While 1987 woke me up to metal and I hoovered up the likes of Iron Maiden, Metallica and Helloween’s keepers, 1988 was my metal heyday and a year that produced albums that would still dominiate my top 20 list today. Lots of power metal and plenty of Noise Records!

1.Manowar - Kings Of Metal

2.Scanner - Hypertrace

3.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II

4.Candlemass - Ancient Dreams

5.Riot - ThunderSteel

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1 album per band per subgenre
work in progress, updating as I go through the song-by-song ratings on RateYourMusic.com
I will typically update my black metal faves - https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=6924
and my death metal faves - https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=6298
prior to updating this one

1.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime

2.King Diamond - Abigail

3.Voivod - Dimension Hatröss

4.Mastodon - Crack The Skye

5.Lykathea Aflame - Elvenefris

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Great Metal Bands Unfortunately Lives In The Oblivion

1.S.A. Slayer - Go For The Throat

2.Hawaii - One Nation Underground

3.Warlord - Deliver Us

4.Witchfynde - Cloak And Dagger

5.Helstar - Burning Star

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1.Nile - Annihilation Of The Wicked

2.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

3.Behemoth - The Satanist

4.Obituary - Cause Of Death

5.Death - Leprosy

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The best death metal albums pre 2000, in alphabetical order.
Work in progress.

1.Amorphis - The Karelian Isthmus

2.Amorphis - Privilege Of Evil

3.Asphyx - The Rack

4.Asphyx - Last One On Earth

5.Asphyx - Embrace The Death

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1.Death - Leprosy

2.Coroner - Punishment For Decadence

3.Metallica - ...And Justice For All

4.Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime

5.Ministry - The Land Of Rape And Honey

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1.Vio-lence - Eternal Nightmare

2.Metallica - ...And Justice For All

3.Slayer - South Of Heaven

4.Razor - Violent Restitution

5.Morbid Saint - Spectrum Of Death

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1.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

2.Vio-lence - Eternal Nightmare

3.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

4.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

5.Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?

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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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I know some of the albums are more thrash than death, but I added them anyway, because I guess they could appeal to death metal fans too. Many of the albums are not so well-known, but I prefer them over the classics. If you have any other suggestions of underground albums you think I could enjoy based on my choices, you can suggest me.

1.In Flames - Clayman

2.The Crown - Eternal Death

3.Sororicide - The Entity

4.Pestilence - Malleus Maleficarum

5.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

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I excluded some of my favourite albums that I don't accept as metal. While top 10 represents albums I listened to over the years, the rest of the list better represent where I stand today.

1.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

2.Dio - Holy Diver

3.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II

4.Iron Maiden - Brave New World

5.In Flames - Clayman

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1.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

2.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

3.Obituary - Slowly We Rot

4.Suffocation - Effigy Of The Forgotten

5.Deicide - Legion

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1.Obituary - Slowly We Rot

2.Entombed - Left Hand Path

3.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

4.Asphyx - The Rack

5.Cannibal Corpse - Eaten Back To Life

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Favorite releases from 1988

1.Vio-lence - Eternal Nightmare

2.Morbid Saint - Spectrum Of Death

3.Coroner - Punishment For Decadence

4.Megadeth - So Far, So Good... So What?

5.Wargasm - Why Play Around

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