Hi, I created this thread as an experiment and an educational tool a while ago on another forum to increase my (and hopefully others) knowledge of metal across the board. Basically the idea is to list albums which are acknowledged as classics in the metal community. By classics I mean albums which were both highly influential and of exceptional quality.
This does not include...
-your personal favourites
-albums which you think should be classics or which are underrated
The purpose of this was to try to gain an understanding of the general consensus of the metal community on which albums have endured the test of time, I would say that there are probably only 10-20 albums in each subgenre which fall into this category. The list below is the one created on another forum, I think it was fairly successful but it could use some fleshing out in some areas.
The way I generated this list was quite democratic, any suggestions will be considered (although posters who suggest In Flames is classic death metal or Cradle of Filth classic black metal will be ignored), most will be implemented. Any suggestions which are not self evident should be accompanied by an argument.
Edit: List Updated
Traditional/Power Metal
Black Sabbath – Paranoid, Master of Reality, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, Heaven and Hell
Accept – Restless and Wild
Iron Maiden – S/T, Powerslave, Killers, The Number of the Beast
Judas Priest – Sad Wings of Destiny, Stained Class, British Steel
Diamond Head – Lightning to the Nations
Motorhead – Overkill, Ace of Spades
King Diamond - Abigail
Manilla Road – Crystal Logic
Dio – Holy Diver
Satan – Court in the Act
Angel Witch – S/T
Cloven Hoof – S/T
Fates Warning - The Spectre Within, Awaken the Guardian
Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction
Manowar - Hail to England
Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime
Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King
Doom Metal
Candlemass – Epicus Doomus Metallicus, Nightfall
Cathedral – Forest of Equilibrium
Electric Wizard – Dopethrone
Saint Vitus – Born too Late
Trouble – Psalm 9
My Dying Bride – Turn Loose the Swans, Angel and the Dark River
Skepticism - Stormcrowfleet
Thrash Metal/Speed Metal
Kreator – Pleasure to Kill, Extreme Aggression, Coma of Souls
Sodom – Obsessed by Cruelty
Destruction – Eternal Devastation, Release From Agony
Coroner – R.I.P., No More Color
Helloween – Walls of Jericho, Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt 1/Pt 2
Sabbat – History of a Time to Come
Metallica – Kill 'em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...and Justice for All
Slayer – Show no Mercy, Hell Awaits, Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss
Dark Angel – Darkness Descends
Megadeth – Peace Sells...but who's Buying?, Rust in Peace
Anthrax – Spreading the Disease, Among the Living
Exodus – Bonded by Blood, Pleasures of the Flesh
Testament – The Legacy
Metal Church – S/T, The Dark
Merciless – The Awakening
Overkill – The Years of Decay
Annihilator – Alice in Hell
Watchtower – Energetic Disassembly, Control and Resistance
Death Metal (including deathgrind)
At the Gates – The Red in the Sky is Ours
Possessed – Seven Churches
Sepultura – Morbid Visions
Death – Scream Bloody Gore
Master – S/T
Obituary – Slowly We Rot
Death – Leprosy, Human
Autopsy – Severed Survival
Morbid Angel – Altars of Madness, Blessed are the Sick, Covenant
Deicide – S/T, Legion
Suffocation – Effigy of the Forgotten, Pierced from Within
Incantation – Onward to Golgotha
Atheist – Unquestionable Presence
Immolation – Dawn of Possession, Here in After
Asphyx – The Rack
Entombed – Left Hand Path, Clandestine
Dismember – Like an Everflowing Stream
Grave – Into the Grave
Carnage – Dark Recollections
Pestilence – Consuming Impulse
Unleashed – Where no Life Dwells
Vader – De Profundis
Napalm Death – Harmony Corruption
Demilich – Nespithe
Demigod – Slumber of Sullen Eyes
Nocturnus – The Key
Cynic – Focus
Napalm Death – Scum
Repulsion – Horrified
Carcass – Reek of Putrefaction, Symphonies of Sickness
Brutal Truth – Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses
Terrorizer – World Downfall
Black Metal
Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales, To Mega Therion
Bathory – S/T, The Return, Under the Sign of the Black Mark
Venom – Black Metal
Mercyful Fate – Melissa
Hellhammer – Apocalyptic Raids, Triumph of Death
Tormentor – Anno Domini
Sarcofago – INRI
Blasphemy – Fallen Angel of Doom
Mayhem – Deathcrush, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Burzum – S/T, Det Some Engang Var, Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, Filosofem
Immortal – Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism, Pure Holocaust, Battles in the North
Darkthrone – A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Under a Funeral Moon, Transilvanian Hunger
Emperor – In the Nightside Eclipse, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk
Gorgoroth – Pentagram
Enslaved – Vikingligr Veldi
Marduk - Opus Nocturne
Samael – Worship Him, Blood Ritual
Beherit – Drawing Down the Moon
Dissection – The Somberlain, Storm of the Light's Bane
Satyricon – Dark Medieval Times, Nemesis Divina
Graveland – The Celtic Winter, Carpathian Wolves, Thousand Swords, Following the Voice of Blood
This does not include...
-your personal favourites
-albums which you think should be classics or which are underrated
The purpose of this was to try to gain an understanding of the general consensus of the metal community on which albums have endured the test of time, I would say that there are probably only 10-20 albums in each subgenre which fall into this category. The list below is the one created on another forum, I think it was fairly successful but it could use some fleshing out in some areas.
The way I generated this list was quite democratic, any suggestions will be considered (although posters who suggest In Flames is classic death metal or Cradle of Filth classic black metal will be ignored), most will be implemented. Any suggestions which are not self evident should be accompanied by an argument.
Edit: List Updated
Traditional/Power Metal
Black Sabbath – Paranoid, Master of Reality, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, Heaven and Hell
Accept – Restless and Wild
Iron Maiden – S/T, Powerslave, Killers, The Number of the Beast
Judas Priest – Sad Wings of Destiny, Stained Class, British Steel
Diamond Head – Lightning to the Nations
Motorhead – Overkill, Ace of Spades
King Diamond - Abigail
Manilla Road – Crystal Logic
Dio – Holy Diver
Satan – Court in the Act
Angel Witch – S/T
Cloven Hoof – S/T
Fates Warning - The Spectre Within, Awaken the Guardian
Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction
Manowar - Hail to England
Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime
Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King
Doom Metal
Candlemass – Epicus Doomus Metallicus, Nightfall
Cathedral – Forest of Equilibrium
Electric Wizard – Dopethrone
Saint Vitus – Born too Late
Trouble – Psalm 9
My Dying Bride – Turn Loose the Swans, Angel and the Dark River
Skepticism - Stormcrowfleet
Thrash Metal/Speed Metal
Kreator – Pleasure to Kill, Extreme Aggression, Coma of Souls
Sodom – Obsessed by Cruelty
Destruction – Eternal Devastation, Release From Agony
Coroner – R.I.P., No More Color
Helloween – Walls of Jericho, Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt 1/Pt 2
Sabbat – History of a Time to Come
Metallica – Kill 'em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...and Justice for All
Slayer – Show no Mercy, Hell Awaits, Reign in Blood, South of Heaven, Seasons in the Abyss
Dark Angel – Darkness Descends
Megadeth – Peace Sells...but who's Buying?, Rust in Peace
Anthrax – Spreading the Disease, Among the Living
Exodus – Bonded by Blood, Pleasures of the Flesh
Testament – The Legacy
Metal Church – S/T, The Dark
Merciless – The Awakening
Overkill – The Years of Decay
Annihilator – Alice in Hell
Watchtower – Energetic Disassembly, Control and Resistance
Death Metal (including deathgrind)
At the Gates – The Red in the Sky is Ours
Possessed – Seven Churches
Sepultura – Morbid Visions
Death – Scream Bloody Gore
Master – S/T
Obituary – Slowly We Rot
Death – Leprosy, Human
Autopsy – Severed Survival
Morbid Angel – Altars of Madness, Blessed are the Sick, Covenant
Deicide – S/T, Legion
Suffocation – Effigy of the Forgotten, Pierced from Within
Incantation – Onward to Golgotha
Atheist – Unquestionable Presence
Immolation – Dawn of Possession, Here in After
Asphyx – The Rack
Entombed – Left Hand Path, Clandestine
Dismember – Like an Everflowing Stream
Grave – Into the Grave
Carnage – Dark Recollections
Pestilence – Consuming Impulse
Unleashed – Where no Life Dwells
Vader – De Profundis
Napalm Death – Harmony Corruption
Demilich – Nespithe
Demigod – Slumber of Sullen Eyes
Nocturnus – The Key
Cynic – Focus
Napalm Death – Scum
Repulsion – Horrified
Carcass – Reek of Putrefaction, Symphonies of Sickness
Brutal Truth – Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses
Terrorizer – World Downfall
Black Metal
Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales, To Mega Therion
Bathory – S/T, The Return, Under the Sign of the Black Mark
Venom – Black Metal
Mercyful Fate – Melissa
Hellhammer – Apocalyptic Raids, Triumph of Death
Tormentor – Anno Domini
Sarcofago – INRI
Blasphemy – Fallen Angel of Doom
Mayhem – Deathcrush, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Burzum – S/T, Det Some Engang Var, Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, Filosofem
Immortal – Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism, Pure Holocaust, Battles in the North
Darkthrone – A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Under a Funeral Moon, Transilvanian Hunger
Emperor – In the Nightside Eclipse, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk
Gorgoroth – Pentagram
Enslaved – Vikingligr Veldi
Marduk - Opus Nocturne
Samael – Worship Him, Blood Ritual
Beherit – Drawing Down the Moon
Dissection – The Somberlain, Storm of the Light's Bane
Satyricon – Dark Medieval Times, Nemesis Divina
Graveland – The Celtic Winter, Carpathian Wolves, Thousand Swords, Following the Voice of Blood
