Headbangers Ball Volume 2, for the most part is a really solid album with a great lineup. There are some pretty big down sides to it though. First of all, if you are someone who listens to, and owns a lot of music then chances are that you already have the majority of this album, because the songs are all taken straight off of the bands most recent albums. There are a few songs that are off of bands upcoming albums, but they will be out within the next few months. An album like this should offer more unreleased or rare tracks by the artists to give people a reason to want to buy it. On the other hand it is a great album for people who do not buy a lot of albums, or maybe have not heard a lot of the bands. This album offers them a wide variety of bands to sample.
The biggest problem with the album thought is the fact that it is edited (and badly at that). Not that music NEEDS profanity or anything like that, but when you change the original lyrics or mute, reverse, or beep out parts it really takes away from what the song once was. For example the Korn song "Right Now" is the watered down radio edit "shut up I'll bust you up" version that is almost unlistenable for anyone familiar with the original. Then Atreyu's "Right Side of the Bed" gets a little reversed lyric work "She'll uufck you just for the taste." Or even worse on Machine Head's "Imperium" periodically there will be 3 seconds at a time flat out muted, or on Lamb of God's "Laid to Rest" there is a giant ear piercing BEEEEEEEP. It just disrupts the flow of the lyrics and really just destroys the song in general.
3/5
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