Top Ten Metal Albums for People Who Don't Know Shit About Metal

By Jason Roche Tue., May 29 2012 at 3:30 AM

Black Sabbath

See also:
*Everything You Wanted to Know About Metal but Were Afraid to Ask
*Top Ten Jazz Albums for People Who Don't Know Shit About Jazz
*Top Ten Rap Albums For People Who Don't Know Shit About Hip-Hop

Ever heard about the guy at a party who overheard other guests talking about how much they enjoyed metal? And then about how he tried to fit in by mentioning how he enjoyed Disturbed when he got free tickets to Ozzfest that one year? You probably know what he got next: The stink eye. So don't let this happen to you. Check out the ten records below, which are guaranteed to make you more informed about metal.

10. Black Sabbath
Sabotage (1975)
Everyone knows "Iron Man" and Paranoid." But professing a love for 1975's Sabotage will win you brownie points with the true metalhead. The last great record of the Ozzy years, Sabotage is a perfect blend of Sabbath's trademark heaviness (such as thunderous leadoff track "Hole In The Sky" and delightfully evil closer "The Writ") and the more radio-friendly direction Ozzy would pursue in his solo career (like "Am I Going Insane (Radio)"). Namedropping this album will likely make you besties forever with this guy.

9. Angel Witch
Angel Witch (1980)
Lars Ulrich formed Metallica in the early '80s after being inspired by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. This movement (often abbreviated as NWOBHM) shaved off the prog-rock and blues that inspired most '70s rock, and replaced it with a layer of punk. Angel Witch is the prime example of this movement. Their self-titled 1980 debut is all killer, no filler from start to finish.

8. Cynic
Focus (1993)
Most metal fans place a strong emphasis on musicianship. The most unrelenting death metal still relies on guitarists that can pull off killer solos and drummers that are tighter than a hangman's noose. The focus on technicality is best represented by Cynic's 1993 album, Focus. The Florida trio took a death metal shell and amped it up with intricate chord structures that wouldn't be out of place in musical-theory classes at Musicians' Institute.

Tags:

Don't Know Shit About, Metal

We Recommend

Ballsackss123

Iron Maiden have always been nerd cheesy and boring. Priest are one thousand times better than maiden. Metallica was always boring save a few songs on Kill Em All. Ozzy solo is infinitely more interesting than Sabbath. Slayer = yawn. Actually Thrash Metal in General is the most overrated metal genre in history, a complete formulaic bore.

tito1990

I know someone who thinks Iron Maiden sucks =/. BUT I've never heard a metal fan say that Sabbath sucks.

Jenny Thunders

Death Fest was awful this year. All hail slayer,. metallica is garbage. thank you.

Mads Bassline Andersen

I really dont like Iron Maiden, nor metallica.

Heather Cliff Burton

Ahhh Metallica. I agree with the statement about the Black Album being the last truly best thing. As for Maiden, god quality metal for decades. Always loving Maiden. \m/,

pringlebells

Truly best? Compared to what?

Gavin Beattie

That's Awesome To See Metallica's Master Of Puppets In The No. 2 Spot. It's Quite Interesting To See Black Sabbath, Meshuggah, Municipal Waste And Iron Maiden On This List Aswell. \m/ \m/

Kevinscottt Kt

Maiden and Metallica are legit. The rest, meh.

Drm59

Uh no, not even close. Without going into a rant. My top 5 Black Sabbath Vol. 4, Judas Priest Sad Wings of Destiny, Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast, Slayer Reign in Blood, Metallica Kill em All. After these 5 you could put 20 names in a hat, pull out any 5 to fill the list and be right. Just not the ones you have listed.

JasonRocheLAW

There were a couple of versions of this list that had Reign in Blood as part of it. Also heavily debated Vol. 4 vs. Sabotage, both are awesome albums. Respectfully disagree on Number of the Beast and Kill Em All, both still really good, I just think Piece of Mind is a stronger starting point if that's your first Maiden record and I think Master of Puppets represents more what people missed about Metallica when they put out the Black Album. Keep in mind this also isn't about the ten best metal albums of all-time, it's more of a primer for what people love about metal (which is a variety of things). If this was a Top 25 there definitely would have been some Priest love in there too.

Mreback

Yeah, you gotta include Slayer's REIGN IN BLOOD... Should've left it in!

Heather Cliff Burton

Speaking of a top Metal albums of all time, there's a book by Martin Popoff entitled Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time. The data for that book was collected from surveys from many metalheads. Master of Puppets was 1. Reign was 3, Number of the Beast was 2. Justice for All and Kill em All were numbers 17 and 18. Ride the Lightning was number four. And the book is from 2005. So yes, a bit outdated.

JasonRocheLAW

Yeah, Martin Popoff is one of the greats when it comes to metal reviews and criticism. His decade collections are great references also.

Cptnapalm

I read this list twice, knowing I must have just missed it. But I didn't miss it, because it isn't there.

REIGN IN BLOOD

Boyhowdy

I compared this list with the shirts I saw worn by actual metal heads at Maryland Deathfest X this weekend.

Lots o' Sabbath shirts; also they were the centerpiece of many a heavy metal vest.A few Angel Witch shirts.No Cynic shirts.Maybe a couple Repulsion shirts.No Esoteric shirts.Bunch of Municipal Waste shirts; apparently they're from VA which may explain the ubiquity in Maryland.Bunch of Meshuggah shirts.No Sigh shirts.One Metallica shirt: Ride the Lightning, appeared vintage, worn by a chickOne Maiden shirt: Somewhere in Time, appeared to be a mall purchase, worn by a 16 year old kid

JasonRocheLAW

First off, I'm jealous of anyone who got to attend Maryland Deathfest this weekend. I hope you had a great time. Thanks actually for the shirt update, whenever I go to shows I am very interested in what bands get represented. Bummer about no Sigh shirts though. I am morbidly curious though: were any of the Sabbath shirts representing the Tony Martin era of Sabbath?

CultofSOC

What about Louis Armstrong?!?

Sorry, wrong list.

Mujer Delosangeles

eh, I kinda took this blog too seriously for like 3 minutes and I was a little upset that a lot of great bands/albums were missing... but then I re-read the title and it made me feel a little better \m/