Night] 13. 7 Sinners (2020 Remaster) (2010) - 7.5/10 [Best songs: Who Is Mr. Madman?; World of Fantasy; If a Mountain Could Talk; The Sage, the Fool, the Sinner; Far in the Future; I’m Free; Faster We Fall] 14. Straight Out of Hell (2020 Remaster) (2013) - 9.4/10 [Best songs: Nabataea; Far From the Stars; Burning Sun; Waiting For Thunder; Wanna Be God; Asshole; Make Fire Catch the Fly; Another Shot at Life; No Eternity] 15. The Dark Ride (Special Edition) (2013) - 8/10 [Best songs: Mr. Torture; Mirror, Mirror; If I Could Fly; Salvation; I Live For Your Pain; We Damn the Night; Immortal; The Madness of the Crowns; Deliver Us From Temptation; If I Could Fly – Single Edit] 16. My God-Given Right (2015) - 7.5/10 [Best songs: Stay Crazy; Lost in America; The Swing of Fallen World; Like Everybody Else; Creatures in Heaven; If God Loves Rock N’Roll; Living on the Edge; Wicked Game] 17. Helloween (2021) - 7.2/10 [Best songs: Fear of the Fallen; Best Time; Indestructible; Cyanide; Skyfall; Save My Hide] Average album score: 7.8/10

Sixteenth and penultimate Helloween album "God-Given Right" (2015). In comparison, more social commentary than most albums of theirs. But after track five it becomes more or less what you'd expect from Helloween. I guess, to me this is the most generic sounding album out of 2010s albums of theirs.

Fifteenth Helloween album "The Dark Ride (Special Edition)" (2013). Came out the same year as their fourteenth one. Almost as good as the previous one. Probably [without wikipediying] they had a lot of material throughout the years in their heads and one album was not enough to convey their artistry.

Um, either this is how "the Enemy perverts minds and wills of those that he has befriended" or Celebrimbor is just as megalomaniac as the next noble. Haha. Between him and "Halbrand", I'm seeing evilness pouring out of old Celeb lad there. Also, ah, so they instead of recasting the actress decided to kill her character. Oh, well, gonna miss the elf-human love story... probably. So, it's been ages since I read Silmarilion and Children of Hurin, were Numenorians always racists or rather speciest against the elves or was it just for this show? Glad to see Durin is seeing through Sauron's shit, at least doesn't trust him fully. Oh, look, the eagle flow to favour Miriel... oh, no, the would-be overthrowers said to the rabble that it favours Pharoah or whatever his name is. I guess he'll be king now, since elven magic is prohibited or something...

Fourteenth Helloween album "Straight Out of Hell (2020 Remaster) (2013). An almost ten out of ten album, but then the last song Burning Sun (Hammond Version) had to ruin everything.

Thirteenth Helloween album "7 Sinners (2020 Remaster)" (2010). Kinda an odd one, most good songs are those that are above 5 minutes in length. After the previous one, I'd consider this to be on average side.

Twelfth Helloween album "Gambling With the Devil" (2007). You know, this might be the most fun to listen to album of theirs yet - the beat is fast, the riffs slap, the vocal delivery is top notch.

Eleventh Helloween album "Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy" (2005). Probably, the best out of "Keeper of the Seven Keys" titled albums of theirs.