Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sky is turning red..., 18 Jul 2007
I bought this on a very expensive American import way back in '86 when it was refused a European release due to the `Angel of Death' track. An album so full of anger and hatred, that it only gave the surnames of the band on the back of the cardboard sleeve. Araya, Hanneman, King and Lombardo. Now, twenty years later, I still have many of the songs on my in-car MP3 player and you just cannot beat driving along to THAT thunderous opening riff from `Raining Blood' played incredibly loud!
One of my fondest memories of this album was being in the Virgin Megastore in Brighton soon after its release. The in-store DJ decided to play the ferocious `Reborn', presumably having never heard Slayer before. After the ensuing two minutes of sheer fury, there were a few seconds of stunned silence before he uttered the immortal words, "Well...that was different!" Utter classic!!
There was a rumour at the time that the songs were originally written much slower, but when it came to recording them, Dave Lombardo - drummer at the time - just couldn't play fast enough so the others had to keep pace! They eventually released a slower version of `Criminally Insane' as a single afterwards, but I was so familiar with the album version that I hated it!
This was Slayer's third album, and like so many other `third album groups' of that era - namely Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth - their sound changed dramatically, usually for the worse, with their fourth releases. I guess maybe it was just natural progression, or it may have just been me getting older, but as the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Unfortunately, all the aforementioned groups did indeed break it and just like Humpty Dumpty, they couldn't put it together again.
Nearly every song is a classic in its own right, but my own personal fave is `Jesus Saves' with its brutal scrubbed riff following the slow intro. Any serious thrash metal fan should own this album and I still don't believe it's been bettered even to this day.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Seminal, 14 April 2007
THE classic trash album. It cost me £20 fifteen years ago, so its a real bargain now! I don't believe the story about Dave Lombardo havin to redo the drums twice - the guy can play impossibly fast. I was beginner drummer when i first bought this album, and when i heard the speed of the double bass drums on the opening song Angel of Death, my jaw hit the floor and i went into shock.
At this price, this seminal album is unmissable.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Led Zep IV, No Of The Beast, Back In Black - Reign In Blood, 2 May 2003
Yes, it's that good it belongs in the most exalted of company. I still listen to this album all the time and simply cannot believe it is getting towards twenty years old, it's completely unreal.I find it a source of great amusement hearing some of the praise lavished upon the current crop of metal bands when not a single one of them has come even close to making as perfect an album as Reign In Blood. From Araya's introductory scream at the outset of the controversial 'Angel Of Death' to the final rainstorm that closes this 28 minutes of thunderous mayhem (controlled), nothing else exists outside of the listener and the record. Everybody appears to favour a different track on the album. For me, 'Post Mortem' is the very essence of both Slayer and the much maligned genre that is Heavy Metal. Even if you hate extreme music you should buy this album if only to find out whether your stereo system is actually any good. If the opening chords to the aforementioned song don't blow you backwards, then you need a better stereo. Forget your ears, your walls should bleed when this is played at volume. Reign In Blood - a record so damn heavy you practically need a crane to put it onto your turntable. No music fan can consider their collection complete until they own it, no matter what their taste in music otherwise. Enter to the realm of Satan...
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