Ten Essential Metal Albums

UPDATE 1/8/2010: Check out my new list, The Top 50 Metal Albums of The Last Decade

After giving it some thought, here are ten albums every self-respecting metalhead should own. This list is by no means all-inclusive, but it does contain discs without which a person is not metal-literate.

Paranoid (1971) by Black Sabbath
Maybe it all started with Black Sabbath (1970), but metal solidified its position with this album. “War Pigs,” “Paranoid,” “Electric Funeral,” “Hand of Doom,” and the iconic “Iron Man” are all standby songs for decent God-[fearing/hating] metal bands to cover, and will continue to occupy their position of reverence.

Ace of Spades (1980) by Motörhead
You can’t really appreciate Metallica (or probably even White Zombie) unless you know where they came from. And this is the place. “Ace of Spades” is one of the iconic early metal songs. In metal there is a spectrum spanning from the most raw to the most refined, and Ace of Spades is the epitome of raw metal music.

Melissa (1983) by Mercyful Fate
Without Melissa, the heavy metal world would be only half as big as it is now. Without “Black Funeral” there would be no Cradle of Filth. Without “Into the Coven” there would be no Cannibal Corpse. Without “Satan’s Fall” there would be no Dimmu Borgir. Without “Melissa” there would be no Nightwish. Enough said.

Master of Puppets (1986) by Metallica
This is the most obvious inclusion on the list. This is, without a doubt in my mind, the quintessential metal album. It combines where metal has been with where it should go. It’s written and performed superbly. The first four tracks read almost like the top half of a top ten list: “Battery,” “Master of Puppets,” “The Thing That Should Not Be,” and “Welcome Home (Sanitarium).” Of course the greatest album by the greatest metal band of all time should be the number one metal album of all time. If you call yourself metal, and you don’t have this album, you can just crawl in your (pick one: [1] nu-metal sissy boy corner, or [2] elitist death/euro metal tower) and die. Next.

Vulgar Display of Power (1992) by Pantera
This is the purest distillation of the virtues of thrash metal. There is a melodic riff or two here, but the purest rage and heavy, high-speed riffs make you forget all about them. And Dimebag Darrell (RIP) revitalized the guitar solo as we know it. No metal fan should be without “Walk,” “This Love,” “By Demons Be Driven,” or “Hollow.”

Korn (1994) by Korn
Many people dismiss Korn as nu-metal (a term that has lost its meaning in a world of bands that clearly are not influenced by Korn). But being “nu” does not make it bad. Korn drew on the darkness of Alice in Chains, made it angrier, and added a D-tuned lower string to both guitars and the bass. How can any metal fan be well-rounded without a good dose of “Blind” and “Divine”? They brought metal to an entirely new generation and, despite their flirt with TRL in the late 90’s, they continue to deliver new and different heavy metal music to keep the world on its toes.

Dirt (1995) by Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains, with their serious sound and lyrics, heralded the death of the crappy metal bands of the 1980’s: Mötley Crüe, Firehouse, Slaughter, Van Halen, and the list goes on; they even mortally wounded Guns ‘N Roses. Let’s just hope another band will come along to do the same to Trapt, Nickelback, Staind, and their ilk. And this album is the perfect example of their dark, experimental sound.

Astro Creep 2000 (1995) by White Zombie
Without White Zombie, you don’t have Godsmack. Without White Zombie, you don’t have Disturbed. And without White Zombie, you don’t have countless other metal bands. “More Human Than Human” stands right next to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” on any list of the best 90’s metal songs. No, without White Zombie you can’t understand the better metal bands of today, and you will never understand the metal of the 90’s.

The Sickness (2000) by Disturbed
Though they came to fame through a cover of a crappy Tears for Fears song, they clearly draw on Korn and White Zombie as powerful influences. They took the heaviness of those two bands and built on the use of rhythm found in Korn to make something entirely new and beautifully staccato. The Sickness is clearly the best metal album of 2000, and one of the best ever.

Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses (2004) by Slipknot
For the 70’s we have Black Sabbath. For the 80’s and 90’s we have Metallica. And for the 00’s, Slipknot will be the premier heavy metal band. Slipknot (1999) put the ore on the anvil. Iowa (2001) heated the ore and hammered away, continuing the forging process for a new breed of metal gods. The Subliminal Verses captures the moment when the hot steel was tempered in oil. “Duality” is our generation’s “Paranoid.” “Before I Forget” is our generation’s “This Love.” And “The Nameless” is our generation’s answer to “Master of Puppets.” Watch for Slipknot to become the iconic, the next group to pummel the mainstream so hard with such powerfully well-written music that they can’t be ignored, the next group with its own music festival to match Ozzfest. If anyone can kill the current kings of crap in heavy metal, it is this nine-member monstrosity.

Is there anything I forgot? Did I make you mad by letting you know where Van Halen belongs? Or your current top 40 favorite that gets their songs on the Now CDs? Let me know.

UPDATE 1/8/2010: Check out my new list, The Top 50 Metal Albums of The Last Decade