While 1987 woke me up to metal and I hoovered up the likes of Iron Maiden, Metallica and Helloween’s keepers, 1988 was my metal heyday and a year that produced albums that would still dominiate my top 20 list today. Lots of power metal and plenty of Noise Records!

1.Manowar - Kings Of Metal

2.Scanner - Hypertrace

3.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II

4.Candlemass - Ancient Dreams

5.Riot - ThunderSteel

      View entire list ››

1.Judas Priest - Painkiller

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Iced Earth - The Glorious Burden

4.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

5.Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding

      View entire list ››

A little list series where I list my top 20 favorite metal albums every year starting from the year I was born in.

Man this list was a rough one, but in a good way 1988 is one of the best years in metal history and a lot of great release came out that year, cutting it down to just 20 was tough and ranking them was even harder.

1.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime

2.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II

3.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

4.Candlemass - Ancient Dreams

5.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

      View entire list ››

1.Crimson Glory - Transcendence

2.Sanctuary - Into The Mirror Black

3.Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian

4.Savatage - Gutter Ballet

5.Psyco Drama - The Illusion

      View entire list ››

Bands almost unknown for the most, Cds or Vinyls out of print or never print, Sometimes record production sucks, thats why I love US power metal. An original style Classic and Epic Heavy Metal Mixed With Thrash, Speed and High Doses of Virtuosity, different than Europe PM with more testosterone and heaviness

1.Manilla Road - Crystal Logic

2.Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction

3.Riot - ThunderSteel

4.Savatage - Hall Of The Mountain King

5.Cirith Ungol - Frost And Fire

      View entire list ››

This is a list of all the power metal albums I have listened to that are worth remembering. Like my other genre lists, this is not meant to be a definitive guide to power metal or a binding judgment on what power metal is or is not. The list exists purely for my own organizational purposes and may contain bands or albums that are not strictly True Knights of the Eternal Thundersword.

The first cluster includes my favorite albums in the genre (and a significant number of my all-time favorites); beyond that, they are listed by rating from 9/10 down to 6/10 and alphabetically within each bracket.

Last updated November 27, 2021.

1.Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth

2.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

3.Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond

4.Jag Panzer - Thane To The Throne

5.X Japan - Art Of Life

      View entire list ››

Less than 100 votes on MS and at the same time 9.0+ rating from me.
Ordered from the least voted, votes at the time of creating the list (or adding a band) included.
Czech bands excluded.

1.Abattoir - Vicious Attack

2.Vordven - Towards The Frozen Stream

3.Wyrd - Heathen

4.Fear Of God - Within The Veil

5.Holy Terror - Mind Wars

      View entire list ››

1.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime

2.Crimson Glory - Transcendence

3.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

4.Riot V - Thundersteel

5.Slayer - South Of Heaven

      View entire list ››

The must-have albums of old school heavy metal. Includes genres like Traditional, NWOBHM, U.S.P.M., Speed, Epic, Doom, and prog.

1.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

2.Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

3.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

4.Crimson Glory - Transcendence

5.Angel Witch - Angel Witch

      View entire list ››

The best decade in history of heavy metal.

1.Judas Priest - Painkiller

2.Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time

3.Accept - Breaker

4.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

5.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I

      View entire list ››

1.Slayer - South Of Heaven

2.Marty Friedman - Dragon's Kiss

3.Death - Leprosy

4.Candlemass - Ancient Dreams

5.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime

      View entire list ››

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

1.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime

2.Scanner - Hypertrace

3.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

4.Angel Dust - To Dust You Will Decay

5.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II

      View entire list ››

Just a list of 20 of the best Power Metal albums of the US style, in order of preference. The order and number of albums in the list may change as I find new albums.

1.Crimson Glory - Transcendence

2.Iced Earth - Night Of The Stormrider

3.Jag Panzer - Casting The Stones

4.Helstar - Nosferatu

5.Sanctuary - Refuge Denied

      View entire list ››

1.Novembre - Wish I Could Dream It Again

2.Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness

3.Metallica - ...And Justice For All

4.Novembre - Arte Novecento

5.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

      View entire list ››

Well. It took some time and now I am going to deliver this list to you guys. Many times I have thought about which are my favs, but I had never done it. I am placing one album per band. Otherwise, many Iron Maiden albums as well as "Defenders of the Faith" or "Walls of Jericho" might have been included as well.

1.Judas Priest - Painkiller

2.Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth

3.King Diamond - Abigail

4.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I

5.Warlock - True As Steel

      View entire list ››