Most important metal albums ever

[That Dude With The Shades]

Not your favorites, or what you think are the best, but what do you think are the most historically important albums for metal? Here's what comes to mind for me: Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath - first metal album ever Black Sabbath: Paranoid - solidified the metal sound Judas Priest: Hell Bent for Leather - further development of metal style, beginning of biker image Iron Maiden: Self-titled - arguably first NWOBHM album Van Halen I - first pop metal album, introduced two-handed tapping Quiet Riot: Metal Health - first metal album to go #1 in US Metallica: Kill 'Em All - first full thrash album Motley Crue: Shout at the Devil - solidified glam metal sound and image Slayer: Show No Mercy - beginning of thrash style that influence death metal Venom: Black Metal - first time the term "black metal" is used, maybe considered the first black metal album Bathory: Self-titled - first true black metal album Candlemass: Epicus Doomicus Metallicus - set the formula for many subsequent doom bands Guns n Roses: Appetite for Destruction - last big-selling classic, seventies-style heavy metal album, restarted the Sunset Strip scene Judas Priest: Painkiller - arguably the most important speed metal album ever, tied with Megadeth 's Rust in Peace Megadeth: Rust in Peace - See above Cannibal Corpse: Eaten Back to Life - it and subsequent albums were hugely influential on the stylistic and creative development of death metal Death: Human - very influential in the development of technical death metal Skid Row: Slave to the Grind - viewed as the pinnacle of pop metal Metallica: Self-titled - brought thrash metal to the masses, best selling metal album of all time Pantera: Cowboys from Hell - popularized groove metal Kyuss: Blues for the Red Sun - create stoner rock as a distinct sub-genre White Zombie: Astro Creep 2000 - popularized industrial metal Neurosis: Through Silver in Blood - created sludge metal, seen as an archetypal album Rage Against the Machine: Self-titled - archetypal rap metal album Korn: Self-titled - first nu-metal album Mastodon: Leviathan - greatly expanded sludge's popularity and exposure Killswith Engage: End of Heartache - biggest metalcore album

[RelentlessOblivion]

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath, the very first metal album Black Sabbath - Paranoid, set a further framework for what would become heavy metal Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality, a heavier version of Sabbath this album would also be described later on as the first doom metal album and would prove hugely influential on bands such as Pentagram and Candlemass Deep Purple - Machine Head, in addition to containing many of Deep Purple's biggest hits it further advanced heavy metal and would inspire the next wave of metal bands with the poweful vocals, and duels between Jon Lord's keyboard frenzies and Richie Blackmore's classy guitar solos Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather, hugely influential on what would become power metal and on the NWOBHM as well Motorhead - Ace Of Spades, Lemmy may not consider Motorhead to be a metal band but this album would lay the foundation of metal's faster and more aggressive approach Iron Maiden - self titled, perhaps the first NWOBHM album, introduced faster and more melodic playing into the metal scene Venom - Black Metal, the first time Black Metal was used and the prototype for what would become Black Metal Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast, took the early NWOBHM sound and dialed everything up to eleven, stronger melodies, higher speed and Bruce's operatic vocals soaring over all of this Metallica - Kill 'Em All, the first true Thrash Metal album, created an entirely new genre Helloween - Walls Of Jericho, took influence from the more melodic aspects of NWOBHM and the powerful vocals of Deep Purple and Judas Priest to pave the way for many Power Metal bands Slayer - Show No Mercy, taking thrash to a darker place, making it faster and heavier, this album also would have influenced early Death Metal bands Death - Leprosy, more important then Scream Bloody Gore, Leprosy marked an increase in complexity over early death metal and would prove hugely influential on the more extreme or brutal side of death metal Judas Priest - Painkiller, a hugely important album both for Judas Priest and for speed metal more generally, fast, heavy and powerful I'd say that about does it for what I can legitimately claim (I refuse to make mention of albums I don't or haven't owned)

[gus666]

Brilliant thread and good lists guys! Wouldn't argue with any of those. But being an old sod, I'd add a few (let's leave aside the debate about whether these bands are metal or not): Rainbow - Rising: Sublime, inspired so many, plus the Dungeons & Dragons theme which most metal heads like. AC/DC - Back In Black: So good it influences just about everyone. Thin Lizzy - Live And Dangerous: The benchmark for live albums. Motorhead - Overkill: One of the first uses of really heavy and fast double base drumming, the start of thrash? Faith No More - The Real Thing: Just a new style of metal altogether. Ministry - Psalm 69: I've heard a lot of impersonators, but none as good.

[BlutAusNerd]

Not your favorites, or what you think are the best, but what do you think are the most historically important albums for metal? Here's what comes to mind for me: Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath - first metal album ever Sure, as good a starting place as any, but not created in a vacuum, they did have contemporaries making heavy metal as well Black Sabbath: Paranoid - solidified the metal sound Judas Priest: Hell Bent for Leather - further development of metal style, beginning of biker image I would argue that their 2nd-4th album were much more influential, but I can't deny the image portion Iron Maiden: Self-titled - arguably first NWOBHM album Pretty close, but Angel Witch and Def Leppard dropped their first albums a month prior Van Halen I - first pop metal album, introduced two-handed tapping Quiet Riot: Metal Health - first metal album to go #1 in US Despite Randy being here, I have a tough time calling this album metal Metallica: Kill 'Em All - first full thrash album Motley Crue: Shout at the Devil - solidified glam metal sound and image Importance? Slayer: Show No Mercy - beginning of thrash style that influence death metal Not really much more vicious than Kill Em All, they would really be more influential with Haunting the Chapel and Hell Awaits Venom: Black Metal - first time the term "black metal" is used, maybe considered the first black metal album Definitely the first black metal album, say no to historical revisionism Bathory: Self-titled - first true black metal album Other than the vocals, not far off from Venom and Hellhammer, if you wanted to argue this, it would make more sense with Under the Sign Candlemass: Epicus Doomicus Metallicus - set the formula for many subsequent doom bands Definitely hugely important, but many other doom metal bands were around this time as well Guns n Roses: Appetite for Destruction - last big-selling classic, seventies-style heavy metal album, restarted the Sunset Strip scene Again, I have a really hard time calling this metal Judas Priest: Painkiller - arguably the most important speed metal album ever, tied with Megadeth 's Rust in Peace Probably more important to establish that a band can actually get heavier after nearly 20 years in existence Megadeth: Rust in Peace - See above Great album, but outclassed in every category by many other albums at that time Cannibal Corpse: Eaten Back to Life - it and subsequent albums were hugely influential on the stylistic and creative development of death metal Perhaps, but I can argue that many other albums were far more influential, in addition to being better Death: Human - very influential in the development of technical death metal Absolutely. Skid Row: Slave to the Grind - viewed as the pinnacle of pop metal Not familiar enough with it to mention anything Metallica: Self-titled - brought thrash metal to the masses, best selling metal album of all time No longer thrash at that point, and bringing that watered down album to the masses can be seen as just as much of a bad thing Pantera: Cowboys from Hell - popularized groove metal Yes, but more so with Vulgar Display of Power Kyuss: Blues for the Red Sun - create stoner rock as a distinct sub-genre From what I've heard, I could see this kick started the retro stoner rock movement, but I'm not very familiar with it White Zombie: Astro Creep 2000 - popularized industrial metal Ministry were just as popular, and White Zombie was nowhere near as industrial as Ministry Neurosis: Through Silver in Blood - created sludge metal, seen as an archetypal album Excellent album, but far from creating sludge, Eyehategod, Crowbar, Acid Bath, Dream Death, or even earlier Neurosis albums make more sense Rage Against the Machine: Self-titled - archetypal rap metal album While I can't stand the style, Body Count, or even Anthrax's I'm the Man EP would be the archetype Korn: Self-titled - first nu-metal album Yep, unfortunately for us all Mastodon: Leviathan - greatly expanded sludge's popularity and exposure Along with High on Fire, these guys did seem to really popularize that more upbeat sludge sound Killswith Engage: End of Heartache - biggest metalcore album Would they like a cookie?

Sorry, but I'm going to start with a critique of this before I add my own. Some of the difference of opinion stuff may not matter much, but there are a few time lines that don't seem right here, so I thought I would suggest some changes.

[RelentlessOblivion]

wonder how much of my list will be treated in a similar fashion

[forge]

Hmmm, I will have to scratch my chin a little on this one.

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: Most important metal albums ever I don't mean to just talk shit and not give my own opinions, so I will try to compile my own list tomorrow if I have less to do at work. I didn't see as much to argue with on RelentlessOblivion's list that I didn't already address above, which is why I didn't reply to it. Once I do, feel free to critique away. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[RelentlessOblivion]

I'm already thinking Leprosy shouldn't be in my list

[NTNR]

Wow...all kinds of things wrong with this list...so much is wrong here.

[RelentlessOblivion]

with whose list Mike? I didn't think mine was that far off

[That Dude With The Shades]

Sorry' date=' but I'm going to start with a critique of this before I add my own. Some of the difference of opinion stuff may not matter much, but there are a few time lines that don't seem right here, so I thought I would suggest some changes.[/quote'] Most of the albums I admit were debuts, so many later iconic albums weren't mentioned. With Iron Maiden, I'm aware that they had contemporaries, but I think Def Leppard had more influence on pop metal, and I don't know about Angel Witch's influence. By the standards of its day, Quiet Riot was metal; there are many seventies metal albums that don't sound metal at all today. Motley Crue's hard-edged glam sound did have peripheral influence on nearly every popular metal act at the time; also, Pantera's switch from glam to groove wasn't as abrupt as people think, as Power Metal and CFH had influences of both, which could be linked back to the LA scene. Good point on Slayer. I've always seen Venom as more thrash than black, though it was definitely a starting point of sorts. With Bathory, again I think I put a bit too much emphasis on debuts. With Candlemass, there were other doom bands around, but until Electric Wizard and Cathedral, I think it was the biggest and most important. Guns n Roses, again in the time they were, was traditional metal. I don't see how Rust in Peace was outclassed by its contemporaries, though there was other great stuff coming along. With Cannibal Corpse, yes, there were other bands like Carcass, but the vibe created by CC really can be very much linked back to them. Slave to the Grind was the first metal album to debut at number one on the US charts. The Black Album was a watered-down sound, but you can't deny its influence, for good or bad, on the direction metal took, and that it created millions of new metalheads. You are probably right about Vulgar Display of Power. I forgot about Ministry. While Neurosis wasn't the first sludge band, it was one of the most popular, and its sound has been the one most mimicked. Also, it's previous albums weren't really sludge; first two were hardcore punk, third was progressive heavy metal, fourth was a wall of noise. I did forget about Body Count and I'm the Man; Faith No More was also very important for rap metal.

[ReturntoCarthage]

Cannibal Corpse are one of the most massively influential bands on the music thematically, musically, and aesthetically. Even more so than Morbid Angel or Death in terms of how their marketing translated to the band's music being propagated to all corners of the globe, when a kid sees that coverart and sees that music they are repulsed and at the same time shocked by the music. Even as well as Morbid Angel or Death sold their influence is arguably more underground than Cannibal Corpse who influenced bands from across the spectrum thanks to great marketing and the fact they were at the right place at the right time.

[BlutAusNerd]

I'm just getting started with these, and I've only listed bands/albums from the 70's and 80's. It doesn't look like I'll have time to get into the 90's yet, so I think I'll stop here. Black Sabbath - Obviously, a very influential band to nearly all metal bands that came after. I won't specify an album, but their first 6 should be a good start. Nearly all metal subgenres developed as taking influences from different aspects of these albums and running with them, thrash metal, prog metal, doom/stoner/sludge metal, even death metal (Sabbath Bloody Sabbath's dissonant riff). Deep Purple - One of the foundational bands for the more fast paced and melodic sides of metal, power, speed, thrash, prog, etc..., with their albums In Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head. Motorhead - Overkill: Between Lemmy's gruff vocal delivery, which was a harsh contrast from the more melodic stylings of guys like John Lawton, David Byron, Ian Gillan, etc..., and the generally rough and nasty tone of their albums, Motorhead influenced more with their grit than with their speed, which was also influential. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak: Invented the twin guitar attack, later adopted by tons of metal bands. Angel Witch - Angel Witch: In addition to being one of the first and best NWOBHM albums (although the rest of the movement was also definitely influential), Angel Witch were one of the first to bring occult imagery and lyrics into metal, which would obviously lead the way for many others. Venom - Welcome to Hell: The beginning of black metal (even before it had a name), and the very first extreme metal band, also influencing thrash, death, and grindcore. Hellhammer - The Triumph of Death: The archetype for the filthier, rawer sound of black metal, in addition to influencing tons of extreme metal. Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark: The archetype for the Scandinavian black metal sound, from the now well known black metal vocal style started by Quorthon, fuzzy guitar tone, and epic feel. Mercyful Fate - Melissa: Proved that black metal didn't have to be basic and sloppy, it could also be articulate, technical, and classy. King Diamond's vocals may not have spawned many imitators, but they were still influential, in addition to being the one to inspire corpsepaint, and he was the first to use legitimately Satanic lyrics, not just schtick. In addition, Hank and Mike's guitar work would inspire loads of other metal bands, black metal or not. Celtic Frost - Pre Cold Lake: Well, Celtic Frost may well be the most influential metal band ever, and if not, they're at least the most influential extreme metal band ever. From Tom's gruff vocals and grunts, to metalizing Discharge's d-beat insanity, and writing riffs that many bands have based their careers upon imitating. Black metal, death metal, grindcore, sludge metal, extreme doom metal genres, gothic metal, avant-garde metal, symphonic metal, thrash metal, many of these genres would either not exist, or be completely different were it not for Celtic Frost. Possessed - Seven Churches: First death metal band? I guess it's debatable, as Master/Death Strike, Sadistik Exekution, Morbid Angel, Death, Slaughter, and others were making some gnarly sounding early death metal near the same time. First death metal album? Definitely. Slayer - Haunting the Chapel: Kill Em All's influence can't really be understated, but it's also talked about a great deal and everybody knows what it did. I won't go into that, I would much rather emphasize Slayer's roll in thrash and extreme metal than go over the same old Metallica discussions you've heard before. Starting with Haunting the Chapel, Slayer started to break away and develop a new kind of speed and brutality as had not been heard before. One could argue that they were probably the band that inspired many extreme metal and punk bands to push the speed barriers. Many bands cite Slayer as the reason why they either started playing extreme metal, or developed a darker/faster/more vicious approach after hearing them. The drumming and riffs were well ahead of their time. Watchtower - Energetic Disassembly: Not just the first technical thrash metal album, but also probably the first metal album to emphasize a highly technical and progressive style of playing, on a level which had simply not been done before. Pushed the boundaries of complexity and technicality for metal in general. Voivod - Killing Technology: One of the first metal albums to experiment with dissonant riffs and melodies, in addition to being one of the first metal albums to integrate a strong jazz influence into the playing and songwriting. This is when progressive metal could actually be called progressive, when it progressed what metal could do, as opposed to simply being metal that aped the prog rock stylings of various 70's bands. Not that Voivod didn't have a large share of 70's prog influences (Pink Floyd and King Crimson covers should be a dead giveaway), but they did something totally unique to themselves instead of following in those footsteps. Also one of the first metal bands to use sci-fi lyrics.

[BlutAusNerd]

Godflesh - Godflesh: Godflesh were one of, if not the very first industrial metal band. They took the visceral, hypnotic, yet pulverizing grooves of Swans and took them into far heavier directions, with repetitious/droning structures, drum machine, vocal effects/processing, and the sound of feel of a cold and merciless machine taking out everything in its path. Hugely influential to doom, drone, post metal, and obviously industrial metal. Repulsion - Horrified: Along with Terrorizer, they were among the first grindcore bands. While their early demos have more in common with Discharge and rotten early black/death/thrash, with the addition of drummer Dave Grave and his high speed blast beats, they picked up the speed as well and set the pace and sound for what many bands would be doing later in the 80's, 90's, and beyond. Napalm Death are often credited as the first grindcore band, but they themselves have admitted to being inspired by Repulsion. Carcass - Reek of Putrefaction: While Napalm Death may have been a bit earlier in the UK grindcore scene, Bill Steer did play in Carcass as well, and Carcass may have actually been more influential. Not only did Carcass inspire anybody using gore soaked lyrics (there was gore in lyrics before, but not like this), but actually sounded like what they were describing. Massively influential to death metal and goregrind, as well as anyone pushing the visual and sonic boundaries of carnage. They would also later become the template for melodeath with their Heartwork album. Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness: Not only do I find Altars of Madness to be the best death metal album ever, it's also one of the very most important and influential. Firstly, Pete Sandoval makes his debut with the band fresh out of Terrorizer, and brings his grindcore blast beat drumming with him. Pete totally revolutionized death metal drumming, and metal drumming in general, with his insanely fast, creative, and destructive drumming force. Secondly, Trey's guitar playing. Where to even being? His riffs were easily the most insane and ripping of the time, in addition to creating some as of then unbelievably heavy passages with his slower riffs. His solos, while heavily inspired by Van Halen, are something else entirely, like Eddie was dragged through the underworld and witnessed the horrors of the dead, one of the most unique and revolutionary lead guitar styles in extreme metal. Not to mention the otherworldly feel, to go with the Lovecraftian lyrical themes, which they also helped to pioneer. Then there's the fact that's it's still one of the most evil sounding albums to date. Not just excellent, but massively influential. Sarcofago - INRI: Not only were they one of the earliest members of the South American extreme metal scene, but Sarcofago were also responsible for pushing black metal beyond its first wave influences and on into the second wave. High speed tremolo riffs, vicious and relentless songwriting, DD Crazy's primitive yet super fast blast beats, and one of the first cases of a fully corpsepainted band. Sarcofago were one of the most influential bands to all of black metal, in addition to pioneering the more bestial sounds of many of black metal's nastier bands. Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime: Yeah, everybody knows how great this album is. The reason why it's here is because of the story. This is not only one of the best metal concept albums, but one of the first, with one of the most engrossing and interesting stories that is seamlessly interwoven with the music into something totally gripping and unforgettable. They had more metal albums, and maybe even albums that I enjoy more at times, but for any band reaching for some grand epic concept or theme, the success of this album is what they owe the idea of a metal concept album to. Also, it was massively influential to many vocally driven bands, as well as a slew of prog metal bands for their music. Trouble - Psalm 9: Not only one of the first and most influential doom metal bands, Trouble were also among the first bands to write positive and uplifting/spiritual lyrics to coincide with their music. While Christian metal my get a bad wrap from many, it's hard to argue that Trouble's music was not only influential, but also awesome. Regardless of how you feel on the subject, this album was one of the first to focus on more inspirational and spiritual themes, as opposed to the typically dark and/or party/driving/fun lyrics of many other bands at the time. Candlemass - Nightfall: While I may prefer Candlemass debut ever so slightly to this album, this album would get my vote for being more important and influential. Not only was it one of the earliest doom metal albums, but it was the first to take doom into a more epic and melodic direction, inspiring the morose melodies and atmosphere that would be the foundation for most of the sad sounds found in the more extreme side of doom metal (doom/death, funeral doom, etc...). In addition, this album was their first featuring Messiah Marcolin, and could be counted as among the first metal albums to feature operatic styled vocals, which would not only inspire other doom vocals, but would also be important for the incorporation of operatic vocals into gothic and symphonic metal. Tormentor - Anno Domini: This was another black metal album that would help push black metal from the first wave to the second wave. While Sarcofago may have covered the speed portion, Tormentor covered the more melodic end of the spectrum. They were fast as well, but were more important for their incorporation of vaguely folkish, native European sounding melodies into their music, which would obviously become huge with the Scandinavian black metal scene. Sarcofago were doing tremolo picking as well, but not in anywhere near this catchy or melodic of a fashion, which is something that many black metal bands would later adopt. Also, this is the first album to feature the vocals of Attila Csihar, and is the reason why he was selected to replace Dead as Mayhem's vocalist for their legendary De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas album. EDIT: This site made me break this up into 2 posts because it was too long...

[NTNR]

with whose list Mike? I didn't think mine was that far off

The first list. That was laughable.

[RelentlessOblivion]

though I'm sure mine was also quite amusing to you

[ReturntoCarthage]

Voivod and Godflesh are great but there is zero anything influential on either band.

[gus666]

Being brilliant doesn't mean you're influential. I love The Stranglers and they are superb musicians and wrote brilliant songs, but you could count the number of decent bands they've influenced on a leper's right hand...

[forge]

Nobody said Jimi Hendrix yet?

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: Most important metal albums ever

Voivod and Godflesh are great but there is zero anything influential on either band.

Bullshit. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: Most important metal albums ever

Nobody said Jimi Hendrix yet?

Influential to metal? Absolutely. Metal? Nope. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[H34VYM3T4LD4V3]

I think Megadeth's PSBWB was very important to thrash, also rust in peace.

[BlutAusNerd]

Maybe as far as popularity is concerned, but it wasn't really a revolutionary album or anything. I could see it maybe a little bit with their debut for being one of the first jazzy metal albums, but Peace Sells wasn't that important in the scope of things. That's not to take anything away from its quality, but it didn't do much to drive the evolution of metal like the other albums we're talking about.

[ReturntoCarthage]

It was important to miscellaneous guitarists, all of whom are shit just like their messiah Dave Suckstaine

[triptick]

blizzard of ozz. by u know who. i think it got ozzy back in the game after sabbath.