Rank the Tourniquet Albums

Well, people seemed to get into my VR ranking thread, so here’s another one! Tourniquet is my all-time favorite thrash band, Christian or secular. I love most everything they’ve put out. 

I’m only counting the main studio albums, so I won’t be considering Live in Studio, Collected Works, Carry the Wounded, or Acoustic Archives. I also never picked up Onward to Freedom, so I won’t be ranking that one. If you want to, have at it!

Here we go:

1. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance

Every note is perfection. One of my top ten all-time albums. Masterpiece.

2. Psychosurgery 

Weird, wild, and a blast. It took a bit of time to grow on me, but now I love it, almost as much as P.O.D. I don’t think there’s a weak spot on it, other than the rap vocals on Spineless. (Still love the song, though).

3. Vanishing Lessons

Very different, but very good. Luke sounds amazing and there are amazing riffs. Some of TQT’s catchiest tunes ever. 

4. Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm

My first TQT, and the one that made me a fan. I can’t even count how many times I’ve spun this one. Some of their most interesting work.

5. Where Moth and Rust Destroy

Love it, although I usually skip In Death We Rise. Otherwise, it rules. 

6. Stop the Bleeding

Hear me out. Objectively, this is in their top 3. And I love it. But I just don’t find myself drawn to it to quite the same extent as the 6 above, and this is my own ranking, after all. 

7. Gazing at Medusa

It’s taken a bit of time to open up to me, but this is great stuff.

8. Antiseptic Bloodbath

I’ve gone back and forth on this one a bit, but there’s a lot of good stuff here.

9. Crawl to China

I love several of the tracks, but it’s not what I reach for when I want to hear some TQT.


Have at it!

Psycho Surgery 
(I love the Exodus thrash vibe and the diversity)

Stop the Bleeding 
Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance 
Vanishing Lessons 
Microscopic View 
Antiseptic Bloodbath 
Gazing at Medusa
Crawl to China
Where Moth and Rust Destroy

1. Stop the Bleeding -- it was the first I heard and I still consider it a perfect album
2. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance -- a more mature and developed expression of the weirdness of Psycho Surgery
3. Psycho Surgery -- the hip hop track is mostly what keeps this one from the 2nd slot (I like it for nostalgia but it's cringey bad)
4. Vanishing Lessons -- solid album and the only one I can really stomach some of Luke Easter's vocals on
5. Crawl to China -- weird and often bad, but definitely interesting!
6. Gazing at Medusa -- finally got rid of Luke Easter, but it's not interesting enough for me to revisit it for awhile
7. Microscopic View, WMARD, and Antiseptic -- they all run together and I can't recall enough to tell them apart.  I listened to them each a couple times and that's enough for me.  Luke Easter's vocals are like nails on a chalkboard to my ears.

strangerhoncho wrote:1. Stop the Bleeding -- it was the first I heard and I still consider it a perfect album
2. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance -- a more mature and developed expression of the weirdness of Psycho Surgery
3. Psycho Surgery -- the hip hop track is mostly what keeps this one from the 2nd slot (I like it for nostalgia but it's cringey bad)
4. Vanishing Lessons -- solid album and the only one I can really stomach some of Luke Easter's vocals on
5. Crawl to China -- weird and often bad, but definitely interesting!
6. Gazing at Medusa -- finally got rid of Luke Easter, but it's not interesting enough for me to revisit it for awhile
7. Microscopic View, WMARD, and Antiseptic -- they all run together and I can't recall enough to tell them apart.  I listened to them each a couple times and that's enough for me.  Luke Easter's vocals are like nails on a chalkboard to my ears.

Despite my love for the Ritter years, I prefer Luke’s vocals. I just don’t think TQT used him to his full potential, as seen in his excellent e.p.

Regarding Psycho Surgery…

What other band has Thrash, Rap and Doom all on the same album? I love it! It’s one of my favorite albums.

Btw, I think Tourniquet’s rap segment is better than Anthrax’s. It was very well done!

Pathogenic

Psycho

Bleeding

And that's were I hopped off the bus.

All three albums- original masterpieces in the thrash genre Christian or otherwise.

I used to be a HUGE and I mean HUGE TQT fan till Ted ranted about Trump and the Manatee.

At one time, I had multiple copies of all their albums and even gave them away at shows and to people I was witnessing to.

Read Gary Lenaire's book too.

I gave away my TQT albums after Ted got political.

Still have my Stop the Bleeding shirt though.

jaydeecrawson wrote:I used to be a HUGE and I mean HUGE TQT fan till Ted ranted about Trump and the Manatee.

At one time, I had multiple copies of all their albums and even gave them away at shows and to people I was witnessing to.

Read Gary Lenaire's book too.

I gave away my TQT albums after Ted got political.

Still have my Stop the Bleeding shirt though.

Man, if I only listened to artists with whose views I align, I’d listen to very little music.

I didn’t like when Ted attacked Trump, but that seems to be what many musicians are doing these days… they are literally dividing and losing fans. Dee Snider and Sebastian Bach are much worse.

Pethead wrote:

jaydeecrawson wrote:I used to be a HUGE and I mean HUGE TQT fan till Ted ranted about Trump and the Manatee.

At one time, I had multiple copies of all their albums and even gave them away at shows and to people I was witnessing to.

Read Gary Lenaire's book too.

I gave away my TQT albums after Ted got political.

Still have my Stop the Bleeding shirt though.

Man, if I only listened to artists with whose views I align, I’d listen to very little music.

Unfortunately, you’re right.

I like Gary Lenaire’s approach. He’s a man of few words and very careful what he says since his previous fallout with his book. 

I’m glad he appears to have returned to Christ.

For the record… I still support Tourniquet and buy their albums. I just know my political views don’t align with Mr. Ted.

TZ75 wrote:What other band has Thrash, Rap and Doom all on the same album?

You say that like it's a good thing.

1. Stop the Bleeding
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
7. Pathogenic Occular Dissonance
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
28. Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm

Tourniquet has the consistency of Annihilator.

Temple of Blood wrote:

TZ75 wrote:What other band has Thrash, Rap and Doom all on the same album?

You say that like it's a good thing.

I like it.

I’m not a metal purist snob. The rap segment was a fun experiment. A few curve balls once in a while is fine by me.

Pethead wrote:

jaydeecrawson wrote:I used to be a HUGE and I mean HUGE TQT fan till Ted ranted about Trump and the Manatee.

At one time, I had multiple copies of all their albums and even gave them away at shows and to people I was witnessing to.

Read Gary Lenaire's book too.

I gave away my TQT albums after Ted got political.

Still have my Stop the Bleeding shirt though.

Man, if I only listened to artists with whose views I align, I’d listen to very little music.

Yeah, exactly!  I realized that some 30 years ago as a teenager trying to reconcile my love of metal with what the band members believed in.  You have to let that go.  My views have never aligned with any other human being I've ever met (entirely, that is), so if you want to be a member of the human race and enjoy what others create you have to give up that sort of pride.

strangerhoncho wrote:

Pethead wrote:

jaydeecrawson wrote:I used to be a HUGE and I mean HUGE TQT fan till Ted ranted about Trump and the Manatee.

At one time, I had multiple copies of all their albums and even gave them away at shows and to people I was witnessing to.

Read Gary Lenaire's book too.

I gave away my TQT albums after Ted got political.

Still have my Stop the Bleeding shirt though.

Man, if I only listened to artists with whose views I align, I’d listen to very little music.

Yeah, exactly!  I realized that some 30 years ago as a teenager trying to reconcile my love of metal with what the band members believed in.  You have to let that go.  My views have never aligned with any other human being I've ever met (entirely, that is), so if you want to be a member of the human race and enjoy what others create you have to give up that sort of pride.

That’s how I can still listen to Slayer. I love the music! Most of them were/are atheists. They did it as a gimmick. They had said that the lyrics were meant as horror stories. Tom is supposedly a practicing Catholic. I know he objected to some of the material.

1 - Stop The Bleeding  (Absolutely incredible album)
2 - Psycho Surgery  (Consistent and enjoyable.  Feels like it should have one more song on it!)
3 - POD  (Another great album)
4 - Crawl To China  (Luke's vocals are brilliant on this.  Yes, the style is different, but I still love it)
5 - Carry The Wounded (nice to hear a relaxing Tourniquet album/EP)
6 - Where Moth And Rust Destroy  (Some really good stuff on here)
7 - Gazing At Medusa  (Title track absolutely amazing.  Not really interested in the rest)
8 - Vanishing Lessons  (Not sure why, but none of these songs connected with me.  I've tried to listen to it, but can't)
9 - Microscopic  (By far the worst Tourniquet album that I've heard.  Not good at all)

(Haven't heard Antiseptic or Onward)

I have a signal-to-noise ratio that I use as a guide for music I buy.

A band's talent and great songs would have to exceed their annoyingness/offensiveness for me to buy them.

Let me say that there is a reason Ted always puts at least 3 songs from Psycho Surgery in the set-list. It’s their most popular album. Maybe I’m a caveman… but Pathogenic is a bit too progressive for me at times. I like the catchy stuff like Exoskeletons, Spectrophobic Dementia and Phantom Limb etc… but some of the other stuff is a chore to enjoy.

1. Stop The Bleeding. I first heard this in a Christian bookstore and had no idea what was hitting me. I was literally blown away. Now, 30 years later I still find this a flawless and unique masterpiece. Probably my number 1 metal album of all time.

2. Psycho Surgery. A very decent follow up but clearly not matching the debut in my book. I felt it was lacking a bit of speed and Guy was not as present anymore. Still excellent, A Dog‘s Breakfast is an all time favourite. 

3. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance. Another great album but I felt it became too complex, Guy even more in the back seat and the lyrics harder to decipher. Still, epic stuff. 

I dropped out of the Christian metal scene shortly after and only listened to the other albums recently. I am not a fan of Luke Easters vocals but there are some nice cuts on most albums. I can‘t really rate them tho but I felt like Antiseptic Bloodbath (the title track is dope) and Gazing at Medusa (title track, Memento Mori) were most similar to the old stuff and I quite like them. I also enjoy some cuts on Crawl To China even (or maybe because) it is completely different. I think Luke sounds best on this one. 

From the others I prefer Where Moth And Rust Destroy over Microscopic View Of A Telescopic Realm and Vanishing Lessons, for which I don‘t care too much. Onward To Freedom is not great either but that‘s more of a compilation isn‘t it?

I've had this project where I go through different bands' whole catalogues (full albums) and give each song stars from 1 to 5, and then calculate the average and rank the albums based on that number. I've done this for the "big four" and currently going through Manowar.

I've also gone through Tourniquet and while I might go through the albums once more and get more accurate numbers, the first raw numbers put the albums in this order:

1. Psycho Surgery 4,56
2. Stop the Bleeding 4,35
3. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance 4,13
4. Vanishing Lessons 3,95
5. Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm 3,90
6. Where Moth and Rust Destroy 3,89
7. Antiseptic Bloodbath 3,80
8. Gazing at Medusa 3,78
9. Crawl to China 3,27
10. Onward to Freedom 3,13

My gut instinct would say Gazing at Medusa should have quite a bit lower score and Crawl to China should have quite a bit higher score, but with this method if the album has too many 2 and 2½ star songs it affects the score with no mercy.

I wasn't surprised by the top spot of Psycho Surgery at all since I think that's the best metal album of all time.

If you are interested in what scores the top three albums by "the big four" got to compare them with the scores of Tourniquet albums, here you go:

Anthrax:
01. Among the Living 3,89
02. Fistful of Metal 3,85
03. Spreading the Disease 3,83


Megadeth:
01. Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? 4,13
02. Rust in Peace 4,11
03. Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! 3,94

Metallica:
01. Master of Puppets 4,06
02. Ride the Lightning 3,75
03. ...And Justice for All 3,39

Slayer:
01. Seasons in the Abyss 3,80
02. Divine Intervention 3,45
03. Reign in Blood 3,25

Raegoul wrote:1. Stop The Bleeding. I first heard this in a Christian bookstore and had no idea what was hitting me. I was literally blown away. Now, 30 years later I still find this a flawless and unique masterpiece. Probably my number 1 metal album of all time.

2. Psycho Surgery. A very decent follow up but clearly not matching the debut in my book. I felt it was lacking a bit of speed and Guy was not as present anymore. Still excellent, A Dog‘s Breakfast is an all time favourite. 

3. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance. Another great album but I felt it became too complex, Guy even more in the back seat and the lyrics harder to decipher. Still, epic stuff. 

I dropped out of the Christian metal scene shortly after and only listened to the other albums recently. I am not a fan of Luke Easters vocals but there are some nice cuts on most albums. I can‘t really rate them tho but I felt like Antiseptic Bloodbath (the title track is dope) and Gazing at Medusa (title track, Memento Mori) were most similar to the old stuff and I quite like them. I also enjoy some cuts on Crawl To China even (or maybe because) it is completely different. I think Luke sounds best on this one. 

From the others I prefer Where Moth And Rust Destroy over Microscopic View Of A Telescopic Realm and Vanishing Lessons, for which I don‘t care too much. Onward To Freedom is not great either but that‘s more of a compilation isn‘t it?

Nice review. Very honest and fair. I agree with most of what you said except I put Psycho Surgery in first place. I love Guy’s voice, but I’m glad the falsetto and shrieking was put on the shelf. Just like Joey Belladonna changed on Persistence of Time.

Maybe if they had one epic song with the falsetto singing in the place of Stereotaxic Atrocities, that would have been a nice touch.

Stop the Bleeding (one of my favorite metal albums of all time)
Psycho Surgery
Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance
Where Moth and Rust Destroy
Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm
Crawl to China
Vanishing Lessons
everything else

Onward… is not a Tourniquet album.