The Most Overrated Metal Albums
The Most Overrated Metal Albums
This list is serious, but shouldn't be taken too seriously. Will add more albums and more mini-reviews in the future. Feel free to agree, disagree or call me a moron. The more opinions, the merrier.
1.
Judas Priest
- Painkiller
1990 It has been said before multiple times here on MS, but Painkiller sounds forced and somehow sterile. In this metal fans' ears, it is nowhere near as timeless and awesome as some of Priest's 70s work.
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2.
Metallica
- ...And Justice For All
1988 I could've easily put Master Of Puppets on this list too, but that album - while overpraised - is still a damn good album, which AJFA is not. Both songwriting and production on AJFA were a massive step down from the previous albums.
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3.
Ayreon
- The Source
2017 Ayreon's latest album, which got insanely high ratings and several album of the month awards, is a good example of everything that was ever wrong with Ayreon taken to new lows. The Source is like a very late season of a sitcom that has gone on for far too long and not even boasting one of the most talented group of vocalists Arjen has ever assembled saves it from being a symbol of just how bad and overindulgent Arjen Lucassen's once very awesome musical baby has become.
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4.
Summoning
- Stronghold
1999 The fact that this rather uninteresting album is rated higher than masterpieces of songwriting like At The Heart Of Winter or In The Nightside Eclipse borders on being criminal. There are plenty of great atmospheric black metal albums out there, this is not one of them.
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5.
Blind Guardian
- Nightfall In Middle-Earth
1998 BG are a great band, as even most people, who don't like power metal probably can agree. However, Nightfall is rather overrated as an album, especially when compared to their two previous and far superior albums. The songwriting on this one just isn't particularly impressive and the countless little interludes ruin the flow of the album.
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6.
Dream Theater
- Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory
1999 Considered by many to be DT's best album, Scenes From A Memory features slightly too much instrumental wankery and the songwriting isn't on par with either Awake or Images And Words. Also, DT's ballads are pretty terrible and bore me to tears.
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7.
Opeth
- Watershed
2008 As a huge Opeth fan, this was the first album by them that well and truly left me underwhelmed. Even Damnation had some excellent moments on it, Watershed did not (with the possible exception of the outro solo of Burden). Far more technical, but less impressive when it comes to atmosphere and songwriting when compared to Ghost Reveries and other previous works by the Swedish giants.
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8.
Enslaved
- Axioma Ethica Odini
2009 OK, it's a good album, it really is, but it loses to Isa by a country mile in every possible way and the fact that it is rated higher makes it overrated indeed.
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9.
Anathema
- Alternative 4
1998 This one should be self-explanatory. Even as a non-doom guy, I can recognize that Alternative 4 is downright boring compared to Anathema's previous releases. The whole melancholy, atmospheric rock thing just doesn't sound... sincere, when coming from them.
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10.
Nevermore
- Dead Heart In A Dead World
2000 I can't stomach Nevermore, I just can't. They are the epitome of boredom to my ears. Technically, this is a good album I guess (apart from The Heart Collector, which is a perfect sample of a boring metal ballad that absolutely sucks), but I just can't seem to enjoy it.
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Disclaimer: All top lists are unofficial and do not represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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 Posts: 40071 |
Posts: 40071
I disagree with 8 and 10 but all the others totally agreed with.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Posts: 40071 |
Posts: 40071
Painkiller 1999? Huh?1990 that should read 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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 Posts: 1530 |
Posts: 1530 Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 18.12.2017 at 22:14 Fixed, thanks! I have no idea how I fucked that one up  Also, as I understand You really like Axioma Ethica Odini, but do You consider it better than Isa?
---- My one-man project's Bandcamp with free downloads: https://dreadrealm.bandcamp.com/
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| Posts: 40071 |
Posts: 40071 Written by Metren on 18.12.2017 at 22:17 No, but I think I would say Isa is the overrated album in their discography.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Posts: 40071 |
Posts: 40071
Btw AEO but also far from near my favourite Enslaved albums.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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Posts: 1530 Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 18.12.2017 at 22:18 Interesting. For me, Isa is one of the easiest 10s I've ever given an album here on MS. Of course, some years ago I also felt like AEO was a 10 (now I consider it a 7.5), so that might still change.
---- My one-man project's Bandcamp with free downloads: https://dreadrealm.bandcamp.com/
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Posts: 291  |
Posts: 291
Disagree with 7 and 8, for most of the rest you could erase any given album and write in the band at large instead. For Opeth, the overrated album is deffo Blackwater Park . For Enslaved... I kind of buy the choice but not the argument as Isa for me is in about the same league.
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 Posts: 3469 |
Posts: 3469
Finally, someone speaks the truth about Nevermore. Disagree with 4 and 8, but agree with the others (that I've heard). Although I do like Painkiller, it's too inconsistent to be considered one of their best. I'd put Master Of Puppets at number 1. I don't like literally half the songs on it.
---- "I'm here to nunchuck and not wear helmets. And I'm all out of helmets." "I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples." " 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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Posts: 1530 Written by [user id=159927] on 19.12.2017 at 20:30 That's 100% how I feel. I don't understand the "MoP perfected what RtL tried" attitude at all, RTL had superior songwriting hands down and that's what matters most to me.
---- My one-man project's Bandcamp with free downloads: https://dreadrealm.bandcamp.com/
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Posts: 70  |
Posts: 70
Auch I really disagree with this one. Painkiller is to me the greatest metal album of all time, by quite a margin even. Forced is the last word that can be used to describe it, what is forced about it? It feels surprisingly spontaneous even. It is packed with so many small delicious details, especially in the guitar work, that almost sounds improvised at times, I keep discovering new things even the 100th time I listen, stuff that just makes the album so much more interesting in my opinion. And by God, does the album flow well! There is such a strong consistency in the style and atmosphere, and the transitions are butter smooth. It is brutal, yet melodic and extremely catchy. Listening to Painkiller is like being in a euphoric trance to me. Few albums does that to me and even fewer metal albums. ...And Justice for All is another very special album to me. I for one adore the production, I thought that clean sound distinguished it from its predecessors in a very cool way, that also complemented the more complicated song structure very well. The album is packed with awesome riffs and smooth transitions, that make most prog. bands look like amateurs in comparison. I don't really feel any Metallica albums are overpraised, maybe Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning a little bit. Once you got to Scenes from a Memory, I just accepted that you have a very different taste from me, you litterally picked 3 of my 10-20 all time favorite metal albums and called them overrated :p
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 Posts: 4331 |
Posts: 4331
Completely disagree with Summoning - Stronghold. I place them a far higher benchmark than Immortal or Emperor. Maybe not as technically good, but way more original at the time and has some of their best songs - probably my favourite Summoning album! I agree with a lot of the others. Especially Nightfall in Middle Earth - i couldn't imagine listening to that album from start to finish. I'm not a Metallica and, but that alum you listed is the one they literally removed all the bassist sound from, so it probably sounds like shit from that.
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 Posts: 8220 |
Posts: 8220
Well, I disagree with the first two, they belong to my top-10 of all time Nevermore's This Godless Endeavor is much better than Dead Heart In A Dead World I think, so we agree on that. Anything Enslaved have done after the first two albums doesn't appeal to me at all. Opeth is a band that bores me to death and the rest in the list I don't particularly care about. So yeah, taste is subjective but Painkiller and Justice? Really man?  Oh well... 
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Posts: 1239  |
Posts: 1239
Only agree with 2 and 3, the rest I enjoy immensely. Especially 4, 5 and 6. To each their own I guess. But then again, if they really deserve all the praise they get is another issue. I mean, all the albums on the list are really good, but there are many better overlooked albums out there, obviously.
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 Posts: 1101 |
Posts: 1101
Just saw my second favourite album of alltime on this list.  So yeah I disagree with 1, 5, 6, 7 and 10 Totally agree with the latest Ayreon album and the remark about the production of AJFA is spot on imo.
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Posts: 490 |
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Posts: 5630  |
Posts: 5630
I agree with most choices  Anathema's Alternative 4 overrated? I wouldn't say that. Anything that came after Judgement is though (I still like a few things here and there) That's my favorite Nevermore album
---- I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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| Posts: 1530 |
Posts: 1530 Written by John_Doe on 21.01.2019 at 09:51 Thanks for checking out my lists! As I say in the description, I don't like Nevermore in general. Their sound and songwriting just never clicked with me, probably my own fault though, as almost everyone on MS seems to love them
---- My one-man project's Bandcamp with free downloads: https://dreadrealm.bandcamp.com/
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 Posts: 1257 |
Posts: 1257
I agree with most of those except for Summoning and to an extent Dream Theater. That Summoning album I don't really get how one couldn't enjoy it, although it's pretty slow it has a fantastic atmosphere. Metropolis though, I 100% get what you mean, Dream Theater never really were that good with ballads and there's a bit of wankery here and there, although definitely much much less than on the following few albums. Anyways, it's always nice to see other people's opinions ! I'd add Blackwater Park and Lateralus to that list
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 Posts: 3432 |
Posts: 3432 Written by Vinther1991 on 19.12.2017 at 23:44 Yes! Thanks for defending Painkiller and Justice! For me, overrated albums would be: Number of the Beast, Reign in Blood, Paranoid, and Bonded by Blood. But everyone to their own opinion
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