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

I was born in 1987, a pretty good year for metal

Top 5 non metal albums from 1987
1. Music for the Masses
By Depeche Mode (synthpop, Dark wave)

2. Within the Realm of a Dying Sun
By Dead Can Dance (Neoclassical)

1.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I

2.Running Wild - Under Jolly Roger

3.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

4.Whitesnake - Whitesnake

5.Testament - The Legacy

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1.All time & genre (including Non-Metal on MS)
2.Only studio albums & EPs
3.The genre is primary one.
4.Only ESPECIALLY favorite (a bit more stringently than ver1 and rating 10 is not enough)
5.The order: A to Z (initial of band's name), next release date
6.Black Wisdom, an album of Russian band Grey Heaven Fall, is deleted. When the situation gets better, I will repost.
Last modified on 3 March 2022

1.Akhlys - The Dreaming I

2.Altar Of Plagues - Mammal

3.Angra - Temple Of Shadows

4.Anthrax - Among The Living

5.Arkha Sva - Gloria Satanae

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1.Savatage - Hall Of The Mountain King

2.King Diamond - Abigail

3.Dio - Dream Evil

4.Testament - The Legacy

5.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

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These are songs that I find aren't mentioned or played enough by these famous bands. Despite of this, they are some of my favorite songs!

1.Edge Of Sanity - Purgatory Afterglow

2.Black Sabbath - Dehumanizer

3.Death - Spiritual Healing

4.Megadeth - The World Needs A Hero

5.Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith

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Plus my top three favourite tracks from each release. \m/

Honourable mentions:
D.R.I. - Crossover (Thrash)
Napalm Death - Scum (Grindcore)
Pentagram - Day Of Reckoning (Doom)
Sodom - Persecution Mania (Thrash)
Sarcófago - I.N.R.I. (Proto-Black/Thrash)
Grim Reaper - Rock You To Hell (NWOBHM)
Sepultura - Schizophrenia (Death/Thrash)

1.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

2.Candlemass - Nightfall

3.Testament - The Legacy

4.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

5.Anthrax - Among The Living

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These are my favorite opening songs of all time. When I listened to them, I was instantly hooked! Whether it starts with a slow instrumental build-up or an aggressive assault of riffs, these openers set the tone for the rest of their respective albums. Enjoy!

1.Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance

2.Judas Priest - Painkiller

3.Summoning - Minas Morgul

4.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

5.Testament - The Legacy

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There are various types of album closers: those that combine everything from the beginning of the album (Recharging the Void), the last punch in the face (Dyers Eve), the standout best song of the album (Hallowed Be Thy Name), the melancholy instrumental outro (No Dreams Breed in Breathless Sleep), and many other types!
These are my favorite album finishers! Enjoy!

1.Vektor - Terminal Redux

2.Death - Symbolic

3.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

4.Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?

5.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

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These are my top 100 favorite albums - they are the reason why I love metal!
Enjoy!
Format: Band | Album | (genre, release year, country) What I like about the album; Favorite songs
Statistics:
Genre:
Death: 28
Black: 20
Thrash: 19
Heavy: 15
Progressive: 9
Power: 4
Doom: 4
Symphonic: 1
Years with most album favorites:
1995: 8
1996: 7
1990: 7
1984: 5
Countries with most album favorites:
USA: 35
Sweden: 20
UK: 16
Norway: 6

----Last Update: June 15, 2022----

1.Judas Priest - Painkiller

2.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

3.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

4.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

5.Death - Spiritual Healing

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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.King Diamond - Abigail

2.Kat - Oddech Wymarłych Światów

3.Candlemass - Nightfall

4.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

5.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

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Thrash may not be my favorite metal subgenre but it's one of them. There have always been thrash albums I always get back to with great pleasure and I am usually happy when thrash veterans get back with great music.
I say not a thrasher because I am stuck in the past, as it's easily to be seen in the list, new bands have not impressed me much, especially when they predictably wear their influences on their sleeves.

1.Kreator - Terrible Certainty

2.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

3.Slayer - South Of Heaven

4.Annihilator - Never, Neverland

5.Death Angel - Act III

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Erm... sorry Dave... >.>

1.Slayer - Reign In Blood

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Kreator - Pleasure To Kill

4.Power Trip - Nightmare Logic

5.Sodom - M-16

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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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1.Testament - The Legacy

2.Overkill - Taking Over

3.King Diamond - Abigail

4.Sodom - Persecution Mania

5.Savatage - Hall Of The Mountain King

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