Crimson Idol
Caveman
Okay, so I'm aware this is definitely a re-done topic, and probably a repeat offender at that.. but not everyone has been around for the entire time and it's (imo) better to create fresh and get new viewpoints than thread necro.
So, what albums do you think all metal fans should own/know and more importantly - WHY.
For me this is a mixture of two things, albums that whilst not necessarily the best of the genre (or even in the genre) had a major impact/influence on the way it would progress in future... and albums that are simply so amazing that every true metal fan should own it. I'm hoping we can provoke some in-depth discussion over what constitutes an 'essential' album, and some real talks about the albums themselves. Not exactly 'if you were trying to get someone into metal' type thing but, well you get the idea.
In the end I would expect there would be about 20 albums on a true list, because there is only a certain amount of influence on the ENTIRE genre. So say an album that started black metal, but is itself still just regular metal is potentially an important one as it is a generic metal album that changed the way people were making the music... but something that made black metal progress within it's own genre is not in my opinion because that's no longer influencing the ENTIRE genre, only a sub section. Really I wouldn't expect a list to get massively long as once you reach a certain amount you're basically just listing a collection of your favourites rather than truly important, or widely regarded staples.
So.. here's what has been proposed so far. If you can't see any more albums that would fit the bill it doesn't mean don't post, if anything.. just post your opinions about the ones already listed!
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath. Paranoid is, certainly for me but I suspect it's a more widespread opinion, the better album for early Sabbath. But you simply cannot get more influential than the album and the riff that started the whole genre. If you want to learn about the background of metal this is pretty much your starting point no matter it's quality.
AC/DC - Back in Black. It's not strictly metal but I think it's reasonable to say its on the border. Metal or not though it had a severe impact on the music that was being put out, and really should not be overlooked.
Judas Priest - British Steel. In my opinion, far from their best, but it brought metal to the masses and got it some real international recognition as well as kicking Priest's career up a notch a bringing them to push onto further things, becoming one of the most influential bands for the genre.
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell. A masterpiece from start to finish, I just honestly don't know what else need's saying on this! (And I'm running out of ideas while trying to stay fresh
).
Rush - Moving Pictures. I'm not a major Rush fan (various reasons, never gave them a proper listen and now I can't) - but in a display of technical skill and composition it was a new direction. Another of the 'perfect example of metal' albums over influence. It's not totally proggy, keeping its roots a bit more in the generic heavy metal (imo), but it pushed a new sub-genre out. I'll let someone else do a better description I've probably described it pretty badly, as said, I'm not the best expert on Rush.
Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance. A real contender for Priest's best album but really made everyone sit back and marvel at the way things were taking off. With the new speed and style of the music that they'd progressed to from British Steel this album (more so than BS or anything that came before) brought the idea of a twin lead guitar attack into prominence.
Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast. Again, not their best by a long shot but it propelled them to new heights and inspired a generation. More catchy than SFV and ultimately more accessible, it had a major influence on a lot of the acts at the time and showed that metal wasn't going away, that it had great potential and power.
Dio - Holy Diver. Okay so we're starting to move from the 'influential/impact' albums and into the area of albums that blow your mind.
Metallica - Master of Puppets. Okay, this one isn't even near my top10 or anything, but I can't deny (and I think it would be foolish to) how heavy an influence this has on every band that has started in the past 15 years or so. America's real major act at the time. This one is less about the creation of thrash (bit late for that!) but it fits into the category of 'It's just that solid a collection of songs that you've got to hear it at some point!'.
Megadeth - Rust in Peace. Another of those albums that rather than propelling the genre in a new direction, it's there to make people sit up and think "HOLY FLERPING SHNICT!". Master of Puppets may have showcased some high speed and technicality but really this one, for me at least, is what really pushed the boat in the meaning of he word shred.
Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction. I would argue this isn't metal, but it sure has a solid foot in the door. The raw energy that was poured into the band and the guitar sound is immense. It's the biggest selling debut album of all time, and for me even ontop of the quality of the songs, is the oddity that is Slash's crunchy guitar during that time... compare the tone of Welcome to the jungle to Piece of Mind and then compare it to Brave New World. One of the best things about the post-2000 metal albums is that the 'heavy' part of the genre really starts to be more and more apt... Appetite seemed to find that area a good time ahead of the rest. There were a few other 'heavier' albums in the 80's, Defenders of the Faith was pretty strong in that department but no where near as cleanly done in my opinion.
Judas Priest - Painkiller. A further 'must hear' in terms of just sheer brilliance. But it had the honor of being one of (if not the) best metal albums of the 90's. The 80's had set a standard for metal and started to take it up a notch but Painkiller just blew it all out the water with it's fairly big footprint! It's like Screaming Mark II, but with heavier guitars!! Priests sound was getting heavier and heavier through the 80's and it hit a fairly important point when it reached Painkiller.
This is born from a chat with Mosh on IRC, but the descriptions written above are my own. I fully expect there to be disagreements and corrections (for instance "AFD wasn't a new standard in production!") .. but that's precisely what I'm hoping for from this thread, a good old deep, passionate metal discussion. With hopefully the outcome that everyone can agree on a staple list of albums.
If everyone gives reasons for picking their albums instead of just going "this ones good, this ones good too" .. then there can be real debates about whether they deserve a place on a list of this type and it wont turn into a top100 album list. Remember, we're looking for things that shaped the genre, and pure showcases of what metal should sound like!!
Let the fighting begin!
So, what albums do you think all metal fans should own/know and more importantly - WHY.
For me this is a mixture of two things, albums that whilst not necessarily the best of the genre (or even in the genre) had a major impact/influence on the way it would progress in future... and albums that are simply so amazing that every true metal fan should own it. I'm hoping we can provoke some in-depth discussion over what constitutes an 'essential' album, and some real talks about the albums themselves. Not exactly 'if you were trying to get someone into metal' type thing but, well you get the idea.
In the end I would expect there would be about 20 albums on a true list, because there is only a certain amount of influence on the ENTIRE genre. So say an album that started black metal, but is itself still just regular metal is potentially an important one as it is a generic metal album that changed the way people were making the music... but something that made black metal progress within it's own genre is not in my opinion because that's no longer influencing the ENTIRE genre, only a sub section. Really I wouldn't expect a list to get massively long as once you reach a certain amount you're basically just listing a collection of your favourites rather than truly important, or widely regarded staples.
So.. here's what has been proposed so far. If you can't see any more albums that would fit the bill it doesn't mean don't post, if anything.. just post your opinions about the ones already listed!
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath. Paranoid is, certainly for me but I suspect it's a more widespread opinion, the better album for early Sabbath. But you simply cannot get more influential than the album and the riff that started the whole genre. If you want to learn about the background of metal this is pretty much your starting point no matter it's quality.
AC/DC - Back in Black. It's not strictly metal but I think it's reasonable to say its on the border. Metal or not though it had a severe impact on the music that was being put out, and really should not be overlooked.
Judas Priest - British Steel. In my opinion, far from their best, but it brought metal to the masses and got it some real international recognition as well as kicking Priest's career up a notch a bringing them to push onto further things, becoming one of the most influential bands for the genre.
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell. A masterpiece from start to finish, I just honestly don't know what else need's saying on this! (And I'm running out of ideas while trying to stay fresh
).Rush - Moving Pictures. I'm not a major Rush fan (various reasons, never gave them a proper listen and now I can't) - but in a display of technical skill and composition it was a new direction. Another of the 'perfect example of metal' albums over influence. It's not totally proggy, keeping its roots a bit more in the generic heavy metal (imo), but it pushed a new sub-genre out. I'll let someone else do a better description I've probably described it pretty badly, as said, I'm not the best expert on Rush.
Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance. A real contender for Priest's best album but really made everyone sit back and marvel at the way things were taking off. With the new speed and style of the music that they'd progressed to from British Steel this album (more so than BS or anything that came before) brought the idea of a twin lead guitar attack into prominence.
Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast. Again, not their best by a long shot but it propelled them to new heights and inspired a generation. More catchy than SFV and ultimately more accessible, it had a major influence on a lot of the acts at the time and showed that metal wasn't going away, that it had great potential and power.
Dio - Holy Diver. Okay so we're starting to move from the 'influential/impact' albums and into the area of albums that blow your mind.
Metallica - Master of Puppets. Okay, this one isn't even near my top10 or anything, but I can't deny (and I think it would be foolish to) how heavy an influence this has on every band that has started in the past 15 years or so. America's real major act at the time. This one is less about the creation of thrash (bit late for that!) but it fits into the category of 'It's just that solid a collection of songs that you've got to hear it at some point!'.
Megadeth - Rust in Peace. Another of those albums that rather than propelling the genre in a new direction, it's there to make people sit up and think "HOLY FLERPING SHNICT!". Master of Puppets may have showcased some high speed and technicality but really this one, for me at least, is what really pushed the boat in the meaning of he word shred.
Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction. I would argue this isn't metal, but it sure has a solid foot in the door. The raw energy that was poured into the band and the guitar sound is immense. It's the biggest selling debut album of all time, and for me even ontop of the quality of the songs, is the oddity that is Slash's crunchy guitar during that time... compare the tone of Welcome to the jungle to Piece of Mind and then compare it to Brave New World. One of the best things about the post-2000 metal albums is that the 'heavy' part of the genre really starts to be more and more apt... Appetite seemed to find that area a good time ahead of the rest. There were a few other 'heavier' albums in the 80's, Defenders of the Faith was pretty strong in that department but no where near as cleanly done in my opinion.
Judas Priest - Painkiller. A further 'must hear' in terms of just sheer brilliance. But it had the honor of being one of (if not the) best metal albums of the 90's. The 80's had set a standard for metal and started to take it up a notch but Painkiller just blew it all out the water with it's fairly big footprint! It's like Screaming Mark II, but with heavier guitars!! Priests sound was getting heavier and heavier through the 80's and it hit a fairly important point when it reached Painkiller.
This is born from a chat with Mosh on IRC, but the descriptions written above are my own. I fully expect there to be disagreements and corrections (for instance "AFD wasn't a new standard in production!") .. but that's precisely what I'm hoping for from this thread, a good old deep, passionate metal discussion. With hopefully the outcome that everyone can agree on a staple list of albums.
If everyone gives reasons for picking their albums instead of just going "this ones good, this ones good too" .. then there can be real debates about whether they deserve a place on a list of this type and it wont turn into a top100 album list. Remember, we're looking for things that shaped the genre, and pure showcases of what metal should sound like!!
Let the fighting begin!
. The only thing I can say (opinion wise) is that it came after Black Sabbath's debut, which kick-started the genre so I would deem BS to be the more important of the albums... but, there is no reason that both can't be on the same list if both had an impact on the genre to a high degree. I can't really say whether Machine Head had a high impact, but I've heard the BS debut mentioned a lot more over the years.
