That's all.

1.Dream Theater - Awake

2.Dream Theater - Images And Words

3.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

4.Dream Theater - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

5.Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity

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Another band that is difficult to rank, with no two lists that are the same.

1.Dream Theater - Awake

2.Dream Theater - Images And Words

3.Dream Theater - When Dream And Day Unite

4.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

5.Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity

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Dream Theater! Once my favourite band of all time, now number 2. I took an involuntary break from them for a while, and upon return realised my feelings had changed to a lot of their music. Also since at some point I stupidly deleted my old ranking of them, I feel now is the time to make a new one.

Feel free to bash my terrible taste.

1.Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings

2.Dream Theater - Dream Theater

3.Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events

4.Dream Theater - Train Of Thought

5.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

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My favorite metal albums sorted alphabetically by band name and chronological by release date.

1.Æther Realm - Tarot

2.Acid Witch - Witchtanic Hellucinations

3.Allegaeon - Proponent For Sentience

4.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

5.Amorphis - Silent Waters

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1.Dream Theater - Images And Words

2.Dream Theater - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

3.Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events

4.Dream Theater - Train Of Thought

5.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

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Revisiting all the DT albums and updating my personal ranking

1.Dream Theater - Images And Words

2.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

3.Dream Theater - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

4.Dream Theater - Awake

5.Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos

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1.Avantasia - Angel Of Babylon

2.Avantasia - The Wicked Symphony

3.Volbeat - Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies

4.Evergrey - Hymns For The Broken

5.Accept - Blood Of The Nations

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The goats. The near perfect albums that never get old. Some are full of catchy bangers I'm always humming, and some are so full to the brim of details that I still haven't even uncovered them all.

A brief outline of my ratings:
8.5-9.0 = An excellent album with a few mild drawbacks (Weak song, slightly irritating vocals, odd flow)
9.0-9.5 = Perfect albums that haven't quite warranted the time-earnt 9.5+.
9.5-9.9 = Perfect albums that have stood the test of time, ranked by preference.
10 = I don't expect to hear another album like these, ever.

(I use 'perfect' lightly as it makes no sense for a man-made creation to be flawless. 'Perfect' is simply a term to outline how high a level of enjoyment is, specifically the level of enjoyment when minor faults become insignificant.)

(I evaluate albums outside of metal vastly differently to the ones here, which explains the lack of representation of my other favourite genres. Blue Sky Mining is an exception due to being structured very similarly to my optimal metal album. I may add some picks from other genres down the line.)


STATS:
I know y'all don't look at my lists, so these are purely for my own interest.

-Decades
'10s: 36
'20s: 22
'00s: 7
'90s: 2

-Genres (By best fit or most prominent)
Prog: 35
Death: 11
Power: 9
Symphonic: 4
Black: 3
Contemporary: 2
Folk: 1
Doom: 1
Rock: 1

1.Devin Townsend - Empath

2.Memories Of Old - The Zeramin Game

3.Wintersun - Time I

4.An Abstract Illusion - Woe

5.Persefone - Aathma

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1.Thy Catafalque - Rengeteg

2.Leprous - Bilateral

3.Pain Of Salvation - Road Salt Two

4.Aquilus - Griseus

5.Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows

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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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1.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

2.Dream Theater - Images And Words

3.Dream Theater - Awake

4.Dream Theater - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

5.Dream Theater - Train Of Thought

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Must Listen: The First 4

1.Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events

2.Nightwish - Imaginaerum

3.Trivium - In Waves

4.Fair To Midland - Arrows & Anchors

5.Evergrey - Glorious Collision

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Metal albums that blow me away every time I hear them. Loosely ordered... list gets less organized as it goes on. My favorite song from each album is included.

1.Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory

2.Faith No More - Angel Dust

3.Dream Theater - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

4.Tool - Ænima

5.Metallica - ...And Justice For All

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My Favorite Albums Of The Year \m/

1.Onmyo-Za - 鬼子母神

2.Dragonland - Under The Grey Banner

3.Symphony X - Iconoclast

4.Nightwish - Imaginaerum

5.Iced Earth - Dystopia

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My personal favorite studio albums of 2011

1.Ghost Brigade - Until Fear No Longer Defines Us

2.Haken - Visions

3.Moonsorrow - Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa

4.Machine Head - Unto The Locust

5.Mastodon - The Hunter

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