My Top 10 Favorite Albums of ALL TIME!!!

S.D. wrote:

manny wrote:

I can't do it either!!!

Yep.  Personally, I think if you can successfully pick a Top 10 then you haven't explored nearly enough music.   

Im picky about music so this wasn't so hard for me  

I'm incredibly picky about music, but I'm also very open-minded about exploring (and comprehending through study) as many different styles as possible.

I can't do it either - as SD mentioned, my fav albums years ago would not make it into the top 10 today

I think I have four that I find easy to name:

Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side
Dio - Holy Diver
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Savatage - Wake of Magellan

The order is irrelevant, but these are my favourite albums, and pretty much set in stone. After that there's a tie with about 50 albums that I find to be just perfect 10/10.

ok, I'm not gonna say this is 'all time' because there will (thankfully) always be records yet to hear, but here is how I feel so far in my listening career.  

I'd like to also say there are a lot of favorites of mine, say Rage or Yes or Pink Floyd, who are almost daily listens, and have tons of songs which mean a lot to me...but as far as FULL ALBUMS go...may not have that one elusive full record which would make such a list. Which doesn't make those bands at all inferior, but it's just how it is....


In no real order...


1. Queensrÿche - Rage For Order (may or may not switch with 'Operation Mindcrime' depending on the day).... So this embodies progressive and gothic metal in one perfectly despaired, cyberpunked up masterpiece, and those who sit and just kind of play it like it's background music or another metal album are really not getting the intensity of what this is all about, not absorbing the details. This record is like an entity unto itself.. ironically, just like a machine..there is no Geoff, Eddie, Chris, Scott, Wilton..there is only the expression of 'Rage For Order'....back when this band personified disenchantment in metal.

2. Labyrinth - Return To Heaven Denied....romantic, blazing fast, blazingly melodic, progressive minded...that's a lot of what this band has always been about. Longing and majesty bursts forth from every pore of every song. Vocally, this is a favorite, guitar-wise, another favorite. Rob is one of the best there is at fusing technicality with feeling in his vocals, and the twin guitar work from Olaf Thorsen and Andrea Cantarelli...check out that all-tube tone, listen to that fresh take on RIDICULOUS shred which is often followed up by something Gilmour-esque, but just as effective. Neoclassical without a hint of the stuffiness of that beat-to-death Baroque sound, modern without sounding remotely American, and just full of atmosphere. Absolutely among the high high highs of this form of power metal, and the rest of their catalog isn't much behind.

3. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew.......This was a watershed moment where I had no idea that music could do this - or was even allowed to do this - until I heard this, and once I finally absorbed the entire thing, I lived it. There's so many fusion albums that could go here, Miles' own 'In A Silent Way' is a runner up... but this is also so different than the actual 'fusion' sound it would inspire, and it manages to be free, yet knowingly progressive, dark, but multi-dimensional....a climactic point of purely cerebral playing which creates something straight out of the Akashic record and keeps it there for an hour and a half. Oh..and John McLaughlin.

4. WatchTower - Control And Resistance.....A technical and progressive revolution...from end to end you will be assaulted by riffs... you will hear a screaming Alan Tecchio preaching against war, moral and social injustice... but this is no ordinary thrash..the mad wizard Ron Jarzombek has been added on guitar, his impossible leads being a lethal blend of Fripp, Holdsworth, and a gallon of radioactive waste..the rhythm section of Rick Colaluca and Doug Keyser, I don't even know what to say...fluid, punishing basslines....insane mixtures of traditional and electric drum kits... this record manages to take the attitude of punk and thrash, be more progressive than almost anything else in metal at that time, and come out with every song being completely memorable in every way...

5. maudlin of the Well - Leaving Your Body Map....Doom metal, death metal, trumpets, progressive rock, violin..sleighbells....shattered hearts... lucid dreams....and this is what autumn sounds like.

6. Gordian Knot - Gordian Knot....Sean Malone's supergroup of Trey Gunn, Sean Reinert, Ron Jarzombek, John Myung, and Glenn Snelwar manage to make an unstoppable record of post-Discipline King Crimson soundscapes melded with tribal music and Cynic, all led by Malon on the Chapman Stick... unbelievable melodies of beauty, tranquility, and exploration.............

7. Running Wild - Death Or Glory....... 'Riding the Storm' is what heavy metal is all about. Some will say the grime of Sabbath. I say that metal doesn't have an end, the ideology doesn't have an end, it only has a goal - expressing the romantic, expressing the discontent, and it may manifest itself in a hopeless feeling, but it will also manifest itself in a fighting spirit. Since I believe the very core of metal is looking at life as it should be, I can't limit the pure expression to what doom has to offer. The spirit of this record is the aggression, the rebellion, the escapism, the discontent - and a forward-looking attitude, all in one. Thrash, doom, death metal, those complete parts of the puzzle, but they don't lead the way. This music leads the way. Even the cover art is timeless as it glorifies the slave, reaching towards the light while his master gorges himself on ill-gotten riches. One more thing.. do you like riffs?

8. W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol.....One of the most expressive vocalists in rock.. one of the most unique sounds..... rock n' roll and heavy metal is all the same to Blackie Lawless, and it doesn't matter what channel his anger and desperation flows through. This is a gut-punch of theatrical songwriting, once again, appealing to the outsider, the dreamer, whether it ends in tragedy or not, we relate.

9. Darkseed - Diving Into Darkness...Here we reach another side of the coin in metal... the hatred and the anguish in the discontent. We feel these things BECAUSE we yearn for something more. Not because we are content with staying where we are (as the apathy that vomits out of mainstream rock often expresses). Stefan Hertrich is an incredible songwriter, and this band has always been a band which clearly has a singular identity and a personality in that craft leading the way. You may have heard some gothic metal by way of Paradise Lost or Moonspell, you may have heard electronic elements being introduced to gothic rock by way of Depeche Mode... you haven't heard it all wrapped up in one logical conclusion seamlessly and flawlessly like it is on this record. And the leads from Tom Gilcher are classic metal, classic rock, classic all the way around, building in that way that older listeners like to say is forgotten. Drowning feels good.

10. ................ I actually don't know, because at this point I'm thinking about like 5 albums at once. Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along The Highway, Zao - Liberate Te Ex Inferis, Tangerine Dream - Zeit, Metheny/Mehldau - Quartet, Blut aus Nord - A Dialogue With The Stars.......I'll need to come back to this..

I really tried to come up with a firm ten.  And it just didn't happen.  And like OCI said the thinking about it only created a blur of other albums I love.  I tried to go with mostly stuff I've had decades love affair with.

Connells - Fun & Games
Warrior Soul - Last Decade, Dead Century
Melvins - Houdini
Death - Spiritual Healing
The Doors - Morrison Hotel
Nuclear Assault - Survive
Suicidal Tendencies - Join The Army
Bad Brains - I Against I
Raven - All For One
Wishbone Ash - Argus
Unsane - s/t
13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere
Transvision Vamp - Pop Art
Pretty Boy Floyd - Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz
Ride - Nowhere
Jesus & Mary Chain - Automatic
Bash & Pop - Friday Night Is Killing Me
Material Issue - International Pop Overthrow
House Of Shock - s/t
Jello Biafra/DOA - Last Scream Of The Missing Neighbors
Wargasm - Why Play Around
Eric B & Rakim - Follow The Leader
Bob Marley - Survival, Peter Tosh - Legalize It, Bunny Wailer - Blackheart Man
and on and on it could go....

This would be tricky. There's just so much good stuff out there it would be hard to narrow it down to 10.

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

6. Gordian Knot - Gordian Knot....Sean Malone's supergroup of Trey Gunn, Sean Reinert, Ron Jarzombek, John Myung, and Glenn Snelwar manage to make an unstoppable record of post-Discipline King Crimson soundscapes melded with tribal music and Cynic, all led by Malon on the Chapman Stick... unbelievable melodies of beauty, tranquility, and exploration.............

Never heard that one, must check it out.

OCI brought up Bitches' Brew and it made me realize I'd have to make separate lists for each genre. In other words, shit just got real...

Here's the top 10 non-metal albums; I'll transplant Aja over here. No elaboration this time; thank God right?

10. Miles Davis - Bitches' Brew
9. John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
8. Elton John - s/t
7. Johnny Cash - With His Hot and Blue Guitar
6. Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow
5. Weather Report - Heavy Weather
4. Cannonball Adderley - Something Else
3. Wilco - Being There
2. Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin'
1. Neil Young - this is a tie between After the Gold Rush and Rust Never Sleeps.

I'll follow suit if we're doing non-metal:


1. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
2. Plumb - candycoatedwaterdrops
3. Live - Throwing Copper
4. Enigma - A Posteriori
5. Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
6. Wadada Leo Smith - Luminous Axis (The Caravans of Winter and Summer)
7. Metheny/Mehldau - Quartet
8. Tangerine Dream - Zeit
9. King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King [this could be swapped with Larks Tongues or Lizard depending on the day]
10. The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

Tough stuffs..there's so many records..... Camel, Pulsar, Magma, Herbie Hancock, Sun Ra..

Here's mine (not necessarily ranked):

AC/DC – Back in Black
Rush – Moving Pictures
Billy Squier – Don’t Say No
Fleetwood Mac – Rumors
Kiss – Destroyer
Pretty Maids – Pandemonium
Saxon – Strong Arm of the Law
Autograph – Sign in Please
Iron Maiden – Number of the Beast
Judas Priest – British Steel

Honorable Mention:

Erasure - Chorus
Riggs – S/T
Coney Hatch – S/T
Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head
Fastway – S/T
Raven – All For One
Slayer – Reign in Blood
Donnie Iris – King Cool
Tesla – Mechanical Resonance
April Wine – Nature of the Beast

Impossible...

I had a hard enough time creating the Top 10 list for debut albums.

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

I'll follow suit if we're doing non-metal:
8. Tangerine Dream - Zeit

I thought that I was the only one who really dug that album!!

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

I'll follow suit if we're doing non-metal:


1. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
2. Plumb - candycoatedwaterdrops
3. Live - Throwing Copper
4. Enigma - A Posteriori
5. Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
6. Wadada Leo Smith - Luminous Axis (The Caravans of Winter and Summer)
7. Metheny/Mehldau - Quartet
8. Tangerine Dream - Zeit
9. King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King [this could be swapped with Larks Tongues or Lizard depending on the day]
10. The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

Tough stuffs..there's so many records..... Camel, Pulsar, Magma, Herbie Hancock, Sun Ra..

Shit! You reminded me about #5. I must revamp!

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

1. Queensrÿche - Rage For Order (may or may not switch with 'Operation Mindcrime' depending on the day).... So this embodies progressive and gothic metal in one perfectly despaired, cyberpunked up masterpiece, and those who sit and just kind of play it like it's background music or another metal album are really not getting the intensity of what this is all about, not absorbing the details. This record is like an entity unto itself.. ironically, just like a machine..there is no Geoff, Eddie, Chris, Scott, Wilton..there is only the expression of 'Rage For Order'....back when this band personified disenchantment in metal.


3. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew.......This was a watershed moment where I had no idea that music could do this - or was even allowed to do this - until I heard this, and once I finally absorbed the entire thing, I lived it. There's so many fusion albums that could go here, Miles' own 'In A Silent Way' is a runner up... but this is also so different than the actual 'fusion' sound it would inspire, and it manages to be free, yet knowingly progressive, dark, but multi-dimensional....a climactic point of purely cerebral playing which creates something straight out of the Akashic record and keeps it there for an hour and a half. Oh..and John McLaughlin.

..

Nice write ups. Very cool.

Here's my Top 10 All-Time Heavy Metal Edition:
Note: not including KISS in this list as some might not consider them "metal"

1. Restless And Wild--Accept
2. Diary Of A Madman--Ozzy Osbourne
3. Lionheart--Saxon
4. Killing Ground--Saxon
5. Port Royal--Running Wild
6. Holy Diver--Dio
7. Powerslave--Iron Maiden
8. Screaming For Vengeance--Judas Priest
9. Iron Maiden--Iron Maiden
10. Blessing In Disguise--Metal Church

Honorable mentions: Visual Lies--Lizzy Borden, Cloak And Dagger--Witchfynde, Thunder In The East--Loudness, The Ultimate Sin--Ozzy Osbourne, Neon God, Part 2--W.A.S.P.

Top 10 film scores!

10. Jurassic Park
9. Empire Strikes Back
8. Back to the Future
7. Alien
6. Braveheart
5. Superman: the Motion Picture
4. Batman
3. E.T.
2. 2010: The Year We Make Contact
1. Star Trek II: the Wrath of f*cking Kahn

Honorable mentions: Star Trek: the Motion Picture; Star Wars; Raiders of the Lost Ark; The Thing (1980); An American Tail, Gremlins; Captain EO; and the opening theme to Amazing Stories (da da daaa, da da daaa...).

I can pick my top 10 favorite TODAY, but tomorrow it would undoubtedly change. So this might be pointless, but today, I would say...

1.) Judas Priest - Sin After Sin (This never changes...ever!)
2.) Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath
3.) Slayer - Reign In Blood
4.) Megadeth - Rust In Peace
5.) Napalm Death - Scum
6.) Misfits - Walk Among Us
7.) Deicide - Legion
8.) Motley Crue - Shout At The Devil
9.) Nuclear Assault - Handle With Care
10.) Samael - Ceremony Of Opposites

My Top 10, non metal albums (although my previous list had non-metal in the lineup as well). This is a pretty good cross section of what I have been listening to the last couple of months.

Brian Setzer - Rockabilly Riot
Darrell Mansfield - give Him Your Blues
Authority Zero - 12:34
Bouncing Souls - How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Gary Hoey - Monster Surf
INXS - Elegantly Wasted
Live - Birds of Pray
Social Distortion - Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell
Thieves & Liars - American Rock n Roll
Petra - Unseen Power

Metal edition:

1. Queensrÿche - Rage For Order (may swap with Operation: Mindcrime depending on the day)
2. Labyrinth - Return To Heaven Denied
3. Running Wild - Death Or Glory
4. WatchTower - Control And Resistance
5. Darkseed - Diving Into Darkness
6. maudlin of the Well - Leaving Your Body Map
7. Rage - Secrets In A Weird World (may swap with Black In Mind depending on the day)
8. Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free
9. Cult Of Luna - Somewhere Along The Highway
10. W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol

honorables: Stormwitch - Stronger Than Heaven, Judas Priest - Sin After Sin, Zao - Liberate Te Ex Inferis, Zero Hour - The Towers Of Avarice, Blut aus Nord - Dialogue With The Stars


film score edition:

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Hellraiser II
3. Dune
4. Tron: Legacy
5. Blade Runner
6. T2
7. Fellowship Of The Ring
8. Star Trek (the reboot, but Undiscovered Country could also be here)
9. Legend
10. Phantasm

honorables: any Argento/Goblin pair-up

I'll have to think about film scores, interesting that nobody went back further than 1978 for their selections.

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

Metal edition:

1. Queensrÿche - Rage For Order (may swap with Operation: Mindcrime depending on the day)
2. Labyrinth - Return To Heaven Denied
3. Running Wild - Death Or Glory
4. WatchTower - Control And Resistance
5. Darkseed - Diving Into Darkness
6. maudlin of the Well - Leaving Your Body Map
7. Rage - Secrets In A Weird World (may swap with Black In Mind depending on the day)
8. Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free
9. Cult Of Luna - Somewhere Along The Highway
10. W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol

honorables: Stormwitch - Stronger Than Heaven, Judas Priest - Sin After Sin, Zao - Liberate Te Ex Inferis, Zero Hour - The Towers Of Avarice, Blut aus Nord - Dialogue With The Stars


film score edition:

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Hellraiser II
3. Dune
4. Tron: Legacy
5. Blade Runner
6. T2
7. Fellowship Of The Ring
8. Star Trek (the reboot, but Undiscovered Country could also be here)
9. Legend
10. Phantasm

honorables: any Argento/Goblin pair-up

I hesitated with 2001 since it's a collection of classical and modernist pieces not written for the film. Unless you count the unused Alex North score, which of course no one in their right mind would .

Good list. T2 was a favorite of mine, along with the first with its sex scene music. Beautiful piano peace. And DUNE! God, why didn't I put Toto's Dune on my list?? Duhhhhhh duhhhhh duh duhhhhhhhh...

I somehow missed 2001 in that above list...oh well, there was "1" selection chosen prior to 1978.

I'll have to think about a top 10 but my favorite score of all-time is Bernard Herrmann's masterpiece for Hitchcock's Vertigo.

mc666 wrote:

I can pick my top 10 favorite TODAY, but tomorrow it would undoubtedly change. So this might be pointless, but today, I would say...

1.) Judas Priest - Sin After Sin (This never changes...ever!)

Ahhh, Sin After Sin. That was in my list of albums considered for my top 10, but forgot to add to honorable mentions. Definitely top 15 or 20 for me. Excellent and solid album.