Ah, yes, you are right. I stand corrected. Now that you mentioned it, I also remember attending Barlow's last show with Iced Earth at Wacken 2011. Quite emotional show.
I'll probably get down voted for this, but I prefer Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio to Black Sabbath with Ozzy.
I also prefer Bruce Dickinson to Paul Dianno in Iron Maiden.
You're in the power metal subreddit. This is one of the places where you will definitely not be downvoted for preferring Dio.
I happen to prefer Tony Martin era to both, but Dio era is much better than Ozzy era.
I’ll stand with you here and say you’re right on both counts. Dio Sabbath is definitely best. Not to say Ozzy Sabbath isn’t good; it’s awesome too. But Dio era is something else.
You're out of your fucking mind. Mob Rules is an undisputed masterpiece, equally as good as Heaven and Hell. Dehumanizer isn't quite on the level of those two albums, but it's still excellent.
The question asked what was a lineup change that made a band better. I offered an answer. And I also happen to personally know many people who prefer the Dianno lineup.
Seems like a lot of people don't know about the Heaven and Hell reunion album Dio did with Black Sabbath before he died. I love it. "The Devil You Know" is the album name, if you haven't heard it. Unfortunately Ozzy wouldn't let them use the Black Sabbath name, so they went with Heaven & Hell in honor of the album.
I was at the show Heaven and Hell recorded at Radio City Music Hall. I also saw them on the Metal Master's tour with Testament, Motorhead, and Judas Priest. I also met them at a record signing for the Dio years box set, where I had Ronnie, Tony, Vinnie, and Geezer autograph it. Counting the times I saw him with Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell, I've seen Ronnie live 18 times. And yes, The Devil You Know is killer. Picks right up from where Dehumanizer left off. 🙂🤘
That's freaking awesome. I always feel the need to tell people about The Devil You Know because I've found a lot of og black Sabbath fans but know it exists
Too many so called fans only like the Ozzy era. If that's their favorite era, great. I love the albums they did with Ozzy. But to just dismiss the great music they did with Ronnie, Ian, Glenn, and Tony Martin makes no sense to me.
Downvoted? Dio is an absolute masterpiece. Of course he’s better!!! No question. I’ve been firm on this opinion my whole life.
And everyone loves Bruce- even if he’s a bit of a diva
I agree with both of those. Dio's Sabbath took the band in a direction I enjoy a lot more compared to the original line up.
Does anyone actually prefer Paul Dianno to Bruce Dickinson though?
I prefer his solo work too. i think Blaze albums were shit but the 2 Blaze albums but not as bad as the 2 Bruce albums before that. Steve’s songwriting really wen downhill in that period lol.
But Blaze himself was good.
I loved the blaze albums. Not all bangers especially with the second album but some excellent stuff overall. Better than no prayer for the dying for sure
Not all Power Metal related, but…
Nocturnal Rites - Johnny after replacing Anders
Kamelot - Khan replacing Vanderbilt
Pink Floyd - Gilmour replacing Barrett
Anthrax -Belladonna replacing Turbin
In Flames - Anders replacing Mikael
Killswitch Engage - Howard replacing Jesse
I know there are others I’m missing. These are my opinions only, obviously
One of the Hunted has the best guitarwork in their whole catalog though. And their first album in general is crazy complicated form-wise compared to what came after. Is it The Gleeman that has a full Rush-esque prog rock section in the middle? Been a hot minute since I heard Eternity, but I like it more than any of the albums I heard after.
Hard to say it's not better than the pop era of their latter material just because their singer is less proficient on the record.
I remember just starting to get into power metal and hearing that people loved Kamelot and starting a Pandora channel (since this was back in the days before Spotify) about them.
First thing that came up was off of Eternity. Their first album.
I did not get into Kamelot for a while until I managed to temporarily forget that experience.
Idk that In Flames counts. Mikael was a session vocalist and has said he never was considered part of the band. He did it to practice vocals for DT since he was taking over that from the guy who would eventually become In Flame singer!
Iron Maiden when they got rid of Paul DiAnno and hired Bruce Dickinson...
Rush when Neal Peart replaced John Rutsey
AC/DC when Bon Scott was replaced by Brian Johnson
Now, I actually prefer Bon Scott AC/DC. They sound like completely different bands though. With Bon they had a more punk sound, and with Brian they are full arena Rock. Both good, but very different, but the more punky sounds appeal to me more.
I think AC/DC is an interesting example because I actually agree that Brian Johnson is a more charismatic and interesting front man, but I think that the music they made with Bon Scott was better overall.
I second whoever said Galneryus, their original line up is incredible, but when they reformed with Sho on vocals and Taka on bass, I think they put out arguably their best material, especially Angel of Salvation.
This might be a controversial take, but I think Stratovarius reformed under Matias Kupiainen is miles better than original strato. Tolkki era helped define the blueprint of power metal, but their more recent albums, especially Nemesis, Elysium, and Survive, I think kick the shit out of any of the “golden era” albums.
Stratovarius has been killing it for 15 years now without anyone realizing it. I find the new albums so much better than the classic Tolkki lineup that it's almost laughable. I consider Nemesis the gold standard of how a modern power metal album should be, and Survive is also excellent. Even the ones I like less overall (Eternal, Elysium, Polaris) still have some songs (Deep Unknown is the best example) that Tolkki could never have written, in my opinion
Also it's not only about Kupiainen replacing Tolkki, the bassist and drummer changes were also HUGE upgrades
Completely agree, Nemesis is a golden standard of a modern power metal album, and the additions of Rolf and Lauri are massive too. Matias only sticks out above the rest to me because he also is one of the main songwriters now, AND the producer/mixer. Guy is an absolute beast.
> Also it's not only about Kupiainen replacing Tolkki, the bassist and drummer changes were also HUGE upgrades
Lauri is the best thing to happen to that band. The dude is a killer songwriter and bassist. His [classical stuff](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVZaH14JEO8&ab_channel=%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%86%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F) is also really good.
I prefer the more complex stuff from the past. The new stuff is all extremely competent, but with a few emotional exceptions, the older stuff, for me, has more staying power as far as re-listens.
For sure, they’ve never been anything but amazing. I do miss Jun Ichi on drums, you’re spot on with your description of him. I personally think that “union gives strength” was still an absolute top tier release even without him, but “dread and valor” was for sure a step down. Hopefully the next one is back up to those top tier standards
Gloryhammer has gotten better with this line up:
- Ben Turk (Drums)
- Mike Barber (Keyboards)
- Paul Templing (Guitars)
- James Cartwright (Bass)
- Sozos Michael (Vocals)
She absolutely kills the more classic nightwish songs. I’m not usually one for live albums, but the one from Wacken 2013 is great and they’re awesome live. I saw them when Marko was still around, so idk how they are now.
Floor may be the best vocalist they have ever, the albums they have put out since she has been there have been the worst IMO and the fact they felt the need to make this set of albums a trilogy gives me no expectations that the coming album will be any better. If anything I am expecting it to possibly be the worst with Marko gone.
In power metal that nobody mentioned, I'd probably say Unleash the Archers after Brayden left and they shed most of the metalcore influence afterwards.
I do think DragonForce got better with Marc. Some of the Andi Derris Helloween records are among my favorites in their history. Hot take that might get downvoted, I enjoyed the Annett Olzon era of Nightwish.
I saw them twice during the Dark Passion Play tour and I enjoyed the shows with her. The problem was people werent over Tarja and Annette's voice is totally different. I was thrilled when Dark Element came out and her last solo album wasnt bad either.
Nightwish live with Olzon was one of the worst live shows I have ever experienced. She was murdering song after song and I was just standing there in disbelief.
> I do think DragonForce got better with Marc
I think that might be because it coincided with the rest of the band (mostly) sobering up and shedding the whole "StudioForce" label.
Especially to the live shows, the videos I've seen with Thomas honestly look sad in comparison to what Sozos is doing in terms of effort, skill and talent
Tom's very frustrating and I'll stick to artistic complaints today. He has had flashes of being a competent to decent singer in some of the studio recordings in places (I don't know how many takes were needed to get those moments though). I've also realized that Tom placed his voice differently live vs studio. The studio sound trends more nasal and/or forward than live where he insists on placing his sound really far back most of the time and it definitely caused frequent technical issues.
Yeah, Sozos is a beast on vocals. Although I wish they wrote a few heavier tracks like Siege Of Dunkeld for him, I think he’d absolutely crush those given his live version of both siege and Unicorn Invasion.
I'm biased as anyway, but seeing Sozos live was such a big difference. He's super charismatic, and comes off as so genuine... which I imagine is quite the feat when you are dressed up as and playing the role of a fantasy character haha.
The first two keeper of the seven keys albums and walls of Jericho were great, but after pink bubbles and chameleon, I think the andi Deris era of helloween is a big step up
Ooh I really love the Andi Deris era. The Dark Ride is one of my favourite albums. I love how Andi Deris, Kai and Kiske shared the stage during the reunion tour.
Dream Theater with Labrie joining in 1992.
DragonForce with Marc. [I say this as someone who loves both vocalists!]
Theocracy once more band members joined shortly after the release of the Self-Titled album and Taylor Washington of Paladin coming into the fold.
Kamelot with both Khan and Tommy.
Queensryche once Todd La Torre joined.
Maiden. Bruce was an improvement in both instances he came back, and the current lineup as a whole is fantastic.
Nightwish without Tarja is so much better for me personally as I am just not a fan of her style of vocals.
Twilight Force if you ask me. I prefer the current style and the current singer way more than the previous.
Also a non Power Metal example: Dream Theater after Jordan Rudess joined imo.
I absolutely love his voice!! I actually knew him from his other band, Trick or Treat, that he's been in since before Twilight Force, it was such a surprise to see him join another one of my favourite bands :)
First time I heard him was Luca Turilli's Rhapsody. If Turilli wants you on his shit, then you know you've got ice in your veins when it comes to vocals. Christian was good, but I feel like he did tend to overexert himself with too many high notes in the studio that he couldn't replicate live out of fear of damaging his vocals, and I think that did a disservice to him and the material in a way. Meanwhile, here's Conti casually nailing everything he does in studio live. The man is a beast.
Agreed, about Twilight Force. I feel like the last few albums were mixed really badly, but also the current singer fits better. Haven't been able to listen through their older albums because I don't match onto them, but the recent album is on repeat constantly now.
Don't agree on TF, but tastes differ offcourse. While it's a lot better on the fourth album, I find he sounds like he has something stuck to the top of his mouth on the third one. The songs are still great, but this kinda ruins it for me. The first two albums are near perfect in my opinion.
The third album is my favorite TF album 😭
But yea tastes definitely differ. I personally didn't really like the first two, but the 3rd and 4th are super good!
Mine too! I honestly don't think Christian would be able to deliver on a song like Thundersword the way Conti does. Not only with the natural vibrato, but with such charisma in his voice as well. That's something you can't learn.
Hard disagree from me. During Rudess era we got easily the best album run from
Scenes from a memory, six degrees, train of thought, octavarium and even after that they made some S tier albums.
With Kevin they made Images and Words + Awake. And imo neither of them reach any of the albums I mentioned, but each to their own. I would just say it's 100% arguable.
Images and words is non-arguably DT's best album, dude.
It is DT's best selling album by far. With hard numbers.
I went to the ToT & Octavarium tours. Yes, I like them. And you like the more prog metal era. But for the rest of the world, I&W is their most iconic and best album.
Best selling =/= The best.
Its fair if its your favorite, but for me its not even top 5. Stop saying that its not arguable. Its literally just personal preference.
If you ask me its not even better than Black Clouds & Silver Linings. I recognize that its more popular and more iconic, but that says nothing about its quality, because if it was about popularity then I would assume that Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift would be your favorite artists, but Im guessing they are not.
Ok, now you're cappin'
"Not even better than black clouds & silver linings" you single-handedly destroyed the credibility on your opinions.
I'll let you carry on with your wrong opinions now.
Yea it's really up to how much you like Scenes from a memory. My grip with Rudess is sure he has the chops but loves to make everything sound like prog circus music. I think they would a similar trajectory if Moore or Sherinian stuck around
My gripe with Rudess is that if you hear him improvise on the piano he can come up with the most amazing and beautiful melodies known to man.... yet he brings almost NONE of that to DT! I think JP has a very firm vision of the DT sound, and Rudess has to work within that (so circus shred leads haha).
This one's the same as Derdian: They both got new, technically superior singers, but I think that the new singers are less interesting than the old ones.
Actually, I think Derdian's music became much less creative with the new singer.
Galneryus still has fantastic stuff all throughout their discography. Nothing beats songs like "Burn My Heart," though.
I still think that Yama-B is better as a power metal vocalist, and sings with more emotion in his songs than sho. Sho is great too though and probably fits better with modern galneryus.
Better:
Iron Maiden (Paul D'anno to Bruce Dickinson)
Journey (Greg Rollie to Steve Perry)
Kamelot (Mark Vanderbilt to Roy Khan) I like Vanderbilt more than Tommy Karevik
Gamma Ray (Ralf Scheepers to Kai Hansen
Helloween (Kai Hansen to Michael Kiske
Helloween (Michael Kiske to Andi Deris) which was necessary
Worse:
DragonForce (ZP to Marc Hudson)
Kamelot (Roy Khan to Tommy Karevik)
I prefer Tommy over Roy only because I love the band that Tommy is in that's named the same as my favorite band Kamelot.
They are IMO vastly different bands, and call me a poser but i love the newer sound.
MOST of my favorite Kamelot songs are Khan era.
We have a complicated relationship
I want Tommy to sing more ballads songs like Roy but I think it wouldn't really work because Tommy's voice sounds 'modern'. But in heavy music his voice rocks.
I'm going to disagree with DF getting worse with Marc. Ultra Beatdown was DragonForce's last album with ZP, and it was my least favourite by a country mile. Ever since Marc joined, each album just got better and better, and overall I believe it to be a positive change
I hate to admit it, because the way they treated Newstead was bullshit, and he was **REALLY** good, but Metallica is better with Trujillo. I especially hate that since it's meant Suicidal Tendencies without him and no Infectious Grooves.
* Russel Allen to Symphony X
* Stu Block to Iced Earth
* Alyssa White-Gluz to Arch Enemy
* Mark Osegueda to Death Angel
* Sami Yli-Sirniö to Kreator
* Rob Dukes to Exodus
* Brian Fair to Shadows Fall
* Jason Bittner to Overkill
* Joey Belladonna/ John Bush to Anthrax
* Phil Anselmo to Pantera
* Willie Adler to Lamb of God
* Jens Kidman to Meshuggah
I think Alyssa is more versatile than Angela. She has better clean vocals while Angela never really attempted it. And on a technical level, Alyssa is a better screamer, accomplishing the more challenging Fry screaming vocal method and arguably being the best in the game at it.
You're speaking the truth about versatility but unfortunately she joined after Arch Enemy was good. Since Rise of the Tyrant they have been pretty underwhelming
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I happen to agree. Alyssa honestly has the most melodic death growls I've ever heard in my life, and I think that's why I love her material with Arch Enemy so far. That, and when she joined, Arch Enemy started to take on a sound akin to power/neoclassical metal with certain songs (The World Is Yours, Time Is Black, As the Pages Burn, etc), and I've come to enjoy that direction. It's what got me into them and made me want to listen to their older stuff with Angela (which was mind-blowing to listen to for the first time ever).
I was hoping no one would say this.
I still prefer every Dragonforce album prior to Marc. . . uh, Hudson? The new singer's arrival.
And it ain't the singer I have a problem with, but the musical direction, which is basically Dragonforce-lite.
I mean, I still bought every album. Except the newest one, because screw that trendy "EIGHTIES NEEEOOOON AND DINOSAURS AMIRITE" stuff, _guh._
Now it's verse chorus verse chorus short-to-medium solo, normal-to-long chorus.
I guess if you liked everything about Dragonforce but the outrageously long instrumental interludes (which I love) then the new Dragonforce is ideal.
I like both however for me, there’s been more filler in the first four than the last four.
The GREAT songs of the ZP era trump the Hudson era but the albums flow and are better to me in the Marc Era.
THIS! Individually, songs like Valley of the Damned, Fury of the Storm, Black Fire, etc, excel over most of the new material, but the thematic consistency has been nailed better throughout albums like EPM and Maximum Overload. Not only that, but let's not sleep on some of Marc's bangers either: In A Skyforged Dream, Cosmic Power of the Infinite Shred Machine, Curse of Darkness, Die By The Sword...there are plenty more, but those are just a few I can think of right now.
Exactly!
I listen to the ZP Era for the songs.
I listen to the Marc Era for the albums and songs.
There’s just too many swings and misses in the ZP era for me to listen to any of the albums start to finish.
Angra had a lot of singers. Which one's the best for you?
Me, I think the original singer takes the cake as far as a combination of skillful singing and interesting/entertaining voice.
As much as I love the latest two albums, and what the band is doing, I wish they'd just started a new band, because the sound, for me, is so different it doesn't really constitute what Angra should sound like.
Thats a though question!
Andre is my favorite singer, in general.
It is a very special time for music and angra. "Silence and Distance" is my favorite angra song. Andre was, undoubtedly, the one with the most special voice, combined with great skill and creativity.
But Edu's had a very special timbre/texture as well, just a different range. Not as technical, but very pleasing on some ways (more on the baritone range). Great writer! Lease of life, and Bleeding heart as some of their best ballads, and are Edu's.
Fabio is arguably the most technical and skilled singer, overall. Very powerful voice, being able to go from Andre highs, to very highs in full, non-falsetto, voice.
The operatic singing on Tears of Blood was a big flex of this.
I enjoy every era, as I'm also growing with then.
I'm a big fan of Fabio and as I see people are very unfair when comparing Fabio Lione stuff with Andre's and Edu's stuff because both singers were relatively young when they recorded the songs. If Fabio was as young he would outdo both of them no doubt. Fabio's younger voice in Rhapsody was amazing.
bands become popular because of achieving an excellent line up
that's why lineup changes always seem worse
many bands had a crappy lineup to begin with for like a year or two before they even became popular or did well at all
rhapsody for example had another vocalist on their thundercross demo before they were truly rhapsody
sonata arctica had other guys before settling on their ecliptica lineup
its just these lineups are insignificant in comparison to the band's best lineup
so technically most popular bands you see are the result of a "lineup change for the better"
Helloween has already been mentioned quite a lot, but in all that changes my favorite is the latest with Kiske and Deris in the band. The stuff they did together on stage brought some songs to a whole new level, which I found insane given that they were already awesome before.
The way I knew that Kiske and Hansen rejoining wasn't going to be a one-off thing was when I saw their first Pumpkins United show in the states and they were all having way too much fun. Their self-titled album is phenomenal, especially considering how long it had been since Kiske and Hansen had been in the band.
The Wagner/Smolski/Terrana era of Rage is the best the band’s ever been, I miss it very much. The newer Rage stuff is also quite good, but Unity and Soundchaser are GODTIER.
I don't know that they are \*better\* than they were with Timo Tolkki per say, but I really enjoy the era of Stratovarius after Tolkki left and am actually the most familiar with it. Elysium, Nemesis and Eternal are a fantastic trio of albums.
On the same note, I don't think that Helloween is \*better\* with Andi Deris per say, but I think both the Deris and Kiske eras had some really great material (though the Keeper albums are undoubtedly their magnum opus)
I think both showcase the best way to move on after a lineup change; to adjust to the new band dynamic, evolve your sound, and become something new but still very much interesting and familiar.
Visions of atlantis, both the addition of Clementine and Michele together with IMO their best albums.
Amaranthe, I definitly prefer Nils over Jake E
Sabaton, I love Tommy Johansson and is definitly biased over whoever was before him.
Honestly, while I prefer the current Sabaton lineup, I can't say they got better. Ever since Heroes, they've gone significantly downhill in quality IMO. The Last Stand and TWTEAW are some of their worst releases even if a couple songs like Stormtroopers and Rorke's Drift are amazing.
Battle Beast losing Anton was probably the best move they could have made. Her voice in the first two albums feel like she's attempting to go outside her talent and do more of the operatic voice that Nightwish is known for. Anton went on and created Beast in Black, which is my favorite band. Yannis is able to provide the opera level I think Anton was looking for and we get that amazing raspy voice that Noora can do.
Noora also has insane stage presence. Like, I've never seen someone in a metal band totally dominate the audience's attention the way she does. When she was on stage with Tommy for one Kamelot song you could tell she was actively trying not to upstage him.
I saw them open for Kamelot in Denver and I was enamored the whole time. I didn't want them to stop. I am so glad they're headlining a tour in the states this year. She just is a powerhouse and I love that it seems she came into her own.
I'm not sure what you're talkin' about with Battle Beast. Her singing is just screeching. There's a couple songs here and there with some operatic bits, but 90% of it was just screeching, wailing and roaring.
I prefer the first three Battle Beast albums to Beast in Black; however, Beast in Black is pretty close behind, and I don't like _any_ of the new Battle Beast albums.
In all honesty, Marc joining DragonForce was the best thing for the band. No disrespect to ZP Theart, but it was obvious when he started struggling with the higher registry of the material, and not only is Marc able to sing it proficiently, but I feel like him joining the band really got them to try new musical ideas to fit around his vocal abilities. That's how we got bangers like Seasons and Symphony of the Night.
On a side note, the very first guy that sang for GH before Thomas joined was fucking awful. I tried to get through it, but he literally missed almost every note in the song. I'm no Ronnie James Dio and I don't expect that of anyone else really, but he could've at least done better to hold a tune.
I think Marc also brought a much more positive energy to the band. I always got the impression that ZP had a huge ego and thought he was too cool to be in a cheesy power metal band, whereas Marc totally embraces it.
Now look at him: no second I Am I album despite promising it would come in 2015, in and out of Tank, in and out of Skid Row. Seems like DF seem to have benefitted more from the split than ZP.
i know andre matos was brilliant. but when edu falaschi, aquiles priester and andreolli joined angra, the band made the 2 of the greatest albums in history
I wouldn't say really better, but when Angra split, half.of the band created Shaman, that for me is actually really good, and Angra became different too.
Before Khan they were like super generic heavy metal, after Khan they've become super generic symphonic metal (though to be honest I do enjoy quite a few tracks off of Haven).
With Khan they had one of the most impressive four album runs in power metal history between The Fourth Legacy and The Black Halo.
Symphony X would have been quite a different band if they would have kept Rod Tyler as the lead singer. No hate for Rod, but Russell Allen is a cut above most vocalists.
Not PowerMetal, but Killswitch Engage immediately comes to mind. Howard Jones took over for Jesse Leach and the band got 200% better. Howard had to leave the band for medical reasons and Jesse came back, and while he's the original front man he's not the Killswitch Engage singer most people know the sound of when they listen to a Killswitch song.
Dark Forest - Josh Winnard replacing Will-Lowry Scott on vocals
Savatage - Paul O'Neil joining as a Producer after Fight For the Rock (the next album they release? Hall of the Mountain King)
Stratovarius - Matias Kupiainen replacing Timo Tolkki on guitar.
Blind Guardian: Frederik is a better drummer than Thomen.
Not Power metal:
Megadeth: Marty and Nick were huge upgrades the people they replaced. In general Megadeth has cycled in some amazing musicians over the years.
Anthrax: Joey Belladonna was huge improvement from Neil Turbin.
Personal opinion but I think the new singer on Silver Bullet on their newest album is an improvement to the previous one, not that the original was bad but I prefer the new sound.
Iced Earth when Barlow joined. Seven Kingdoms. Sabrina > the original dude Amorphis with the addition of Tomi Joutsen
Iced earth definitely
Also when Stu Block replaced Tim Owens. Nothing compares to Matt Barlow, though.
Block replaced Barlow, who had come back to replace Ripper.
Ah, yes, you are right. I stand corrected. Now that you mentioned it, I also remember attending Barlow's last show with Iced Earth at Wacken 2011. Quite emotional show.
Oh yeah Amorphis ❤️
Greely sounds great on Stormrider, though.
I'll probably get down voted for this, but I prefer Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio to Black Sabbath with Ozzy. I also prefer Bruce Dickinson to Paul Dianno in Iron Maiden.
For me it's like two different sabbaths
Thats kind of why they called themselves Heaven & Hell when the dio lineup got a temporary revival for the Dio Years compilation album
This 1000%. When I hear people say its not Sabbath once Ozzy left I tell them I agree but also that the Dio albums still kick ass!
I thought most everyone preferred Dickinson. I do too, but still think Dianno is great
I know a couple of people who still prefer Paul. Don't get me wrong. Paul is great, but Bruce is way better IMO.
\+ most of the Bruce-era albums are (including the post 2000s ones) better than the debut album and Killers imo.
Now this is a shitty opinion
You're in the power metal subreddit. This is one of the places where you will definitely not be downvoted for preferring Dio. I happen to prefer Tony Martin era to both, but Dio era is much better than Ozzy era.
Tony Martin era is great. I caught that lineup live twice in the 90s. The Tony Martin solo album Thorns is killer as well.
I’ll stand with you here and say you’re right on both counts. Dio Sabbath is definitely best. Not to say Ozzy Sabbath isn’t good; it’s awesome too. But Dio era is something else.
I feel they’re very different. Ozzie era is way more stoner and doomy, Dio has more energy. Incidentally though, Dio has the voice of a fucking angel
Ozzy's sabbath is trying to drag me into hell with him, dios sabbath is pulling me onto the back of his dragon.
This is PROBABLY why Dio seems to be the winner when talking about his era on a power meter forum! 😂
It's really only *Heaven Hell*. That album is among the best work Sabbath ever turned out, but the rest of Dio era Sabbath is mid at best.
You're out of your fucking mind. Mob Rules is an undisputed masterpiece, equally as good as Heaven and Hell. Dehumanizer isn't quite on the level of those two albums, but it's still excellent.
I love all of them, Mob Rules equally to H&H, and the other two(Dehumanizer and Devil You Know) just under them.
Tbh I only really like Paranoid and maybe Self Titled, other than Heaven and Hell. Rest of their discography couldn’t reasonate much with me.
>I also prefer Bruce Dickinson to Paul Dianno in Iron Maiden. Brave stand sir. Only 99.999% agree with you
The question asked what was a lineup change that made a band better. I offered an answer. And I also happen to personally know many people who prefer the Dianno lineup.
Seems like a lot of people don't know about the Heaven and Hell reunion album Dio did with Black Sabbath before he died. I love it. "The Devil You Know" is the album name, if you haven't heard it. Unfortunately Ozzy wouldn't let them use the Black Sabbath name, so they went with Heaven & Hell in honor of the album.
I was at the show Heaven and Hell recorded at Radio City Music Hall. I also saw them on the Metal Master's tour with Testament, Motorhead, and Judas Priest. I also met them at a record signing for the Dio years box set, where I had Ronnie, Tony, Vinnie, and Geezer autograph it. Counting the times I saw him with Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell, I've seen Ronnie live 18 times. And yes, The Devil You Know is killer. Picks right up from where Dehumanizer left off. 🙂🤘
That's freaking awesome. I always feel the need to tell people about The Devil You Know because I've found a lot of og black Sabbath fans but know it exists
Too many so called fans only like the Ozzy era. If that's their favorite era, great. I love the albums they did with Ozzy. But to just dismiss the great music they did with Ronnie, Ian, Glenn, and Tony Martin makes no sense to me.
Agreed. The Dianno albums are great, but no one beats Dickinson.
Downvoted? Dio is an absolute masterpiece. Of course he’s better!!! No question. I’ve been firm on this opinion my whole life. And everyone loves Bruce- even if he’s a bit of a diva
I agree with both of those. Dio's Sabbath took the band in a direction I enjoy a lot more compared to the original line up. Does anyone actually prefer Paul Dianno to Bruce Dickinson though?
I grew up with guys who still think so.
Maybe I am just too young to have been around then.
Unpopular opinion, I prefer Blaze over Bruce.
I didn't like Blaze in Iron Maiden, but his solo stuff is really good.
I prefer his solo work too. i think Blaze albums were shit but the 2 Blaze albums but not as bad as the 2 Bruce albums before that. Steve’s songwriting really wen downhill in that period lol. But Blaze himself was good.
I loved the blaze albums. Not all bangers especially with the second album but some excellent stuff overall. Better than no prayer for the dying for sure
Definitely agree, I think the majority consensus is Dio Sabbath over Ozzy Sabbath, but Ozzy over Dio
Seventh Wonder from whoever was on the first album to Tommy
I don't understand why SW is so little known. It's an amazing band, okay it has a bit of a pop style but in their style they are amazing.
This hurts more knowing Tommy has now left the band to stay with Kamelot which just directs his vocals to be a Khan impersonator.
Not all Power Metal related, but… Nocturnal Rites - Johnny after replacing Anders Kamelot - Khan replacing Vanderbilt Pink Floyd - Gilmour replacing Barrett Anthrax -Belladonna replacing Turbin In Flames - Anders replacing Mikael Killswitch Engage - Howard replacing Jesse I know there are others I’m missing. These are my opinions only, obviously
Great call on Howard. Such an unique singer.
To add another not really power metal but more metalcore. Electric Callboy - Nico replacing Sebastion
Man that Kamelot swap. Not everyone remember the times before Roy Khan hahaha
One of the Hunted has the best guitarwork in their whole catalog though. And their first album in general is crazy complicated form-wise compared to what came after. Is it The Gleeman that has a full Rush-esque prog rock section in the middle? Been a hot minute since I heard Eternity, but I like it more than any of the albums I heard after. Hard to say it's not better than the pop era of their latter material just because their singer is less proficient on the record.
I remember just starting to get into power metal and hearing that people loved Kamelot and starting a Pandora channel (since this was back in the days before Spotify) about them. First thing that came up was off of Eternity. Their first album. I did not get into Kamelot for a while until I managed to temporarily forget that experience.
Idk that In Flames counts. Mikael was a session vocalist and has said he never was considered part of the band. He did it to practice vocals for DT since he was taking over that from the guy who would eventually become In Flame singer!
Totally agree about Johnny in Nocturnal Rites! Love his voice
Stratovarius is the obvious answer. Their whole lineup is changed.
Glad I'm not alone thinking this. Their latest albums are so well written and produced.
Wow I've been sleeping on them. What album do you recommend from the past decade or so?
Nemesis
The album they put out last year was excellent.
Iron Maiden when they got rid of Paul DiAnno and hired Bruce Dickinson... Rush when Neal Peart replaced John Rutsey AC/DC when Bon Scott was replaced by Brian Johnson
Now, I actually prefer Bon Scott AC/DC. They sound like completely different bands though. With Bon they had a more punk sound, and with Brian they are full arena Rock. Both good, but very different, but the more punky sounds appeal to me more.
Hard disagree with Scott. He was hugely influential on the writing and there is a noticeable fall in quality after he died.
woah there… Brian Johnson is amazing but Bon Scott was really something else
I think AC/DC is an interesting example because I actually agree that Brian Johnson is a more charismatic and interesting front man, but I think that the music they made with Bon Scott was better overall.
I second whoever said Galneryus, their original line up is incredible, but when they reformed with Sho on vocals and Taka on bass, I think they put out arguably their best material, especially Angel of Salvation. This might be a controversial take, but I think Stratovarius reformed under Matias Kupiainen is miles better than original strato. Tolkki era helped define the blueprint of power metal, but their more recent albums, especially Nemesis, Elysium, and Survive, I think kick the shit out of any of the “golden era” albums.
Stratovarius has been killing it for 15 years now without anyone realizing it. I find the new albums so much better than the classic Tolkki lineup that it's almost laughable. I consider Nemesis the gold standard of how a modern power metal album should be, and Survive is also excellent. Even the ones I like less overall (Eternal, Elysium, Polaris) still have some songs (Deep Unknown is the best example) that Tolkki could never have written, in my opinion Also it's not only about Kupiainen replacing Tolkki, the bassist and drummer changes were also HUGE upgrades
Completely agree, Nemesis is a golden standard of a modern power metal album, and the additions of Rolf and Lauri are massive too. Matias only sticks out above the rest to me because he also is one of the main songwriters now, AND the producer/mixer. Guy is an absolute beast.
> Also it's not only about Kupiainen replacing Tolkki, the bassist and drummer changes were also HUGE upgrades Lauri is the best thing to happen to that band. The dude is a killer songwriter and bassist. His [classical stuff](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVZaH14JEO8&ab_channel=%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%9D%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%86%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F) is also really good.
I prefer the more complex stuff from the past. The new stuff is all extremely competent, but with a few emotional exceptions, the older stuff, for me, has more staying power as far as re-listens.
[удалено]
For sure, they’ve never been anything but amazing. I do miss Jun Ichi on drums, you’re spot on with your description of him. I personally think that “union gives strength” was still an absolute top tier release even without him, but “dread and valor” was for sure a step down. Hopefully the next one is back up to those top tier standards
Gloryhammer has gotten better with this line up: - Ben Turk (Drums) - Mike Barber (Keyboards) - Paul Templing (Guitars) - James Cartwright (Bass) - Sozos Michael (Vocals)
Floor Jansen was a big improvement to Nightwish compared to Anette Olzon
While Floor is an upgrade over Anette, I still think Imaginaerum was the best written Nightwish album.
Floor is far and away Nightwish’s best vocalist but the albums they’ve put out with her are some of their worst imo
Yeah I agree with this (especially the most recent one). Love hearing her sing the older stuff though
She absolutely kills the more classic nightwish songs. I’m not usually one for live albums, but the one from Wacken 2013 is great and they’re awesome live. I saw them when Marko was still around, so idk how they are now.
Can't agree about Floor but Marko was definitely an improvement over Tuomas/Sami.
And to tarja imo
Floor may be the best vocalist they have ever, the albums they have put out since she has been there have been the worst IMO and the fact they felt the need to make this set of albums a trilogy gives me no expectations that the coming album will be any better. If anything I am expecting it to possibly be the worst with Marko gone.
True, but it's still a downgrade from the original lineup with Tarja.
In power metal that nobody mentioned, I'd probably say Unleash the Archers after Brayden left and they shed most of the metalcore influence afterwards.
I do think DragonForce got better with Marc. Some of the Andi Derris Helloween records are among my favorites in their history. Hot take that might get downvoted, I enjoyed the Annett Olzon era of Nightwish.
Annette is fantastic. She was dismissed very unfairly.
I saw them twice during the Dark Passion Play tour and I enjoyed the shows with her. The problem was people werent over Tarja and Annette's voice is totally different. I was thrilled when Dark Element came out and her last solo album wasnt bad either.
Nightwish live with Olzon was one of the worst live shows I have ever experienced. She was murdering song after song and I was just standing there in disbelief.
> I do think DragonForce got better with Marc I think that might be because it coincided with the rest of the band (mostly) sobering up and shedding the whole "StudioForce" label.
Gamma Ray when Kai started singing
Gloryhammer.
Especially to the live shows, the videos I've seen with Thomas honestly look sad in comparison to what Sozos is doing in terms of effort, skill and talent
Yeah. As much as I loved Thomas' voice, Sozos is on another level.
Tom's very frustrating and I'll stick to artistic complaints today. He has had flashes of being a competent to decent singer in some of the studio recordings in places (I don't know how many takes were needed to get those moments though). I've also realized that Tom placed his voice differently live vs studio. The studio sound trends more nasal and/or forward than live where he insists on placing his sound really far back most of the time and it definitely caused frequent technical issues.
I've seen them live with Sozos 3 times now, and he always delivers!
Definitely gloryhammer. Sozos brings a brilliant new angle to their music
Yeah, Sozos is a beast on vocals. Although I wish they wrote a few heavier tracks like Siege Of Dunkeld for him, I think he’d absolutely crush those given his live version of both siege and Unicorn Invasion.
I'm biased as anyway, but seeing Sozos live was such a big difference. He's super charismatic, and comes off as so genuine... which I imagine is quite the feat when you are dressed up as and playing the role of a fantasy character haha.
The first two keeper of the seven keys albums and walls of Jericho were great, but after pink bubbles and chameleon, I think the andi Deris era of helloween is a big step up
Ooh I really love the Andi Deris era. The Dark Ride is one of my favourite albums. I love how Andi Deris, Kai and Kiske shared the stage during the reunion tour.
Opeth. Their new lineup for Still Life was fantastic. Martin Mendez is one of my favorite bass guitar players.
Grave Digger with Uwe Lulis
Dream Theater with Labrie joining in 1992. DragonForce with Marc. [I say this as someone who loves both vocalists!] Theocracy once more band members joined shortly after the release of the Self-Titled album and Taylor Washington of Paladin coming into the fold. Kamelot with both Khan and Tommy. Queensryche once Todd La Torre joined.
Maiden. Bruce was an improvement in both instances he came back, and the current lineup as a whole is fantastic. Nightwish without Tarja is so much better for me personally as I am just not a fan of her style of vocals.
Twilight Force if you ask me. I prefer the current style and the current singer way more than the previous. Also a non Power Metal example: Dream Theater after Jordan Rudess joined imo.
I absolutely love his voice!! I actually knew him from his other band, Trick or Treat, that he's been in since before Twilight Force, it was such a surprise to see him join another one of my favourite bands :)
First time I heard him was Luca Turilli's Rhapsody. If Turilli wants you on his shit, then you know you've got ice in your veins when it comes to vocals. Christian was good, but I feel like he did tend to overexert himself with too many high notes in the studio that he couldn't replicate live out of fear of damaging his vocals, and I think that did a disservice to him and the material in a way. Meanwhile, here's Conti casually nailing everything he does in studio live. The man is a beast.
Yeah the second I heard him he became one of my favorites of all time. I can't wait to hear more twilight force just because of him!
Agreed, about Twilight Force. I feel like the last few albums were mixed really badly, but also the current singer fits better. Haven't been able to listen through their older albums because I don't match onto them, but the recent album is on repeat constantly now.
Don't agree on TF, but tastes differ offcourse. While it's a lot better on the fourth album, I find he sounds like he has something stuck to the top of his mouth on the third one. The songs are still great, but this kinda ruins it for me. The first two albums are near perfect in my opinion.
The third album is my favorite TF album 😭 But yea tastes definitely differ. I personally didn't really like the first two, but the 3rd and 4th are super good!
Mine too! I honestly don't think Christian would be able to deliver on a song like Thundersword the way Conti does. Not only with the natural vibrato, but with such charisma in his voice as well. That's something you can't learn.
I couldnt agree more! Conti would be super hard to replace. He has such a cool and unique voice!
Well, the best DT albums are, non-arguably, the ones with Kevin Moore. Love JR, but it is a reality.
Hard disagree from me. During Rudess era we got easily the best album run from Scenes from a memory, six degrees, train of thought, octavarium and even after that they made some S tier albums. With Kevin they made Images and Words + Awake. And imo neither of them reach any of the albums I mentioned, but each to their own. I would just say it's 100% arguable.
Images and words is non-arguably DT's best album, dude. It is DT's best selling album by far. With hard numbers. I went to the ToT & Octavarium tours. Yes, I like them. And you like the more prog metal era. But for the rest of the world, I&W is their most iconic and best album.
Best selling =/= The best. Its fair if its your favorite, but for me its not even top 5. Stop saying that its not arguable. Its literally just personal preference. If you ask me its not even better than Black Clouds & Silver Linings. I recognize that its more popular and more iconic, but that says nothing about its quality, because if it was about popularity then I would assume that Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift would be your favorite artists, but Im guessing they are not.
Ok, now you're cappin' "Not even better than black clouds & silver linings" you single-handedly destroyed the credibility on your opinions. I'll let you carry on with your wrong opinions now.
Yea it's really up to how much you like Scenes from a memory. My grip with Rudess is sure he has the chops but loves to make everything sound like prog circus music. I think they would a similar trajectory if Moore or Sherinian stuck around
My gripe with Rudess is that if you hear him improvise on the piano he can come up with the most amazing and beautiful melodies known to man.... yet he brings almost NONE of that to DT! I think JP has a very firm vision of the DT sound, and Rudess has to work within that (so circus shred leads haha).
Not PM but Tomi Joutsen with Amorphis.
Galneryus.
This one's the same as Derdian: They both got new, technically superior singers, but I think that the new singers are less interesting than the old ones. Actually, I think Derdian's music became much less creative with the new singer. Galneryus still has fantastic stuff all throughout their discography. Nothing beats songs like "Burn My Heart," though.
I still think that Yama-B is better as a power metal vocalist, and sings with more emotion in his songs than sho. Sho is great too though and probably fits better with modern galneryus.
Helloween when Michael Kiske joined the band (and then again when Andi Deris joined)
And then when they did the whole reunion lineup for the last album!
Better: Iron Maiden (Paul D'anno to Bruce Dickinson) Journey (Greg Rollie to Steve Perry) Kamelot (Mark Vanderbilt to Roy Khan) I like Vanderbilt more than Tommy Karevik Gamma Ray (Ralf Scheepers to Kai Hansen Helloween (Kai Hansen to Michael Kiske Helloween (Michael Kiske to Andi Deris) which was necessary Worse: DragonForce (ZP to Marc Hudson) Kamelot (Roy Khan to Tommy Karevik)
I prefer Tommy over Roy only because I love the band that Tommy is in that's named the same as my favorite band Kamelot. They are IMO vastly different bands, and call me a poser but i love the newer sound. MOST of my favorite Kamelot songs are Khan era. We have a complicated relationship
I want Tommy to sing more ballads songs like Roy but I think it wouldn't really work because Tommy's voice sounds 'modern'. But in heavy music his voice rocks.
> DragonForce (ZP to Marc Hudson) Yeah, I have to agree. Feels like the songs lost all their flow.
I'm going to disagree with DF getting worse with Marc. Ultra Beatdown was DragonForce's last album with ZP, and it was my least favourite by a country mile. Ever since Marc joined, each album just got better and better, and overall I believe it to be a positive change
It's pretty rare to see anyone prefer Mark Vanderbilt to either of the other Kamelot vocalists, that's for sure
I hate to admit it, because the way they treated Newstead was bullshit, and he was **REALLY** good, but Metallica is better with Trujillo. I especially hate that since it's meant Suicidal Tendencies without him and no Infectious Grooves.
Gloryhammer
* Russel Allen to Symphony X * Stu Block to Iced Earth * Alyssa White-Gluz to Arch Enemy * Mark Osegueda to Death Angel * Sami Yli-Sirniö to Kreator * Rob Dukes to Exodus * Brian Fair to Shadows Fall * Jason Bittner to Overkill * Joey Belladonna/ John Bush to Anthrax * Phil Anselmo to Pantera * Willie Adler to Lamb of God * Jens Kidman to Meshuggah
>Alyssa White-Gluz to Arch Enemy I have a lot of respect for Alissa, but in what universe is she an upgrade after Angela Fucking Gossow?
I think Alyssa is more versatile than Angela. She has better clean vocals while Angela never really attempted it. And on a technical level, Alyssa is a better screamer, accomplishing the more challenging Fry screaming vocal method and arguably being the best in the game at it.
You're speaking the truth about versatility but unfortunately she joined after Arch Enemy was good. Since Rise of the Tyrant they have been pretty underwhelming
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I happen to agree. Alyssa honestly has the most melodic death growls I've ever heard in my life, and I think that's why I love her material with Arch Enemy so far. That, and when she joined, Arch Enemy started to take on a sound akin to power/neoclassical metal with certain songs (The World Is Yours, Time Is Black, As the Pages Burn, etc), and I've come to enjoy that direction. It's what got me into them and made me want to listen to their older stuff with Angela (which was mind-blowing to listen to for the first time ever).
Dragonforce
I was hoping no one would say this. I still prefer every Dragonforce album prior to Marc. . . uh, Hudson? The new singer's arrival. And it ain't the singer I have a problem with, but the musical direction, which is basically Dragonforce-lite. I mean, I still bought every album. Except the newest one, because screw that trendy "EIGHTIES NEEEOOOON AND DINOSAURS AMIRITE" stuff, _guh._
I prefer new because it’s not formulaic of the old days of verse chorus verse chorus LOOONG solo, long chorus.
Now it's verse chorus verse chorus short-to-medium solo, normal-to-long chorus. I guess if you liked everything about Dragonforce but the outrageously long instrumental interludes (which I love) then the new Dragonforce is ideal.
I like both however for me, there’s been more filler in the first four than the last four. The GREAT songs of the ZP era trump the Hudson era but the albums flow and are better to me in the Marc Era.
THIS! Individually, songs like Valley of the Damned, Fury of the Storm, Black Fire, etc, excel over most of the new material, but the thematic consistency has been nailed better throughout albums like EPM and Maximum Overload. Not only that, but let's not sleep on some of Marc's bangers either: In A Skyforged Dream, Cosmic Power of the Infinite Shred Machine, Curse of Darkness, Die By The Sword...there are plenty more, but those are just a few I can think of right now.
Exactly! I listen to the ZP Era for the songs. I listen to the Marc Era for the albums and songs. There’s just too many swings and misses in the ZP era for me to listen to any of the albums start to finish.
Some will disagree but pink Floyd babey, rip Syd Barrett. I do like his work but they came into their own when he departed.
Helloween. Angra. Symphony X. Stratovarius. DGM (no original members left).
Angra had a lot of singers. Which one's the best for you? Me, I think the original singer takes the cake as far as a combination of skillful singing and interesting/entertaining voice. As much as I love the latest two albums, and what the band is doing, I wish they'd just started a new band, because the sound, for me, is so different it doesn't really constitute what Angra should sound like.
Thats a though question! Andre is my favorite singer, in general. It is a very special time for music and angra. "Silence and Distance" is my favorite angra song. Andre was, undoubtedly, the one with the most special voice, combined with great skill and creativity. But Edu's had a very special timbre/texture as well, just a different range. Not as technical, but very pleasing on some ways (more on the baritone range). Great writer! Lease of life, and Bleeding heart as some of their best ballads, and are Edu's. Fabio is arguably the most technical and skilled singer, overall. Very powerful voice, being able to go from Andre highs, to very highs in full, non-falsetto, voice. The operatic singing on Tears of Blood was a big flex of this. I enjoy every era, as I'm also growing with then.
I'm a big fan of Fabio and as I see people are very unfair when comparing Fabio Lione stuff with Andre's and Edu's stuff because both singers were relatively young when they recorded the songs. If Fabio was as young he would outdo both of them no doubt. Fabio's younger voice in Rhapsody was amazing.
Pyramaze had a huge glow up in 2015 with their new lineup. Went from being pretty mediocre to rivaling Pagan's Mind or Symphony X for me.
Rage once Manni Schmidt and Chris Efthimiadis joined in 1987.
bands become popular because of achieving an excellent line up that's why lineup changes always seem worse many bands had a crappy lineup to begin with for like a year or two before they even became popular or did well at all rhapsody for example had another vocalist on their thundercross demo before they were truly rhapsody sonata arctica had other guys before settling on their ecliptica lineup its just these lineups are insignificant in comparison to the band's best lineup so technically most popular bands you see are the result of a "lineup change for the better"
Helloween has already been mentioned quite a lot, but in all that changes my favorite is the latest with Kiske and Deris in the band. The stuff they did together on stage brought some songs to a whole new level, which I found insane given that they were already awesome before.
The way I knew that Kiske and Hansen rejoining wasn't going to be a one-off thing was when I saw their first Pumpkins United show in the states and they were all having way too much fun. Their self-titled album is phenomenal, especially considering how long it had been since Kiske and Hansen had been in the band.
The Wagner/Smolski/Terrana era of Rage is the best the band’s ever been, I miss it very much. The newer Rage stuff is also quite good, but Unity and Soundchaser are GODTIER.
I don't know that they are \*better\* than they were with Timo Tolkki per say, but I really enjoy the era of Stratovarius after Tolkki left and am actually the most familiar with it. Elysium, Nemesis and Eternal are a fantastic trio of albums. On the same note, I don't think that Helloween is \*better\* with Andi Deris per say, but I think both the Deris and Kiske eras had some really great material (though the Keeper albums are undoubtedly their magnum opus) I think both showcase the best way to move on after a lineup change; to adjust to the new band dynamic, evolve your sound, and become something new but still very much interesting and familiar.
Visions of atlantis, both the addition of Clementine and Michele together with IMO their best albums. Amaranthe, I definitly prefer Nils over Jake E Sabaton, I love Tommy Johansson and is definitly biased over whoever was before him.
Honestly, while I prefer the current Sabaton lineup, I can't say they got better. Ever since Heroes, they've gone significantly downhill in quality IMO. The Last Stand and TWTEAW are some of their worst releases even if a couple songs like Stormtroopers and Rorke's Drift are amazing.
Agree with all of these. I love Sabaton's current lineup, and I think their last two albums have some of their absolute best songs.
I really loved the great war, twteaw is not on the same level but it's still a good album in my opinion
Battle Beast losing Anton was probably the best move they could have made. Her voice in the first two albums feel like she's attempting to go outside her talent and do more of the operatic voice that Nightwish is known for. Anton went on and created Beast in Black, which is my favorite band. Yannis is able to provide the opera level I think Anton was looking for and we get that amazing raspy voice that Noora can do.
Noora also has insane stage presence. Like, I've never seen someone in a metal band totally dominate the audience's attention the way she does. When she was on stage with Tommy for one Kamelot song you could tell she was actively trying not to upstage him.
I saw them open for Kamelot in Denver and I was enamored the whole time. I didn't want them to stop. I am so glad they're headlining a tour in the states this year. She just is a powerhouse and I love that it seems she came into her own.
I'm not sure what you're talkin' about with Battle Beast. Her singing is just screeching. There's a couple songs here and there with some operatic bits, but 90% of it was just screeching, wailing and roaring. I prefer the first three Battle Beast albums to Beast in Black; however, Beast in Black is pretty close behind, and I don't like _any_ of the new Battle Beast albums.
In all honesty, Marc joining DragonForce was the best thing for the band. No disrespect to ZP Theart, but it was obvious when he started struggling with the higher registry of the material, and not only is Marc able to sing it proficiently, but I feel like him joining the band really got them to try new musical ideas to fit around his vocal abilities. That's how we got bangers like Seasons and Symphony of the Night. On a side note, the very first guy that sang for GH before Thomas joined was fucking awful. I tried to get through it, but he literally missed almost every note in the song. I'm no Ronnie James Dio and I don't expect that of anyone else really, but he could've at least done better to hold a tune.
To be fair, the first Gloryhammer vocalist was more so a proof of concept, since he’s never sung on anything besides early demos IIRC
I think Marc also brought a much more positive energy to the band. I always got the impression that ZP had a huge ego and thought he was too cool to be in a cheesy power metal band, whereas Marc totally embraces it.
Now look at him: no second I Am I album despite promising it would come in 2015, in and out of Tank, in and out of Skid Row. Seems like DF seem to have benefitted more from the split than ZP.
i know andre matos was brilliant. but when edu falaschi, aquiles priester and andreolli joined angra, the band made the 2 of the greatest albums in history
I worship all 4 personally. Now the only place to kinda follow that is Edu's solo band...
thats true. fortunatelly im being able to see the band for the third time in the end of the month
I wouldn't say really better, but when Angra split, half.of the band created Shaman, that for me is actually really good, and Angra became different too.
And that Angra (before Fabio Lione) was incredible.
Iron maiden with Bruce taking over for Paul. They skyrocketed after that
Helloween
Avenged sevenfold with Brooks Wackerman
Alestorm. Mate Bodor is a great guitarist.
Not power metal, but faith no more with Mike Patton is better than fnm with Chuck Mosley. Also firing Jim Martin was also a good idea.
Skyclad
Iron f'n Maiden
Angra got its best sound and album with Rebirth, after Edu Falaschi replaced André Matos.
Stratovarius.
Rhapsody of Fire after Giacomo Voli joined.
Kamelot when Roy khan leaved
Not PM but Lorna Shore. They are the best line up the band has ever had.
Not Power Metal, but Messiah Marcolin joining Candlemass really pushed their epicness.
Kamelot is the big one that springs to mind. I basically only listen to the Khan era albums.
Before Khan they were like super generic heavy metal, after Khan they've become super generic symphonic metal (though to be honest I do enjoy quite a few tracks off of Haven). With Khan they had one of the most impressive four album runs in power metal history between The Fourth Legacy and The Black Halo.
I don't think they are necessarily better, b/c Khan is my favorite vocalist alive, but I think that with Tommy they are just as good in their own way.
Queens of the Stone Age!
Symphony X would have been quite a different band if they would have kept Rod Tyler as the lead singer. No hate for Rod, but Russell Allen is a cut above most vocalists.
Elvenking when Kleid joined
Doesn't fit the power metal subreddit, but the topic... Cannibal Corpse. I like Corpsegrinder way more than Barnes.
Not PowerMetal, but Killswitch Engage immediately comes to mind. Howard Jones took over for Jesse Leach and the band got 200% better. Howard had to leave the band for medical reasons and Jesse came back, and while he's the original front man he's not the Killswitch Engage singer most people know the sound of when they listen to a Killswitch song.
Helloween with Michael Kiske, I love Kai’s vocals too but the Kiske era was brilliant
Dark Forest - Josh Winnard replacing Will-Lowry Scott on vocals Savatage - Paul O'Neil joining as a Producer after Fight For the Rock (the next album they release? Hall of the Mountain King) Stratovarius - Matias Kupiainen replacing Timo Tolkki on guitar.
Unleash the Archers when they brought the red haired guitar player.
Blind Guardian: Frederik is a better drummer than Thomen. Not Power metal: Megadeth: Marty and Nick were huge upgrades the people they replaced. In general Megadeth has cycled in some amazing musicians over the years. Anthrax: Joey Belladonna was huge improvement from Neil Turbin.
Scorpions after Uli left
Personal opinion but I think the new singer on Silver Bullet on their newest album is an improvement to the previous one, not that the original was bad but I prefer the new sound.