For a headbangin' time, crank these.
Oct 21 '01
The Bottom Line Here are my picks for my favorite Metal albums.
Heavy Metal is one of the longest lasting forms of music and also one of the most misunderstood. Many people think of it as simply primitive music played with wailing power chords and loud screaming and meaningless lyrics. While that statement is true about some groups, it is not true about all of them. In fact, heavy metal as a whole is pretty diverse. The genre is wide enough to include bands ranging from Black Sabbath to AC/DC to Celtic Frost to Machine Head.
So here are my picks for my favorite Metal albums. Some metal enthusiasts may not agree with certain albums being left off. That's fine. These are not the only heavy metal albums or bands I listen to. I'm just choosing the ones I like best. The list itself is missing any of the 80s hair bands. The reason why those bands aren't on there is because of the fact that I don't consider the bulk of them to be metal. Most of them were pretty lame. Out of the 80s bands there were some I liked (Motley Crue, Def Leppard). But I always thought of them more as melodic hard rock. So that's why they're not on here.
10: Korn-Follow The Leader: This is one of the few "new" metal albums released between 1997 and the present that I would put on the list. On here Korn translate serious angst into good music. Songs like "Freak On A Leash", "Got The Life" and "It's on" offer proof that rap-metal had some feeling in it before the style got out of hand. Later on, a throng of horrendous imitators who lack even a fraction of their talent would overshadow Korn. But here they sound fresh and in command.
9: Type O Negative-October Rust: Out of the Type O cannon, this 1996 release gets my pick as the best. Eerie, Goth metal sounds perfectly complement Peter Steele's singing and ominous lyrics that deal with loss and unrequited love. Excellent songs including "Be My Druidess", "Love You To Death, "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend" and "Green Man".
8: AC/DC-Back In Black: The definitive AC/DC album and the best rock and roll party album of all time. After burying former lead singer Bon Scott, AC/DC rebounded with new lead singer Brian Johnson and this album, which found them at the top of their game. Songs like "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Back In Black" will remain staples of any party or high school dance into eternity, while "Hells Bells", "Have A Drink On Me" and "Shoot To Thrill" celebrate Scott's existence.
7: Rage Against The Machine-The Battle Of Los Angeles: In a year of chaos and violence, Rage take their disgust with the state of the nation and translate it into their best, most consistent album. Tom Morello continues to show why he's considered the leading rock guitar player of the era, while Zach De La Rocha's lyrics lash out at what's wrong with American society. Angry cynical music for angry cynical times.
6: Pantera-Vulgar Display Of Power: On later albums, Pantera would become victims of unchecked anger. But on here the anger is well directed and delivered accordingly. "Walk", "Mouth For War" and "This Love" are classics of 1990s metal. "Attack The Radical" and "Regular People" lambaste government hypocrisy quite well.
5: Queensryche-Empire: For heavy metal that makes you think, Queensryche is unbeatable. On 1991's Empire they mix the political ("Empire", "Resistance") with the personal ("Jet City Woman", "Silent Lucidity") and create a prog-metal masterpiece.
4: Judas Priest-Metal Works: Some Priest fans may not like it that I chose this compilation over one of their albums. I picked this one because it does a good job of summing up Priest’s entire career with Rob Halford as a front man. Good choices that highlight the bulk of the group’s best-known songs ("Hell Bent For Leather", "Breaking The Law", "Living After Midnight") as well as great album tracks ("Metal Gods", "Heading out To The Highway", "Painkiller" and "Devil's Child").
3: Black Sabbath-Master Of Reality: Some metal fans may prefer Paranoid to this one. But I like this one slightly better. Songs like “Into The Void”, “After Forever” and “Children Of The Grave” are some of the best early examples of metal one can find. Ozzy’s vocals work perfectly when mixed with Tony Iommi’s guitar work.
2: Metallica-Master Of Puppets: Out of all of Metallica's albums, this one is definitely the best. From "Battery" to "Damage Inc" there is not one bad track on here at all. Particular standouts include the title track, "Disposable Heroes" and the instrumental "Orion" (which was an excellent showcase for the late Cliff Burton, who made his last appearance on an album here).
1: Led Zeppelin-Led Zeppelin II: It may not be Zeppelin's best album (Physical Graffiti outclasses it in my opinion). But as far as heavy metal albums go, it's unbeatable. On this album, Led Zeppelin defined metal while still keeping the blues element in their playing. In addition to being a great album, this one also proves why so many of the horrendous Zeppelin imitators that came along in the 80s sucked. The mistake so many of them made was wiping out the blues from the music and made it feel cold and corporate (as it really was). Here Zeppelin keep it firmly in and create a masterpiece. Everything about the album is great from the fast and furious drumming of John Bonham to Jimmy Page's guitar virtuosity and Robert Plant's lead vocals.
Runners-up
Metallica-All albums up to the Black Album
Black Sabbath-Paranoid
Led Zeppelin-Led Zeppelin I
Megadeth-Countdown To Extinction
Rage Against The Machine-Rage Against The Machine
Korn-Korn
Alice In Chains-Dirt
Pantera-Far Beyond Driven
Queensryche-Operation Mindcrime
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Member: Jeff Wilder
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