Ranking the Albums: The Obsessed

[@JaredRobbins2]

Craig you are one of my favorite SOT personalities. Love your taste in women from the q&a episode last week !

[@craigkaminski]

Haha thank you very much! 😀

[@johnmichaelwilliams6694]

Always great to have Craig in the co-captain's chair. Another ranking of a band personally unknown - but not for long. Thanks, guys, for this Ranking episode. Looking forward to your shared review of the new item once it has been released.

[@ronaldwilliams2456]

Let's not forget that the first album was recorded in 1985, but not released until 1990. The band dates back to the 70s as Warhorse so the Seventies influences make perfect sense.

[@mainzergirl9610]

Thanks guys, so great to see this! A great, underrated band from my local backyard. Endless Circles is a masterpiece. Stunned to hear Lunar Womb ranked last but all the albums are strong. No harm, no foul, Craig!

[@comickaraoke]

Thanks for turning me on to this great group, guys! A reall strong group with a great and varied sound. I will dig more into the catalogue. Thanks again!

[@darcyska]

I always appreciate these rankings on lesser-known bands! I love hearing about what's out there, something new to check out, and from the people that are passionate about it.

[@BlackMoore82]

My favorite Traditional Doom band... Lunar Womb (1991). The Obsessed (1990). The Church Within (1994). Sacred (2017). Their fifth album "Gilded Sorrow" will be coming out on February 16, 2024.

[@Joefaf104]

Craig Kaminsky has become my favorite guest on SOT!

[@craigkaminski]

Thank you! 😀

[@Joefaf104]

@@craigkaminski pa guys have to stick together

[@garyjoyce2160]

@@Joefaf104/ met. CRAIG/. Oct 1. At the CHANCE- yes, he’s a great guy 👍💯

[@tonywhite3504]

I’ll never forget the first time I’ve ever heard Wino was the Obsessed song Hiding Mask when he sang “waiting, watching”

[@patrickmohan2220]

Whoohoo! Wino is the man. Those fingers and voice drip pure doom.

[@TheRealDannAlexander]

Church Within remains my favourite even with the polished production. Great riffs, Wino rips, my mid teens, life.

[@jeffreyrobinson9120]

Great ranking show guys, always love when Craig`s on. I only own one Obsessed album - "The Church Within". Think it`s terrific.

[@craigkaminski]

Thanks so much! 😃

[@HOLYPARISHOFDOOM]

If I had to hand a record to someone and say this best represents The Obsessed ...definitely The Church Within. But any of em would do. Late 90s/early 00s Spirit Caravan remains my favorite Wino material ...and Place of Skull's With Vision(!!!) ...and Hidden Hand's Mother Teacher Destroyer ...and solo record Punctuated Equilibrium. Wino's a rather prolific artist with many bands and side projects.

[@monte.olson58]

Great ranking guys and an awesome band. I still need to get the debut. The Obsessed also have a comp, "Incarnate", that was originally released on Southern Lord. Terrific album with a cover of "Inside Looking Out" that kills.

[@gojifan96]

Wino is of course a riffmaster, but I truly do think he's one of the most talented songwriters of his generation. His lyrics can be really thoughtful, but they never lose that punch-you-in-the-mouth attitude.

[@brandonbelt5055]

My ranking is the same as Pete. You probably could have folded Spirit Caravan into this, they're very similar. Back in the mid 10's they had reformed Spirit Caravan after Wino left Saint Vitus again and they pivoted and changed the name to The Obsessed and put out the Sacred album. The Obsessed/Spirit Caravan is my favorite stuff from him.

[@hansgraichen8051]

My first St Vitus album was Born to Late. That album led me into a deep dive of ‘Wino.’ So I picked up three of the obsessed albums and a Spirit Caravan album. I was not disappointed. I like the mix of styles on the Obsessed albums. For whatever reason I never picked up The Obsessed’s debut album, probably because I had trouble finding it at the time.

[@craigswensen434]

This was a great discussion.

[@andywitch666]

Great band, I was listening to the first Hidden Hand cd in the car today! my ranking: 1) the Church within 2) Lunar Womb 3) The Obsessed 4) Sacred Heart

[@Fastnbulbous1969]

Just seeing this after a short road trip. The reason the first Obsessed album doesn't sound like it was recorded in 1990 is because it wasn't. It was recorded on no budget in 1985, originally meant to be released on Metal Blade. They chose not to for some reason (maybe because the production was a bit sketchy). When Hellhound decided to release it in 1990, that inspired Wino to reform the band and give it another go. It was remastered in 2017 and reissued on Relapse with lots of bonus tracks, 1984 and '85 demos, live tracks, etc. Love that you covered The Obsessed. Looking forward to Gilded Sorrow on Feb 16, and your reviews. If you do cover Spirit Caravan, please don't overlook his work with Saint Vitus, Place of Skulls, The Hidden Hand, Shrinebuilder, Premonition 13 and his Punctuated Equilibrium solo album from 2009. I did a rundown of all of those a decade ago in a piece called "I Want A Wino Doll."

[@Trifyllonews]

AT LAST! Love this band

[@christianhaynes1954]

Ill check them out boys . Thanks again for the excellent ranking 🙂

[@lening9]

1) The Obsessed 2) Lunar Womb 3) Sacred 4) Gilded Sorrow 5) The Church Within

[@williamtallman9816]

Straight Edge Punk Rockers like Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat/Fugazi) are pretty big Obsessed fans

[@franciskocher200]

Nice video 😄👍

[@garyjoyce2160]

1️⃣1️⃣ spins each/. Yes , ELEVEN - knew my no 1- however 2-3-4- I switched 5 or 6 x. LOL - 1- 9️⃣4️⃣- The Church ⛪️ WITHIN 2- 1️⃣7️⃣- SACRED -Stranger THINGS song 🎵- Ian ASTBURY/ the CULT like vibes 3- 9️⃣1️⃣- Lunar WOMB - Back to ZERO song 🎵- Gene $IMMONS like vibes 4- 9️⃣0️⃣- The OBSESSED - 2-3-4 real tight IMO. Definitely wiggle room. Thanks CRAIG/ PETE for making me Dig in “. 👍💯

[@craigkaminski]

Nice job Gary 👍. We’ll see how close your ranking is to mine and Pete’s!

[@garyjoyce2160]

@@craigkaminski / thank you. I’m curious too. lol. I think personally, not a bad album out of the 4. See you at 10 am. 👍💯

[@gwts1171]

My ranking, though I like them all quite a bit: 4) The Obsessed (1990) 3) Sacred (2017) 2) The Church Within (1994) 1) Lunar Womb (1991)

[@chrisflood9205]

craig likes wo fat and rose tattoo so of course ill check out the obsessed !!!!!

[@Hecatecrossways]

I first heard the Obsessed was from the 1985 Metal Blade Records Compilation, Metal Massacre 5 . A song called Concrete Cancer . It stuck out like a sore thumb sounding like something from the Black Sabbath debut amongst mainly Thrash Metal type songs. Even including the Iron Man riff towards the ending of the track

[@theomoor8513]

They played Freak Valley this year. Kool gig. Have only a Spirit caravan album ( the last embrace ) from Wino.

[@johnspaulding1681]

Wino did a crushing cover of the Animals original/Grand Funk cover Inside Out that surpasses the previous two on the Incarnate compilation...it's one of those tracks I have to push repeat when I'm driving...or just listening

[@daanthing6002]

Love Wino in Shrinebuilder and Spirit Caravan. I only own Sacred and have a ripped copy of Curch Within. Like 'm. Probably gonna check out the new one.

[@Geerladenlad]

I'm wondering if you're ever going to do a Night Ranger album ranking?

[@matthewclark9652]

Ranking the studio albums of Minneapolis, Minnesota hard rock group CROW (1969 - 1972) of "Evil Woman Don't Play Your Games With Me" including David Wagner solo album???

[@garyjoyce2160]

Just curious/ Pete / is Church of MISERY next on ranking ? I started today. Ok thank you

[@sotdude7]

That’s the plan!

[@garyjoyce2160]

@@sotdude7 / thank you

[@M.H691]

Lunar Womb just edges out Church Within - (Reeder is the x factor) killer band, fluid, transcendental playing.

[@mariusjacobsenlixomania]

just a little side note, did you say he formed The Obsessed in the early '90's? they formed in the early '80's, i guess you misspoke, early on a Sunday morning is understandable 🙂 they released their 3 track debut 7" EP in '83, and recorded their debut album recorded in '85 for Metal Blade, this deal fell through, however, their ;S/T debut album released in '90 after Wino reformed The Obsessed after having left/fired from Vitus, IS that unreleased album from'85 despite many other rumors, albeit remixed and mastered, and have been remastered many times since for different reissues for different labels including with alternate cover artwork, and with mostly without great success soundwise, as in ending up sounding a bit too polished, specially in the drum department, after the initial Hellhound release, though therefore it was with much joy to hear their most recent remaster released on Relapse who also released their 2nd comeback album so to speak; Sacred, as it sound totally KO and has ALMOST the O.G album artwork, just some minor adjustments, but i can live with that, but cool choice of band, as i've always been a big fan of the 3 first Obsessed albums as well as Vitus starting with their debut and up to V, then i felt they didn't match up to their standard with their 2 last albums before they broke up, and not due to the new singers/return of singers, but i feel i need to revisit these, as well as give their latest one a proper listen as people whom i trust vouch for it, as i did not like that Lillie: F-65 and i've had ixed feelings about Wino's output under his different bands/projects and solo offerings, although i must give those solo releases a proper listen as well as i have a feeling they could be rather interesting, more than his more doom/stoner bands/projects in between, and as far as the great mix of doom/punk and biker rock mix of The Obsessed, which differs, though still have alot in common with Vitus' unique blend of doom/punk, to sum up 2 key main influences for Vitus would be Black Sabbath-Flag hehe, though The Obsessed's take on this differs as Wino is the key song writer and ONLY consistent member after all these years, in fact they never made an album with the exact same lline up, but then again they've been on and off since the beginning of the 1980's so...and as far as my ranking goes, it's fairly easy; 1. S/T, 2. Lunar Womb, 3. The Church Within and 4. Sacred, which i didn't care that much for, but thanx for a cool ranking of, as The Obsessed is DEFINITELY one those underrated bands throughout many decades, and this in world of music were practically almost EVERYTHING has become underrated haha, oh well, keep up the good work guys, and here's one for the legendary WINO

[@juanpagan9373]

was there another band named Obsessed there an album incarnate

[@RustyfaetheShire]

Really excellent band, although everything Wino does is great! My personal favourite of these is Lunar Womb and the other 3 albums are really too close to call for me, so all joint 2nd!

[@aleksandarfrick2656]

Nice

[@markwoolner9598]

Don’t listen to Pete. Best place to start is with the compilation album Incarnate.

[@bryanmcfadden4071]

New obsessed release date is February 2024 , maybe 🤔 wait until then . ?

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

This was already booked when they announced the new album release date the other day, so no, we have gone ahead!

[@independenceltd.]

if only you'd have spoken up sooner...

[@garyjoyce2160]

@@seaoftranquilityprog/ it’s perfectly fine by me. I 💯% loved learning about this group. Thank you and Craig very much. Totally enjoyed 👍💯

[@bryanmcfadden4071]

@@seaoftranquilityprog understood, thought it was a live one , Excellent band , watch the movie released about him