Ranking Every Song on Sodom's "Agent Orange"

Ranking Every Song on Sodom's "Agent Orange"

Worst to Best

     "Agent Orange" is the third studio album by German thrash metal band Sodom. It was released on June 1, 1989, and was their last album featuring guitarist Frank Blackfire (who would later on join Kreator for a couple albums) until he would rejoin the band in 2018.

     The previous album "Persecution Mania" showed the bands transition from horror/satanic themes to political, societal and war themes (thanks to Frank Blackfire's influence.) The new lyrical approach and increased musicianship gave the band great acclaim, and they soon returned to the recording studio to record "Agent Orange," my favourite album ever. 

So from worst to best, here's Agent Orange - ranked. 

9. Don't Walk Away (Tank Cover)

     The worst song on this album, isn't even a bad song...it's just because...it's a cover. I actually like this cover. But. It's a cover, and the originals on this album are so good I don't see how it could beat any of them. 

     You would think that this style of song wouldn't fit as a cover on this album, but I think it doesn't sound too out of place. They made it work, and it even introduced me to Tank's music. 

8. Exhibition Bout

     Probably the least memorable song for me. I didn't pay too much attention to it until recently, when I watched a video discussing the album. They discussed the lyrics, and to my surprise since I never looked at them, the song was about bull riding and animal cruelty. Although the lyrics proved to be more interesting than I thought, the riffs on this song just don't do it for me compared to the other songs. 

7. Incest

     This is one of the more aggressive songs on the album. The lyrics are questionable, but it's meant to be that way. It's meant to make you feel uneasy with the subject matter, and it fits with the song. It has some great riffs, but it gets repetitive to me at times. My favourite part is when the riffs slow down a bit in the middle of the song, (around the 2:20 mark.) 

I found a review that said "The tone and lyrics really creep me out but that is why its awesome." and that describes the song in a nutshell. 

6. Magic Dragon

     Now we're getting into the real meat of the album. This is a great song. It's dedicated to the ground assault aircraft AC-47 (Puff, the Magic Dragon) and the lyrics discuss the horrific deaths it caused. 

     The opening to this song is so epic and it really builds tension. The airplane sounds, the guitar riff, the drums that come in, it's all so great, and it gets better as the song goes on.

     There are some GREAT riffs here, the riff at 4:35 kills me it's awesome!! The drums are great too but I'm kinda a dumbass when it comes to describing the drums so that's all I can really say (I'm trying to learn..)

     Since I think so positively of this song, it's weird that it's only at #6 on my list. It must be because the other songs I just connect with a bit more.

5. Remember the Fallen

     A song dedicated to any soldiers that have died in war. A really touching song, which is unexpected. 

     That first riff. I love it. I play that one on my guitar all the time to be honest...Frank Blackfire was really at the top of his game on this album. That first solo too, it comes so early in the song, but it fits perfectly. This would've been my top pick had you asked me what my favourite song was a couple months ago, but I played it too much so now it's at #5 lol. 

4. Ausgebombt

     The intro on this song is iconic to me. Those drums, that bassline, the way the guitars come in...all in a kinda.."fun" way? It's weirdly upbeat. The lyrics kinda stump me though. It's about Germany, it has a German title, but I can't quite describe it. I would guess that the song is saying to learn from the past and not go to war..(Dispense the war, learn from the past,) which fits Sodom's whole style, but it's also talking about German bomb raids. 

     This song is very similar to Sodom's "Bombenhagel" but honestly I like this one more. Also, there's a German version and many people prefer that to the original version, but I like the original more. 

     Anyway, a very iconic song, but there are a couple songs that top it...

3. Tired and Red

     This song is really unique and sparked my love for a certain type of thing...acoustic breaks right before a guitar solo. When I took an introductory guitar class at school, we had to make a short song, and I made something that was a straight up ripoff of that acoustic part. It had changes, but the overall vibe was still there...I even forgot to name the song I was too busy being an unoriginal jackass. 

     The way the electric guitars come in after the acoustic part is done...it's too good! The way everything is building up to the solo...when the solo finally happens, it all pays off. It focuses on the rhythm rather than technical proficiency, and it results in one of my favourite solos. Thank god for Frank Blackfire!

2. Agent Orange

     This is THE singlehandedly the most iconic song on the album. The riffs man...THE RIFFS.

     The slide to the first riff, then when they transition to the slow one, just to come in with a BEAST of a fast riff that kills my wrist when I play it. Then later in the song with the chopper sounds and radio talking, really sets the mood and builds up to an even more beast of a riff. The way the drums accent here is what makes me still love this song after listening to it a million times.  

     This song solidified thrash metal as my favourite metal subgenre, and made me want to delve deeper into the teutonic thrash scene in general. This was also one of the first (full) songs I learned on guitar (somehow...) though, I still need to learn that solo. 

1. Baptism of Fire

     I used to neglect this song. But lately, I have really fallen in love with it. It sounds very frantic, especially when Angelripper says "Resigning, Ireful!" The vocals are great on here and complement the song. Listening to this reminds me of when I first discovered Sodom, it's just so magical. 

    The solo is also very melodic in my opinion. Again, like Tired and Red, it serves the song rather than being a technical display. I recently learned it, and it's actually pretty simple. Frank Blackfire likes to do tapping for a lot of his solos (I think) and his playing is definitely gonna have an influence on my own playing in the future.

WELL! That's it. That's the ranking. I have a raging headache. Sooo I'm gonna go make some food and thanks to whoever read all that nonsense!!!