Rexorcist

METAL:
Metallica
Symphony X
Blind Guardian
Alice in Chains
Scorpions
 
ALL TIME:
Led Zeppelin
Simon and Garfunkel
Meat Loaf
Metallica
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

METAL:
Metallica
Symphony X
Blind Guardian
Alice in Chains
Scorpions
 
ALL TIME:
Led Zeppelin
Simon and Garfunkel
Meat Loaf
Metallica
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

METAL:
Metallica
Symphony X
Blind Guardian
Alice in Chains
Scorpions
 
ALL TIME:
Led Zeppelin
Simon and Garfunkel
Meat Loaf
Metallica
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

I'm hoping to get through a bunch of Anti-Flag albums today.  I've never checked them out before.  I just checked my list and found that I've heard exactly 80 skate punk albums, so I might as well work on a top 100 and listen to quite a few more over the next couple weeks.

&.H Target - Yantra Creating

I've been waiting over a year for news on this album, and now I just have to wait three weeks for the release!

^ That's a big part of the reason why my number 1 metal album is Ride the Lightning.  The production isn't quite studio quality, but it brings the most "metallic" sound I've ever heard in any album.

^ That's a big part of the reason why my number 1 metal album is Ride the Lightning.  The production isn't quite studio quality, but it brings the most "metallic" sound I've ever heard in any album.

Looks awesome, Rexorcist! A solid list of metal classics and favorites.

We have a lot of goats, but very few corpses here.

We have a lot of goats, but very few corpses here.

#15. Metal Church - Metal Church
Genres: US Power / Speed / Heavy

This is one of the most unpredictable albums I've ever heard.  It plays around with stereotypical metal imagery and behavior, but the riffs are so unbelievable and the style is so outgoing and forward thinking that it makes this album one of the most essential albums of the metal sound that I've heard so far.  Apparently this is a hard album to classify because it covers ground with various metal genres that were popular at the time. The first half covers more traditional metal while the second is more routed in speed. But the nine tracks are all phenomenal, even their cover of Highway Star.
Metal Church Count: 1
#14. Alcest - Souvenirs d'un autre monde
Genres: Blackgaze / Shoegaze / Post

The single most beautiful metal album in the world. There's an aura in this album that's not only more powerful than any atmospheric album I'm familiar with, but it feels so effortless to Alcest that I almost feel like I could pull it off, but I know that's not true. I get image after image with this album, usually of nature and of shadows lurking all over the place. But instead of monsters running around in the woods, it's more like getting images of little spirits like nymphs and such lamenting over the way the rest of the world is going, both relishing in the beauty of nature and lamenting at being trapped by the outside world.
Alcest Count: 1
#13. Symphony X - Twilight in Olympus
Genres: Prog / Neoclassical

Divine Wings of Tragedy may have cemented the Symphony X sound, demonstrating a drastic improvement in quality from their first two albums, but Twilight in Olympus perfected it.  That neoclassical behavior is made much more unpredictable, and the balance between Symphony X's major influences is stronger, making for yet another beautiful neoclassical metal album that doesn't risk monotony.
Symphony X Count: 2
#12. Hell - Hell II
Genres: Doom / Sludge / Drone

My opinion of Hell II vs. Hell III changed since reviewing the two.  III might be the heavier album, and shorter for more creativity, but as it keeps steering into post-metal territory, it loses a little of the horrifying tension of the previous album, which touched up on post-metal and death, as well as practically every extreme genre both slow and fast.  This is the most menacing album on Earth, and a milestone for drone music.
Hell Count: 2
11. Metallica - Master of Puppets
Genres: Thrash / Heavy

What could have been a bloated hour of repetitve thrash is instead a hypnotic journey into the theme of slavery.  The dark and Gothic sound of the production makes this clean and sparse fifty-five minutes a testament to the deepest fears of mankind, and the lyrics are so utterly beautiful and poetic that they may in fact be the greatest metal lyrics ever written.  The rhythms and melodies are out of this world, and the instrumentation is nothing short of perfection.
Metallica Count: 2
 
THE TOP TEN STARTS TOMORROW!  From this point on, there will be no more hints as to what they will be.

JP - SWoD
Which song(s) on Sad Wings is/are supposedly heavy metal? I'm on my second time through it here and can't find one. Every track on here seems to be a hard rock song of similar structure to any other hard rock song from the early to mid 70's period by bands like Zeppelin or Purple or Rush...except of course for Prelude, Epitaph and Dreamer Deceiver which were softer. This is proto metal at best. Priest didn't start making heavy metal albums with at least half the songs qualifying as metal imo until 1978.
Dr. Feelgood on the other hand I think could go either way. I'd probably say no myself, but I suppose a reasonable case could be made either that it is metal or that it isn't. I do consider the first two Crue albums to be heavy metal btw. Hadn't ever heard DF until last week or whenever it was posted, aside from the 4 hit radio songs of course. I've never been a big fan of 70's Judas Priest, but Sad Wings even while not being metal is an infinitely better album than the schlocky DF. Even by Crue standards this one is pretty embarrassing.

Listening to Crue's Dr. Feelgood again to see if it still fits my minimum standard for a heavy metal album.  Of course, I have a specific album to keep in mind for comparing heaviness: Sad Wings of Destiny.  If half an album displays a specific genre strongly enough, I'll count it as ONE of the primary genres.  In other words, if half of the album is heavy enough to be heavy metal, then I put the tag on as a primary.  So far, I'm on Without You, and excluding T.N.T., 3 of 5 of the songs are heavy metal as opposed to hard rock (although "Slice of Your Pie" just barely made it).  Even though about half the songs aren't really metal, the whole behavior of the album is very metal thanks to the attitude, production and instruments chosen.

Listening to Crue's Dr. Feelgood again to see if it still fits my minimum standard for a heavy metal album.  Of course, I have a specific album to keep in mind for comparing heaviness: Sad Wings of Destiny.  If half an album displays a specific genre strongly enough, I'll count it as ONE of the primary genres.  In other words, if half of the album is heavy enough to be heavy metal, then I put the tag on as a primary.  So far, I'm on Without You, and excluding T.N.T., 3 of 5 of the songs are heavy metal as opposed to hard rock (although "Slice of Your Pie" just barely made it).  Even though about half the songs aren't really metal, the whole behavior of the album is very metal thanks to the attitude, production and instruments chosen.

As far as this vein goes, so fat just Sleep and Electric Wizard.  Sorry to disappoint.

I'm with you on this rexorcist. Most times I know the genres of music I like so I buy more from that specific genre and after some listening  to a few albums I  get one.Occasionally I want something a bit different  so quite often I look up some interesting sub genre I like the sound of and I play some tracks till I get something I like.  Subgenres just make it easier to find what music I like. It can be a bit complicated as there are always bands that are not exactly just one genre of Subgenre but overall it's a positive. 

I don't know about  others, but genre classifications always help me find exactly what I'm in the mood for.  Judging by album covers would be the ideal method of guessing without them, and you don't want to be in the mood for something totally monstrous and Sabbathy and then end up with a pop album.  Hence the late and great Meat Loaf.  True, people still judge whether or not they want to buy an album by the cover sometimes, but still.

Currently trying to make the most of a kinda shitty bottle of berry lemonade soda I purchased by combining it with some Coppola pinot noir.  That fixed it, for the most part (you'd think Sunkist would actually know how to make a soda taste like the advertised flavor).  Listening to the third Heavens Gate album while I put this together.  Anyway, there's a small chance I'll get two posts out of the way today.  Small.  And if not, definitely tomorrow.
#80. Mastodon - Leviathan
Genres: Prog Sludge

I think this was the first Mastodon album I ever heard, and I was not disappointed.  Mastodon are heavier than most bands out there, and this one one of their heaviest releases.  And despite running out of stylistic ideas by the end of it, the progressive structures never cease to amaze.  And I'm not using the word "amaze" lightly.
Mastodon Count: 2
#79. Death - Symbolic
Genres: Death / Technical Death

Aside from having one of the coolest fucking album covers ever, Symbolic boasts an incredible level of brutality and ferocity, but the ironic thing is the cystral-clear production and the accessibility.  With clearer lyrics, the messages are much more thought-provoking, making the incredible tech-riffage much more engrossing and intriguing.  This is a perfect gateway into the world of the metal genre this band created and is named after.
Death Count: 1
#78. Ensiferum - Ensiferum
Genres: Folk Metal / Viking Metal

For those who can't have enough medieval badassery, Ensiferum's debut probably has too much of it.  Despite its viking metal status, it boasts a power metal attitude and death metal heaviness, making for a perfect combination of metal genres around the spectrum to attract many metalheads, and having the rhythmic, melodic and technical skill to back it all up.
Ensiferum Count: 1
#77. Vektor - Terminal Redux
Genres: Tech Thrash

When most bands make a 70-minute album without any shifts in genre or style, they run a terrible risk of monotony and unoriginalty.  Not Vektor.  Vektor was always a pretty insanely fast-moving and technical band, but Terminal Redux cranked it up to the max, making for the most batshit evil thing you're ever going to hear.  Even if it gets slightly tiring near the end, this level of tech/prog originality is rare, and it makes up almost completely for the length.
Vektor Count: 1
#76. Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 2
Genres: Power / Heavy

This was the first power metal album I ever heard, and it was always a favorite of mine for its raw anthemic energy. It acts as a perfect sequel to the melodic beauty that preceded it, improving on all of the original album's strengths the same way Terminator 2 did.  Most of the songs are absolutely kickass, and even any filler is a lot of fun to jam to.  Songs like "I Want Out" are so spirited that they're almost impossible to emulate.
Helloween Count: 1
 
That's today's five.  The next five is gonna be REALLY heavy, but the styles diversify greatly, especially for one album which touches up on a little jazz.

Nice.  Excellent trilogy.  Speaking of power metal bands who do concept albums:

Can't go wrong with those two. Chopin's music be da bomb....was just listening to his first piano concerto----it rocks. 

Finishing up Black Hand Inn right now.  Despite sameyness, practically every song is incredible.

#90. King Diamond - Abigail
Genres: Heavy / Metal Opera

More beautiful and progressive in its own evil atmosphere than Mercyful Fate, Abigail is a shocking, weird and perfectly told metal story with some of the finest instrumentation a heavy metal album had back in that day and age. Diamond outdid himself. In fact, I'm sometimes at odds as to whether or not the metal fan in me can stomach going through that story again, which means it worked too well.
King Diamond Count: 1
#89. Lost Horizon - A Flame to the Ground Beneath
Genres: Power

The second and final album of one of the best power metal bands ever, this one just slightly tops the debut with a heavier focus on everything that made the debut so good: the badassery and the melody.  These guys gave it their all and it showed.  It might be a little samey near the end, but it certainly isn't frontloaded.  This album is a STANDARD set for the rest of the power metal world.
Lost Horizon Count: 1
#88. Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera
Genres: Melodic Power

Controversial among diehard Blind Guardian fans for being overproduced, this doesn't change the fact that this album has some of the best tunes Blind Guardian ever produced.  Though a little frontloaded, this is their most operatic and unpredictable release without steering too far into pretentious territory like Rhapsody-knockoffs around the world do.
Blind Guardian Count: 1
#87. Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrup Human Love
Genres: Blackgaze, Post-Metal

This is the most diversified atmo-black metal album I've ever heard.  Even though it's doesn't quite reach the level of beauty of other blackgaze albums I can name, it never runs out of new tricks and the ambiance always has something new to add, say or express.  It doesn't drown itself in heaviness like most blackgaze albums, even though a couple parts COULD be slightly heavier.
Deafheaven Count: 1
#86. Rhapsody - Power of the Dragonflame
Genres: Melodic Power / Symphonic Power / Metal Opera

It's true that as far as theme goes, this album doesn't really offer anything new.  Instead, it focuses on what Rhapsody had already set up and let the focus shift to making this the perfect ending to a five-album series of a fantasy opera.  The bombast never gets in the way of the musical technicality, which allows the classical / neoclassical aspects to blow out at full force.
Rhapsody Count: 1
 
15 down.  The next five is going to be heavier and more progressive, largely in different ways.

#100. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Genre: Heavy / Hard Rock

I know this is pretty low for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath to appear, I just don't think it quite reaches the heights advertised by the metal community.  Still, the decision to steer further into hard rock melody while keeping that keen sense of creativity boasted on other Sabbath albums was an excellent way to start keep their career going after Vol. 4 didn't really meet the mark.  With complex songwriting and a strong traditional metal feel, SBS proved that they still had some valuable breath left and that they weren't devolving into just another marketable rock band just yet.
Black Sabbath Count: 1
#99. Slayer - South of Heaven
Genres: Thrash

Reign in Blood was a pure exercise in raw heaviness and punk energy, and South of Heaven took a different approach: tone that down a little in place of a little melody and more metal diversity. As a result, it's just as notable of a metal album and continues Slayer's golden age with a whole new outlook later shown on Seasons in the Abyss as well.  As a result, it's got a few more tricks up its sleeve than blasting out a bunch of short songs with incredible heaviness, not to talk bad about Reign in Blood.
Slayer Count: 1
#98. The Ocean - Precambrian
Genres: Prog Sludge / Atmo-Sludge

Right from the get-go, lemme say that I value this album as a sludge masterpiece more than Panopticon by Isis. It's true, Panopticon and Oceanic layed the groundwork, but the textures of Precambrian are just as beautiful, and the progressive elements make it even better.  It has a slightly weaker section after the first half, but that only lasts about a fifth of the album.  Otherwise, it's a constantly surprising album with a perfect balance between The Ocean's signature heaviness and their later post-metal atmosphere which takes slight influence from a bunch of genres, including jazz and classical.
The Ocean Count: 1
#97. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Irony Is a Dead Scene EP
Genres: Mathcore

Normally, avant-garde style punk albums are a serious risk, because most bands just focus on the energy and the music suffers.  Not Billinger.  Coninuing where Calculating Infinity left off, Irony Is a Dead Scene makes for another extremely wild punk metal hybrid that focuses more on making sure the rage and the weirdness compliment the music, and that the heaviness stays at its peak.  The only VERY SLIGHT problem with this album is that it doesn't offer very much in the vein of originality in comparison to Calculating Infinity, but the short runtime keeps it from feeling drawn out.  Now you can either be an experimental mathcore band who does whatever you want and likely fail like so many punk bands I've heard through Bandcamp EP's, or you can think about how to make the avant-garde work and bring out the best of your headbanging behavior as a metalhead.
Dillinger Escape Plan Count: 1
#96. Immortal - Sons of Northern Darkness
Genres: Traditional Black

Immortal's output of albums had a tendency to fluxuate in quality, but Sons of Nothern Darkness is one of the clear highpoints. Songwriting-wise, they had reached a level that most traditional black metal bands couldn't keep up with, and the music was still incredibly brutal.  It follows in the footsteps of At the Heart of Winter, incorporating strong melodic and thrash elements, but it also finds a stronger balance between the evil signature sound of black metal and more straightforward heavy metal songwriting.
Immortal Count: 1
There's the first five.  The next five is going to be entirely made up of metal essentials, but there's also quite a bit of diversity between them.

i have recently been doing meditation and mindfulness in genral, and i find burzum ok to meditate with. also, clearing your mind can be fun to do before listening to metal, as i find a clear mind can pick up and take in all aspects of the complex musical structure. dark ambient is also fun to meditate with

The only difference here is that I don't fancy myself as a comedian I know I'm a comedian that missed my calling!!
Oh, I also don't say dumb shit, I leave that totally up to you.
It's hard being right all the time but I've learned to live with it and I wont look down on anyone for not aspiring to be more like me.