“Can’t you see how easily I’m bothered by persistance? One step from lashing out at you…”
— Pantera (“Walk”)
Everyone has their favorites … at any given moment any one of us can rattle off a handful of albums that are better than all the rest. Sometimes one or two are interchangable. Sometimes, after a couple of years, you don’t even remember what half of them were.
That’s not what this list is about. Sure, its going to be filled with my opinion, colored by my likes and dislikes.
But it’s more than just a list of albums that could change on any given day — it’s a list of classics from the metal genre: those select few that I, like many others, would have to have on any list at any time.
These are the records that helped shaped today’s music scene. These are the albums that started it all. These are the releases that any fan of metal would happily keep in the collection.
So, without further ado …
Pantera
“Vulgar Display of Power”
(Atco Records)
Sometimes a perfect album comes around … and it feels like a lightning bolt of chance. The stars align or however you want to say it, and a perfect album seemingly comes out of nowhere and blows everyone away. But like lightning, it never seems to strike twice. Of course, hindsight shows that “Vulgar Display of Power” wasn’t a lightning strike … and it really didn’t come out of nowhere. The thrash and metal roots had been laid with “Cowboys from Hell,” but as much as “Cowboys” was a solid 9 or 9.5 out of 10, “Vulgar” was a 20. The surging grooves and thrash roots combined with the breathtaking bass and drums and growled, howled and screamed vocals created a perfect album, end-to-end. The suffocating “Mouth for War” and “A New Level” give way to what has become the national anthem for heavy metal, “Walk,” with its instantly recoginzed riffs that have been duplicated on stages by everyone from “Disturbed” to “Drowning Pool.” And rather than list each and every other song on the album, take my word for it: the auditory assault never lets up.
Slayer
“Reign in Blood”
(American Records)
Slayer is the closest thing to a living legend that exists in the metal world. The band has been cranking out a spectacular blend of metal and thrash over the last two decades (working on three) that has never failed to miss the mark. And, much like other entrants on this list, I was hard pressed to point to the single classic. “My personal favorite would most probably be a toss up between “Seasons in the Abyss” or “Diabolus in Musica,” though neither seems to scream classic like “Reign in Blood.” Every track seems tortured to perfection: the twisted opener “Angel of Death;” the blistering “Necrophobic” or Criminally Insane;” the legendary “Raining Blood.” In true thrash fashion, it’s all over far too soon (clocking in at well under an hour), but that’s ok, you can just start over from the beginning.
Alice in Chains
“Dirt”
(Columbia Records)
Alice in Chains is a band whose career was cut way too short due to drugs and excess … but was somehow able to still leave behind a killer catalogue. The band’s debut, “Facelift,” is probably my favorite release from the group, but “Dirt” has all the makings of a classic. The entire tone of the album is just depressing and heavy. That’s the irony of “Dirt” — it’s like a vicious cycle: without the drugs “Dirt” probably wouldn’t exist; but it’s the drugs that ended up destroying the band. “Them Bones,” “Dam that River,” “Rain When I Die,” “Sickman” and on and on … closing with arguably the group’s biggest hit, “Would?” there is never a low point. Alice is Chains’ influence can be felt to this day (look no farther than Godsmack or Staind). But while immitation is the sincerest form of flattery, there’s nothing quite like the original, which sounds as good today as the day it came out.
Metallica
“Master of Puppets”
(Elektra Records)
If not for more recent missteps and extracurricular activities, Metallica was once the biggest metal band in the world. Now while that may not be the case in the present tense, there’s no denying the amazing material Metallica has turned out over the years. “Kill ‘Em All” had a great underground feel to it; “Ride the Lightning” was a cornerstone on the thrash scene; “…And Justice for All” had the epic feel to it; the black album was a hit machine albeit a little too polished in some respects. But again, in terms of pointing out the true classic, I’d have to go with “Master of Puppets.” The album had the perfect mix of the thrash from “Lightning” on tracks like “Battery” and “Damage Inc.” along with the pre-epic feel that would be fleshed out on “And Justice…” in the title track or “The Thing that Should Not Be.” Metallica might have made some better songs down the road, but it crafted the perfect album here.
Megadeth
“Rust in Peace”
(Capitol Records)
It’s really hard to say whether or not Megadeth belongs on a list like this. I think that the problem, in part, is that the band’s luster seems to have faded over time. But you only need to pick up any of the first handful of albums and turn the volume up to 10 to remember why Megadeth always seems to be mentioned on “best of” metal lists — it’s the high-octane blend of thrash and insane riffing that does it more than anything else … and ultimately that’s what the band is and will always be remembered for. There were near-perfect releases prior to “Rust in Peace,” and metal masterpieces a plenty … and sometimes it takes the littlest thing to sway your choice. In this case it’s two simple words: “Hangar 18.” Does that make it the right choice? I’m not sure … but with Megadeth’s early catalogue, it’s hard to go wrong.
AC/DC
“Back in Black”
(Atlantic Records)
A band that was already headed toward “classic” status saw its future come to a screetching halt following the death of original lead singer and founding member, Bon Scott. But rather than curl up and fade away, AC/DC recruited Brian Johnson and made one hell of a commemoration: an album chock-full of hits that fast became a classic of the metal genre. Sure, “Highway to Hell” was a killer album, but “Back in Black” was an exclaimation point on a career. From the opening durge of “Hells Bells” to the bluesy “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution,” this metal goliath showed little weak moments. Other notable hits included the title track, “You Shook me All Night Long” and “Shoot to Thrill.” A great addition to any metal fans’ collection.
Iron Maiden
“The Number of the Beast”
(Sony Records)
One of the biggest exports to ever come out of United Kingdom, Iron Maiden have done a good job of creating an extensive catalogue of classic metal offerings. While I’m pressed to pick just one, I guess I’d go with “The Number of the Beast.” Sure, there were better songs, but as an all-round effort, “Number” is probably the closest album to perfect that the band was able to release. The title track, “Run to the Hills,” Hallowed by Thy Name,” the hits never seem to stop. While Maiden failed to keep my attention in the long run, you can’t deny the mass effect the band continues to have on the genre to this day.
Black Sabbath
“Paranoid”
(Warner Bros. Records)
In a sense this is a token pick … not because it doesn’t deserve to be here, but because it really would be impossible to have a list like this without Black Sabbath. The godfathers of heavy metal, the band released a fantastic handful of albums before Ozzy Osbourne left. “Paranoid” would be the group’s crowning achievement. True classics like “War Pigs,” the title track, “Iron Man” and “Fairies Wear Boots” are really the definition of what this list is about. There’s no metal band that can’t point to Sabbath as a source of inspiration … and while Ozzy and the boys may be way past their prime now, there’s no denying the indelible mark they left on the metal scene.
Guns N’ Roses
“Appitite for Destruction”
(Geffen Records)
Hailed as a classic, Guns N’ Roses’ “Appetite for Destruction” is one of the best, straight-up hard-rock/metal album’s of all time. The vocals at times sound gritty, the lyrics are most often explicit and the music sways from blues-infused rock to driving, anthemic metal. Songs like “Paradise City” or “Welcome to the Jungle” have been overplayed on commercial radio throughout the years, but each song still shines like a gem. The opening bass-riffs to “It’s So Easy” can still give me chills to this day. The “Illusion” albums might have become the stronger releases in the long run, but this is the album that started it all.
Biohazard
“Urban Discipline”
(Roadrunner Records)
Today’s breed of heavy metal is freely borrowing from the hardcore genre or, in some cases, moving from hardcore into metal (think Hatebreed), it is not a new phenomenon. In the late ’80s, Brooklyn’s Biohazard seemlessly blended hardcore, punk and (hardcore) rap into a bludgeoning mass of underground metal. The band’s first release for a national label, “Urban Discipline,” cleaned up the sound to an extent but kept the soul of what the band was about. Each tale was a gritty glimpse of life on the street. The only weak points on the album were the re-recorded versions of songs from the band’s self-titled debut (simply because the tracks were already out there). From the sick, riff-heavy one-two punch of “Chamber Spins Three” and “Punishment” to “Shades of Grey” and the title track, there’s never a lack of in-your-face metallic brutality. Even the haunting “Loss” eventually explodes into a monster of metal. The band crafted a sound that was instantly recognizable and never duplicated.
When forced to cull a list down to ten, you’re always forced to make cuts. Any one of these band’s could have and maybe should have been up there, but sometimes hard decisions have to be made. That said, there’s a glimpse of “classic” in most of Anthrax’s early stuff (good, thrash-era metal); Judas Priest usually lands on lists of this sort though, to be honest, I was never a huge fan; Motley Crue is notable almost as much for the party atmosphere as for the music; and Skid Row might have started out more rock than metal, but there’s no reason “Slave to the Grind” isn’t on this list.
Well, there you have it. But this is only the beginning … as you may have noticed from the above list, there really isn’t any recent material included. As it was said at the end of “The Neverending Story” : But that was another story….
This will be the last Auditory Assault on Inside Pulse. Starting next week, I’ll be taking a look at The New Classics … The metal scene is as strong as ever. Sure, there’s been a lot of disposable stuff released throughout the years, but that’s not what we’ll be looking at. These will be the new albums that will be added to the above list throughout the years and remembered as albums that made a difference.
So stay tuned.
And that’s that. As always, drop me a line. Until next time, I’ll be here at Inside Pulse making sure no metal news falls through the cracks.
Take it easy…
