Guardian (first 3) vs. Mastedon (all 3)

Choose your favorite from these great albums! 

Guardian: First Watch, Fire and Love, Miracle Mile

Mastedon: It’s a Jungle out There, LOFCAUDIO, 3/Revolution of Mind


I love all 6 albums, especially the second 2 Guardian and the first 2 Mastedon. But Mastedon has probably dominated my stereo more, so they get my vote. 

What say you?


PS: yes, I know Mastedon was more of a project than a band. Yes, I know they have their own sounds. I’m just seeing what music everyone prefers.

Guardian for me, is my fav band of all the time.

Mastedon by a hair, that first album pushed them ahead.

I also had to go with Guardian.  While I think the songwriting is on par with both projects, bringing Jamie Rowe on board made Guardian for me.  Mastedon could have been so much better had they stuck with one vocalist like John Elefante.

Fire and Love is one of my all time top three.

As a guitar player, have to go with Guardian.  Tony P. is a very underrated player - very fluid, great phrasing.
Plus I just like the songs, especially on First Watch and Miracle Mile.

Tough choice! Went with Guardian but Lofcaudio is my favorite of all of them.

Follower of Jesus wrote:Tough choice! Went with Guardian but Lofcaudio is my favorite of all of them.

That’s my favorite of all 6 albums, as well.

I picked Mastedon but Guardian is very close.

Mastedon.

I own all six of these albums.  Have listened to them many times.  But I have listened to Miracle Mile more than the other 5 albums combined.  Why:

1. Most of the songs tell stories.   Compelling lyrics always warrant extra listens and keep you coming back.
2.  Musical balance.  You got heavy blues rock metal yes but also tunes like I Found Love, Sweet Mystery and the Captain.  But none of them felt like ‘the required ballad’ as It is Done feels at end of Lofcaudio.   
3. Jamie’s voice.   He would lose it on tour trying to pull off the screaming rasp but on the album it’s glorious and never to be captured again as Guardian adjusted musically with Swing, Buzz and Bottle Rocket.   Miracle Mile was their peak for the style of music I wanted from Guardian.  
4. Tony.  Here’s one player who always played the perfect solo for a given song.   You cant just grab a Tony solo and put it into any other Guardian song (like you can with other players) because Tony always gave you exactly what a given song required. He did this on Fire and Love, but man, he takes it to another level on Miracle Mile.   
5. The Word of God is just dripping thru every song, strategically placed and paraphrased to fit the song, and not overdone.  What Christian rock is supposed to do, in my opinion.  The album teaches truths about witnessing, wisdom, love, loss, superstitions, and even Satan himself in an incredibly clever way.
6. They went the extra “mile”.  You had the horns in Shoeshine Johnny.  You had gospel background vocals in I Found Love.  You had the orchestra intro to Sweet Mystery.  Acoustic guitar in multiple tunes.  The long movie intro to Dr. Jones.  Even fun outtakes at the end.  Just a perfect album.

Miracle Mile wins hands down.   

Fire and Love was special too.  

But for the record, Life on the Line in Lofcaudio is my favorite most impacting tune among all six albums listed.   What a song!