In no particular order. Will be expanding as I listen to more albums. Only one album per band, be sure to check the rest of the discography by yourself.

1.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

2.System Of A Down - System Of A Down

3.Ulver - Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr I 5 Capitler

4.Anacrusis - Manic Impressions

5.Death - Symbolic

      View entire list ››

I always admired people who do really cool lists. But since I don't know anything, I can't really make a good one. So here's the babby-boy of lists, just to get my juices flowing.
Will be updated and expanded upon as I have time and see fit. The goal is to get my top 50 maybe, but there's a long road ahead of that.

1.Neurosis - Souls At Zero

2.A Forest Of Stars - Grave Mounds And Grave Mistakes

3.Neurosis - Times Of Grace

4.Terra Tenebrosa - The Tunnels

5.Amigo The Devil - Everything Is Fine

      View entire list ››

Right... Let's get this out of the way from the get-go. Alternative metal is hard to define. I guess that comes from it always wanting to experiment, explore and fuse heavy metal with non-metal music genres. It also makes it an ever changing and growing genre.

Also, before you guys flood me, yes my list contains a lot of Industrial & Nu Metal bands, as well as other genre.. As far as I'm concerned, my picks all fit quite well in the scope of an alternative metal list. Don't you agree? Wait... You disagree? Well, let's agree to disagree and move on.

As for the list itself, I'm going to try and list through time what I (me, myself & moi) consider as essential alternative albums. I will also limit myself to a maximum of 4 releases each year to prevent a messy list, which often makes it a difficult decision, especially in the early 2000's. So yes, it is possible your personal favourite won't be featured. You can tell me all about it in the comments below and we can discuss it, even argue it.

Now, have fun, enjoy my list and let me know what you think or would personally put in your favourite alt-metal list!

-Guib-

EDIT: I will now add my pick for best album of each year using the (best of xxxx) in the chosen album's description.

- - - - -

Guib's Best Alternative Metal Album Picks

Best Of 2022
Polyphia - Remember That You Will Die

Best Of 2023
Mutoid Man - Mutants

Best of 2024 So Far
...tbd

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Last Updated: March 27th, 2024

1.Living Colour - Vivid

2.Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking

3.Faith No More - The Real Thing

4.Godflesh - Streetcleaner

5.L7 - Smell The Magic

      View entire list ››

What seems the most important albums for me in chronological order.
I wish I could carry the list year after year to see how my tastes changed and new findings.
I can help but notice that old albums immediately strike me, while in recent times most albums are good but nothing is groundbreaking. We have a tide of releases in the last decades, and standing above the other requires an impossible lot of talent.
Or is it my listen habbits that changed ? I felts I listened to the old albums albums for a lifetime while I'm only surface checking the new ones. Too little time, too little time to truly live...
Also the mixing technology, the sound is too flat nowadays and lack impact and personnality

1.Frank Zappa - Freak Out

2.The Who - Tommy

3.Frank Zappa - Uncle Meat

4.Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

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

      View entire list ››

As if my street-cred wasn't in the depths already, I submit to you the albums I undoubtedly get the most shit for listening to. There are a few on here that won't leave me beaten in a back alley, and I question the application of this genre to those albums. Nonetheless, all of the groups represented here were at least at one time associated with the 2nd Voldemort of metal. Anyone who says they don't have at least one of these albums is a filthy liar.

1.Deftones - White Pony

2.Deftones - Around The Fur

3.Korn - Issues

4.Korn - Korn

5.System Of A Down - System Of A Down

      View entire list ››

1.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

2.Metallica - Metallica

3.HammerFall - Legacy Of Kings

4.HammerFall - Crimson Thunder

5.Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth

      View entire list ››

OK, let's get this straight right now: THIS IS NOT A LIST OF MY FAVOURITE ALBUMS. Neither is it a 'Best Of' list in any shape, manner or form. And it is also not a list of albums I consider to be important in Metal history in general (though many of them assuredly would be considered so).

What this list is:
I started thinking about why I listen to Metal, and why I listen to certain bands and not others. And how my tastes have changed enormously in the approx 15 years I've been, as one might say, a Metalhead. I thought it would be interesting to look over my collection and pick out those albums I consider to be landmarks in my listening career and write a little bit about why each is significant to me.

1.Anathema - Judgement

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Cradle Of Filth - Midian

4.Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

5.Def Leppard - Hysteria

      View entire list ››

This is very simple, I took the ratings for a bunch of alternative metal albums on MS and ranked them accordingly

To qualify:
The album must have been released when the band was labelled as "Alternative Metal" by MS. So for example the three most recent Gojira albums count, but early Gojira does not.

The band must have more than 10 fans on MS

Therefore this is not a reflection of my opinions, rather a reflection of numbers so if you wanna get mad, get mad at the numbers, not me. And remember that this really isn't that serious

1.Mass Hysteria - Contraddiction

2.Tool - Lateralus

3.The Butterfly Effect - IV

4.Tool - Ænima

5.Mass Hysteria - Le Bien-Être Et La Paix

      View entire list ››

System Of A Down's 5 albums in order from best to worst (in my opinion).

1.System Of A Down - System Of A Down

2.System Of A Down - Toxicity

3.System Of A Down - Steal This Album!

4.System Of A Down - Mezmerize

5.System Of A Down - Hypnotize

      View entire list ››

I think that the albums listed below are underrated.
Even those albums that are rated more than 8.6, should've made it to the top 200, or higher in that list. It's not only the score, but also the low amount of attention from the metal community to some of these albums.
Albums are in no particular order.
No, I am not fond of Euro power metal.

1.Anthrax - Among The Living

2.Anthrax - Fistful Of Metal

3.Anthrax - Sound Of White Noise

4.Biohazard - State Of The World Address

5.Danzig - Danzig 4

      View entire list ››

Smooth as a babe's bottom on a well oiled judas chair.

1.Pantera - Far Beyond Driven

2.Strapping Young Lad - Alien

3.Reverence - The Asthenic Ascension

4.Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse

5.Pantera - The Great Southern Trendkill

      View entire list ››

This is a list of my favourite debut albums.
I'm sure there are some years that will have multiple great debut albums but I'm limiting to only putting one band per year.
The ones that I put in the list is (in my opinion) the best debut album of that year, while the rest are put in honourable mentions.

1.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

2.AC/DC - T.N.T.

3.Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

4.Venom - Welcome To Hell

5.Witchfinder General - Death Penalty

      View entire list ››

Overall year rating:
3,5/5

1.Katatonia - Discouraged Ones

2.Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

3.Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse

4.Bethlehem - Sardonischer Untergang Im Zeichen Irreligiöser Darbietung

5.Meshuggah - Chaosphere

      View entire list ››

To add fuel to the fire of the "they'll never top their first album" rhetoric, here are all my favorite full length debuts in alphabetical order. Full lengths, not EPs.

1.Acid Witch - Witchtanic Hellucinations

2.Aeternus - Beyond The Wandering Moon

3.Agruss - Morok

4.Ahab - The Call Of The Wretched Sea

5.Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

      View entire list ››

1.System Of A Down - Toxicity

2.Soen - Lotus

3.Tool - Lateralus

4.Faith No More - The Real Thing

5.Tool - Ænima

      View entire list ››