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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Some stories, themes or concepts are presented not just in one single song but are split in separate tracks that (often) share the same title but are distinguished by a number of the corresponding part of the song series.

However, sometimes these parts are not found together on one album, but are included on different releases of the artist.
They can be found on two (or more) conceptually linked albums (where they function as part of an ensemble together with the other songs), or they can be included on independent releases (where only they alone continue their story).

Therefore, the main purpose of this list is to give an overview that enables the reader to find the missing song pieces - or even to inform that these pieces exist at all.

Please feel free to find and suggest more examples of these "song jigsaw puzzles": one song(concept) in separate parts on different albums.

1.After Forever - Prison Of Desire

2.Agathodaimon - Higher Art Of Rebellion

3.Agathodaimon - Phoenix

4.Alestorm - Sunset On The Golden Age

5.Alestorm - Curse Of The Crystal Coconut

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Overkill is the most solid band in the metal scene there is practically no bad records in their discography.

1.Overkill - Feel The Fire

2.Overkill - The Years Of Decay

3.Overkill - Horrorscope

4.Overkill - Under The Influence

5.Overkill - Taking Over

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The MS top 200 is supposed to represent the absolute peak of metal music, the timeless classics. I have been listening to metal for about 6 years now and would consider myself fairly knowledgeable about the genre. Yet, I have barely heard half of what the top 200 has to offer. I am now on a quest to listen to it all and give an honest opinion on what I thought of it.
This list will show every album of the top 200 and if I've listened to it whether it's an all-time favourite of mine (+++), I really like it (++), I like it (+), it’s good (*), it’s not great (-), I really dislike it (--) or I hate it from the bottom of my heart (---). The same symbols will be used to characterize what I think my opinion of the albums I haven't heard yet will be, based on my knowledge of the bands and of the genre they play. (?) signifies that I have no idea of whether I'll enjoy it or not and (/) means that my opinion of the album is probably obsolete, and I need to listen to it again. A ★ means the album is in my own top 200.
Edit: The bottom of the top 200 has been changing a lot, with some stuff formerly in the list now closer to 240th, so this is now a top 250. I’m not sure I want to expand the list further down, but I’ll see whenever it’s completed if I feel like going for a top 300 or something like that.
Best discoveries so far: Wildhoney, Nightfall, Out Of Myself, Portal Of I, Autumn Aurora, Nemesis Divina, Abigail, V: Hävitetty, Sounds Of Pain.

1.

2.

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

4.Saturnus - Veronika Decides To Die

5.Ensiferum - Ensiferum

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A list of my favorite album covers

1.Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion

2.Mercyful Fate - Melissa

3.Slayer - Reign In Blood

4.Motörhead - Motörhead

5.Iron Maiden - Powerslave

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Mind map:

Blue = win
Undead = win
Hell = win
Blue = win
Nature ft. Water = win
Color eyegasm = win
Grim reaper = win
Boys being boys = win
Badly done CGI = win
Blue = win
Blue = win
Orthodox stuff = win
Black and white = win, sometimes

Last updated on 29 July 2023.

1.Emperor - Reverence

2.Wintersun - Wintersun

3.The Ruins Of Beverast - Rain Upon The Impure

4.Dissection - Live Legacy

5.Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman

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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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Welcome to what I consider the "1001 Metal Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" 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. This may be a very overwhelming list but 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.High Tide - Sea Shanties

2.Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

3.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

4.Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come

5.Josefus - Dead Man

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1.Nasty Savage - Indulgence

2.Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow... When I Can't Even Smile Today

3.Uncle Slam - Say Uncle

4.Annihilator - Alice In Hell

5.Tankard - Zombie Attack

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1.Overkill - The Years Of Decay

2.Overkill - Horrorscope

3.Overkill - Feel The Fire

4.Overkill - Ironbound

5.Overkill - Under The Influence

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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

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Last updated on 11 April 2024.

1.Dream Theater - Images And Words

2.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

3.Wintersun - Wintersun

4.Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane

5.Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

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Note: Tool intentionally ommitted because they don't consider themselves metal. Otherwise you'd see their first 4 albums in top 25.

Last updated: 27 March 2024.

1.Moonsorrow - Kivenkantaja

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Opeth - Blackwater Park

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Lost Horizon - A Flame To The Ground Beneath

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

Honourable mentions:
Sarcófago - Rotting (Proto-Black/Thrash)
Candlemass - Tales Of Creation (Doom)
Terrorizer - World Downfall (Grindcore)
Annihilator - Alice In Hell (Thrash)
W.A.S.P. - The Headless Children (Heavy)

Non-Metal mentions:
Ice T - The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say! (Rap)

1.Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness

2.Obituary - Slowly We Rot

3.Black Sabbath - Headless Cross

4.Sepultura - Beneath The Remains

5.Sodom - Agent Orange

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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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