18 Best Rock / Metal Albums I've Heard!

Year: 1984!

Many people declare Black or Master Of Puppets as the definitive Metallica album but i disagree.

Ride The Lightning undoubtedly remains as the 'classic' Metallica album because each & every song is a winner!

Tracks listing:
Creeping Death
Escape
Fade To Black
Fight Fire With Fire
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Ride The Lightning
The Call Of Ktulu
Trapped In Ice

Outstanding tracks: Creeping Death, Fade To Black, For Whom The Bell Tolls & Ride The Lightning!

500 Greatest Songs: None!

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Creeping Death - No. 64
Ride The Lightning - No. 136

100 Fav. Solos
Creeping Death - No. 78
Fade To Black - No. 85

Year: 1971!

Deep Purple is my most fav. rock band of all time and Machine Head - alongside In Rock - are 2 best Deep Purple albums!

1971 was a major turn-point in rock and DP were a big part of it. They gave us an epic song on cars, catchy tunes and one immortal guitar riff!

It's a must-have for Deep Purple - and rock, in general - fans out there!

Tracks listing:
Highway Star
Maybe I'm a Leo
Pictures of Home
Never Before
Smoke on the Water
Lazy
Space Truckin'
When a Blind Man Cries

Outstanding tracks: Smoke On The Water, Highway Star, Space Truckin' & When A Blind Man Cries!

500 Greatest Songs:
Smoke On The Water: No. 385
Highway Star: No. 397

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Smoke On The Water: No. 1

100 Fav. Solos
Highway Star: No. 8
Lazy: No. 55
When A Blind Man Cries: No. 44
Smoke On The Water: No. 73

Year: 1982!

Back when they were still arguing which album was the heaviest, Iron Maiden released Number Of The Beast and put an end to all that!

More than 25 years later, whenever we continue the endless argument of which album is the heaviest, NOTB still puts an end to that!

Now that's power!

Tracks listing:
22 Acadia Avenue
Invaders
Children Of The Damned
Gangland
Total Eclipse
Hallowed By Thy Name
Run To The Hills
Number Of The Beast
The Prisoner

Outstanding tracks: Number Of The Beast, Children Of The Damned, Run To The Hills & Hallowed By Thy Name

500 Greatest Songs:
Hallowed By Thy Name: No. 424

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Hallowed By Thy Name: No. 137
Run To The Hills: No. 44

100 Fav. Solos
Run To The Hills: No. 82

Year: 1980!

1980, still to this day, remains as one of most profilic year in history of music. Motorhead released Ace Of Spades, Ozzy Osbourne released Blizzard Of Ozz, U2 released Boy etc...

But 1980, and the 80's in general, survived because of AC/DC's most greatest effort till date: Back In Black which contains such immortal tracks which would bring a person to his knees!

Tracks listing:
Back In Black
Shoot To Thrill
You Shook Me All Night Long
Hell's Bells
Rock 'N Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
Have A Drink On Me
Shake A Leg

Outstanding tracks: Hell's Bells, You Shook Me All Night Long & Back In Black!

500 Greatest Songs:
Back In Black: No. 135
You Shook Me All Night Long: No. 435

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Back In Black: No. 4
You Shook Me All Night Long: No. 117

100 Fav. Solos
Back In Black: No. 61
You Shook Me All Night Long: No. 70

Year: 1970!

Before Machine Head, there was Deep Purple In Rock! The album of albums.

This is the first Deep Purple album I heard and it completely blew me away. I mean, the speedy Speed King to the catchy Black Night to the monumental epic Child In Time, this album is one of the greatest albums ever!

Tracks listing:
Speed King
Child In Time
Black Night
Blood Sucker
Flight Of The Rat
Into The Fire
Loving Wreck

Outstanding tracks: Child In Time, Speed King & Black Night... I haven't heard most of the others!

500 Greatest Songs: None!

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Black Night: No. 113

100 Fav. Solos
Child In Time: No. 3

Year: 1987!

The greatest debut album since Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced? back in 1967!

It gave birth to a new talent and bought forward one of the most skilled guitarist (Slash), one of the best hard-earned band and one of the best vocalists (Axl Rose) of all time!

Not bad for a debut eh?

Tracks listing:
Welcome To The Jungle
It's So Easy
Nighttrain
Sweet Child O' Mine
Mr. Brownstone
Paradise City
My Michelle
Think About You
Rocket Queen

Outstanding Tracks: Welcome To The Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine & Paradise City

500 Greatest Songs:
Sweet Child O' Mine: No. 140
Welcome To The Jungle: No. 197
Paradise City: No. 373

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Sweet Child O' Mine: No. 3

100 Fav. Solos
Sweet Child O' Mine: No. 11

Year: 1991!

Have to admit, I never was a Nirvana fan (not even after hearing Smells Like Teen Spirit!). My friends kept insisting that i try Nirvana out but i kept refusing. When i gave them my hard-disk for some movies, they also slipped the Nevermind album with a few songs from the In Utero album too!

I was pretty steamed at first but i decided to open Come As You Are and that's it! Nirvana became my no. 1 band for that moment and i even started appreciating Smells Like Teen Spirit after the success of the previous song!

Tracks listing:
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Come As You Are
In Bloom
Lithium
Polly
Drain You
On A Plain

Outstanding tracks: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Are & In Bloom!

500 Greatest Songs:
Smells Like Teen Spirit: No. 13
Come As You Are: No. 366
In Bloom: No. 447
Lithium: No. 487

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Smells Like Teen Spirit: No. 8
Come As You Are: No. 95

100 Fav. Solos
Smells Like Teen Spirit: No. 98

Year: 1980

How can you just ignore an album which is literally screaming METAL! in big bold blasting letters (Thank you DeVito)

Anyways, this is one of the early metal albums which i fell in love with! From the rebellious Breaking The Law to the care-free rocker Living After Midnight to the crazy Metal Gods, this album is the cornerstone in rock music... and forever will be!

Tracks listing:
Breaking The Law
Living After Midnight
United
Metal Gods
Rapid Fire
The Rage
The Steeler

Outstanding tracks: Breaking The Law & Living After Midnight!

500 Greatest Songs: None!

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Breaking The Law: No. 143

100 Fav. Solos None!

Year: 1990!

Rust In Peace is easily the best Megadeth album and probably one of the most addictive metal albums! This album was given to me by my friend! Thank you, friend!

Anyways, the lock 'n loaded Hangar 18, the aggressive Holy Wars... punishment due and the classic Tornado Of Souls drew my attention first and that's when i officially stepped into the big-boys zone!

+ It also was the first Megadeth album to showcase Marty Friedman, one of the most sickest guitarist ever!

Tracks listing:
Holy Wars
Hangar 18
Take No Prisoners
5 Magics
Tornado Of Souls
Poison Was The Cure
Dawn Patrol
Rust In Peace

Outstanding tracks: Tornado Of Souls, Hangar 18 & Holy Wars!

500 Greatest Songs: None!

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Tornado Of Souls: No. 35

100 Fav. Solos
Tornado Of Souls: No. 10
Holy Wars: No. 16

Year: 1970!

Long before Metallica, Pantera, Megadeth or even Motorhead - who took Metal to a higher level - there was Paranoid by the most haunting, most daring and most metal-esque band, Black Sabbath - the Citizen Kane of Heavy Metal!

Anyways, It's hard to label out one song which can be considered the greatest... Whether you like all or not, your jaw is gonna drop 30 feet deep inside the ground when you listen to any song from this album!

Tracks listing:
War Pigs
Ironman
Paranoid
Electric Funeral
Planet Caravan
Hand Of Doom
Fairies Wear Boots

Outstanding tracks: Virtually all but my fav. are Paranoid, Ironman, War Pigs & Electric Funeral!

500 Greatest Songs:
Paranoid: No. 136
Ironman: No. 204

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Ironman: No. 6
Paranoid: No. 10

100 Fav. Solos
Ironman: No. 80
Paranoid: No. 56

Alternate title: The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits!

Year: 2003!

You can't label out one Pantera album and declare it the best. You just can't. That's science!

So what do you do when you are stuck in a situation like this? You buy this compilation CD which has been so brutally named: Reinventing Hell!

This may be a compilation CD and i don't consider them as 'albums' but it's sick far beyond driven! This CD contains 15 tracks from Pantera's 4 well-known albums!

From the groovy Walk, to the foot-stomper 5 Minutes Alone to the haunting Floods to the in-your-face-AC/DC I'm Broken, this compilation is a must-have for us junkies!

Tracks listing:
Cowboys from Hell
Cemetery Gates
Mouth for War
Walk
This Love
I'm Broken
Becoming
5 Minutes Alone
Planet Caravan
Drag the Waters
Where You Come From
Cat Scratch Fever
Revolution Is My Name
I'll Cast a Shadow
Goddamn Electric
Hole in the Sky

Outstanding tracks: Every. One. Of. Them!

500 Greatest Songs: None!

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Walk: No. 38
I'm Broken: No. 105
5 Minutes Alone: No. 98 (the opening riff)
5 Minutes Alone: No. 114 (the post-solo riff)

100 Fav. Solos
Walk: No. 33
I'm Broken: No. 86
Floods: No. 15
Cemetery Gates: No. 26

Year: 1980!

Okay, Black Sabbath - and Ozzy - kinda went downfall after when the latter left the band. Everything became disorientated. It was almost heartbreaking as when The Beatles broke up!

But Ozzy redeemed himself when he hired Rhandy Rhoads & wrote 2 of the most recognizable, most beloved rock songs of all time: Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley!

Good job Ozzy... R.I.P Randy!

Tracks listing:
I Don't Know
Crazy Train
Goodbye To Romance
Mr. Crowley
Dee
Suicide Solution
No Bone Moves

Outstanding tracks: Mr. Crowley, Crazy Train & Suicide Solution!

500 Greatest Songs: None!

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Crazy Train: No. 53

100 Fav. Solos
Mr. Crowley: No. 12
Crazy Train: No. 42

Year: 1978!

The debut album from the band of the same name. 1984 may be their most recognizable album but Van Halen is still their most breakthrough effort till 2011!

I mean, this is the album which showed us the brilliancy of Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth's unique vocals! Good job there!

Tracks listing:
1. "Runnin' with the Devil"
2. "Eruption" (Instrumental)
3. "You Really Got Me" (Ray Davies)
4. "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love"
5. "I'm the One"

Side B
No. Title Length
1. "Jamie's Cryin'"
2. "Atomic Punk"
3. "Feel Your Love Tonight"
4. "Little Dreamer"
5. "Ice Cream Man"
6. "On Fire"

Outstanding tracks: Runnin' With The Devil, Eruption & Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love!

500 Greatest Songs:
Runnin' With The Devil: No. 423

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Runnin' With The Devil: No. 93
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love: No. 11

100 Fav. Solos
Eruption: No. 6

Year: 1980!

This is everyone's 'dream' album. This is the album everyone wished they had done but Motorhead got there ahead of anybody!

Most albums / songs speak for one generation or decade. This album - and the title track, especially - speaks for each & every day that followed from 1980 till now and will keep on going forever!

A brutal-istic power of pure... brutal-ness!

Tracks listing:
1. "Ace of Spades"
2. "Love Me Like a Reptile"
3. "Shoot You in the Back"
4. "Live to Win"
5. "Fast and Loose"
6. "(We Are) The Road Crew"

Side B
1. "Fire, Fire"
2. "Jailbait"
3. "Dance"
4. "Bite the Bullet"
5. "The Chase Is Better Than the Catch"
6. "The Hammer"

Outstanding tracks: Ace Of Spades, Hammer & The Chase Is Better Than The Catch!

500 Greatest Songs:
Ace Of Spades: No. 485

150 Greatest Guitar Tracks:
Ace Of Spades: No. 135

100 Fav. Solos