Heavy Metal (like most people I imagine) was one of the first metal genres I got into around 2005. My friend introduced me to Iron Maiden and from there I was hooked! He would recommend me which of their albums to buy each month from HMV with my saved up pocket money (one of the highlights of the month). Thanks to MS, I've now discovered many more incredible heavy metal bands such as Judas Priest, Deep Purple and King Diamond.

So here are my favourites of the genre with my rating, its sub-genre and release year:

(Score is an average of each album's song ratings, full list located here)

If you discovered any new albums or like the same sort of heavy 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 500 Albums (ordered & rated)
Top 25 EPs (also 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)

1.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

2.Metallica - Metallica

3.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

4.Judas Priest - Painkiller

5.Deep Purple - Machine Head

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1.Mercyful Fate - Mercyful Fate

2.Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath

3.King Diamond - House Of God

4.King Diamond - Abigail

5.King Diamond - The Eye

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Almost all album titles fall in one of two categories: The album shares the title with one of its songs (the title track) or, alternatively, the album title is independent from the songs (no title track).

However, there are examples of songs that have a central link to the album title without sharing the same name. In these cases, certain lyrics from the song were chosen as the album title.

This (alphabetical) list shows the names of these “hidden title tracks” and the central lyrics that gave the name to the corresponding album.

Please feel free to suggest more of your favorite metal/hard rock examples of these “hidden title tracks”.

1.40 Watt Sun - Wider Than The Sky

2.A Forest Of Stars - A Shadowplay For Yesterdays

3.Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

4.Agalloch - The Mantle

5.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

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1.King Diamond - Conspiracy

2.Annihilator - Alice In Hell

3.Blind Guardian - Follow The Blind

4.W.A.S.P. - The Headless Children

5.Savatage - Gutter Ballet

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A little list series where I list my top 20 favorite metal albums every year starting from the year I was born in.

1989 was another great year for metal, I tried to add more obscure and overlooked albums on this list

My favorite non heavy metal albums of 1989

1. Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814

1.Running Wild - Death Or Glory

2.Coroner - No More Color

3.Faith No More - The Real Thing

4.Alice Cooper - Trash

5.Titan Force - Titan Force

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The eighties was the most productive decade in metal history, the biggest bands born during this decade Iron Maiden, Dio, Slayer, Death, Metallica… for named a few.
The eighties starts with the NWOBHM invasion and new releases from the classic heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Judas Priest with renewed sound and heaviness.
New genres of metal start’s in the 80’s Speed Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal , the rise and fall of the Glam Rock and the first sign in what dominated the nineties alternative and Grunge.
The most representative records in the end of the 80’s

1.Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

2.Testament - Practice What You Preach

3.King Diamond - Conspiracy

4.Death - Leprosy

5.Voivod - Nothingface

      View entire list ››

1.Savatage - Gutter Ballet

2.Alice Cooper - Trash

3.Black Sabbath - Headless Cross

4.Skid Row - Skid Row

5.Fates Warning - Perfect Symmetry

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1.King Diamond - Conspiracy

2.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

3.Sepultura - Beneath The Remains

4.Running Wild - Death Or Glory

5.Ministry - The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste

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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

      View entire list ››

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

      View entire list ››

1.King Diamond - Abigail

2.King Diamond - Conspiracy

3.King Diamond - "Them"

4.King Diamond - Fatal Portrait

5.King Diamond - The Eye

      View entire list ››

1.Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion

2.Death - Scream Bloody Gore

3.Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

4.Slayer - Reign In Blood

5.Bathory - Blood Fire Death

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1.Savatage - Gutter Ballet

2.Annihilator - Alice In Hell

3.Kreator - Extreme Aggression

4.Heavens Gate - In Control

5.Whitesnake - Slip Of The Tongue

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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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1.Aria - Игра С Огнём

2.Loudness - Soldier Of Fortune

3.Scanner - Terminal Earth

4.Pokolgép - Éjszakai Bevetés

5.Leatherwolf - Street Ready

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