The Greatest Metal Album Of All Time?

Witchfinder wrote:

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath - It's the wellspring from which all others flow.

If you don't buy that one, then Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny. The album that laid down the template for heavy metal going forward.

I think I have it narrowed down to Master of Puppets or Lights Camera Revolution.

I could go with MoP because it has the timeless songs, great musicianship, a warm tone and balanced production, a variety of tempo speeds, a dark feel without any pretentious evil crap, and it has my favorite instrumental of all time, Orion. Not to mention the great Cliff Burton!

Lights Camera Revolution has always been a favorite of mine. All killer, no filler!
I love the lyrical content, Mike Muir’s vocals and conviction, Rocky George’s melodic and epic leads, Mike Clark’s outstanding rhythm guitar and Rob Trujillo’s slap bass dynamics. It’s just a super killer album! I never get tired of it.

Man, i didn't know Lights Camera Revolution is considered as a timeless classic.

Haven't heard it yet. Might have to.

James B. wrote:

Wrecked Neck wrote:

My favorite all time album is Don't Break the Oath. There is just something that really hits home with me, and I have never gotten tired of listening to it since I first heard it in 1984. I probably still listen to it at least once a month. Whenever I'm in a bad mood, it's the one I turn to when I need to relax. It's a perfect album to my ears, and the whole vibe, Kings voice, and the overall production on it is haunting, beautiful and simply amazing.

I'd seen "Melissa" in a record store in L.A, but funds were tight cause it was close to time for hitting the regional club circuits down south and back east. In 84, when DBTO came out and I heard it.... Wow! It was a game changer for sures. The guitar tones and the voice set a mood that made the lyrics intriguing once you figured them all out. Great choice!

I heard Desecration of Souls on an underground radio station, but the dj didn't say the name of the song or album, on my gave the band name. Next day I went to the record store and bought both albums because I had to have that song. Listened to Melissa first, then finally found the song I was looking for on Dbto. I was just skipping them, so I wasn't sure really what Melissa sounded like until I fully listened to DBTO first. I loved both albums, but DBTO to me just flows better, sounds better, is better written lyrically, musically, and absolutely blew me away.

Gilbert wrote:

Man, i didn't know Lights Camera Revolution is considered as a timeless classic.

Haven't heard it yet. Might have to.

It's a great album, probably my favorite ST album as well. It's a close one between their debut and that one for my favorite. You really do need to hear it, it's great IMO.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

Gilbert wrote:

Man, i didn't know Lights Camera Revolution is considered as a timeless classic.

Haven't heard it yet. Might have to.

It's a great album, probably my favorite ST album as well. It's a close one between their debut and that one for my favorite. You really do need to hear it, it's great IMO.

It's a good album with some great songs. Some of it is a little too close to what he later did with Infectious Grooves for my taste. I prefer the much better and more melodic thrash of "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow..." and the "Controlled By Hatred" EP.

I have Join The Army and How Will I Laugh on cd. Gonna dig them out for a fresh spin on my way to work today.

Gilbert wrote:

Man, i didn't know Lights Camera Revolution is considered as a timeless classic.

Haven't heard it yet. Might have to.

For me it is. I suggest you pay attention to the guitar team of Rocky George and Mike Clark. It’s just my individual opinion, not a trendy popular choice.

mc666 wrote:

Wrecked Neck wrote:

Gilbert wrote:

Man, i didn't know Lights Camera Revolution is considered as a timeless classic.

Haven't heard it yet. Might have to.

It's a great album, probably my favorite ST album as well. It's a close one between their debut and that one for my favorite. You really do need to hear it, it's great IMO.

It's a good album with some great songs. Some of it is a little too close to what he later did with Infectious Grooves for my taste. I prefer the much better and more melodic thrash of "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow..." and the "Controlled By Hatred" EP.

I like all of their crossover thrash albums: How Will I Laugh... , Controlled by Hatred and Lights Camera Revolution. I’ve been back and forth between HWIL and LCR as my favorite. It’s almost a toss up! But I think at the end of the day, LCR is the best. Mike Clark stepped up his game on the guitar and the riffs are infectious (no pun intended).

Gilbert wrote:

I have Join The Army and How Will I Laugh on cd. Gonna dig them out for a fresh spin on my way to work today.

Join the Army is cool, but it’s not the best. They were still in “punk mode” on that one. For the metal, you should skip to HWIL.

Rocky’s lead guitar is outstanding!

mc666 wrote:

Easily Judas Priest Sin After Sin for me. The song writing was melodic, yet muscular & lyrically intelligent. The musicianship was top notch. The drumming on this one was powerful, yet kinda jazzy.  Guitar work is immaculate of course, & I won't even try to describe the vocal performance. Even the eerie cover artwork added to it's mysterious vibe. It had the perfect ballads & one of the heaviest rockers of that period. The perfect album opener & an absolutely majestic closer in the last two songs. It has always been the perfect album to my ears.

This is near the top for me as well, great choice Monte. I almost got to see Priest a few months after this came out, Oakland Stadium in the summer of 77. opening for Zep... My brothers can broke down on the way there. I love this album for the flavor, all types of hard edged music kicking off. Bummer they couldn't keep Simon on the tubs.

Troublezone wrote:

Gilbert wrote:

I have Join The Army and How Will I Laugh on cd. Gonna dig them out for a fresh spin on my way to work today.

Join the Army is cool, but it’s not the best. They were still in “punk mode” on that one. For the metal, you should skip to HWIL.

Rocky’s lead guitar is outstanding!

Just finished spinning HWIL in the car. Luckily there was too much traffic.

Highly enjoyable crossover thrash. Even though i am not a big fan of the genre.

Gilbert wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

Gilbert wrote:

I have Join The Army and How Will I Laugh on cd. Gonna dig them out for a fresh spin on my way to work today.

Join the Army is cool, but it’s not the best. They were still in “punk mode” on that one. For the metal, you should skip to HWIL.

Rocky’s lead guitar is outstanding!

Just finished spinning HWIL in the car. Luckily there was too much traffic.

Highly enjoyable crossover thrash. Even though i am not a big fan of the genre.

Glad you liked it. It’s a great album!

mc666 wrote:

Wrecked Neck wrote:

Gilbert wrote:

Man, i didn't know Lights Camera Revolution is considered as a timeless classic.

Haven't heard it yet. Might have to.

It's a great album, probably my favorite ST album as well. It's a close one between their debut and that one for my favorite. You really do need to hear it, it's great IMO.

It's a good album with some great songs. Some of it is a little too close to what he later did with Infectious Grooves for my taste. I prefer the much better and more melodic thrash of "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow..." and the "Controlled By Hatred" EP.

Most definitely!

My top 3

1. Master of Puppets
2. Peace Sells...
3. Painkiller

Witchfinder wrote:

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath - It's the wellspring from which all others flow.

If you don't buy that one, then Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny. The album that laid down the template for heavy metal going forward.

No doubt of the impact of the Sabbath debut, the same can be said about Sabbath 's other debut... W/Dio?

Sad Wings started what was finished with Sin After Sin (IMHDO)

Either way great choices

When I read the O/P, like many others, I thought of Ride the Lightning and Painkiller. Those are monstrous albums worthy of consideration. But for me, the greatest metal album is Dokken’s “Back For The Attack”.

This album just epitomizes everything I love: big hooks, lyrics that aren’t off a bathroom wall, huge drums, driving bottom end, great vocals with very strong and big BGVs, and most and best of all: the single greatest display of guitars my ears have ever heard. Lynch’s tone on the album is melodic but still biting. He dropped in solo fills all over the place. This album is a clinic for guitars in metal. It’s an album I’ve listened to a ton over the years from the year it released all the way to just a couple of weeks ago. It’s never been surpassed in my opinion.

FoJ wrote:

When I read the O/P, like many others, I thought of Ride the Lightning and Painkiller. Those are monstrous albums worthy of consideration. But for me, the greatest metal album is Dokken’s “Back For The Attack”.

This album just epitomizes everything I love:  big hooks, lyrics that aren’t off a bathroom wall, huge drums, driving bottom end, great vocals with very strong and big BGVs, and most and best of all: the single greatest display of guitars my ears have ever heard. Lynch’s tone on the album is melodic but still biting. He dropped in solo fills all over the place. This album is a clinic for guitars in metal. It’s an album I’ve listened to a ton over the years from the year it released all the way to just a couple of weeks ago. It’s never been surpassed in my opinion.

This is a very good choice. There are so many great albums to pick from, but really it's about consistency! This album is consistently good throughout AND this was a band who was on the verge of breaking up. This album shouldn't have been good based on that alone. I don't know if this album would make my Top 10, but I like the selection and the fact that someone mentioned it.

FoJ wrote:

When I read the O/P, like many others, I thought of Ride the Lightning and Painkiller. Those are monstrous albums worthy of consideration. But for me, the greatest metal album is Dokken’s “Back For The Attack”.

This album just epitomizes everything I love:  big hooks, lyrics that aren’t off a bathroom wall, huge drums, driving bottom end, great vocals with very strong and big BGVs, and most and best of all: the single greatest display of guitars my ears have ever heard. Lynch’s tone on the album is melodic but still biting. He dropped in solo fills all over the place. This album is a clinic for guitars in metal. It’s an album I’ve listened to a ton over the years from the year it released all the way to just a couple of weeks ago. It’s never been surpassed in my opinion.

Interesting choice, you have reasons why... Kewl

My opinion of Dokken's greatest starts and ends with "Tooth and Nail"

Maiden - number of the beast

maybe sounds cliché but for me it one album I constantly return to, which is how I would define greatest ever.

exact33 wrote:

Maiden - number of the beast

maybe sounds cliché but for me it one album I constantly return to, which is how I would define greatest ever.

My leanings go for Maiden, Priest, Sabbath, maybe 1 or those 3 or 4 thrash bands from El Lay? If I were to choose Maiden, it be this album of the one that follows? Great choice Alex!

I have this Classic Albums DVD box set that has documentaries on three albums:

Judas Priest - British Steel
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
Metallica - Metallica

I started listening to metal sometime in 1983. I had heard the likes of AC/DC and Van Halen on the radio prior to that, but it was the foundations of what was going on in metal that year, which created somewhat of a paradigm shift in my listening habits (Pop, New Wave, Classic Rock). With the release of Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil", Quiet Riot's "Metal Health", Ozzy Osbourne's "Bark at the Moon", and Def Leppard's "Pyromania", the blue print was now there. There were albums I really liked throughout those first couple of years, but it wasn't until early 1986, when one of my best friends Chris Kinsey (I share a birthday with him) bought the game changing album. That album was Metallica's "Ride The Lightning" and it changed my life forever. I don't know why the music spoke to me, but I was definitely drawn to it in some weird way. The music didn't fit into anything to which I was listening to metal wise (Priest, KISS, Def Leppard, RATT, AC/DC, Quiet Riot, DIO, Ozzy), but it had my attention! So much so, that I asked Chris to dub a tape for myself. I think our small group of friends (who discovered Metallica at the same time) all had a copy. "Ride the Lightning" was a game changer on so many levels. From the music, to the lyrics, to the controlled aggression, their look and that badass art work. To say I was obsessed with "Ride The Lightning" in 1986, would be an understatement. I was so engrossed with the album, that it took me a better part of that year before I started to listening to "Master of Puppets" (end of summer '86).

What's the difference between "Ride The Lightning" and "Master of Puppets"? Not much, as one could easily put them in that 1A ~ 1B position. Though I didn't know who Dave Mustaine was at the time (I had just started getting into Megadeth and "Peace Sells...But Who's Buying" by the end of that calendar year), I had used various metal mags and metal peeps as a resource.  All I knew was, he was a former member, he had some contributions on this album, namely the title track, which was my favorite. I was a sponge and I wanted to learn everything. The problem was, my five really close friends (Chris, Paul, Gregg, Joe and Todd), who were all metal novices like myself were on the tennis team. The tried and true metal guys (hoods where I lived in the  Midwest) looked at us funny for liking this music. We just didn't fit the mold from the aesthetic angle. This forced our small contingent to lean on one another. Buy tapes, share tapes, buy fanzines/mags, share fanzines/mags and more than anything else, be aware of everything going on in the metal world and to pass it on down to one another.

That type of brotherhood and the shared experience was the last caveat in why "Ride The Lightning" was so special to me. That album was ushered into our lives at the same time and we loved it for many of the same reasons, but undoubtedly a few different ones. A lingering memory will always be my friend Chris Kinsey buying a Kraco Car stereo/cassette deck for his Impala, which we loved riding around in. It was the metal vehicle, that could fit five and maybe six on occasions. When Chris first bought "Ride The Lightning" he would turn "Fight Fire With Fire" all the way up and have us all get out and shut the car doors. We would walk a good distance down one of the neighborhood streets, in awe of seeing the car shake and still being able to hear the great Metallica and that album permeating through the steel and glass of that car. It's an indelible image that will stay with me for all of my days. The laughs of that moment, but mostly the coolness of that band (in their heyday) is something I will never forget.

I would be remiss if I didn't bring up the Cliff factor. Though I would find "Kill 'Em All' by the fall of 1987 and be introduced to it's greatness, it was Cliff and his contributions, which were the difference makers with this band. Cliff would have six writing credits on "Ride The Lightning" and would be instrumental in how Metallica created/structured a song. When Cliff died on September 27th, 1986, I was not aware of his greatness. Hearing this info through another tennis player after practice that day or the next, I  suppose I chalked it up as another tragedy in the rock and roll world. When "Cliff 'em All" came out that following year, that tragic event made sense and what I wasn't able to understand one year earlier, now made sense. Metal had lost a great musician, personality and unbelievable stage presence!

All hail "Ride The Lightning" as my favorite album of all time!

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Awesome insight, kind of odd that Metallica 's RTL had such a huge impact and it took quite awhile to get the album that came before it. For me, I consider RTL to be the hands greatest achievement. Cliff's contributions in songwriting and more likely arrangement as well best out his limited contributions (on paper) on MOP. I think KEA is better than MOP.

Love the recollection metalinmyveins!!