Scorpions one of my favorite bands, in the last couple of years I started listen much often the 70’s records and those records grows up on me.
The band of the seventies is hard heavy and obscure, with Uli Roth amazing guitar work, thats why I change completely the original my maybe order of this list.

Pioneers on the hard rock and early heavy metal scene in Germany.
Scorpions started in late 60’s, in 1972 they recorded their debut album, the band's only album with lead guitarist Michael Schenker – just 16 at the time of the recording – as a full-time member. He soon left to join UFO and was replaced by Ulrich Roth until 1978. After that the band lead by Klaus Meine And Rudolph Schenker wrote the most famous songs and music and got the recognition and worldwide success.

1.Scorpions - Taken By Force

2.Scorpions - In Trance

3.Scorpions - Virgin Killer

4.Scorpions - Fly To The Rainbow

5.Scorpions - Lonesome Crow

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Almost all album titles fall in one of two categories: The album shares the title with one of its songs (the title track) or, alternatively, the album title is independent from the songs (no title track).

However, there are examples of songs that have a central link to the album title without sharing the same name. In these cases, certain lyrics from the song were chosen as the album title.

This (alphabetical) list shows the names of these “hidden title tracks” and the central lyrics that gave the name to the corresponding album.

Please feel free to suggest more of your favorite metal/hard rock examples of these “hidden title tracks”.

1.40 Watt Sun - Wider Than The Sky

2.A Forest Of Stars - A Shadowplay For Yesterdays

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Agalloch - The Mantle

5.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

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1.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

2.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

3.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

4.Mötley Crüe - Shout At The Devil

5.Michael Schenker Group - M.S.G.

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1.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

2.Manowar - Hail To England

3.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

4.Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith

5.Manowar - Sign Of The Hammer

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1.Shylmagoghnar - Emergence

2.Galneryus - Angel Of Salvation

3.Blindead - Affliction XXIX II MXMVI

4.Batushka - Litourgiya

5.Leprous - Bilateral

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I've been listening to Metal since 2005 and it has become my biggest passion in life.

Rarely a day goes by where I don't listen to it in one form or another. The bands I listened to in my teens inspired me to pick up the guitar (and later drums) and start making music of my own.

So here are the albums that have stood out and made the largest impact on me. To be as transparent as possible, I've labelled albums as 'nostalgia bias' where my memories of the album give it an advantage over others.

(Score is an average of each album's song ratings, full list located here. There are a ton of albums that I've rated 9/10 in the 'TBR' tab that may never make it to this list, be sure to check those out.)

If you discovered any new albums or like the same sort of metal, be sure to give this list a thumbs-up and leave a comment so more people can find these amazing bands!

My other lists:
Top 25 EPs (ordered & rated)
Top 200 Overlooked Albums (with genres)
Top 200 Overrated Albums (trigger warning)
So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)

Genre-Specific:
Top 50 Black Metal Albums
Top 50 Melodic Death Metal Albums
Top 45 Thrash Metal Albums
Top 40 Power Metal Albums
Top 30 Doom Metal Albums
Top 30 Heavy Metal Albums

1.Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Opeth - Still Life

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While the order in each decade is purely personal preference, there are several rules for a song qualifying for the list. First off, the band has to be notable. I'm not going to define what that means, but I'm sure you'd agree all the bands in the list are notable. There are plenty of riffs from obscure bands I'd rather put, but I know my love for Tarby doesn't make him the greatest riff maker of the 21st century. Second, each artist can only appear once in a decade, this is to prevent the best riff makers from hogging the list and adding some variety, showing how metal has changed over time. Decades are measured by when the song was recorded, not released, and when it's unclear the beginning of recording is used. This is mainly because a lot of definitive early metal songs were released in 1970, but recorded in 1969. Third, the song itself has to be notable. Here are things that can qualify as being notable: the song was release as a single, has music video made for it, was released as a single, was the title track for an album (note that Crawl through Knives meets this criteria because it was the original title for Come Clarity, and there is no way in hell Come Clarity is getting best riff of the decade ), is included on a greatest hits compilation album, was nominated for a Grammy or musical award of similar caliber, was included as a track in a notable film or video game, was covered by a notable band, or has a Wikipedia page for some miscellaneous reason. Finally, the song needs to be metal. Misirlou gets the pass despite predating metal as it was probably the single most influential song on the development of metal, and while many of the other songs in the other songs are better classified as hard rock, I can find a source listing them as heavy metal.

1.

2.King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

3.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

4.Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

5.Deep Purple - In Rock

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1.Agent Steel - Unstoppable Force

2.Annihilator - Alice In Hell

3.Anthrax - Among The Living

4.Artillery - By Inheritance

5.Baphomet - The Dead Shall Inherit

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1.AC/DC - Back In Black

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

4.Dio - Holy Diver

5.Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith

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My personal favorites. These albums are as perfect as an album can get, they always bring up the adrenaline and have in many ways changed the way I perceive music, expanding the horizons of metal in various ways. Most important of all they never get old or boring and therefore should be given a chance.

1.Angra - Temple Of Shadows

2.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II

3.Symphony X - The Divine Wings Of Tragedy

4.Adagio - Underworld

5.Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith

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Wanna know what I headbang to on the regular? The releases that have seen countless re-spins... Well, this is a very simple list and something you've probably seen a lot of other MS users do in the past. Basically, I'm just going to list what are essential metal albums for me, my all time gems & masterpieces (very subjective and some are also in there due to nostalgia and sentimental value).

There's no particular ''Genre'' that I'll be covering and I will also try to limit myself to two albums per band and a few of my favorite tracks or highlights per album. Of course everything in this list is just my opinion, meaning that I'm not saying these albums are all masterpieces or whatnot, it's just my personal favorites. I hope most of you will agree with me and those few who don't, well... it's okay to be wrong, the next step is acceptance

🇨🇦 = From Canada, My Country!

Last Updated: April 15th, 2024

1.Absu - The Third Storm Of Cythrául

2.AC/DC - High Voltage

3.Alestorm - Black Sails At Midnight

4.Alien Weaponry - Tū

5.Amon Amarth - Fate Of Norns

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1.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith

4.Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force

5.Scorpions - Love At First Sting

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One of the best year in history of heavy metal music.

1.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

2.Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith

3.W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P.

4.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

5.48 Crash - Victim Of Chains

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1.Scorpions - Blackout

2.Scorpions - Love At First Sting

3.Scorpions - Lovedrive

4.Scorpions - Virgin Killer

5.Scorpions - Humanity - Hour 1

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Albums I have downloaded and are in the process of obtaining

1.AC/DC - Back In Black

2.AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

3.AC/DC - High Voltage

4.AC/DC - Highway To Hell

5.AC/DC - Let There Be Rock

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