This is a mix of my personal favourite 60's and 70's hard rock/metal songs and the more influential ones, songs that I think every metal fan need to hear. A mix of the most well-known songs to totally obscure stuff. If you think I have missed some important song you can always suggest me.

1.

2.The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced

3.Cream - Disraeli Gears

4.Clear Light - Clear Light

5.Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum

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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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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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This list is the best album of every year that is represented in my current collection. Some years were really hard to choose as there were many deserving albums, others I had one or very few to choose from. The quality of albums drops off pretty severely after 1992 in my opinion. Its a shame the list isn't more diverse, but hey, I likes what I likes. I am however always buying music from many different years so expect this list to change. **Last Update 09/03/11**

1.Septicflesh - The Great Mass

2.Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

3.Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs

4.Septicflesh - Communion

5.Symphony X - Paradise Lost

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My top ranked (in order from best down) favorite hard rock/heavy metal albums. I've also one included my top three favorite tracks from each album.

Enjoy!

1.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Rush - Hemispheres

4.Uriah Heep - Demons And Wizards

5.Judas Priest - Painkiller

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A list of quality sophomore releases.

1.Agalloch - The Mantle

2.Alice In Chains - Dirt

3.Anthrax - Spreading The Disease

4.Asphyx - Last One On Earth

5.Atheist - Unquestionable Presence

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The MS top 200 is supposed to represent the absolute peak of metal music, the timeless classics. I have been listening to metal for about 6 years now and would consider myself fairly knowledgeable about the genre. Yet, I have barely heard half of what the top 200 has to offer. I am now on a quest to listen to it all and give an honest opinion on what I thought of it.
This list will show every album of the top 200 and if I've listened to it whether it's an all-time favourite of mine (+++), I really like it (++), I like it (+), it’s good (*), it’s not great (-), I really dislike it (--) or I hate it from the bottom of my heart (---). The same symbols will be used to characterize what I think my opinion of the albums I haven't heard yet will be, based on my knowledge of the bands and of the genre they play. (?) signifies that I have no idea of whether I'll enjoy it or not and (/) means that my opinion of the album is probably obsolete, and I need to listen to it again. A ★ means the album is in my own top 200.
Edit: The bottom of the top 200 has been changing a lot, with some stuff formerly in the list now closer to 240th, so this is now a top 250. I’m not sure I want to expand the list further down, but I’ll see whenever it’s completed if I feel like going for a top 300 or something like that.
Best discoveries so far: Wildhoney, Nightfall, Out Of Myself, Portal Of I, Autumn Aurora, Nemesis Divina, Abigail, V: Hävitetty, Sounds Of Pain.

1.

2.

3.W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol

4.Saturnus - Veronika Decides To Die

5.Ensiferum - Ensiferum

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Only studio albums ordered by release year.

1.The Doors - The Doors

2.The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced

3.Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum

4.Deep Purple - Shades Of Deep Purple

5.The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland

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Back were it all began, yes the end of the sixties provide really good music and the genesis in what became heavy metal and hard rock

1.The Beatles - The Beatles

2.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

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

4.The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland

5.Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

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These are my personal favourites - only one song chosen from the nine Led Zeppelin studio albums (but have allowed myself the indulgence of choosing two from Physical Graffiti, because it's a double-album and I wanted a list of ten songs).

1.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III

2.Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti

3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

4.Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti

5.Led Zeppelin - Presence

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Obviously This list born after reading the comments in my previous list, Non metal bands that everyone Loves and inspired .

1.Rush - 2112

2.Rush - A Farewell To Kings

3.Rush - Hemispheres

4.The Beatles - The Beatles

5.The Beatles - Sargent Pepper

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Essentially I composed this list as a note-to-self not to take my negative first impressions so seriously. Most of these tend to be works I initially rated a couple points (/10) lower, because the music didn't seem all that great to my ears. Again, most, tend to have increased value once I delved into the lyrics - sometimes entirely away from the music. Yeah... normally I couldn't care less whether you're singing about clown-phobias, alien invasions, SC battles, real war on Earth or alternative uses for vacuum cleaners. Oh, and on that note: Acid Reign (ensure Bandcamp-player is enabled in your user Settings) - is that another band's music entirely?

1.Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies

2.Anthrax - Stomp 442

3.Cathedral - Kingdom of Ends

4.Hypocrisy - Catch 22

5.Intruder - Psycho Savant

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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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Apologies, of the most sincere kind, for the Spoonerism. It's really not my style, but some could argue it was necessary...

1.Metallica - ...And Justice For All

2.Deadfall - Ordeal by Fire demo/EP

3.Dãm - The Difference Engine

4.Neil Young - Mirror Ball

5.Slayer - Reign In Blood

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1.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

2.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

3.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

4.Judas Priest - Painkiller

5.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

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