Essential Metal Albums
- Thread starter Black Thunder
- Start date
The Mid-Distance Runner
Educated Fool
Badlands was a fave of mine at school too..thanks for posting it. The Metal Church guitarist covered for James Hetfield after james had a skateboard accident..good guitarist. Real tall too!
Some other essentials:
King Diamond: Voodoo; House of God...King was in a purple patch late 90s
ISIS: wavering radiant; oceanic ...crucial in prog metal history
Destruction: Mad Butcher
Testament: Practice What You Preach
Dio: Dream Evil..underrated. Kills Last in Line.
Some other essentials:
King Diamond: Voodoo; House of God...King was in a purple patch late 90s
ISIS: wavering radiant; oceanic ...crucial in prog metal history
Destruction: Mad Butcher
Testament: Practice What You Preach
Dio: Dream Evil..underrated. Kills Last in Line.
Chartwell
Trooper
OK, Top albums in no particular order (I do love this thread, to build on the earlier discussion, I love the exposure to new bands)
Iron Maiden
Number of the Beast
Piece of Mind
Dance of Death
The Final Frontier
Helloween
Keeper of the 7 Keys, Pts. 1 and 2
Candlemass
Tales of Creation
Nightfall
Candlemass (the white album)
Gamma Ray
No World Order
Black Sabbath
Heaven and Hell
Tyr
Metallica
Master of Puppets
Testament
Practice What You Preach (why these guys weren't bigger always escaped me)
DoomSword
Let Battle Commence
Flotsam and Jetsam
Doomsday for the Deceiver (boy they dropped off BIG time after this album)
Freedom Call
Eternity
Overkill
The Years of Decay (a perfect thrash album, IMHO - EEEE-Limination!)
Motorhead
1916 (tied with Ace of Spades, I think)
Nightwish
Dark Passion Play
Queensryche
Operation: Mindcrime. Seminal piece in metal history.
Savatage
Gutter Ballet or Hall of the Mountain King (also can't decide)
Testify! I had that in my list until I thought, nah, it might be a bit too pussy... "all the fools sailed away" still grabs me to this day. I think I took it off because the title track isn't the elf's best work. But I agree with your assessment! Completely!
Iron Maiden
Number of the Beast
Piece of Mind
Dance of Death
The Final Frontier
Helloween
Keeper of the 7 Keys, Pts. 1 and 2
Candlemass
Tales of Creation
Nightfall
Candlemass (the white album)
Gamma Ray
No World Order
Black Sabbath
Heaven and Hell
Tyr
Metallica
Master of Puppets
Testament
Practice What You Preach (why these guys weren't bigger always escaped me)
DoomSword
Let Battle Commence
Flotsam and Jetsam
Doomsday for the Deceiver (boy they dropped off BIG time after this album)
Freedom Call
Eternity
Overkill
The Years of Decay (a perfect thrash album, IMHO - EEEE-Limination!)
Motorhead
1916 (tied with Ace of Spades, I think)
Nightwish
Dark Passion Play
Queensryche
Operation: Mindcrime. Seminal piece in metal history.
Savatage
Gutter Ballet or Hall of the Mountain King (also can't decide)
The Mid-Distance Runner said:
Testify! I had that in my list until I thought, nah, it might be a bit too pussy... "all the fools sailed away" still grabs me to this day. I think I took it off because the title track isn't the elf's best work. But I agree with your assessment! Completely!
OK this is a REALLY long post...
First I want to say that this isn't essential albums list, but list of my favorite albums. First I made a list of maybe 30-35 albums then shortened it down to 20. I had a hard time deciding every albums place in the standings, because difference in quality of these albums is really small.
So, behold...
NIGHTPROWLER666'S TOP 21 FAVORITE METAL ALBUMS!
01. IRON MAIDEN - Somewhere In Time
Iron Maiden's best album, "all killer, no filler". Everything is so damn fantastic on this album. I can't decide on my favorite song on the album, but I can say that the least good song on the album is Déjà Vu.
02. ICED EARTH - Night Of The Stormrider
Amazing album from start to finish. Even the interludes are interesting are worth listening. This is Iced Earth at its best. Production is fantastic, everything sounds clean and crisp, from fantastic drums and furious riffing/soloing to amazing choirs and keyboards. Mystical End is probably the least perfect song on this album
03. WINTERSUN - Wintersun
This album is probably the biggest "grower" on this list. When I first heard it, I almost dismissed it because it was too chaotic and "uncatchy". Luckily, I decided to give it a second chance. It's fast and brutal, but in the same time incredibly melodic and emotional. It mixes a wide variety of genres: heavy, power, progressive, death, black, folk etc. It's amazing that one guy could make such an album almost all by himself. Every song is different and perfect in its own way, but Starchild is probably least perfect
04. ICED EARTH - The Dark Saga
Probably IE's most emotional album. I think it perfectly captured Spawn "atmosphere". This album grew on me for a long time until it came to this list, to be exact, the last three songs that are known as The Suffering Trilogy were the last songs that I got into. A Question Of Heaven is one of the saddest and most emotional songs I know. I could've lived without Depths Of Hell, but it's still a good song, just not at the same level of quality as the others.
05. ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW - Children Of The Dark Waters
This album will probably surprise many people because of its high place on this album, but I think that it completely deserves it. It's ETOS's best album by far, a perfect mix of symphonic and melodic death metal. Harsh vocals could've been better but they suit the music well. I wish they used clean vocals more often because they are absolutely fantastic. That clean vocalist guy has one of the most powerful screams I have ever heard! I would like to see him in a power metal band/album in the future... When The Darkness Night Falls is good but forgettable. Suggestion: if you want to listen to this album find a version that contains a 2009 recording of their song Vilda Mánnu, it's great
06. JUDAS PRIEST - Painkiller
I wish Halford never left Judas Priest in 1991. We could've got at least 2-3 albums in the 90's similar to Painkiller, but instead we got that gothic piece of shit Two. This will sound strange: Nostradamus is in fact my favorite Judas Priest album, but in this list I decided to rank Painkiller higher, because it's easier to listen to at once. There isn't a single bad moment on this album, except for Battle Hymn. I wish they included Living Bad Dreams on the album (bonus track on the remastered edition of the album) because it's also a good song. My favorite songs on the album are Leather Rebel and Metal Meltdown.
07. AMON AMARTH - Twilight Of The Thunder God
AA's best album. They finally found a perfect formula for making their music (I don't really like their first 3 albums because they are "uncatchy"). Every song is a potential hit, due to catchy riffs and choruses and pretty much "understandable" death metal vocals. The best song on the album is Live For The Kill, the weakest one Embrace Of The Endless Ocean.
08. SLAYER - Reign In Blood
BEST THRASH METAL ALBUM EVER!
That means it's also Slayer's best album and for a reason. Every song is highly memorable, and contains mostly 1-3 different riffs. 7 of 10 songs on the album are shorter than 3 minutes so there is no place for repetition. I see a lot of criticism about guitar solos, but I don't see any problem about them, 'cause all of them are interesting and well-composed. Best songs on the album are (in order): Raining Blood, Angel Of Death, Postmortem, Jesus Saves.
09. BLIND GUARDIAN - Tales From The Twilight World
This is Blind Guardian's most "even" album and a milestone in their discography. It perfectly mixes speed metal of the previous albums and melodicness and choral arrangements of their later albums. I don't really like what they did after this album. Sure, there are lots of great songs in post TFTTW-era, but they came to a point (A Night At The Opera) where their music is unlistenable because of overdubbing of Hansi's vocals. Back to this album: it contains my favorite BG song - Welcome To Dying. All of the songs are highly memorable, even the interludes/instrumentals. Backing vocals are very good and sound fantastic when combined with Hansi's voice. I'm not really sure, but I think that Hansi does both lead and backing vocals on studio albums lately, which is a shame, because backing vocals in earlier albums were really special for me.
10. MEGADETH - Rust In Peace
Megadeth's last thrash metal album and also with their best lineup. I really like Mustaine's vocals here. Sure, he's not best vocalist in the world, but his doing his job well. Marty Friedman is a fantastic lead guitarist (although his solo career is overrated) and he's Megadeth's best guitarist by far (even better than Mustaine). His solo on Tornado Of Souls is probably in my Top 5 greatest guitar solos list. Ellefson isn't very noticeable here, but he shows off his abilities on Dawn Patrol (fantastic interlude). Nick Menza is Megadeth's best drummer. I saw some of his newer photos and he looks really bad (drugs/alcohol?). I wish he makes a return to Megadeth because 'deth's current drummer is incredibly boring and uninspired and he mostly ruined Nick's drumlines on recent live albums. One really bad song on this album is Poison Was The Cure, so that's why this album is at this place on the list.
11. METALLICA - Death Magnetic
Yeah, this is my favorite Metallica album. It sounds really fresh and when it came out, I was so happy that Metallica returned to thrash metal from 80's. All of the songs are lengthy, catchy and well-played. Production isn't really good but songs are so good that even bad production can't make them sound bad. I like all of the songs, All Nightmare Long is probably my favorite. I REALLY like The Unforgiven III. It's a great ballad and IMO contains Metallica's most epic moment (around 4:33 to around 5:34). I don't really care about My Apocalypse, good but not great song.
12. IRON MAIDEN - Brave New World
A fantastic comeback. I think they decided to play it safe on this album, so they made sure to make to satisfy everyone. There are short rocker tracks (The Wicker Man, The Mercenary, The Fallen Angel), long rocker songs (Ghost Of The Navigator, Brave New World, Out Of The Silent Planet), balladish songs (Blood Brothers, Dream Of Mirrors, The Thin Line Between Love & Hate) and a longwinded epic (The Nomad). All of the songs are exciting and catchy, which is a real refreshment after the "dark" 90's. This is my second favorite Iron Maiden album, and my favorite song of the album is Out Of The Silent Planet.
13. TURISAS - Battle Metal
Best folk metal album ever, perfect from start to finish. I usually don't like intros but Victoriae & Triumphi Dominus is amazing. It leads into Turisas' best song - As Torches Rise. That song absolutely rules, and I don't think Turisas will ever make a song as good as this one. The album is fast, catchy and kinda cheesy in a good way. There are harsh, clean male and female vocals, accordions, violins and keyboards and every song is mostly based around those elements. Traditional metal instruments (guitar, bass and drums) are sadly, mostly in the background. All of the solos are actually played on electric violin... All of the songs are good, but maybe there are too many of them, which makes it harder to listen through the whole album without pauses, hence its place on this list...
14. JUDAS PRIEST - Nostradamus
Judas Priest's most experimental album and my favorite album of theirs. I liked it from the first day, and I mostly listen to it in its entirety. I'm not a fan of interludes, which are mostly hit (all of the interludes on CD 1) or miss (all of the interludes on CD 2). Halford sounds really good even without screaming. My only complaint about this album is this: Judas Priest isn't really known for keyboard/orchestra stuff but they decided to play it and produce it all by themselves, which was IMO a bad decision. Production isn't really good because it mostly drowns some instrument - bass on the whole album, guitars when keyboards are more prominent and opposite. My favorite song on the album is Persecution, but every song is really good.
15. STRATOVARIUS - Visions
Stratovarius' best album. It contains their best song (Black Diamond) and their best ballad (Before The Winter). I don't like Holy Light, Coming Home is forgettable and Visions (Southern Cross) overlong, but other songs make up for this flaws. First 6 songs are absolutely killer. The Abyss Of Your Eyes is simply amazing and keyboard melody on this song is one of Strato's bests. Too bad that after this album Tolkki started going mad, but I think that bands current lineup is more than capable of recording an album of Visions quality.
16. EX DEO - Romulus
"War" metal at its best. Ex Deo is much better than its brother band Kataklysm. Lyrics are interesting and so is the topic. Maurizio is a great vocalist and he really shows it here, as he handles every vocal type with ease on this album. Production is amazing and suits the songs very well. My favorite song on the album is In Her Dark Embrace. The album kinda loses its "greatness" in songs Legio XIII and Blood, Courage & The Gods That Walk The Earth and on outro. Good songs but kinda forgettable.
17. IRON MAIDEN - A Matter Of Life & Death
Another classic Maiden album, filled with dark proggy songs. I don't really know what to say about it other than this: it's fantastic and a joy to listen in its entirety. The Legacy is kinda boring, it takes a lot of time to start and isn't really anything special. Apart from its main riff The Pilgrim is pretty much forgettable. All the other songs are fantastic.
18. CRIMSON GLORY - Crimson Glory
An underrated band. Midnight (R.I.P.
) was the best "screamer" in metal IMO, and he shows it on this album. Its amazing how high this guy can sing. Just check out last lines of Valhalla and you'll see what I mean. This is IMO best USPM album. Songs are melodic and catchy. Lost Reflection is an amazing ballad, and Midnight really tears it up on it. They had another album in the same style which wasn't as catchy as this one, and then they decided to go for commerical success and recorded a glam rock/metal album (never listened to it, because I didn't want it to ruin my "liking" of the band). They recorded a comeback album without Midnight but new vocalist was horrible so I dismissed that album too. In the end, legacy of their debut album remains..
19. DARK ANGEL - Time Does Not Heal
An underrated thrash masterpiece. Gene Hoglan is one of the best drummer/songwriter ever. His lyrics are intelligent and complicated and every song tells its own story. I mentioned that my favorite song on the album is An Ancient Inherited Shame and I think that it's probably best thrash metal song ever with lyrics of equal quality. My second favorite song on the album is A Subtle Induction whose intro I once used as a ringtone. For those who never heard the album: when released it had a sticker reading "9 songs, 67 minutes, 246 riffs!". 'Nuff said.
20. MANOWAR - Battle Hymns
Manowar's best album and the only album of theirs that I can listen to in its entirety. First 5 songs are classic catchy heavy metal songs with good guitar work and vocals. Bass solo sucks. This album also contains two of Manowar's best songs - Dark Avenger and Battle Hymn which are epic metal at its best. Not one Manowar song is even close in quality to these songs.
21. CONTROL DENIED - The Fragile Art Of Existence
A masterpice of progressive metal. It's sad that Chuck Schuldiner died so early because who knows how many more masterpieces like this album could have been made... He assembled best lineup of his career on this album and everyone gave their best on this album. Bass never follows the guitars, drums are fast and rich in fills and time changes and guitars are just...mindblowing. Best moments on this album are on song called Believe: 1:04-1:14 and 4:37-4:47, short but outstanding.
First I want to say that this isn't essential albums list, but list of my favorite albums. First I made a list of maybe 30-35 albums then shortened it down to 20. I had a hard time deciding every albums place in the standings, because difference in quality of these albums is really small.
So, behold...
NIGHTPROWLER666'S TOP 21 FAVORITE METAL ALBUMS!
01. IRON MAIDEN - Somewhere In Time
Iron Maiden's best album, "all killer, no filler". Everything is so damn fantastic on this album. I can't decide on my favorite song on the album, but I can say that the least good song on the album is Déjà Vu.
02. ICED EARTH - Night Of The Stormrider
Amazing album from start to finish. Even the interludes are interesting are worth listening. This is Iced Earth at its best. Production is fantastic, everything sounds clean and crisp, from fantastic drums and furious riffing/soloing to amazing choirs and keyboards. Mystical End is probably the least perfect song on this album
03. WINTERSUN - Wintersun
This album is probably the biggest "grower" on this list. When I first heard it, I almost dismissed it because it was too chaotic and "uncatchy". Luckily, I decided to give it a second chance. It's fast and brutal, but in the same time incredibly melodic and emotional. It mixes a wide variety of genres: heavy, power, progressive, death, black, folk etc. It's amazing that one guy could make such an album almost all by himself. Every song is different and perfect in its own way, but Starchild is probably least perfect
04. ICED EARTH - The Dark Saga
Probably IE's most emotional album. I think it perfectly captured Spawn "atmosphere". This album grew on me for a long time until it came to this list, to be exact, the last three songs that are known as The Suffering Trilogy were the last songs that I got into. A Question Of Heaven is one of the saddest and most emotional songs I know. I could've lived without Depths Of Hell, but it's still a good song, just not at the same level of quality as the others.
05. ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW - Children Of The Dark Waters
This album will probably surprise many people because of its high place on this album, but I think that it completely deserves it. It's ETOS's best album by far, a perfect mix of symphonic and melodic death metal. Harsh vocals could've been better but they suit the music well. I wish they used clean vocals more often because they are absolutely fantastic. That clean vocalist guy has one of the most powerful screams I have ever heard! I would like to see him in a power metal band/album in the future... When The Darkness Night Falls is good but forgettable. Suggestion: if you want to listen to this album find a version that contains a 2009 recording of their song Vilda Mánnu, it's great
06. JUDAS PRIEST - Painkiller
I wish Halford never left Judas Priest in 1991. We could've got at least 2-3 albums in the 90's similar to Painkiller, but instead we got that gothic piece of shit Two. This will sound strange: Nostradamus is in fact my favorite Judas Priest album, but in this list I decided to rank Painkiller higher, because it's easier to listen to at once. There isn't a single bad moment on this album, except for Battle Hymn. I wish they included Living Bad Dreams on the album (bonus track on the remastered edition of the album) because it's also a good song. My favorite songs on the album are Leather Rebel and Metal Meltdown.
07. AMON AMARTH - Twilight Of The Thunder God
AA's best album. They finally found a perfect formula for making their music (I don't really like their first 3 albums because they are "uncatchy"). Every song is a potential hit, due to catchy riffs and choruses and pretty much "understandable" death metal vocals. The best song on the album is Live For The Kill, the weakest one Embrace Of The Endless Ocean.
08. SLAYER - Reign In Blood
BEST THRASH METAL ALBUM EVER!
That means it's also Slayer's best album and for a reason. Every song is highly memorable, and contains mostly 1-3 different riffs. 7 of 10 songs on the album are shorter than 3 minutes so there is no place for repetition. I see a lot of criticism about guitar solos, but I don't see any problem about them, 'cause all of them are interesting and well-composed. Best songs on the album are (in order): Raining Blood, Angel Of Death, Postmortem, Jesus Saves.09. BLIND GUARDIAN - Tales From The Twilight World
This is Blind Guardian's most "even" album and a milestone in their discography. It perfectly mixes speed metal of the previous albums and melodicness and choral arrangements of their later albums. I don't really like what they did after this album. Sure, there are lots of great songs in post TFTTW-era, but they came to a point (A Night At The Opera) where their music is unlistenable because of overdubbing of Hansi's vocals. Back to this album: it contains my favorite BG song - Welcome To Dying. All of the songs are highly memorable, even the interludes/instrumentals. Backing vocals are very good and sound fantastic when combined with Hansi's voice. I'm not really sure, but I think that Hansi does both lead and backing vocals on studio albums lately, which is a shame, because backing vocals in earlier albums were really special for me.
10. MEGADETH - Rust In Peace
Megadeth's last thrash metal album and also with their best lineup. I really like Mustaine's vocals here. Sure, he's not best vocalist in the world, but his doing his job well. Marty Friedman is a fantastic lead guitarist (although his solo career is overrated) and he's Megadeth's best guitarist by far (even better than Mustaine). His solo on Tornado Of Souls is probably in my Top 5 greatest guitar solos list. Ellefson isn't very noticeable here, but he shows off his abilities on Dawn Patrol (fantastic interlude). Nick Menza is Megadeth's best drummer. I saw some of his newer photos and he looks really bad (drugs/alcohol?). I wish he makes a return to Megadeth because 'deth's current drummer is incredibly boring and uninspired and he mostly ruined Nick's drumlines on recent live albums. One really bad song on this album is Poison Was The Cure, so that's why this album is at this place on the list.
11. METALLICA - Death Magnetic
Yeah, this is my favorite Metallica album. It sounds really fresh and when it came out, I was so happy that Metallica returned to thrash metal from 80's. All of the songs are lengthy, catchy and well-played. Production isn't really good but songs are so good that even bad production can't make them sound bad. I like all of the songs, All Nightmare Long is probably my favorite. I REALLY like The Unforgiven III. It's a great ballad and IMO contains Metallica's most epic moment (around 4:33 to around 5:34). I don't really care about My Apocalypse, good but not great song.
12. IRON MAIDEN - Brave New World
A fantastic comeback. I think they decided to play it safe on this album, so they made sure to make to satisfy everyone. There are short rocker tracks (The Wicker Man, The Mercenary, The Fallen Angel), long rocker songs (Ghost Of The Navigator, Brave New World, Out Of The Silent Planet), balladish songs (Blood Brothers, Dream Of Mirrors, The Thin Line Between Love & Hate) and a longwinded epic (The Nomad). All of the songs are exciting and catchy, which is a real refreshment after the "dark" 90's. This is my second favorite Iron Maiden album, and my favorite song of the album is Out Of The Silent Planet.
13. TURISAS - Battle Metal
Best folk metal album ever, perfect from start to finish. I usually don't like intros but Victoriae & Triumphi Dominus is amazing. It leads into Turisas' best song - As Torches Rise. That song absolutely rules, and I don't think Turisas will ever make a song as good as this one. The album is fast, catchy and kinda cheesy in a good way. There are harsh, clean male and female vocals, accordions, violins and keyboards and every song is mostly based around those elements. Traditional metal instruments (guitar, bass and drums) are sadly, mostly in the background. All of the solos are actually played on electric violin... All of the songs are good, but maybe there are too many of them, which makes it harder to listen through the whole album without pauses, hence its place on this list...
14. JUDAS PRIEST - Nostradamus
Judas Priest's most experimental album and my favorite album of theirs. I liked it from the first day, and I mostly listen to it in its entirety. I'm not a fan of interludes, which are mostly hit (all of the interludes on CD 1) or miss (all of the interludes on CD 2). Halford sounds really good even without screaming. My only complaint about this album is this: Judas Priest isn't really known for keyboard/orchestra stuff but they decided to play it and produce it all by themselves, which was IMO a bad decision. Production isn't really good because it mostly drowns some instrument - bass on the whole album, guitars when keyboards are more prominent and opposite. My favorite song on the album is Persecution, but every song is really good.
15. STRATOVARIUS - Visions
Stratovarius' best album. It contains their best song (Black Diamond) and their best ballad (Before The Winter). I don't like Holy Light, Coming Home is forgettable and Visions (Southern Cross) overlong, but other songs make up for this flaws. First 6 songs are absolutely killer. The Abyss Of Your Eyes is simply amazing and keyboard melody on this song is one of Strato's bests. Too bad that after this album Tolkki started going mad, but I think that bands current lineup is more than capable of recording an album of Visions quality.
16. EX DEO - Romulus
"War" metal at its best. Ex Deo is much better than its brother band Kataklysm. Lyrics are interesting and so is the topic. Maurizio is a great vocalist and he really shows it here, as he handles every vocal type with ease on this album. Production is amazing and suits the songs very well. My favorite song on the album is In Her Dark Embrace. The album kinda loses its "greatness" in songs Legio XIII and Blood, Courage & The Gods That Walk The Earth and on outro. Good songs but kinda forgettable.
17. IRON MAIDEN - A Matter Of Life & Death
Another classic Maiden album, filled with dark proggy songs. I don't really know what to say about it other than this: it's fantastic and a joy to listen in its entirety. The Legacy is kinda boring, it takes a lot of time to start and isn't really anything special. Apart from its main riff The Pilgrim is pretty much forgettable. All the other songs are fantastic.
18. CRIMSON GLORY - Crimson Glory
An underrated band. Midnight (R.I.P.
) was the best "screamer" in metal IMO, and he shows it on this album. Its amazing how high this guy can sing. Just check out last lines of Valhalla and you'll see what I mean. This is IMO best USPM album. Songs are melodic and catchy. Lost Reflection is an amazing ballad, and Midnight really tears it up on it. They had another album in the same style which wasn't as catchy as this one, and then they decided to go for commerical success and recorded a glam rock/metal album (never listened to it, because I didn't want it to ruin my "liking" of the band). They recorded a comeback album without Midnight but new vocalist was horrible so I dismissed that album too. In the end, legacy of their debut album remains..19. DARK ANGEL - Time Does Not Heal
An underrated thrash masterpiece. Gene Hoglan is one of the best drummer/songwriter ever. His lyrics are intelligent and complicated and every song tells its own story. I mentioned that my favorite song on the album is An Ancient Inherited Shame and I think that it's probably best thrash metal song ever with lyrics of equal quality. My second favorite song on the album is A Subtle Induction whose intro I once used as a ringtone. For those who never heard the album: when released it had a sticker reading "9 songs, 67 minutes, 246 riffs!". 'Nuff said.
20. MANOWAR - Battle Hymns
Manowar's best album and the only album of theirs that I can listen to in its entirety. First 5 songs are classic catchy heavy metal songs with good guitar work and vocals. Bass solo sucks. This album also contains two of Manowar's best songs - Dark Avenger and Battle Hymn which are epic metal at its best. Not one Manowar song is even close in quality to these songs.
21. CONTROL DENIED - The Fragile Art Of Existence
A masterpice of progressive metal. It's sad that Chuck Schuldiner died so early because who knows how many more masterpieces like this album could have been made... He assembled best lineup of his career on this album and everyone gave their best on this album. Bass never follows the guitars, drums are fast and rich in fills and time changes and guitars are just...mindblowing. Best moments on this album are on song called Believe: 1:04-1:14 and 4:37-4:47, short but outstanding.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Holy Crap, so much to read through....
All the lists are great IMO and there is nothing I can add to them.
I guess the only contribution I can make is about the genre I know the most about and that is Power Metal.
I'd take Helloween's KOTSK pt. II over part one and I wouldn't call early Blind Guardian Power Metal. Granted I've never heard the album mentioned, just going off of Follow the Blind and Batallions of Fear. They did go "power" and then some in later albums, but I wouldn't call them "essential" to the growth of the subgenre.
Helloween and Stratovarius were huge in this. As for where the Genre has gone one can point to Kamelot and Angra and not so much to their classic rockers, but to their experimental work. The infusion of other musical genres like Tango, Rumba, indigenous beats and, of course, classical music without it being "symphonic."
Stratovarious's Visions as the first album with the "classic" line-up should be mentioned, Angra's Temple of Shadows and for Kamelot... hard to say, but I'd go with their album Epica.
All the lists are great IMO and there is nothing I can add to them.
I guess the only contribution I can make is about the genre I know the most about and that is Power Metal.
I'd take Helloween's KOTSK pt. II over part one and I wouldn't call early Blind Guardian Power Metal. Granted I've never heard the album mentioned, just going off of Follow the Blind and Batallions of Fear. They did go "power" and then some in later albums, but I wouldn't call them "essential" to the growth of the subgenre.
Helloween and Stratovarius were huge in this. As for where the Genre has gone one can point to Kamelot and Angra and not so much to their classic rockers, but to their experimental work. The infusion of other musical genres like Tango, Rumba, indigenous beats and, of course, classical music without it being "symphonic."
Stratovarious's Visions as the first album with the "classic" line-up should be mentioned, Angra's Temple of Shadows and for Kamelot... hard to say, but I'd go with their album Epica.
I just noticed that I completely forgot Slayer's Reign In Blood 
It was in my preliminary list, but I probably accidentally deleted it. I'll add it to the above list.
EDIT: Now it's Top 21
It was in my preliminary list, but I probably accidentally deleted it. I'll add it to the above list.EDIT: Now it's Top 21
Thanks 