What are your favorite 'non metal' albums?

I'm talking about albums that are not considered metal (or hard rock, or 70s metal) ok?

Just 'non' metal. Industrial is okay to list. But there are a lot of bands I consider to be metal that many don't (ie KISS, Rush, Led Zeppelin, etc).

These are my top 20 favorite non metal albums. What are yours?


1. Xymox - Twist of Shadows

2. Depeche Mode - Violator

3. Erasure - Chorus

4. U2 - Achtung Baby

5. The Cure - Wish

6. Front 242 - Tyranny for You

7. The Choir - Chase the Kangaroo

8. A-Ha - Scoundrel Days

9. Peter Murphy - Holy Smoke

10. Sisters of Mercy - Floodland

11. Switchblade Symphony - Serpentine Gallery

12. Book of Love - Candy Carol

13. Modern English - After the Snow

14. Enya - Watermark

15. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

16. Ministry - The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste

17. Nitzer Ebb - That Total Age

18. KMFDM - Money

19. Rammstein - Seinsucht

20. Mad at the World - Through the Forest

Man, this is hard. How about...

Rusted Root - Cruel Sun
Dave Matthews Band - Everyday
John Butler Trio - Sunrise Over Sea
Sarah Mclachlan - Fumbling Toward Ecstasy
Ani Difranco - Not A Pretty Girl
Dead Can Dance - Spiritchaser
The Dead Milkmen - Soul Rotation
Emilie Autumn - Enchant

Actually, anything by those artists are favorites of mine, and I could name a ton more bands. Metal and rock are my favorite genres, but I listen to far more than that.

I've actually never even attempted this so I'll just listen 20 random favorites. Far from any kind of order...


Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting

Xymox - Twist of Shadows

Gene Loves Jezebel - Discover

Samhain - November Fire Coming

Front Line Assembly - Caustic Grip

Ministry - Twitch

Skinny Puppy - Spasmolytic

Berlin - Pleasure Victim

Oingo Boingo - Nothing to Fear

Pseudo Echo - Autumnal Park

SSQ - Playback

Information Society - Information Society

Depeche Mode - Some Great Reward

Sinead O'Connor - The Lion and the Cobra

Killing Joke - Night Time

The Cure - Pornography

The Cramps - Songs the Lord Taught Us

Fear - The Record

Misfits - Walk Among Us

TSOL - Dance With Me

Chameleons- Spript of the Bridge
Black -Wonderful Life
Inspiral Carpets- Life
Rubicon- What Starts Ends
Smithwick Machine-High Fashion Horsepower
Comsat Angels- Land
Echo & The Bunnymen- Porcupine
Leggat-s/t
Damned- Black Album

I won't go into any progrock....

hey decapitate - your list RULES!!!

I did this in the Heart Of Metal, Top 20 so here it is:

DallasBlack wrote:

I feel like listing my 25 favorite non-metal albums as well (like my previous list this is NOT in order).

Van Zant-Brother To Brother
.38 Special-Bone Against Steel
Bruce Mitchell-Celtic Destiny (most beautiful music I've ever heard)
The Lost Dogs-Greenroom Seranade
The Highway Men-Highway Man
All Star United-International Anthems for the Human Race
Bon Jovi-Keep The Faith
Damn Yankees-Don't Tread
Idle Cure-Eclipse
One Hundred Days-Feels Like Love
Sure Conviction-Get Ready
Michael Sweet-Michael Sweet
Moody Blues-Keys To The Kingdom
Spock's Beard-Snow
Kerry Livgren-When Things Get Electric
Kansas-Somewhere To Elsewhere
Night Ranger-Neverland
One Hundred Days-The Obvious
Tempest-Shapeshifter
Toto-Dune Soundtrack
Damn Yankees-Damn Yankees
Extreme-III Sides to Every Story
Iona-Journey Into The Morn
John Elefante-Defying Gravity
The Lost Dogs-Little Red Riding Hood

Most non-metal music I listen to is limited to best of albums. The rest are just singles or only a few songs from different albums (for me non-metal albums have me hitting the skip button most of the time).

Some of those, I know, are considered hard rock, but I posted this elsewhere so here are a few others:

All Star United-All Star United
The Choir-Flap Your Wings
The Secret Of NIMH soundtrack
Genesis-We Cant' Dance
The Lost Dogs-Gift Horse
U2-The Joshua Tree

blackieboy wrote:

I'm talking about albums that are not considered metal (or hard rock, or 70s metal) ok?

Just 'non' metal. Industrial is okay to list. But there are a lot of bands I consider to be metal that many don't (ie KISS, Rush, Led Zeppelin, etc).

These are my top 20 favorite non metal albums. What are yours?


1. Xymox - Twist of Shadows

2. Depeche Mode - Violator

3. Erasure - Chorus

4. U2 - Achtung Baby

5. The Cure - Wish

6. Front 242 - Tyranny for You

7. The Choir - Chase the Kangaroo

8. A-Ha - Scoundrel Days

9. Peter Murphy - Holy Smoke

10. Sisters of Mercy - Floodland

11. Switchblade Symphony - Serpentine Gallery

12. Book of Love - Candy Carol

13. Modern English - After the Snow

14. Enya - Watermark

15. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

16. Ministry - The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste

17. Nitzer Ebb - That Total Age

18. KMFDM - Money

19. Rammstein - Seinsucht

20. Mad at the World - Through the Forest

Kind of ironic that you have Depeche Mode and KMFDM (Kill Mother F'n Depeche Mode) on the same list.

That's just a rumor. Their name doesn't actually mean that. A friend of mine asked Sasha and he told him 'no' - but that had generated a lot of controversy in the press - so in a sense it worked in their favor.

KMFDM stands for some German word that is really really hard to pronounce in English - so they shortened it.

Besides, even if it did stand for kill mother f'en Depeche Mode - I'd still like both bands. A lot of people do. After all they are both in the 'electro/synth' genre of music.

DRIVE BY TRUCKERS- "Decoration Day"
TOWNES VAN ZANDT- s/t
THE CURE- anything really...
TONIO K.- "Life In The Food Chain"
THE FAINT- "Danse Macabre"
CURSIVE- "The Ugly Organ"
MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT- "Confessions of a Knife"
JOE JACKSON- "Look Sharp"
HANDSOME FAMILY- "Milk & Scissors"
TOM WAITS- anything really....
JOHNNY CASH- anything really...
SINEAD O' CONNOR- "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got"
BAUHAUS- "In The Flat field"
STEVEN JESSE BERNSTEIN- "Prison"
JEFF BUCKLEY- "Grace"
CRAMPS- "Songs The Lord Taught Us"
JOE HENRY- "Trampoline"
WOODBOX GANG- "Wormwood"
DURAN DURAN- "Rio"
POGUES- "Hell's Ditch"
VAN MORRISON- "Moondance"
BARNES & BARNES- "Voobaha"
PREACHER BOY- "Devil's Buttermilk"
CHOCOLATE GENIUS- "Black Music"
PETER GABRIEL- anything really....
COWBOY JUNKIES- "Trinity Sessions"

The Cranberries - All of it!

The Jackson 5 - Greatest

Temple Of The Dog

4 Non Blondes - Bigger, Better, Faster, More

White Heart - Freedom

M.W. Smith - I 2 Eye

Rebeccas St. James - God

Alaniss Morrissette - Jagged Little Pill (I think I went double letter crazy there....don't know which ones to leave out!!)

Clandiah - The Train Journey North

Charlie Daniels' Band - Million Mile Reflections

Hank Sr. - Hits (I love his brand of Honky Tonk)

Put The Hammer Down - (this was a trucker music comp my Dad had on 8-Track. This is when country was good and for some reason Trucker songs are hands down the best of the genre!)

Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk - (another 70's Jewel on 8-Track)

blackieboy wrote:

That's just a rumor. Their name doesn't actually mean that. A friend of mine asked Sasha and he told him 'no' - but that had generated a lot of controversy in the press - so in a sense it worked in their favor.

KMFDM stands for some German word that is really really hard to pronounce in English - so they shortened it.

Besides, even if it did stand for kill mother f'en Depeche Mode - I'd still like both bands. A lot of people do. After all they are both in the 'electro/synth' genre of music.

O.K. I stand corrected. I don't listen to much non-metal/hard rock so all I know is what people have told me. When I was in the navy a friend of mine, who was a fan of KMFDM, told me that was the meaning. I see in wikipedia that some guy named Shawn Joyce came up with that as a joke.

Wow! Too many to list. Listenening to a great non-metal album right now.

NEKTAR - Down to Earth

Tom Waits- Bone Machine
The Pogues- Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash
Shane Macgowan- Crock of Gold
The Cure Pornography
The Undead- Til Death
The Undead- Dawn of the Undead
The Undead- Still Undead after all these Years
Dead Milkmen- Not Richard but Dick
AFI The Art of Drowning
AFI Black Sails in the Sunset
Hank Williams III- Straight to Hell
The Damned- Phantasmagoria


All kinds of great interesting listed here!

Hey Eyesore, I love Soul Rotation as well! Ever see the video for The Secret of Life?

some that come to mind right now:

YES - The Yes Album
YES - Fragile
YES - Yesshows
YES - Tormato
GENESIS - Winds and Wuthering
GENESIS - Seconds Out
GENESIS - Duke
GENESIS - Abacaab
PHIL COLLINS - Face Value
PETER GABRIEL - s/t (3)
MOLLY HATCHET - s/t
MOLLY HATCHET - Flirtin' with Disaster
LYNYRD SKYNYRD - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
LYNYRD SKYNYRD - Street Survivors
BLACKFOOT - Strikes
BLACKFOOT - Marauder
PHIL KEAGGY - Master and the Musician
PHIL KEAGGY - Beyond Nature
KEITH GREEN - For Him Who Has An Ear
NEKTAR - Recycled
NEKTAR - A Tab in the Ocean
HOWLIN' WOLF - The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions
RUN DMC - Raisin' Hell
S.F.C. - A Saved Man in the Jungle
S.F.C. - Phase III
S.F.C. - Illumination
PUBLIC ENEMY - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
AMY GRANT - The Collection
AMY GRANT - A Christmas Album
FRANK MARINO - REALlive!
BLACK OAK ARKANSAS - High on the Hog
JOE SATRIANI - Not of this World

Ohhh, forgot Pink Floyd.

There are about 50 hard rock bands that some would not consider to be metal that I would include as well. Bands like Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, Kiss, Ted Nugent, Angel, Alice Cooper, Sweet, Starz, Nazareth, Rush, BOC, etc.

dire straits - brothers in arms
the police - synchronocity

two of the greatest radio rock albums ever released both of which i own on vinyl

did you know brothers in arms is the cd which holds the record for the most number in CD sales as a format not total sales of all firmats with 29 million copies sold worldwide on cd alone

ultmetal wrote:

Ohhh, forgot Pink Floyd.

There are about 50 hard rock bands that some would not consider to be metal that I would include as well. Bands like Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, Kiss, Ted Nugent, Angel, Alice Cooper, Sweet, Starz, Nazareth, Rush, BOC, etc.

Yeah Ult - I consider pretty much all those bands to be under the banner of 'metal'. Don't you?

God i have not listened to floyd in ages. i remember i had to cut the lawn for a year to get my copy of that which sucked but was worth it. i got the film on dvd and ony watched it once too freaky

Scott Weiland- 12 Bar Blues
Natalie Imbruglia- Left of the Middle
Natalie Imbruglia- White Lillies Island
Dido- Life for Rent
Sombrance- Eli
Jupiter 6- Back From Mars
Foo Fighters- S/T
Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon
Stone Temple Pilots- Tiny Music Gifts From the Vatican Gift Shop
Simon & Garfunkle- Old Friends (Box)
Fleetwood Mac- Rumours
Moody Blues- Time Traveler (Box)
Paul McCartney & Wings- GH
John Lennon- Legend
Tom Petty - Wildflowers
David Bowie- Ziggy Stardust
David Bowie- Low
David Bowie- Hours
She Wants Revenge- S/T
Fearful Symmetry - Loss of Balance
Daniel Amos- Fearful Symmetry
Jewel- 0304
Jewel- This Way

You've got some goood stuff there Addy!

I also really dig She Wants Revenge and Dido!!

Hehe thanks man

The more I listen to Dido's Life For Rent the more I like it heh

Addy wrote:

Hehe thanks man

The more I listen to Dido's Life For Rent the more I like it heh

Ditto! I really like both her albums quite well.

Shes working on another one I cant wait for it to come out