In no real particular order. These albums are all great.

1.Judas Priest - Stained Class

2.Judas Priest - Killing Machine (Hell Bent For Leather)

3.Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'N' Roll

4.Van Halen - Van Halen

5.Black Sabbath - Never Say Die!

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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.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

2.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

3.Symphony X - The Divine Wings Of Tragedy

4.Dream Theater - Images And Words

5.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

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Rush is my favorite band of all eternity. I have listened to each album so many times I have no problem ranking them from first to last and my favorite song on each album. Discuss.

1.Rush - Moving Pictures

2.Rush - Power Windows

3.Rush - Counterparts

4.Rush - Grace Under Pressure

5.Rush - Signals

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An entirely subjective list of my all-time favourite metal albums, well lets better say albums/genres featured on MS, since not all here is precisely metal.
Objective quality is not a criteria here, just how much I like the album. Ordered by preference, top down.

1.Anathema - The Silent Enigma

2.Opeth - Morningrise

3.Estatic Fear - Somnium Obmutum

4.My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans

5.Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss

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Progressive rock / metal - what I love the most in my collection. Would love suggestions to add to it.

1.Animals As Leaders - Animals As Leaders

2.Animals As Leaders - The Joy Of Motion

3.Ayreon - The Human Equation

4.Between The Buried And Me - Colors

5.Between The Buried And Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence

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The end of 2013 marks the end of the fifth year of my journey into metal. I had listened to a select few songs prior to that, but around five years ago, I started to delve into the genre and I've discovered a lot of great music as a result. Much of my success I owe to Metalstorm for providing such an excellent platform. I want to express my sincere thanks to everyone who keeps this site running. I mostly enjoy the more melodic genres of metal, so don't expect a lot of extreme stuff. Also, please keep in mind that the following list is not a list of what I consider to be the best metal albums of all time or anything like it. It is simply a collection or a countdown of the albums that I have enjoyed the most during my journey so far.

1.Kamelot - The Black Halo

2.Rush - Hemispheres

3.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

4.Crimson Glory - Transcendence

5.Immortal - At The Heart Of Winter

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Recently, instead of scouring too much the albums of the year I'm in, I decided to take a deeper journey and appreciate progressive music (prog metal/rock). While I'm still in the early beginnings of my journey, I decided to make a list to the albums I fully listen to so that I can keep charting my voyage in these vast seas. Some albums are not yet added because I need to listen them well and grab my favorites out, and some bands are on queue. I'm also eager to hear some recommendations, so thanks in advance for them!

1.Ayreon - The Human Equation

2.Barren Earth - The Devil's Resolve

3.Blotted Science - The Machinations Of Dementia

4.Control Denied - The Fragile Art Of Existence

5.Dream Theater - A Change Of Seasons [EP]

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My favourite prog rock/metal albums. In no order.

1.Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon

2.Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

3.King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

4.Genesis - Selling England By The Pound

5.Yes - Close To The Edge

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All Rush albums, ranked from best to worst (in my opinion)

1.Rush - Hemispheres

2.Rush - A Farewell To Kings

3.Rush - Moving Pictures

4.Rush - 2112

5.Rush - Signals

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This is unfinished

1.Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge

2.Alestorm - Black Sails At Midnight

3.Alestorm - Back Through Time

4.Almôra - Gates Of Time

5.Ancient Rites - Dim Carcosa

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Since I did a list of albums from every year since I was born, here is my list of albums of my faves before the year of my birth, and will go back to 1969 at the very earliest. Some of the early ones won't be on Metal Storm, since much of the 70s albums are Prog.

1.King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

2.Genesis - Trespass

3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

4.Genesis - Foxtrot

5.Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

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If you ever want to get some non progheads into progressive rock or metal let them listen to these albums.

1.Rush - Hemispheres

2.Yes - Close To The Edge

3.King Crimson - In The Wake Of Poseidon

4.Dream Theater - Awake

5.Opeth - Still Life

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1.Rush - Hemispheres

2.Rush - A Farewell To Kings

3.Rush - Moving Pictures

4.Rush - 2112

5.Rush - Clockwork Angels

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The albums that made me love prog/metal even more / that I can't get enough of.

1.Opeth - Blackwater Park

2.Children Of Bodom - Follow The Reaper

3.Nightwish - Once

4.Carcass - Heartwork

5.Death - Symbolic

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