Top 25 most influential heavy metal albums of all time

[Crasherfromwayback]

I was about in the 'Punk' era...and loved it...it seems to me that a lot of todays 'Thrash Metal' is very similar to some hard core punk bands...GBH?

And I know we're (well you guys are....I'm wandering off on a tangent I know)
talking about the most 'Influential heavy metal albums of all time'....but I know who most influenced me to get REAL cute with my pillow as a hormonal youngster.....Suzi Quatro! What a lil cutie, with a big raspy voice!
Fonzie was one lucky man.....

[N4CR]

no cannibal corpse/six feet under

no deicide.

cc and 6ft are more... hrrmmm grindycore but wouldn't call them heavy metal.. bit different haha

deicide is more black metal listen to the lyrics.. thats the main distinction for black metal.

wonder what they'd do for top 10 black metal...

emperor - nightside eclipse
immortal battles int eh north and pretty much eveyr album they've made..
dark funeral - diabolis interium
vader - take ya pick
burzum - filosofem
lord belial - enter the moonlight gate
mayhem - de mysteriis
dimmu - stormblast/for all tid
deicide - scars of crucifix maybe
limbonic art - epitome of illusion or moon in the scorpio

i could keep going... tulus hahaha something liek that. forgot darkthrone too damnit... any of thiers too there are so many and so many people would disagree with whatever you come up with so blah.. haha ad ya own in there

great shoutcast station for black/death http://www.rothmetal.com probably one of the best. first church of belial radio was good but it's nto around anymore.

[kro]

Im loving that list, but Judas Priests British Steel album was by far their most influential.

[El Dopa]

Im loving that list, but Judas Priests British Steel album was by far their most influential.

Yeah, seems like they got the right bands, but the wrong albums.....

[Waylander]

Eat lead!!! Hard rock is what high school girls listen to under the naive delusion that it will make them seem egdy, and give them street cred.

Metal is what the rest of us listen to because we love the music and revel in the catharsis of the mosh pit - real or imagined.

Bottom line, when attempting to differentiate between rock and metal, simply ask yourself "Is this band/music sexy?"

If it's sexy it's rock, if its ugly it's metal.

Simple example:
Guns 'n Roses, often billed as metal during the '80s and '90s but far to sexy to be metal therefore are (were) rock.
Godsmack, bordering on being metal but still too sexy.

Slayer, well nuff said really.
Pantera, likewise.

GO THE UGLY MUSIC!!! hahahaha

OK Rockstar what about Slipknot/Stonesour?

[blacksheep]

WTF what about AC-DC, Kiss, UFO, Rush and ah yes as someone mentioned Diamondhead - where would I be without 'Am I Evil'.

80% of those bands would be nowhere without the influence of the above bands. Hell even Sir Ted Nugent has a lot to answer for...

is your kiwibike name derived from a rush song perchance?

[Bytor]

is your kiwibike name derived from a rush song perchance?

Snowdog is that you...?

[Bytor]

cc and 6ft are more... hrrmmm grindycore but wouldn't call them heavy metal.. bit different haha

deicide is more black metal listen to the lyrics.. thats the main distinction for black metal.

wonder what they'd do for top 10 black metal...

emperor - nightside eclipse
immortal battles int eh north and pretty much eveyr album they've made..
dark funeral - diabolis interium
vader - take ya pick
burzum - filosofem
lord belial - enter the moonlight gate
mayhem - de mysteriis
dimmu - stormblast/for all tid
deicide - scars of crucifix maybe
limbonic art - epitome of illusion or moon in the scorpio

i could keep going... tulus hahaha something liek that. forgot darkthrone too damnit... any of thiers too there are so many and so many people would disagree with whatever you come up with so blah.. haha ad ya own in there

great shoutcast station for black/death http://www.rothmetal.com probably one of the best. first church of belial radio was good but it's nto around anymore.

Thank fuck I'm an old bastard and didn't mention Whitesnake

[avgas]

Ill Nino for me....im not a big metal person anymore.
I've become too soft
Hang on, i love Sativa, Saliva and some slipknot
Right now have "Opiate for the Masses" playn - Intelect Metal

[Bytor]

I raise my fist in salute to you, complete with studded leather wristband.

Was going to mention '...like Rob Halford', but then realised that it would prob mean something else

[MaxB]

I was amazed to find out I had seen all but 4 of the acts on that list live. Rock and Roll.

There is a lot of good music on it and you can always argue what is the best but some things should be said. For example Spence D AFAIK is not a metal-head, he is a vegan jouno from the Bay area of California. Hey thats where Metallica comes from, what a surprise. I've read some of his other stuff and I was not that impressed. I still like Metallica.

IMHO the list is too full of American acts and is biased. Look at some of the 'honorable mentions'. FFS 'of all time'? Gimme a break.

Were Anthrax for example just copiers of earlier stuff like Venom and Accept or radical innovators? Yes I have seen them all live. Plus I like Anthrax.

And another thing for the young 'uns, remember that today concert arenas have strictly posted noise limits especially in the US where people get sued every day. The world record for the loudest concert ever is still the Who at 126dB, this figure was recorded by environmental health officers using calibrated equipment. Manowar allegedly got to 129dB but cannot back it up. Ted Nugent, Motorhead and Saxon have all been cited in the mid 120s. Not many of those guys made the list, eh?

And finally there seems to be an argument over what is metal. The list lets in the Scorpions, Fate's Warning and the Crue. So its open season, anything goes. As far as I'm concerned if its 'loud and proud' its most of the way there. Looking over the list I'd say that AC/DC should be in there somewhere as being influential and also Rush (2112) for doing what Fate's Warning did 10 years earlier. I would put the Scorps Love at First Sting in for Lovedrive. Plus I reckon that Dio's best moment was Heaven and Hell (or On Stage), his solo stuff was maybe not so good. Oh and boot out Fate's Warning for Tool while you are at it.

Rant off, I can stop foaming at the mouth now.

[kro]

By definition, Van Halen were officially a metal band, but tended to be classified toward the hard rock and glam metal end of the spectrum, and to be frank, they would have been one of my top 10 pics. Lee-Roth is one of the few front men who filled his position as band "spokesman" properly.

Although I am not a huge fan of any of these bands, Metallica, Megadeath and Anthrax started their music way back in the day, with certain values, which they stuck to, while alot of other acts were bending themselves to fit the accepted format for metal bands of the time.
While metal was metamorphosizing thru its glam/hair stages, these bands held fast, and eventually came out the other end with an even bigger following, as some metallers grew weary of what the genre had become, and looked to the "founding bands" such as these guys, for their angry metal fix.

Again, look at Zeppelin, now I would classify as metal. Their sound is hard and heavy in a lot of their songs, but due to a lack of a proper genre at the time (imo), these guys just got labelled "hard rockers", but if they had emerged in the late 70's. or 80's, they would have immediately dropped into the metal arena quite happily. Zeppelin would have been on my list, not because I am a huge fan, in fact I like but a handful of their songs, but because credit where credit is due, these guys were ahead of their time.

If you look at the grunge bands that emerged out of the early 90's, to me, these were just another coat of paint on the metal "wall", and were a progression of that type of music, into something different again. I would have put Pearl Jam on the list.

It;s easy to classify most music types, but metal/hard rock/grunge are a grey area, as although their basic sound revolves around the "heavy riff", they have been split up for some reason. If you put on any one of these types of music in the presence of someone over 60, they will call it heavy metal.

As you have all said, it's a great subject, and I love to yap about music.

[SlashWylde]

By definition, Van Halen were officially a metal band, but tended to be classified toward the hard rock and glam metal end of the spectrum

Interesting observation, but by what definition?

To expand upon my previous rule of thumb about how to differentiate rock from metal, I would also suggest rock is predominantly upbeat and joyful, in addition to having the capacity for being sexy. Metal on the other hand is predominantly angry and melancholic, and occasionally touching and sentimental through the use of ballads.

In this sense I don't consider Van Halen to be a metal band by any stretch of the imagination according to modern standards. This however is the key - back in the day they were legitimately regarded as being metal for the aforementioned reasons. Nowadays, the genre has developed and there is darker more heavier music being played which shifts the classification of the genre.

I don't mean to get bogged down in a long winded and pointless discussion of genre classification, but I've always found it very interesting to hear what people consider to be rock and what they consider to be metal, and their reasons for it.

[kro]

Interesting observation, but by what definition?

I thought they were a break out band. Metal had been, as you describe, quite dark and angry for the most part, and VH came along and showed us the fun and sexy side of hard riffs, and fast guitar. They were a key transitional component to bringing in the BonJovi's, and Def Leppards of this world, who again, were just another stage in the evolution of Metal.

To expand upon my previous rule of thumb about how to differentiate rock from metal, I would also suggest rock is predominantly upbeat and joyful, in addition to having the capacity for being sexy. Metal on the other hand is predominantly angry and melancholic, and occasionally touching and sentimental through the use of ballads.

I can see where you're heading, but this formula takes favourite bands of mine like Motley Crue, and labels them "rock", as they were fun and upbeat, and clowned around a lot, and reveled in the spoils of their fame. These antics are actually present in lots of bands like Poison, Ratt, Warrant, Winger, and many more that were losing audiences in the 80's due to the big shift away from glam and hair metal bands, but they all had shiny white teeth, and big smiles, and seemed relatively indifferent to the rules of what comprises a metal band. They were however, a key chain in the evolution of Metal, and cannot be excluded because of their refusal to follow the "doctrine"

I don't mean to get bogged down in a long winded and pointless discussion of genre classification, but I've always found it very interesting to hear what people consider to be rock and what they consider to be metal, and their reasons for it.

Me too, I'm not being an argumentative prat for the sake of it, I do love chin-wagging bout metal because it has such a rich history, and is so controversial.

I enjoyed reading your post Slash.