1.Opeth - Blackwater Park

2.Moonsorrow - Voimasta Ja Kunniasta

3.Windir - 1184

4.Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape

5.Rammstein - Mutter

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Welcome to what I consider the "1001 Metal Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" or in other words, a list of records of various genres in the arrays of Metal and Hard Rock that I deem essential or at least very recommended to listeners of hard and heavy music. This may be a very overwhelming list but I essentially try to collect all albums in the History of Metal that strike me as worthwhile. May this be a guideline for people that seek for an entrance to a particular genre or certain bands. In no means I am saying, that this list is indisputable by any means. I consider these my personal picks for albums that should be listened to by die-hard metal fans at least once. Hopefully you can discover some new music or relate with my picks. If I missed something that you would include in such a list, please tell me in the form of a comment. Enjoy! \,,/

1.High Tide - Sea Shanties

2.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

4.Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come

5.Josefus - Dead Man

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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 feel like my overall favorites list is getting too long. I'm splitting it up by rating.

1.Ulcerate - Stare Into Death And Be Still

2.Madder Mortem - Eight Ways

3.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

4.Ayreon - 01011001

5.Igric - Svet Svetlom Stvorený

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**Trigger warning**

Albums and EPs rated 8.6+ from 100+ votes which I've given an 8 or lower to.

I've listened to and rated every album on MS that meets this criteria (at time of most recent update) - some of them multiple times - so I feel I can give my honest opinion.

The purpose of this is to list and order the albums that I simply don't "get" and to try re-listening to them in the hope of understanding why they've received so many 9 and 10 votes.

Ordered by my rating then MS rating then number of votes.

Updated: 03-Jan-24

My other lists:
Top 500 Albums (ordered & rated)
Top 25 EPs (also ordered & rated)
Top 200 Overlooked Albums (with genres)
So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)

1.Anathema - Judgement

2.Paradise Lost - Draconian Times

3.Anathema - Alternative 4

4.Motörhead - Ace Of Spades

5.Motörhead - Overkill

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This list is meant to be an extensive, but by no means exhaustive, collection of the greatest (modern) metal albums and eps. Running the gamut from avant-garde to trve norweigan black metal. *As someone who is young in age, my tastes tend to revolve around the period of the 80s to the present.* Although certain metal albums from before will certainly be featured, the period of the 60s-70s will be under-represented. I refer you to this excellent list to gain a better appreciation for some of the best metal from that period: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/freis/martin_popoffs_the_top_500_heavy_metal_albums_of_all_time/

1.S.V.E.S.T. - Veritas Diaboli Manet In Aeternum: Le Diable Est Ma Raison

2.Sabachthani - Miserable Endings

3.Sabaoth - Les Illuminations

4.Sabaton - Carolus Rex

5.Sabbat - Dreamweaver

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Limited to only one entry per band.

1.Evoken - Quietus

2.Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper

3.Tyranny - Tides Of Awakening

4.Esoteric - A Pyrrhic Existence

5.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

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An ongoing list for personal use as well as for reference for beginners (& veterans alike). This is solely my personal opinion and taste (Death & Prog mostly but do give every genre a try). Basically will include albums I've rated 8 & above. Sorted by year since I'll need a Venn diagram to sort by genre (seriously MS please make it happen if possible). Will feature multiple releases per year (obviously) and per band (since if a band is putting out better albums it deserves more recognition). Keeping the metal faith alive from India

1.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

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

3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III

4.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

5.Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself

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1.Uaral - Sounds Of Pain

2.Virgin Black - Requiem - Fortissimo

3.My Dying Bride - Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light

4.Doom:VS - Dead Words Speak

5.Myriads - Introspection

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2005-2009 list: http://www.metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=5838
2010-2014 list: http://www.metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=5828
2015-2019 list: http://www.metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=6722

I sure do love this site and it's rating system, it makes finding great music so easy and, even more importantly, when an album is overlooked for a while but starts getting a buzz a few months later, boom, there it appears in the top 20.

All that being said, I still wish there was some way to get a weighted ranking that not only takes the rating of the album into account, but also the number of votes that were cast. For example, an album with a rating of 8.8 and 1000 votes would rank higher than an album with a rating of 8.9 and 20 votes. So, I scraped all the albums on the site with at least 1 vote into a database. Then, taking a leaf out of IMDb's book, I used Bayesian estimation (like the IMDb's Top 250) to calculate a weighted rating for each album based on its Metal Storm rating and the number of votes it had received.

The formula for calculating the Top 100 Albums gives a true Bayesian estimate:
Bayes rating (BR) = ( C × m + R × N ) ÷ ( m + N ) where:
C = average expected rating given...
m = minimum number of votes
R = average rating for the album = (Metal Storm rating)
N = number of votes for the album = (votes)

The way the Bayesian estimator works is that all albums in the database are given and additional m fake votes with an average rating of C, irrespective of how many true votes it already has. Then a new weighted rating is calculated...
If the album has no true votes ( N = 0 ), then BR = ( C × m + R × 0 ) ÷ ( m + 0) = C × m ÷ m = C (the average expected rating).
If the album has a number of true votes equal to the minimum ( N = m ), then BR = ( C × m + R × m ) ÷ ( m + m ) = ( C + R ) × m ÷ 2m = ( C + R ) ÷ 2 (halfway between the two ratings).
If the album has a very large number of true votes ( N >> m ), then BR = ( C × m + R × N ) ÷ ( m + N ) ≈ R × N ÷ N = R (the Metal Storm rating).
This means that the Bayes rating will never equal the Metal Storm rating but will approach it as the true votes grow arbitrarily large.

Now that the maths bit is out of the way, here was my methodology:
Only Studio and EP album types, from the years 2000 to 2004, with at least 1 vote, were included.
The average expected rating (C) was determined by averaging all the Metal Storm ratings from 2000-2004.
The minimum number of votes (m) was determined by calculating the 75th percentile of the votes, rounded to the nearest 10.
I also decided that if an album's Bayes rating was within 0.005 of #100, it would be included too; hence the +5.

C for 2000-2004 = 7.599
m = 30

Number of albums from each year in the list:
2000 - 15
2001 - 27
2002 - 14
2003 - 20
2004 - 29

Ratings are accurate as of 30/10/2023

1.Opeth - Blackwater Park

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Tool - Lateralus

4.Wintersun - Wintersun

5.Ensiferum - Ensiferum

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1.Afgrund - Vid Helvetets Grindar

2.After Forever - After Forever

3.Agalloch - The Mantle

4.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

5.Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

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1.Agalloch - Pale Folklore

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

4.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

5.Ahab - The Boats Of The Glen Carrig

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Simple ranking of all my favorite albums. Favorite song from the album in the notes. Sure to change/expand as I learn and explore more within metal.
2023: This was starting to get too long so I split it into separate lists for albums at each ranking 10 to 7. This list will no longer be updated.
10: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=6891
9: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=7213
8: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=7512
7: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=8058

1.Madder Mortem - Eight Ways

2.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

3.Ayreon - 01011001

4.Ulcerate - The Destroyers Of All

5.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

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This list contains most beautiful, majestic and soul-touching releases I've ever experienced.
My most favorite genres are Black Metal, Post Metal, Shoegaze, Doom Metal, Ambient and Neo-Classical in general .

Albums are ranked by the year,I think this way is more useful.

I will keep expanding my list as i can.

1.Anathema - The Silent Enigma

2.Blut Aus Nord - Ultima Thulée

3.Deinonychus - The Silence Of December

4.Blut Aus Nord - Memoria Vetusta I - Fathers Of The Icy Age

5.Burzum - Filosofem

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The following is a list of favorites that will steal your mind from this mortal realm; albums that will take you on an indelible journey.

1.Abyssal - Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

4.Alcest - Écailles De Lune

5.Arkona - Гой, Роде, Гой!

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