15. Machine Head – Bloodstone & Diamonds

I don’t feel I gave this album enough time. It’s clear Machine Head still want to retain the magic that helped birth “The Blackening”. That is a once in a life time album, it was their “Black Album”. However, once that’s put aside it’s easier to enjoy. Similar to “Unto the Locust”, the echoes to their titanic album are there but soon that’s forgotten about. Machine Head never pushed boundaries very far, and when they did it never really worked. “Bloodstone & Diamonds” may require multiple listens but at the end of it all (watch out for that phrase a lot in this series) it’s a solid album that was likely due unfair criticism. It is 70 minutes long though, that can be a lot to digest if it isn’t totally encapsulating.