This is the most unquestionably difficult ranking I could undertake. The # of albums I consider borderline flawless from each of these bands is ridiculous. Over a dozen albums from these 3 bands have legitimate arguments to be considered the greatest traditional heavy metal album of all time.

I have a few rankings that are likely hot takes here
** Yes, I like Dance of Death more than most folks. Title track and Paschendale are both top 10 Maiden songs, and Montsegur is only a small step behind that. Those 3 songs are better than anything on Brave New World to me, but the rest of BNW is better and higher quality.
** Yes I kinda like Turbo. It's silly but it's fun and the guitar work and Rob's vocals are absolutely stellar. That kinda sucks about Ram It Down, it's got some of Priests' best lead guitar work and I don't think Rob ever sounded better, but dear lord, some of those songs...
As for the top 6 albums here, honestly put them in whatever order you want. They're that close to me and mood depending it could change

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Judas Priest - Painkiller

3.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

4.Black Sabbath - Sabotage

5.Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance

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1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Black Sabbath - Sabotage

3.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

4.Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

5.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

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1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell

3.Black Sabbath - Headless Cross

4.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

5.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

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1.Savatage - Hall Of The Mountain King

2.King Diamond - Abigail

3.Dio - Dream Evil

4.Testament - The Legacy

5.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

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1.Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

4.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Vol. 4

5.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

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Plus my top three favourite tracks from each release. \m/

Honourable mentions:
D.R.I. - Crossover (Thrash)
Napalm Death - Scum (Grindcore)
Pentagram - Day Of Reckoning (Doom)
Sodom - Persecution Mania (Thrash)
Sarcófago - I.N.R.I. (Proto-Black/Thrash)
Grim Reaper - Rock You To Hell (NWOBHM)
Sepultura - Schizophrenia (Death/Thrash)

1.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

2.Candlemass - Nightfall

3.Testament - The Legacy

4.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

5.Anthrax - Among The Living

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Black Sabbath albums from best to worst. VERY difficult list to make and I've been changing places on the albums pretty much every time i've opened the list. But this will do for now

1.Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Black Sabbath - The Eternal Idol

4.Black Sabbath - Headless Cross

5.Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell

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1.Judas Priest - Painkiller

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

4.Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith

5.Motörhead - Inferno

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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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1.Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Black Sabbath - Mob Rules

4.Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

5.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

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My personal rankings of all of Black Sabbath's studio albums. I've included Heaven and Hell's 'The Devil You Know' in this list, because in my opinion it is a Sabbath album.

1.Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

4.Black Sabbath - Mob Rules

5.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

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This is a list of the doom albums I have listened to.

The list starts with a handful of what I'd call my favorite doom albums. The first few of those count among my favorite of all time, with Paranoid, Watching From A Distance, and Черно at present holding a perfect 10. This list does have a cutoff point, stretching from those 10s through some high 9s and all the way down to middling 6s. If I rated it below a 6, it does not appear on this list, and that's because I disliked the album.

Given how much music I listen to and how many lists I have going concurrently, I don't update this as I go; I let albums accumulate for a while and then do periodic overhauls, so the list won't change for months at a time.

Last updated October 17, 2021.

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Warning - Watching From A Distance

3.Kypck - Черно

4.Woods Of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light

5.Heaven And Hell - The Devil You Know

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1.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I

2.Savatage - Hall Of The Mountain King

3.Pretty Maids - Future World

4.Def Leppard - Hysteria

5.Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction

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This is my complete favorite list of Sabbath albums. Yes, it might be a little bit controversial due to the fact that I appreciate a little bit more the Tony Martin works (hence, Headless Cross is my no.1 favorite), but I strongly believe that the later Sabbath catalogue is very underrated and underapreciated. I do not get even up until today the whole Ozzy hype since stuff like Vol. 4 or Sabotage were just boring and even the other albums weren't that great either (except a couple of songs). In my opinion, the Dio and Martin years (well maybe except for Forbidden) are the best years for Sabbath. If I were to rank the best vocalists this band had, Ronnie James Dio will take the crown with Tony Martin close by while Ozzy would be only the 3rd in my rankings.

1.Black Sabbath - Headless Cross

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

4.Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell

5.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

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All Black Sabbath albums (including Heaven and Hell's "The Devil You Know"), ranked from best to worst (in my opinion).

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

3.Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell

4.Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality

5.Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

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