Sunday, March 25, 2007

Oh, Those Lists Will Kill You Every Time!


“We’ve taken too much for granted,
And all the time it had grown.
From techno seeds we first planted,
Evolved a mind of its own.
Marching in the streets…
Dragging iron feet.
Laser beaming hearts…
Ripping men apart.
From off I’ve seen my perfection,
Where we could do as we please.
In secrecy this infection,
Was spreading like a disease.
Hiding underground…
Knowing we’d be found.
Fearing for our lives…
Reaped by robots scythes.
Metal gods
Metal gods”

--Rob Halford of Judas Priest from “Metal Gods” from the LP British Steel, 1980.


I bought an issue of Kerrang recently that listed the top 100 Greatest Rock albums. Now, these things are always up for debate, but Kerrang is basically a metal magazine and they can for the most part, have a metal bias. All of which is fine with me, when you know the audience, do what you wish. Anyway, the top twenty were:
20. The Wildhearts—Earth vs. The Wildhearts
19. The Clash—London Calling
18. Judas Priest—British Steel
17. Van Halen—Van Halen
16. Led Zeppelin—Led Zepplin
15. Metallica—Metallica (AKA the Black Album)
14. The Ramones—The Ramones
13. Green Day—American Idiot
12. Motorhead—No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith
11. Pantera—Vulgar Display of Power
10. Nirvana—Nevermind
09. Slayer—Reign In Blood
08. Bon Jovi—Slippery When Wet
07. The Sex Pistols—Never Mind The Bollocks
06. Iron Maiden—The Number of theBeast
05. Black Sabbath—Black Sabbath
04. Led Zeppelin—Physical Graffiti
03. AC/DC—Back in Black
02. Metalica—Master of Puppets
01. Guns ‘N’ Roses—Appetite For Destruction.

OK, now I know I should not do this, but WHAT?!

Some I would put on a list, but, JON BON JOVI? Uh…NO! Physical Graffiti is a fine album, but it is not heavy or hard—it is more bluesy. Sex Pistols, Ramones, Green Day are all punk—as I would argue Nirvana is grunge. The Wildhearts I just have NEVER heard of, so no fair judging, but still.

So I am offering my top ten Hardest and Best Metal and Power Metal—feel free to pick apart and judge.

10. Kamelot—The Black Halo
09. Stratovarius—Visions
08. Alice Cooper—Billion Dollar Babies
07. Dio—Last In Line
06. Iron Maiden—Piece of Mind
05. Rush—Moving Pictures
04. Black Sabbath—Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
03. Deep Purple—In Rock
02. Metallica—And Justice For All…
01. Judas Priest—British Steel

Honorable mentions include Rainbow Rising by Rainbow, Reign In Blood by Slayer, The first Black Sabbath Album, The debut of Van Halen, Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath, Back In Black by AC/DC, The Glorious Burden by Iced Earth, Epica by Kamelot, Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden, School’s Out by Alice Cooper, Highway To Hell by AC/DC, Sad Wings of Destiny by Judas Priest, Hair of the Dog by Nazareth, The Black Album by Metallica, Blizzard of Oz by Ozzy Osbourne, The Heavy Metal Soundtrack, Agents of Fortune by Blue Oyster Cult, Power of the Dragonflame by Rhapsody, Fire of Unknow Origin by Blue Oyster Cult, Lights Out by UFO, Jaws of Death by Primal Fear, Chapter V by Hammerfall, Master of Puppets by Metallica, Virgin Killer by The Scorpions, Destiny by Stratovarious, Blackout by The Scorpions, Infinite by Stratovarius, Eric the Red by Tyr, and Inhuman Rampage by Dragonforce.

Have fun picking me apart.
Oh, and from YouTube: Metal Gods by Judas Priest--enjoy!

1 comment:

Rob Reich said...

Not a bad list, I'd have some Blue Oyster Cult in my Top 10. One of their most overlooked but best albums is Cultosaurus Erectus, check it out.

Sony just released two remastered versions of BOC classics - Spectres, with four bonus tracks, and the live Some Enchanted Eveving, which features six bonus tracks and a bonus DVD shot in 1978. Well worth picking up!