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[Metallus Maximus]

Metallus Maximus � Maximus Archivus � Classic Album Of The Day Archive (Moderator: Hellboy)
Classic Album of the weekend 09/21/08: King Diamond-- Conspiracy

[zekeyou]

I believe this album to be the strongest King Diamond effort-- it's easily my favorite, but I also think this album totally put all the pieces together.  I'm definitely not detracting from Fatal Portrait or Them or the super-classic Abigail, but everything about this release  made me a ravenous fan of his solo stuff, whereas his previous stuff had me interested but not really seething.  The story, songwriting, the flow-- to me it's one of those few *perfect* concept albums-- LaRocque and King really seemed to be peaking here.

I'm not really sure where this album stands with others in relation to the early solo KD, so I'd be curious to see how others rank the first 5 full-length albums.  I'm including "The Eye" in there as that's often considered to be one of his hidden gems, and it also comes on the heels of Conspiracy and many years before his next proper release.

Favorite song:  tie between Sleepless Nights and The Wedding Dream

First 5 KD rankings:
1) Conspiracy
2) Abigail
3) Them
4) Fatal Portrait
5) The Eye

[Venom]

this is a really good consistent album but does not hold a candle to his first 3 to me.

Here is my ranking of the first 5 King Diamond albums:
1] Fatal Portrait
2] Abigail
3] Them
4] Conspiracy
5] The Eye

[COFFINCAR!!]

Incredible album, and it's also the one that really grabbed me and made me a ravenous fan of his solo stuff. 

That said, it didn't end up being my favorite of the "classic" years:

1. Them
2. Abigail
3. Fatal Portrait
4. Conspiracy
5. The Eye

However, ask me tomorrow and numbers 2, 3, and 4 will probably be different. 

[ecwfan666]

I dunno, Conspiracy and The Eye are tied for me, with the latter being his last truly great album, all the rest after have been subpar.  Although The Spiders Lullabye is great, it still doesn't have the "it" factor of the older albums.

[zekeyou]

I dunno, Conspiracy and The Eye are tied for me, with the latter being his last truly great album, all the rest after have been subpar.  Although The Spiders Lullabye is great, it still doesn't have the "it" factor of the older albums.

Have you checked out "A Tribute to The Spider's Lullabye"?

http://www.myspace.com/thespiderslullabye

[COFFINCAR!!]

I dunno, Conspiracy and The Eye are tied for me, with the latter being his last truly great album, all the rest after have been subpar.  Although The Spiders Lullabye is great, it still doesn't have the "it" factor of the older albums.

Have you checked out "A Tribute to The Spider's Lullabye"?

http://www.myspace.com/thespiderslullabye

Those guys.  Total posers! 

[ecwfan666]

I dunno, Conspiracy and The Eye are tied for me, with the latter being his last truly great album, all the rest after have been subpar.  Although The Spiders Lullabye is great, it still doesn't have the "it" factor of the older albums.

Have you checked out "A Tribute to The Spider's Lullabye"?

http://www.myspace.com/thespiderslullabye

Nope, I will when my gf isn't in the room.  KD scares her (true story).

[Fatal if swallowed]

All those albums are incredible. Probably my fave would be Abigail.

[zekeyou]

All those albums are incredible. Probably my fave would be Abigail.

Yeah, that is true-- not a lot of bands can boast such a stellar 5-album run. 

[The True Fortress]

Ranking:

1. Abigail
2. Them
3. Fatal Portrait
4. The Eye
5. Conspiracy

I LOVE King Diamond. Each of these five records is majorly important to me. Any way in which you rank these albums is A-OK. 

[mak28]

Conspiracy is a fantastic album that follows up one the greatest albums in metal history.  Yes, I'm talking about Them, a top 5 album all time for me.

Without a doubt Conspiracy starts off amazing.  Those first 5 even 6 tracks are just as good as anything on the albums prior but it drops off in the second half as it kind of drifts away leaving Victimized as the only remaining regular track.  I know it goes on with the storytelling but it never comes together as it should and, after the fantastic start, it's a letdown.  There's still not a bad track to be found but I end up preferring even The Eye when it comes to those classic first five.  You can't beat At The Graves, Sleepless Nights and Lies. 

[Shadow Kingdom]

All those albums are incredible. Probably my fave would be Abigail.

 

[Klschmann]

Incredible album, and it's also the one that really grabbed me and made me a ravenous fan of his solo stuff. 

That said, it didn't end up being my favorite of the "classic" years:

1. Them
2. Abigail
3. Fatal Portrait
4. Conspiracy
5. The Eye

However, ask me tomorrow and numbers 2, 3, and 4 will probably be different. 

I agree with this entire post. 

[Hellboy]

All those albums are incredible. Probably my fave would be Abigail.

+1