If you know other wonderful songs which are missing in this list, feel free to suggest them to me

1.Adagio - Underworld

2.Aerosmith - Aerosmith

3.After Forever - Prison Of Desire

4.After Forever - Decipher

5.After Forever - After Forever

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A lot of bands have great debut albums. Obviously this list is just a fraction of all the great debut albums out there, but it's a start. I'll keep expanding this list continuously, so all suggestions are welcome (granted they are featured on MS). All the albums here are ranked according to genre and then alphabetically. If a certain album belongs to the (in your opinion) wrong genre, then definitely let me know.

1.

2.Aarni - Bathos

3.Arcturus - Aspera Hiems Symfonia

4.Diablo Swing Orchestra - The Butcher's Ballroom

5.Sadness - Ames De Marbre

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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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Limited to two albums per band a work in progress.

1.Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes

2.Heavenwood - Diva

3.Skyclad - The Answer Machine?

4.Moonsorrow - Suden Uni

5.Moonspell - Wolfheart

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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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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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Some time ago I made a list for heavy metal albums I enjoyed the most. I got it cleaned up after ripening my tastes.I also tried to organize the list a bit, in subcategories. There is one album per band (choices were hard sometimes), with no strict order, but my favorite albums are usualy on top.

2020 EDIT:
I like heavy metal with atmoshpere, with melody, and ideally it should be some kind of gate to a fantastic universe. I don't care about modern HM with a shiny production and simplistic riffs. I don't care obscure occult band with horrendous prod and no musical ideas. Here's the list of what I consider classics of the genre, pinnacle of dreamy, groovy, beautiful and well composed oldschool heavy metal

1.Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny

2.

3.Angra - Angels Cry

4.

5.Fates Warning - No Exit

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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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What seems the most important albums for me in chronological order.
I wish I could carry the list year after year to see how my tastes changed and new findings.
I can help but notice that old albums immediately strike me, while in recent times most albums are good but nothing is groundbreaking. We have a tide of releases in the last decades, and standing above the other requires an impossible lot of talent.
Or is it my listen habbits that changed ? I felts I listened to the old albums albums for a lifetime while I'm only surface checking the new ones. Too little time, too little time to truly live...
Also the mixing technology, the sound is too flat nowadays and lack impact and personnality

1.Frank Zappa - Freak Out

2.The Who - Tommy

3.Frank Zappa - Uncle Meat

4.Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

5.King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King

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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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1.Megadeth - Rust In Peace

2.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

3.Pantera - Cowboys From Hell

4.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

5.Judas Priest - Painkiller

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1.W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol

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

3.W.A.S.P. - The Last Command

4.W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P.

5.W.A.S.P. - Dominator

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Welcome to what I consider the "1980s Metal Bible" or in other words, a list of records of various genres in the arrays of Metal and Hard Rock that I deem essential or at least very recommended to listeners of hard and heavy music. In this second part we conquer the mighty decade that many deem as the classic decade of Metal. This and the other parts of this journey through the decades may be a very overwhelming list. I essentially try to collect all albums in the History of Metal that strike me as worthwhile. May this be a guideline for people that seek for an entrance to a particular genre or certain bands. In no means I am saying, that this list is indisputable by any means. I consider these my personal picks for albums that should be listened to by die-hard metal fans at least once. Hopefully you can discover some new music or relate with my picks. If I missed something that you would include in such a list, please tell me in the form of a comment. Enjoy! \,,/

1.Tygers Of Pan Tang - Wild Cat

2.Krokus - Metal Rendez-Vous

3.Witchfynde - Give 'Em Hell

4.Angel Witch - Angel Witch

5.Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard Of Ozz

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Pretty self-explanatory, with a couple caveats: first, this is mostly just a list of my favorite metal bands in approximate order (after the top 10 or so the order matters far less), with extra weight given to influence and timelessness of sound; and second, the albums selected are not necessarily the band's "best" album, or even my personal favorite -- they are the albums that I feel best represent the band's classic sound and/or well-represent the span of their career. List includes all sub-genres of metal and some post-metal metal. Feel free to spew your hatred below. \m/ (xx) \m/

1.Black Sabbath - Paranoid

2.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance

5.Slayer - Reign In Blood

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