Your Top 5 Hard Rock/Metal albums (And Why)

Lurideath wrote:

#5:



Life of Agony - River Runs Red - This album basically saved my life. I had a very hard upbringing and this deals album has songs about some of what I went through.

wow. i never thought a group that many people consider emo would have been listed by you. i love this album too. great new york hardcore.

Today it is...

5) ACT III-Death Angel ( very melodic and very thrashy)
4) Q5-steel the light (good mix of styles)
3) Icon-S/T (John and Dan...nuff said)
2) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath-Black Sabbath (songwriting and riffs)
1) Headhunter-Krokus (this has all sorts of attitude)

Great to see a Norwegian band throne a list!

kmorg wrote:

Great to see a Norwegian band throne a list!

Norway RULES dude!! I love much music from there. It seems that many unfairly write Norway off due to the crappy black metal that so awfully disgraced it. Norway has some great power and melodic metal bands that I love. Heck, I even like some of the black metal too (the good stuff like Immortal etc.).

Oh and not to mention Pagan's Mind is my all time favorite band.

Metallic Blaze wrote:

Oh and not to mention Pagan's Mind is my all time favorite band.

Great choice. Out of curiosity, what did you think of God's Equation?

SpectreFate wrote:

Metallic Blaze wrote:

Oh and not to mention Pagan's Mind is my all time favorite band.

Great choice. Out of curiosity, what did you think of God's Equation?

I really liked it! It's not the masterpiece that "Celestial Entrance" is, but it's a very good and solid album in it's own right.

How about you?

I got turned off of it when it came out. I'm going to revisit it this weekend. You're right, Celestial Entrance is a masterpiece. Such an improvement over the debut. I'm looking forward to the new DVD.

Yeah, that'll be cool!

Seriously though, taken for what it is "God's Equation" is a fine album. It's certainly a lot more 'proggy' than the rest of their stuff though.

I'll try this but to be honest my tops change all the time...I'll see what I can do...


Not in any order of importance:

1.) ROLLING STONES- "Sticky Fingers" It's country...it's blues and it's ablls out rock & roll.

2.) DAVID BOWIE- "Changesbowie"...Becasue I cannot pick just one BOWIE album....

3.) MOTHER LOVE BONE- "Apple" Just a fantastic album...

4.) JANES ADDICTION- "Nothing's Shocking" This disc sounds as fresh today as it did in 1988 when I got it. Sonic psychedelia...brooding riffs, heavy and artful.

5.) NIGHT RANGER- "Midnight Madness"...This was the first tape I ever bought with my own money for my walkman...way back when...so it has a nice little niche in Shiney's black heart.

Wow, I had no idea you dug Midnight Madness.

That's their best album anyway.

Quote :

4.) JANES ADDICTION- "Nothing's Shocking" This disc sounds as fresh today as it did in 1988 when I got it. Sonic psychedelia...brooding riffs, heavy and artful.

Great album! This band is often overlooked in metal circles, but in truth, although they weren't a metal band ... they sure had a lot of metal in their music!!!

I'm a big fan! My favorite one is "Ritual De La Habitual" though. But I like all their stuff. I even like Porno for Pyros too!

SpectreFate wrote:

Wow, I had no idea you dug Midnight Madness.

That's their best album anyway.

Yep....I am full of surprises.

Shiney wrote:

1.) ROLLING STONES- "Sticky Fingers" It's country...it's blues and it's ablls out rock & roll.

plus it has Sister Morphine, Dead Flowers and Moonlight Mile - the best threesome in music!!!

I'm re-doing mine.

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Shiny, you surprise me. I remember crankin' that in the day. You Can, still rock in America.

This is a toughie. I'll limit it to one album per band. Otherwise, it could very easily have been five of Van Halen's first six albums.

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


This is Megadeth's high point and the swan song of the band's best lineup. I love the aggression that Dave had when he wrote the album. Chris Poland is Megadeth's best guitarist, and it was a shame to see him leave. Song for song, one of the best metal albums ever.

#4 Metallica - Ride The Lightning


Metallica's best album. "Fight Fire With Fire" got me hooked. It's one of the fastest songs I've ever heard. Every song is essential Metallica (yes, even "Escape"). Master Of Puppets is good, but the songs aren't as balls-to-the-wall as Ride The Lightning.

#3 Led Zeppelin - Fourth Album


Greatest Zeppelin album and one of the greatest heavy metal albums ever. "Black Dog" has one of the most memorable riffs in metal. Mixes melodic acoustic and raw heavy metal perfectly.

#2 Queen - Sheer Heart Attack


This album got me hooked on heavy music. "Brighton Rock" is still one of my favorite Queen songs ever. "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes)" is another favorite of mine.

#1 Van Halen - Van Halen


Eddie Van Halen is God. A jerk as well, but also God. 100% balls-to-the-wall heavy metal. One of the greatest debut albums ever. I'd love to see this lineup tour again, but I'm not sure it'll be in the near future. Someday though. I'm sure of it.

Love that Queen album, and it was very difficult to pick just 5 albums, everyone has made interesting selections.

This is a perpetual topic, so I won't use it as an excuse to rub your noses in my moldies again. How about some metal then?

1. Tad Morose- Sender of Thoughts
Swedish Melodic Prog Metal with hints of Doom. Their album A Mended Rhyme is just as good. Also the band Veni Domine can sound like this, but they never were this consistent.

2. Amorphis- Elegy
This is where they hit the groove between their powerful past and melodic future (although they have returned here since). I think this was their masterpiece.

3. Rough Silk- Beyond The Sundown
Nobody else seems to like these guys, but they had a unique take on Prog Metal with elements not only of Rage and Gamma Ray type stuff, but also Scorpions and Queen (!) all set in Symphony X or Shadow Galley complexities.

4. Obsessed- The Church Within
The Volume 4 of the 90's. Doom played with a Rock & Roll ethic. More like a rusty junkyard than a dusty graveyard.

5. Anacrusis- Screams & Whispers
At the time I'd never heard anything like it. A progressive mix of Thrash elements with Melodic Power Metal. The mix isn't from song to song, but within the songs.

Moldy Hall of Fame
1. Black Sabbath- Sabotage
2. Sensational Alex Harvey Band- Live
3. Deep Purple- Machine Head
4. Judas Priest- Sad Wings
5. Budgie- s/t

SlaytanicPOWER wrote:

I'm re-doing mine.

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Nice list.

Velvet Revolver- Contraband- I was excited about this band before one of my favorite frontmen joined the band. I have this on my list cuz for me theres not a single filler song on this album its one i can spin it pretty regulary



Deliverance- Learn- This album to me was very profound, until this release, Christian Rock and even Christian Metal had alot of what I like to call "Sugar coated Jesus Lyrics" Not this album, This album Jimmy gets very personal on it singing bout pain he's gone through and to me that just seemed very real, very honest album and has since its release been one of my favorites



Megadeth- System Has Failed- I had always like a splattering of songs by Megadeth, I bought this album cuz alot of people here on the boards highly recommended it and loved it, So I gave it a try and I loved it instantly and I credit this album as to fueling my love for Megadeth, its by far a great album



Megadeth- Youthanasia- Ult had suggested this album to me shortly after getting hooked on System has Failed, I bought it and was blown away, Its a regular spin and for me theres no filler songs on this album each track is strong This and System Has Failed are my top favorites for Megadeth




Ozzy Osbourne- Ozzmosis- Another album with no fillers, back when it first came out I played this heavily, Its an album I can take and spin and listen to the whole thing over and over and not realizing it, Not to mention this album is also somewhat nostalgic

Addy wrote:

Ozzy Osbourne- Ozzmosis- Another album with no fillers, back when it first came out I played this heavily, Its an album I can take and spin and listen to the whole thing over and over and not realizing it, Not to mention this album is also somewhat nostalgic

Ah! I love Ozzmosis!

Troublezone wrote:

Nice List

thanks

Yeah, "Ozzmosis" is a good album. It's not my top fave from Ozzy, but I do believe it's his most underrated piece of work to date.

#5. Rose Tattoo -Rose Tattoo (1978)



It's economy is frightening, makes AC/DC seem like overwrought prog rockers. Tragic. Motorhead like the Grateful Dead. Humiliating.

The relentless rhythm leaves you under it's wheels while Well's slide whips up a cyclone of bottleneck blues!

#4. Faces - Ooh La La (1973)



Rod & Ron's laddish midnight hour "Thumpa Thumpa" thinly veils Ronnie's heart rendering sentiment. It doesn't give a sh*t, but when it does it's heartbreaking.

"It's Only Rock N' Roll"...........bullsh*t! It's everything and more, records like this prove that.

#3. Hanoi Rocks - Self Destruction Blues (1983)



A spit n' paste of a record if ever there was one. An unhinged mess of "Exile" proportions. Nothing is spared from amphetamine blues to fagged out disco.

A celebration of aimless wandering and fringe dwelling.

#2. X - Aspirations (1979)



Recorded in 4 hours live straight to tape by the godfather of Australian Hard Rock Lobby Lloyde. It's as visceral and urban as a rock n' roll record gets. The politics of survival are more important to these guys than the politics of suits. Gritty inner city living and outsider blues, downright anti social to boot because mainstream (dis)pleasures suck.

Rilen's bass plays lead instrument and dances and grooves with the best of them while slamming your head against the bar reminding you of that old Ali adage! Co-conspirator Steve Lucas colours the songs with guitar shards and cockatoo screech.

#1. Beasts Of Bourbon - The Low Road (1991)



Albums rarely capture the whole filthy rainbow of human emotion, and when they do it usually comes in the form of a Hank Williams comp. So for a 'hard rock' record to do so is nothing short of a miracle.

It takes the Alice Cooper Group's "Bad As Art" concept and bleeds it into reality. It's a sleazy Rolling Stones 'grunge' you'd envision the Bad Seeds playing if they weren't busy being an anti rock n' roll band. It's Bon Scott passed out on the sticky carpet of a pub with Crazy Horse's corrosive gut rock ringing in his ears.

It's what rock n' roll and hard rock for that matter is meant to be, what it threatens to be........

Just five? Uh...

1. Incantation - Onward to Golgotha: death metal perfection.
2. Asphyx - The Rack: grinds my skull into dust
3. Demilich - Nespithe: journeys through forgotten lands
4. Burzum - Filosofem: ultimate evolution of metal
5. Slayer - South of Heaven: lost in a dreamworld of death

List is subject to change in 3...2...1...