My personal Top 100 Most Essential Albums (in no particular order)

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My personal Top 100 Most Essential Albums (in no particular order)

List image
A list by
AnthropOcean
Created
June 17, 2025
Entries
100
Endorsements
5
This is my attempt to do impossible and choose 100 favourite full length albums. Considering that since 2006 (and of course I had been listening to music even before) I have gathered on last.fm over 10,000 albums (even though many are just singles, EPs, compilations, data inconsistencies and such) there is still thousands and thousands of albums I did listen to and have been listening to for almost 30 years. I am trying to put here really the most essential records that became (or are becoming in case of more recent ones) part of my DNA so to speak, that were radically altering my taste in music and changing my understanding and appreciation for the music itself. Also one of the conditions I am trying to follow is that even if I don't listen to all these albums with the same intensity or regularity as when I discovered them, I can still listen to any one of them today and they are still as important for me and did not loose any of their significance.

Part II.: Extension to "My Personal Top 100 Most Essential Albums" (in No Particular Order)
100.
1.
SikTh - Death Of A Dead Day
2006
100.
2.
Between The Buried And Me - Colors
2007
100.
3.
Ephel Duath - The Painter's Palette
2003
100.
4.
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine
2004
100.
5.
Necrophagist - Epitaph
2004
100.
6.
Cynic - Traced In Air
2008
100.
7.
Vildhjarta - Måsstaden
2011
100.
8.
In Flames - Clayman
2000
100.
9.
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times
2007
100.
10.
King Crimson - The ConstruKction Of Light
2000
100.
11.
Death - The Sound Of Perseverance
1998
100.
12.
Cryptopsy - Once Was Not
2005
100.
13.
Karnivool - Sound Awake
2009
100.
14.
Meshuggah - Catch Thirtythree
2005
100.
15.
Korn - Issues
1999
100.
16.
Slipknot - Iowa
2001
100.
17.
Limp Bizkit - Significant Other
1999
100.
18.
System Of A Down - Toxicity
2001
100.
19.
The Ocean - Heliocentric
2010
100.
20.
Septicflesh - Sumerian Daemons
2003
100.
21.
The Human Abstract - Digital Veil
2011
100.
22.
Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia
2001
100.
23.
Akercocke - Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone
2005
100.
24.
Vital Remains - Dechristianize
2003
100.
25.
Morbid Angel - Formulas Fatal To The Flesh
1998
100.
26.
Slayer - Diabolus In Musica
1998
100.
27.
Protest The Hero - Fortress
2008
100.
28.
Born Of Osiris - The Discovery
2011
100.
29.
Godsmack - Faceless
2003
100.
30.
Shining (NOR) - Blackjazz
2010
100.
31.
Ill Niño - Revolution Revolución
2001
100.
32.
Gojira - From Mars To Sirius
2005
100.
33.
Hypno5e - A Distant (Dark) Source
2019
100.
34.
The Mars Volta - The Bedlam In Goliath
2008
100.
35.
Tool - 10,000 Days
2006
100.
36.
Unexpect - In A Flesh Aquarium
2006
100.
37.
The Faceless - Planetary Duality
2008
100.
38.
Obscura - Omnivium
2011
100.
39.
Spawn Of Possession - Incurso
2012
100.
40.
Gorguts - From Wisdom To Hate
2001
100.
41.
Gorod - A Perfect Absolution
2012
100.
42.
Imperial Triumphant - Vile Luxury
2018
100.
43.
Augury - Fragmentary Evidence
2009
100.
44.
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
2002
100.
45.
Oceansize - Frames
2007
100.
46.
Nile - In Their Darkened Shrines
2002
100.
47.
Rivers Of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
2018
100.
48.
Behemoth - Zos Kia Cultus (Here And Beyond)
2002
100.
49.
Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance
2006
100.
50.
Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos
2002
100.
51.
All Shall Perish - The Price Of Existence
2006
100.
52.
Martyr - Warp Zone
2000
100.
53.
Lykathea Aflame - Elvenefris
2000
100.
54.
Glass Casket - We Are Gathered Here Today
2004
100.
55.
Three - The End Is Begun
2007
100.
56.
Decapitated - Carnival Is Forever
2011
100.
57.
Ion Dissonance - Minus The Herd
2007
100.
58.
Deathspell Omega - The Furnaces Of Palingenesia
2019
100.
59.
Psyopus - Our Puzzling Encounters Considered
2007
100.
60.
Blotted Science - The Animation Of Entomology
2011
100.
61.
Leprous - The Congregation
2015
100.
62.
Lantlôs - Wildhund
2021
100.
63.
Vola - Inmazes
2015
100.
64.
Tómarúm - Beyond Obsidian Euphoria
2025
100.
65.
Ni - Fol Na​ï​s
2023
100.
66.
Autarkh - Form In Motion
2021
100.
67.
Drottnar - Welterwerk
2006
100.
68.
Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas
2019
100.
69.
Dødheimsgard - Black Medium Current
2023
100.
70.
Voyager - Colours In The Sun
2019
100.
71.
Ingurgitating Oblivion - Vision Wallows In Symphonies Of Light
2017
100.
72.
The Contortionist - Language
2014
100.
73.
Cilice - Deranged Headtrip
2009
100.
74.
Agent Fresco - Destrier
2015
100.
75.
Animals As Leaders - Animals As Leaders
2009
100.
76.
Zhrine - Unortheta
2016
100.
77.
Fair To Midland - Arrows & Anchors
2011
100.
78.
White Arms Of Athena - White Arms Of Athena
2014
100.
79.
Cephalic Carnage - Misled By Certainty
2010
100.
80.
Coma Cluster Void - Mind Cemeteries
2016
100.
81.
The Haarp Machine - Disclosure
2012
100.
82.
Scale The Summit - The Collective
|2011
100.
83.
Neglected Fields - Splenetic
2006
100.
84.
Art By Numbers - Reticence: The Musical
2012
100.
85.
Naïve - Illuminatis
2012
100.
86.
Exivious - Exivious
2009
100.
87.
Means End - The Didact
2013
100.
88.
Igorrr - Spirituality And Distortion
2020
100.
89.
After The Burial - Rareform
2008
100.
90.
Portal - ION
2018
100.
91.
Alarum - Eventuality
2004
100.
92.
Blackfield - Blackfield II
2007
100.
93.
Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise
2001
100.
94.
Mastodon - Crack The Skye
2009
100.
95.
Veil Of Maya - The Common Man's Collapse
2008
100.
96.
Mudvayne - The End Of All Things To Come
2002
100.
97.
Ulver - Shadows Of The Sun
2007
100.
98.
Depresy - Psychomantium Phenomenon
2003
100.
99.
Burst - Lazarus Bird
2008
100.
100.
Terminal Function - Measuring The Abstract
2008
More lists by AnthropOcean ››
Disclaimer: All top lists are unofficial and do not represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
[ More lists by AnthropOcean ]

Comments

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Comments: 5 Visited by 21 users
Guib
Thrash Talker

Posts: 3528
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+1
22.06.2025 - 02:05
Guib
Thrash Talker

Posts: 3528


That's a very interesting list with many many great picks. I will also say that its very diverse and to my eyes its refreshing to see someone who more than just dables in the alternative side of metal. I love when I see stuff like Godsmack's Faceless and Unexpect's In A Flesh Aquarium. Good stuff mate, it shows you've been exploring quite a bit!

Also on a sidenote, I've spotted Gojira's From Mars To Sirius twice in there. Probably an accident on your part. A great album though.
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Guib's List Of Essential Albums
- Also Thrash Paradise
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Posts: 4
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+1
22.06.2025 - 11:25

Posts: 4


Thanks mate I appreciate your comment! I love exploring music, even outside of metal genre, but that's the one which is dominating in my life for sure. It has been long and continual evolution throughout the years and I just love to discover new stuff constantly to this day.

Btw, you are right, even though I love From Mars To Sirius it shouldn't be there twice. (fun fact: I have seen Gojira first time on the tour to that specific album in 2006 on my first ever visit to Brutal Assault festival in Czech Republic)
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+2
04.07.2025 - 21:54

Posts: 1172


You’ve got some great picks in here, love The Painter's Palette at #3!
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F3ynman
Nocturnal Bro
Contributor

Posts: 3432
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+1
05.07.2025 - 22:38
F3ynman
Nocturnal Bro
Contributor

Posts: 3432


Quote:

Also one of the conditions I am trying to follow is that even if I don't listen to all these albums with the same intensity or regularity as when I discovered them, I can still listen to any one of them today and they are still as important for me and did not loose any of their significance.

This is a nice way of looking at your favorites. When I look at some of my personal favorite rankings, I sometimes wonder if regularity should play a bigger role. Like, there are certain albums that I get addicted to, for example, let's take Rauchen Und Yoga. I end up playing it way more frequently than Storm Of The Light's Bane, for example. Even though I consider Storm Of The Light's Bane to be the better album, if I listen to Rauchen Und Yoga more frequently, can I still claim I prefer Storm Of The Light's Bane?

But, as you say, when I listen to favorites like Storm Of The Light's Bane, I always enjoy it. So, maybe enjoyability is a more valuable requirement than frequency.
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06.07.2025 - 10:05

Posts: 4


Written by F3ynman on 05.07.2025 at 22:38


But, as you say, when I listen to favorites like Storm Of The Light's Bane, I always enjoy it. So, maybe enjoyability is a more valuable requirement than frequency.

All in all, there isn't any real science behind it of course, more of a gut feeling. Your way of looking at things could be very interesting precondition as well while making a list. Maybe I should formulate it other way, but I am fine with it either way.

Let's use as an example with album Clayman, even though I have listened to that album as a teenager countless times, in the last 10 years I have listened to it maybe 6 +/- times?! It means that I listened to hundreds of albums a lot more last decade than I did to Clayman, but hardly all of those albums have the same place in my life as Clayman does. So from that perspective I think enjoyability is a very important factor and can be a great indicator.
But mainly this is about my personal favourites, albums that meant a lot in my musical evolution, so there are many absolute no brainers here and if some album is missing, there's always an option to do more lists, so I am not that worried
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