50 Most Influential Hard Rock & Metal CD's of All Time...
So, here is something that I wrote a while back. I figured I would toss it in here to give you an idea of some of the stuff that I listened to growing up. I will also be doing one of these for Punk music as well.
50 Most Influential Hard Rock & Metal CD’s Of All Time
Metallica - Master Of Puppets : What can I say about this album that any TRUE metal fan probably does not already now. This was the true height of Metallica in all of it’s glory. Master of Puppets was everything that any metal fan could wish for. Power and precision in it’s purest form.
Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction : When this CD came out, the rock world was NOT prepared for what would come next. Axl and Company took the world by storm. Some of the grittiest, gut-level hard rock ever recorded. This was a BAND. Any one piece of the puzzle taken away would have made this a TOTALLY different album. Possibly the greatest pure hard rock CD ever.
Skidrow - Slave To The Grind : This CD represents everything that is awesome about hard rock and metal music. Awesome lyrics, in your face guitars, attitude enough for 50, and the most Face melting vocals in the world. From beginning to end, this CD was just 60 minutes of pure FUCK YOU hard rock.
Led Zeppelin - IV : While I am not the hugest Led Zeppelin fan, I would be idiotic to not include this on this list. Possibly the most INFLUENTIAL of ALL hard rock albums ever recorded. This band has been imitated for decades but no band has ever really captured the “essence” of what they were about.
Black Sabbath - Paranoid : Again, not a huge Sabbath fan, I could not rightfully make a list like this and not include this. Probably the seconded most imitated band in hard rock and metal. All Hail to Ozzy.
AC/DC - Back In Black : This was the first album with singer Brian Johnson. The band considered breaking up after the death of longtime vocalist Bon Scott. What the band did instead was return with one of the most thunderous metal releases ever. There is nothing “soft” about this album. It’s foot stomping, punch your mother in the face, rock n roll from beginning to end.
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard Of Oz : This was the Ozzy CD immediately following the break-up of Black Sabbath. Wise money would have never bet on Ozzy to be the one from the band to be the one to garner the biggest following. Yet, with the wild guitars of Randy Rhodes mixed with his own lyrical caricatures, Ozzy did MORE than that. He created one of the most enduring legacy’s in metal history.
Tool - Undertow : Tool came out of nowhere with a sound that was unlike anything else at the time. Mixing the best of Metallica with the best of prog influences, Tool hit the world with that a sound that was both technical and complex. At the same time, it was a sound that demanded the listener’s attention. It demanded that you bang your head to it.
Def Leppard - Hysteria : This CD was the Re-invention of Def Leppard. 4 years in the making, this was one of the most anticipated hard rock CD’s ever. The band endured unthinkable things during the recording of this CD including the Drummer losing one arm. Not only did the band NOT break-up, they stuck together and are still kicking ass to this day. Hysteria was one of the most rock solid collection of songs ever put together by any band. Almost 70 minutes in length, this is a great example of 5 guys that were born to play rock n roll.
Rage Against The Machine - S/T : WOW! What a debut. Only one other debut has ever literally kicked my ass like this one. This was like a bolt of lightning straight to my brain. The screeching rap style vocals of Zak mixed with the pure beyond gravity play of Tom Morello just kicked your straight in the scrotum sack and demanded that you listen. While I did not always agree with their political stances, the music never ceases to amaze me.
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine : Trent Reznor came out of nowhere with a sound that mixed the best of industrial sound scapes and metal together. With songs like “Head Like A Hole” and “terrible lie”, this CD was pure genius. Trent has only gotten better with ever release since. While not everyone agrees with me, I consider Trent to be a musical genius years ahead of his time.
Van Halen - I : For those guitar “freaks”, this was the guitar player’s wet dream in musical form. From beginning to end, Eddie Van Halen plays some of the most innovative guitar ever on this CD. Every major guitar player since then has imitated Eddie’s style in some way.
Metallica - ...And Justice For All : After losing bassist Cliff Burton in a bus crash, there were serious questions as to wether there would be a follow-up to the genius Master Of Puppets. Metallica answered the questions with the thunderous, gigantic collection of songs that comprised this CD. From the opening riffs of “Blackened” to the faster than death riffs closing riffs of “Dyer’s Eve,” this CD was a monster collection of metal in it’s purest form. Dark, prodding, and brilliant in every way, this CD was a resounding YES to wether the band would survive. How many of you have NOT slammed your head to the sounds of “One?”
Marilyn Manson - Anti-Christ Superstar : Thanks to the musical vision of Trent Reznor, we have one Marilyn Manson. While nothing about Marilyn is truly innovative or original, EVERYTHING about him screams for you to pay attention. Anti-Christ Superstar was a brilliant collection of songs for the disillusioned. It was a sonic boom to those that were left somewhere in the middle of the wasteland of life.
Motley Crue - Shout At The Devil : The album that made me a metalhead. This was my call to arms. The screaming guitars, the thunderous drums, and THAT voice. Before this CD, the heaviest thing that I listened to was Survivor and Air Supply. After this, I have been forever changed. I remember hearing this cassette for the first time as the SINGLE, MOST defining moment of my life.
Rush - 2112 : Before this, NOTHING like this had ever been attempted to this degree. Rush single handedly took Progressive rock to an entirely new level with this album. From the acoustic sounding “Oracle” to the metallic sounding “The Temples Of Syrinx”, this was a masterpiece of the highest degree. The only word that comes to mind for this CD is EPIC.
Aerosmith - Rocks : Toys in The Attic brought Aerosmith to the game, ROCKS made them the Master of Ceremonies. Everyone from Slash to Kirk Hammett has stated how this was the album that made them want to be Rock Stars. This album has more swagger and balls than just about anything else ever released. Put this in your CD player and get your Rocks off...
Scorpions - Love At First Sting : Sure, the Scorps had been around for close to 15 years when this was released. They had hit with a number of killer albums such as Blackout and Lovedrive, They were a band that most people knew well. This was the album that made them a name that ever rocker loved though. Rock You Like A Hurricane and Big City Nights remain two of the hugest sounding rock anthems ever written.
Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast : Once Again, I have to admit to NOT being the biggest Maiden fan. Any true BEST OF list would be incomplete without this album though. This was a GREATEST HITS cd before they ever had one. Every one of the songs on this CD short of one were included in their later greatest hits compilations. This was the CD that broke the band that broke the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
Alice In Chains - Dirt : While not the first album from this band, I have always considered this to be the best one they ever did. Their influence can be heard all over the “NEW” metal being recorded today. Layne Staley had an amazing voice coupled with Jerry Cantrell’s guitar playing. Dark, depressive, and morbid? Sure. Everything that makes metal great.
Slayer - Reign In Blood : No one has ever bettered the ferocity, pace, and unadulterated aggression of this album. Packing 10 songs into a mere 28 minutes, this CD leaves no room for taking a breather. This CD single handedly changed the face of Thrash metal. Everything before this paled in comparison. Most since also pale. This is the soundtrack for ripping your neighbor’s head off.
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell : I was working in a factory in Oxford, MI when this CD came out. I remember the guy on the CNC machine next to me coming to work one night. He had this Cd in his hand. He popped it in my CD player that I kept on my work bench. Him and I were the only ones in the back part of the shop. Everyone else in the shop assembled and did Quality Assurance. We were the lone machinist’s on third shift. What hit my ears that night was the most amazing sound that I had ever heard. I remember that our nightly goal was 100 pieces each. That night, we made 150.
Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime : I can sum this CD up in a short description. The greatest Prog Metal Concept album ever recorded. Everything about this CD was perfect. Nothing this brilliant has been achieved since. Many have tried to duplicate this, NONE have actually done it.
Fear Factory - Soul Of A New Machine : This was another album that made me sit up and listen. This was the heaviest thing that I had heard since Reign In Blood. I will never forget the first time I heard Burton C. Bell screaming the lyrics to Big God/Raped Souls.
“In America today,every 25 fuckingseconds someoneis viciously raped,someone isbrutally violated;250 times a day,someone is murdered,someone's life is taken,In America;This is America,This is America,and I love America,I love America!!”
Kiss - Rock N Roll Over : After the success of Alive and Destroyer, Kiss had to answer wether they could follow up with something as big. What they brought us was ever bigger and meaner. One of the purest collections of rock music ever.
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet : I remember this CD breaking it all wide open for hair metal and hard rock. When the band released You Give Love a Bad Name, everyone wanted on the bandwagon. There were a million copy-cats overnight. None of them have ever matched what Jon and Richie have achieved though. 20 years and 100,000,000 CD’s sold later...what can you say?
Poison - Look What The Cat Dragged In : This band took what Hanoi Rocks started and made it bigger and badder. This band made it fun to party. Cheesy you say? Sure, but how many of you have NOT ever owned a Poison CD or seen them live?
Quiet Riot - Metal Health : This cd came almost immediately after Shout At The Devil with the same ferocity and drive that made Crue so huge. The songs on this album were just pure fucking energy. While the singer is one of the biggest, most pompous assholes to ever grace the earth, this band rocks.
Soundgarden - Bad Motor Finger : While Queensryche and Heart had already put Seattle on the rock n roll map, This CD broke it all open. This CD has a sonic quality to it that has since been unmatched. Chris Cornell is at his absolute best on this CD.
Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Part 1 : When this came out, European Power Metal was a relatively new thing. This CD changed it all. It took all the best elements of Maiden, Priest, Diamondhead, and others and made them even better.
Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Part 2 : The second part to the conceptual masterpiece. Kai Hanson’s guitar playing was at it’s absolute best on these 2 albums. Epic, sweeping, and melodic, this CD remains one of the best examples of European Power Metal.
Iced Earth - The Dark Saga : This is one of the most monster sounding Power Metal CD’s ever recorded. Crunching guitars, amazing vocals, and lyrical content that deals with matters of historical significance, this band is a breath of fresh air.
King’s X - Gretchen Goes To Nebraska : This band is one of those bands that you can’t properly do justice by trying to describe. Mixing Beatles type harmonies with prog metal type music, adding lyrics that were anything BUT depressive, and then layering it all with a touch of psychedelia, this band truly achieved a unique sound that few have ever copied.
Manowar - Kings Of Metal : The Quintessential METAL band. Recognized as the World’s Loudest Band, Manowar hit the world with this CD in 1988. This band has always been truly unrelenting in what they stand for. I seen this band at Pine Knob Music theater the year this came out. Jetboy opened for them but where plastic sounding in comparison. Manowar tore the joint to the ground. I remember not being able to hear for 4 days afterwards. My ears literally bled that night.
Megadeath - Peace Sells...But Who’s Buying : This CD ranks up there with Master Of Puppets to me. This was the answer to all that critics that questioned if Dave Mustaine could survive separate of his Metallica band mates. This CD is, to this day, pure molten metal.
Ministry - The Land Of Rape And Honey : The Land of Rape and Honey represented Ministry's stylistic breakthrough, combining assaultive percussion, samples, synths, and (sometimes) crunching guitars with distorted, barking vocals. For all the emphasis on the group's metal/industrial fusion, it's really only the first three (and best) tracks on Rape and Honey -- "Stigmata," "The Missing," and "Deity" -- that employ guitars extensively. The remainder of the album merely suggests heavy metal aggression through its electronic and sampled elements; it is far more industrial in feel, even though it's just as dark. Ministry was the industrial band that, more than any other, appealed to metal fans, and it was The Land of Rape and Honey that began to lay claim to that status.
Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas : The CD that single handedly changed the face of Black Metal. The legend of Mayhem is known world wide. One of the most brutal, crushing, cold CD’s ever put together. This CD is not for the faint of heart.
Mother Love Bone - S/T : The band that preceded Pearljam. This Seattle band had the amazing vocalist Adam Wood along with 3 of the guys that would later go on to form Pearljam. The band Debut was one of the most critically acclaimed releases ever. Having been heralded as the second coming of Zeppelin, this band had HUGE expectations. It all died with the death of Woods. To understand HOW huge an influence this band had over Seattle hard rock and metal, understand that Woods pallbearers were Chris Cornell, Stone Gossard, Jerry Cantrell, Chris DeGarmo, Kim Thayil, and Dave Grohl. His funeral was attended by over 1000 people. This CD stands today as what might have possibly gone on to be one the biggest bands ever.
Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien : A true guitar masterpiece. There were no vocals on this CD, just emotional, brilliant, shredding by the as yet unknown Joe Satriani. Truely one of the most innovative guitar records of all time.
Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry : What a great way to be represented as a band. This collection of songs just rocks ass. From I Want To Rock to We’re Not Gonna Take It, this cd is brilliant.
Venom - Black Metal : While never the greatest musicians or lyricists, This band did something that no other band had ever done before. They mixed Punk and metal with Satanic overtones. In doing so, they invented a whole new genre of metal music. It has exploded a hundred fold since then. Without this release, bands like Evergrey, Cradle Of Filth, and At The Gates never would exist.
Dream Theatre - Images and Words : This band took what Queensryche started and made it bigger and better. With amazing guitar playing, awesome bass, and truly gothic sounding keyboards, this CD was a sonic masterpiece.
Yngwie Malmsteen - Triology : Yngwie is a guitar master of the highest degree. Before him, few had ever attempted to do what he did. He mixed blazing guitar riffs with soaring vocals. He added that to “Viking” style stories to make a sound that mixed the best of Rainbow and Black Sabbath.
Pearljam - Ten : While I truly despise the singer of this band, I would be remise to not include them on this list. They were probably more responsible for making SEATTLE happen then any other band alive.
Cinderella - Night Moves : Tommy Keifer and Jeff LeBar took what Aerosmith started and ran with it. Huge, bluesy sounding songs with anthem style vocals. Everything about this band was catchy. From the name to the songs, this band just rocks and rolls.
RaHoWa - Cult Of The Holy War : Ok, I know that the majority of you are going to question my inclusion of this CD on this list. Most of you have either never heard of this band or will hate them for their “political” affiliation. RaHoWa is an acronym for Racial Holy War. RaHoWa is a white power metal band. I don’t expect anyone to agree with me on this one personally, that is fine. Just bear with me for a bit while I explain my reasoning on this one. In the world of “White Power” bands, RaHoWa truly shined heads and shoulders above the rest of the field. While the majority of bands are mediocre at best, RaHoWa was a truly great band. Strip away the politics of this band, and this CD could easily stand beside Master Of Puppets and Cowboys From Hell as brilliant beyond what even the band could realize. I will be explaining this more later in an entry I have planned.
Savatage - Gutter Ballet : Savatage was a band that took metal and mixed it with the magic of Broadway. I have heard this band compared to Meatloaf on Steroids. I have always considered them to be the perfect band. Mixing the heaviest aspects of metal with the best conceptual aspects of Prog and Broadway. This band has something for everybody. This was the CD that later inspired the band members to form Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Stryper - To Hell With The Devil : This CD took Christian metal to the mainstream. While cheesy in the highest degree, one can NOT question the integrity and talent of this band. From the piercing vocals of Michael Sweet to the amazing drumming of his brother Robert, this band was flawless in every degree. This CD remains, to this CD, a testament to a band that has never stopped rocking.
Extreme - Pornograffitti : Extreme burst unto the scene with their song on the Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure soundtrack. This is the second release for them and is a “concept” album of sorts. One of the truly most underrated bands of all time, Extreme just rocked like no other band before them. Those that are only familiar with “More Than Words” are in for a hell of shock when they heard the brilliance of Decadence Dance and Get The Funk Out.
Ratt - Out Of The Cellar : This CD ranks along side Cinderella and Poison as “party” anthems of the highest degree. I have always hated Steven Pearcy’s vocals personally, yet, I love the music of Ratt.
50 Most Influential Hard Rock & Metal CD’s Of All Time
Metallica - Master Of Puppets : What can I say about this album that any TRUE metal fan probably does not already now. This was the true height of Metallica in all of it’s glory. Master of Puppets was everything that any metal fan could wish for. Power and precision in it’s purest form.
Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction : When this CD came out, the rock world was NOT prepared for what would come next. Axl and Company took the world by storm. Some of the grittiest, gut-level hard rock ever recorded. This was a BAND. Any one piece of the puzzle taken away would have made this a TOTALLY different album. Possibly the greatest pure hard rock CD ever.
Skidrow - Slave To The Grind : This CD represents everything that is awesome about hard rock and metal music. Awesome lyrics, in your face guitars, attitude enough for 50, and the most Face melting vocals in the world. From beginning to end, this CD was just 60 minutes of pure FUCK YOU hard rock.
Led Zeppelin - IV : While I am not the hugest Led Zeppelin fan, I would be idiotic to not include this on this list. Possibly the most INFLUENTIAL of ALL hard rock albums ever recorded. This band has been imitated for decades but no band has ever really captured the “essence” of what they were about.
Black Sabbath - Paranoid : Again, not a huge Sabbath fan, I could not rightfully make a list like this and not include this. Probably the seconded most imitated band in hard rock and metal. All Hail to Ozzy.
AC/DC - Back In Black : This was the first album with singer Brian Johnson. The band considered breaking up after the death of longtime vocalist Bon Scott. What the band did instead was return with one of the most thunderous metal releases ever. There is nothing “soft” about this album. It’s foot stomping, punch your mother in the face, rock n roll from beginning to end.
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard Of Oz : This was the Ozzy CD immediately following the break-up of Black Sabbath. Wise money would have never bet on Ozzy to be the one from the band to be the one to garner the biggest following. Yet, with the wild guitars of Randy Rhodes mixed with his own lyrical caricatures, Ozzy did MORE than that. He created one of the most enduring legacy’s in metal history.
Tool - Undertow : Tool came out of nowhere with a sound that was unlike anything else at the time. Mixing the best of Metallica with the best of prog influences, Tool hit the world with that a sound that was both technical and complex. At the same time, it was a sound that demanded the listener’s attention. It demanded that you bang your head to it.
Def Leppard - Hysteria : This CD was the Re-invention of Def Leppard. 4 years in the making, this was one of the most anticipated hard rock CD’s ever. The band endured unthinkable things during the recording of this CD including the Drummer losing one arm. Not only did the band NOT break-up, they stuck together and are still kicking ass to this day. Hysteria was one of the most rock solid collection of songs ever put together by any band. Almost 70 minutes in length, this is a great example of 5 guys that were born to play rock n roll.
Rage Against The Machine - S/T : WOW! What a debut. Only one other debut has ever literally kicked my ass like this one. This was like a bolt of lightning straight to my brain. The screeching rap style vocals of Zak mixed with the pure beyond gravity play of Tom Morello just kicked your straight in the scrotum sack and demanded that you listen. While I did not always agree with their political stances, the music never ceases to amaze me.
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine : Trent Reznor came out of nowhere with a sound that mixed the best of industrial sound scapes and metal together. With songs like “Head Like A Hole” and “terrible lie”, this CD was pure genius. Trent has only gotten better with ever release since. While not everyone agrees with me, I consider Trent to be a musical genius years ahead of his time.
Van Halen - I : For those guitar “freaks”, this was the guitar player’s wet dream in musical form. From beginning to end, Eddie Van Halen plays some of the most innovative guitar ever on this CD. Every major guitar player since then has imitated Eddie’s style in some way.
Metallica - ...And Justice For All : After losing bassist Cliff Burton in a bus crash, there were serious questions as to wether there would be a follow-up to the genius Master Of Puppets. Metallica answered the questions with the thunderous, gigantic collection of songs that comprised this CD. From the opening riffs of “Blackened” to the faster than death riffs closing riffs of “Dyer’s Eve,” this CD was a monster collection of metal in it’s purest form. Dark, prodding, and brilliant in every way, this CD was a resounding YES to wether the band would survive. How many of you have NOT slammed your head to the sounds of “One?”
Marilyn Manson - Anti-Christ Superstar : Thanks to the musical vision of Trent Reznor, we have one Marilyn Manson. While nothing about Marilyn is truly innovative or original, EVERYTHING about him screams for you to pay attention. Anti-Christ Superstar was a brilliant collection of songs for the disillusioned. It was a sonic boom to those that were left somewhere in the middle of the wasteland of life.
Motley Crue - Shout At The Devil : The album that made me a metalhead. This was my call to arms. The screaming guitars, the thunderous drums, and THAT voice. Before this CD, the heaviest thing that I listened to was Survivor and Air Supply. After this, I have been forever changed. I remember hearing this cassette for the first time as the SINGLE, MOST defining moment of my life.
Rush - 2112 : Before this, NOTHING like this had ever been attempted to this degree. Rush single handedly took Progressive rock to an entirely new level with this album. From the acoustic sounding “Oracle” to the metallic sounding “The Temples Of Syrinx”, this was a masterpiece of the highest degree. The only word that comes to mind for this CD is EPIC.
Aerosmith - Rocks : Toys in The Attic brought Aerosmith to the game, ROCKS made them the Master of Ceremonies. Everyone from Slash to Kirk Hammett has stated how this was the album that made them want to be Rock Stars. This album has more swagger and balls than just about anything else ever released. Put this in your CD player and get your Rocks off...
Scorpions - Love At First Sting : Sure, the Scorps had been around for close to 15 years when this was released. They had hit with a number of killer albums such as Blackout and Lovedrive, They were a band that most people knew well. This was the album that made them a name that ever rocker loved though. Rock You Like A Hurricane and Big City Nights remain two of the hugest sounding rock anthems ever written.
Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast : Once Again, I have to admit to NOT being the biggest Maiden fan. Any true BEST OF list would be incomplete without this album though. This was a GREATEST HITS cd before they ever had one. Every one of the songs on this CD short of one were included in their later greatest hits compilations. This was the CD that broke the band that broke the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
Alice In Chains - Dirt : While not the first album from this band, I have always considered this to be the best one they ever did. Their influence can be heard all over the “NEW” metal being recorded today. Layne Staley had an amazing voice coupled with Jerry Cantrell’s guitar playing. Dark, depressive, and morbid? Sure. Everything that makes metal great.
Slayer - Reign In Blood : No one has ever bettered the ferocity, pace, and unadulterated aggression of this album. Packing 10 songs into a mere 28 minutes, this CD leaves no room for taking a breather. This CD single handedly changed the face of Thrash metal. Everything before this paled in comparison. Most since also pale. This is the soundtrack for ripping your neighbor’s head off.
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell : I was working in a factory in Oxford, MI when this CD came out. I remember the guy on the CNC machine next to me coming to work one night. He had this Cd in his hand. He popped it in my CD player that I kept on my work bench. Him and I were the only ones in the back part of the shop. Everyone else in the shop assembled and did Quality Assurance. We were the lone machinist’s on third shift. What hit my ears that night was the most amazing sound that I had ever heard. I remember that our nightly goal was 100 pieces each. That night, we made 150.
Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime : I can sum this CD up in a short description. The greatest Prog Metal Concept album ever recorded. Everything about this CD was perfect. Nothing this brilliant has been achieved since. Many have tried to duplicate this, NONE have actually done it.
Fear Factory - Soul Of A New Machine : This was another album that made me sit up and listen. This was the heaviest thing that I had heard since Reign In Blood. I will never forget the first time I heard Burton C. Bell screaming the lyrics to Big God/Raped Souls.
“In America today,every 25 fuckingseconds someoneis viciously raped,someone isbrutally violated;250 times a day,someone is murdered,someone's life is taken,In America;This is America,This is America,and I love America,I love America!!”
Kiss - Rock N Roll Over : After the success of Alive and Destroyer, Kiss had to answer wether they could follow up with something as big. What they brought us was ever bigger and meaner. One of the purest collections of rock music ever.
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet : I remember this CD breaking it all wide open for hair metal and hard rock. When the band released You Give Love a Bad Name, everyone wanted on the bandwagon. There were a million copy-cats overnight. None of them have ever matched what Jon and Richie have achieved though. 20 years and 100,000,000 CD’s sold later...what can you say?
Poison - Look What The Cat Dragged In : This band took what Hanoi Rocks started and made it bigger and badder. This band made it fun to party. Cheesy you say? Sure, but how many of you have NOT ever owned a Poison CD or seen them live?
Quiet Riot - Metal Health : This cd came almost immediately after Shout At The Devil with the same ferocity and drive that made Crue so huge. The songs on this album were just pure fucking energy. While the singer is one of the biggest, most pompous assholes to ever grace the earth, this band rocks.
Soundgarden - Bad Motor Finger : While Queensryche and Heart had already put Seattle on the rock n roll map, This CD broke it all open. This CD has a sonic quality to it that has since been unmatched. Chris Cornell is at his absolute best on this CD.
Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Part 1 : When this came out, European Power Metal was a relatively new thing. This CD changed it all. It took all the best elements of Maiden, Priest, Diamondhead, and others and made them even better.
Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Part 2 : The second part to the conceptual masterpiece. Kai Hanson’s guitar playing was at it’s absolute best on these 2 albums. Epic, sweeping, and melodic, this CD remains one of the best examples of European Power Metal.
Iced Earth - The Dark Saga : This is one of the most monster sounding Power Metal CD’s ever recorded. Crunching guitars, amazing vocals, and lyrical content that deals with matters of historical significance, this band is a breath of fresh air.
King’s X - Gretchen Goes To Nebraska : This band is one of those bands that you can’t properly do justice by trying to describe. Mixing Beatles type harmonies with prog metal type music, adding lyrics that were anything BUT depressive, and then layering it all with a touch of psychedelia, this band truly achieved a unique sound that few have ever copied.
Manowar - Kings Of Metal : The Quintessential METAL band. Recognized as the World’s Loudest Band, Manowar hit the world with this CD in 1988. This band has always been truly unrelenting in what they stand for. I seen this band at Pine Knob Music theater the year this came out. Jetboy opened for them but where plastic sounding in comparison. Manowar tore the joint to the ground. I remember not being able to hear for 4 days afterwards. My ears literally bled that night.
Megadeath - Peace Sells...But Who’s Buying : This CD ranks up there with Master Of Puppets to me. This was the answer to all that critics that questioned if Dave Mustaine could survive separate of his Metallica band mates. This CD is, to this day, pure molten metal.
Ministry - The Land Of Rape And Honey : The Land of Rape and Honey represented Ministry's stylistic breakthrough, combining assaultive percussion, samples, synths, and (sometimes) crunching guitars with distorted, barking vocals. For all the emphasis on the group's metal/industrial fusion, it's really only the first three (and best) tracks on Rape and Honey -- "Stigmata," "The Missing," and "Deity" -- that employ guitars extensively. The remainder of the album merely suggests heavy metal aggression through its electronic and sampled elements; it is far more industrial in feel, even though it's just as dark. Ministry was the industrial band that, more than any other, appealed to metal fans, and it was The Land of Rape and Honey that began to lay claim to that status.
Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas : The CD that single handedly changed the face of Black Metal. The legend of Mayhem is known world wide. One of the most brutal, crushing, cold CD’s ever put together. This CD is not for the faint of heart.
Mother Love Bone - S/T : The band that preceded Pearljam. This Seattle band had the amazing vocalist Adam Wood along with 3 of the guys that would later go on to form Pearljam. The band Debut was one of the most critically acclaimed releases ever. Having been heralded as the second coming of Zeppelin, this band had HUGE expectations. It all died with the death of Woods. To understand HOW huge an influence this band had over Seattle hard rock and metal, understand that Woods pallbearers were Chris Cornell, Stone Gossard, Jerry Cantrell, Chris DeGarmo, Kim Thayil, and Dave Grohl. His funeral was attended by over 1000 people. This CD stands today as what might have possibly gone on to be one the biggest bands ever.
Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien : A true guitar masterpiece. There were no vocals on this CD, just emotional, brilliant, shredding by the as yet unknown Joe Satriani. Truely one of the most innovative guitar records of all time.
Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry : What a great way to be represented as a band. This collection of songs just rocks ass. From I Want To Rock to We’re Not Gonna Take It, this cd is brilliant.
Venom - Black Metal : While never the greatest musicians or lyricists, This band did something that no other band had ever done before. They mixed Punk and metal with Satanic overtones. In doing so, they invented a whole new genre of metal music. It has exploded a hundred fold since then. Without this release, bands like Evergrey, Cradle Of Filth, and At The Gates never would exist.
Dream Theatre - Images and Words : This band took what Queensryche started and made it bigger and better. With amazing guitar playing, awesome bass, and truly gothic sounding keyboards, this CD was a sonic masterpiece.
Yngwie Malmsteen - Triology : Yngwie is a guitar master of the highest degree. Before him, few had ever attempted to do what he did. He mixed blazing guitar riffs with soaring vocals. He added that to “Viking” style stories to make a sound that mixed the best of Rainbow and Black Sabbath.
Pearljam - Ten : While I truly despise the singer of this band, I would be remise to not include them on this list. They were probably more responsible for making SEATTLE happen then any other band alive.
Cinderella - Night Moves : Tommy Keifer and Jeff LeBar took what Aerosmith started and ran with it. Huge, bluesy sounding songs with anthem style vocals. Everything about this band was catchy. From the name to the songs, this band just rocks and rolls.
RaHoWa - Cult Of The Holy War : Ok, I know that the majority of you are going to question my inclusion of this CD on this list. Most of you have either never heard of this band or will hate them for their “political” affiliation. RaHoWa is an acronym for Racial Holy War. RaHoWa is a white power metal band. I don’t expect anyone to agree with me on this one personally, that is fine. Just bear with me for a bit while I explain my reasoning on this one. In the world of “White Power” bands, RaHoWa truly shined heads and shoulders above the rest of the field. While the majority of bands are mediocre at best, RaHoWa was a truly great band. Strip away the politics of this band, and this CD could easily stand beside Master Of Puppets and Cowboys From Hell as brilliant beyond what even the band could realize. I will be explaining this more later in an entry I have planned.
Savatage - Gutter Ballet : Savatage was a band that took metal and mixed it with the magic of Broadway. I have heard this band compared to Meatloaf on Steroids. I have always considered them to be the perfect band. Mixing the heaviest aspects of metal with the best conceptual aspects of Prog and Broadway. This band has something for everybody. This was the CD that later inspired the band members to form Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Stryper - To Hell With The Devil : This CD took Christian metal to the mainstream. While cheesy in the highest degree, one can NOT question the integrity and talent of this band. From the piercing vocals of Michael Sweet to the amazing drumming of his brother Robert, this band was flawless in every degree. This CD remains, to this CD, a testament to a band that has never stopped rocking.
Extreme - Pornograffitti : Extreme burst unto the scene with their song on the Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure soundtrack. This is the second release for them and is a “concept” album of sorts. One of the truly most underrated bands of all time, Extreme just rocked like no other band before them. Those that are only familiar with “More Than Words” are in for a hell of shock when they heard the brilliance of Decadence Dance and Get The Funk Out.
Ratt - Out Of The Cellar : This CD ranks along side Cinderella and Poison as “party” anthems of the highest degree. I have always hated Steven Pearcy’s vocals personally, yet, I love the music of Ratt.
posted by Assault By Seduction at 1:40 PM
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