RANKING CRITERIA :

- Originality
- Songwriting
- Performance

Neither the popularity among the fans nor the commercial success (or unsuccess) of the albums were taken into account in the selection.

1.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

2.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

5.Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind

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Metal albums of 1981

1.Black Sabbath - Mob Rules

2.Mötley Crüe - Too Fast For Love

3.Iron Maiden - Killers

4.Def Leppard - High 'N' Dry

5.Praying Mantis - Time Tells No Lies

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These are the 211 essential hard rock/metal albums of the 80's, as were selected by the Greek Magazine "Metal Hammer" (August 2001 issue).

The albums followed by a star are the "must have", whereas the rest albums are the "could have".

1.Angel Witch - Angel Witch

2.AC/DC - Back In Black

3.Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell

4.Diamond Head - Lightning To The Nations

5.Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

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Moves up and down depending on mood, but top 25-30 usually the same in varying order

1.Sylosis - Conclusion Of An Age

2.Machine Head - The Blackening

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

4.Sylosis - Edge Of The Earth

5.In Flames - The Jester Race

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No Real Order, just Great Albums!

1.Dio - Holy Diver

2.Metallica - Kill 'Em All

3.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

4.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

5.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

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These are probably my favorite cds. Although there are many many others I think this list defines my musical tastes pretty much.

1.Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath

2.Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian

3.King Diamond - Abigail

4.Rush - 2112

5.Shadow Gallery - Carved In Stone

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All my favorite albums (rated 9 or 10), in cronological order.

1.Iotunn - Access All Worlds

2.Soen - Imperial

3.Draconian - Under A Godless Veil

4.Soen - Lotus

5.Chapel Of Disease - ...And As We Have Seen The Storm, We Have Embraced The Eye

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1.Judas Priest - Painkiller

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

4.Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith

5.Motörhead - Inferno

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Mind map:

Blue = win
Undead = win
Hell = win
Blue = win
Nature ft. Water = win
Color eyegasm = win
Grim reaper = win
Boys being boys = win
Badly done CGI = win
Blue = win
Blue = win
Orthodox stuff = win
Black and white = win, sometimes

Last updated on 29 July 2023.

1.Emperor - Reverence

2.Wintersun - Wintersun

3.The Ruins Of Beverast - Rain Upon The Impure

4.Dissection - Live Legacy

5.Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman

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

Non-Metal mentions:
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Juju (Goth)
The Exploited - Punk's Not Dead (Punk)
Black Flag - Damaged (Punk)

1.Black Sabbath - Mob Rules

2.Iron Maiden - Killers

3.Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman

4.Venom - Welcome To Hell

5.Accept - Breaker

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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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Fifty years of metal, 50 best albums of the year. Note that in order to diversify the list I limited it to one album per band, otherwise there would have been too much Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

3.Deep Purple - Machine Head

4.Budgie - Never Turn Your Back On A Friend

5.Queen - Queen II

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Compilation of many Hard Rock or Metal Ballads I've heard. Bands and Albums are ordered by name alphabetically.

1.Accept - Balls To The Wall

2.Accept - Blood Of The Nations

3.Accept - Eat The Heat

4.Adagio - Underworld

5.Aerosmith - Aerosmith

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1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Motörhead - Overkill

3.Týr - Ragnarok

4.Kamelot - The Black Halo

5.Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman

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