RANKING CRITERIA :

- Originality
- Songwriting
- Performance

Neither the popularity among the fans nor the commercial success (or unsuccess) of the albums were taken into account in the selection.

1.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

2.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

5.Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind

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I havnt been into metal all that long...so this is a good chuck of the metal albums i own...though ive heard many, many more....these are all albums ive spent a lot of time with (or soon will). I tried to stay away from multiple albums by an artist, but a few exceptions were made hehe.

1.!T.O.O.H.! - Order And Punishment (Řád A Trest)

2.3 Inches Of Blood - Here Waits Thy Doom

3.Absu - Tara

4.ADX - Division Blindée

5.Agalloch - The Mantle

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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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weeeee. all my past staff picks now compiled into one swell list.

1.High On Fire - Snakes For The Divine

2.Krallice - Dimensional Bleedthrough

3.Greymachine - Disconnected

4.Kylesa - Static Tensions

5.Profetus - Coronation Of The Black Sun

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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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Updated 14.4.2024

My rather personal and improvised take on the subject matter. The list is pretty wage, I'll be updating it a lot and the order might vary a little depending on some things, but they're all great and awesome records no matter what. If there are some great records missing, that doesn't necessarily mean I consider them bad, maybe I just forgot about them or just haven't listened to them enough to consider them personal favourites.

Limited to metal and rock albums found on Metal Storm. Most of them (at least 90%) are anyway, so doesn't matter. The absent ones are mostly more pop and synth oriented stuff and some really obscure jazz and fusion albums.

1.Marillion - Marbles

2.Anathema - Weather Systems

3.Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time

4.Moonsorrow - Voimasta Ja Kunniasta

5.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

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The must-have albums of old school heavy metal. Includes genres like Traditional, NWOBHM, U.S.P.M., Speed, Epic, Doom, and prog.

1.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

2.Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

3.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

4.Crimson Glory - Transcendence

5.Angel Witch - Angel Witch

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These are the 211 essential hard rock/metal albums of the 80's, as were selected by the Greek Magazine "Metal Hammer" (August 2001 issue).

The albums followed by a star are the "must have", whereas the rest albums are the "could have".

1.Angel Witch - Angel Witch

2.AC/DC - Back In Black

3.Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell

4.Diamond Head - Lightning To The Nations

5.Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden

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1.Estatic Fear - Somnium Obmutum

2.Theatre Of Tragedy - Theatre Of Tragedy

3.My Dying Bride - Turn Loose The Swans

4.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

5.Anathema - The Silent Enigma

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Metal Albums from 1984

1.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

2.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

3.Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales

4.Dio - The Last In Line

5.Trouble - Psalm 9

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No Real Order, just Great Albums!

1.Dio - Holy Diver

2.Metallica - Kill 'Em All

3.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

4.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

5.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

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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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Well. It took some time and now I am going to deliver this list to you guys. Many times I have thought about which are my favs, but I had never done it. I am placing one album per band. Otherwise, many Iron Maiden albums as well as "Defenders of the Faith" or "Walls of Jericho" might have been included as well.

1.Judas Priest - Painkiller

2.Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth

3.King Diamond - Abigail

4.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I

5.Warlock - True As Steel

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The best decade in history of heavy metal.

1.Judas Priest - Painkiller

2.Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time

3.Accept - Breaker

4.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

5.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I

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Why 1984? Because that's the year I was born. I'm not saying that my birthyear makes anything else significant, but I figured I would take an interest in every album that's as old as I am. Yup, it's that lame. Here they are from best to worst in my opinion.

By the way, only the albums I've listened to go on this list, but I'll get to them, I promise! This is definitely a work in progress as I continue to listen to more metal.

1.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

2.Metal Church - Metal Church

3.Autograph - Sign In Please

4.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

5.Trouble - Psalm 9

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