RYM's Top 100 Metal Albums Of All-Time

Sure, there are always bands you expect to be represented in these lists (i.e. Metallica (ho-hum), Iron Maiden, etc.) but this list is interesting because it isn’t completely based on popularity, album sales, etc. It is based on how thousands of metal fans rated albums on a scale of 1 to 5, so there are definitely some pleasant surprises here.  Clearly it is toward the top represented by the more popular bands, as they tend to generate a higher number of votes, but, as a list fanatic, this is as decent a top 100 as I’ve ever seen compiled by a group of people (which is always better than one person’s top 100)

(Remember, this is NOT my list, and I certainly don’t agree with much of it)

1		Black Sabbath Paranoid (1970)
2		Metallica Master of Puppets (1986)
3		Black Sabbath Master of Reality (1971)
4		Black Sabbath Black Sabbath (1970)
5		Metallica Ride the Lightning (1984)
6		Megadeth Rust in Peace (1990)
7		Slayer Reign in Blood (1986)
8		Kyuss Welcome to Sky Valley (1994)
9		Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast (1982)
10		Iron Maiden Powerslave (1984)
11		Opeth Blackwater Park (2001)
12		Black Sabbath Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
13		Death Symbolic (1995)
14		Metallica …And Justice for All (1988)
15		Judas Priest Painkiller (1990)
16		Iron Maiden Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
17		Opeth Still Life (1999)
18		Rainbow Rising (1976)
19		Black Sabbath Vol 4 (1972)
20		Atheist Unquestionable Presence (1991)
21		Black Sabbath Heaven and Hell (1980)
22		Morbid Angel Altars of Madness (1989)
23		Slayer Seasons in the Abyss (1990)
24		Mercyful Fate Don’t Break the Oath (1984)
25		Death The Sound of Perseverance (1998)
26		Death Human (1991)
27		Isis Panopticon (2004)
28		Electric Wizard Dopethrone (2000)
29		Neurosis Through Silver in Blood (1996)
30		Dio Holy Diver (1983)
31		Judas Priest Sad Wings of Destiny (1976)
32		Iron Maiden Iron Maiden (1980)
33		Death Individual Thought Patterns (1993)
34		Mercyful Fate Melissa (1983)
35		Queensrÿche Operation: Mindcrime (1988)
36		Motörhead Ace of Spades (1980)
37		Dissection Storm of the Light’s Bane (1995)
38		Kyuss Blues for the Red Sun (1992)
39		Metallica Kill ‘Em All (1983)
40		Burzum Hvis lyset tar oss (1994)
41		Megadeth Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? (1986)
42		Judas Priest Screaming for Vengeance (1982)
43		Motörhead Overkill (1979)
44		Edge of Sanity Crimson (1996)
45		Emperor Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (1997)
46		Iron Maiden Piece of Mind (1983)
47		Sepultura Beneath the Remains (1989)
48		Ulver Bergtatt: Et eeventyr i 5 capitler (1995)
49		Slayer South of Heaven (1988)
50		Immortal At the Heart of Winter (1999)
51		Mastodon Leviathan (2004)
52		Emperor In the Nightside Eclipse (1994)
53		Diamond Head Lightning to the Nations (1980)
54		Autopsy Mental Funeral (1991)
55		Candlemass Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (1986)
56		Dismember Like an Ever Flowing Stream (1991)
57		Judas Priest Defenders of the Faith (1984)
58		W.A.S.P. The Crimson Idol (1992)
59		Neurosis Times of Grace (1999)
60		Opeth My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)
61		Opeth Ghost Reveries (2005)
62		King Diamond Abigail (1987)
63		Rainbow Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll (1978)
64		Burzum Filosofem (1996)
65		Immolation Close to a World Below (2000)
66		Isis Oceanic (2002)
67		Iron Maiden Somewhere in Time (1986)
68		Sepultura Arise (1991)
69		Boris Boris at Last -Feedbacker- (2003) Drone
70		Neurosis A Sun That Never Sets (2001)
71		Moonsorrow Verisäkeet (2005)
72		Helloween Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II (1988)
73		Dream Theater Images and Words (1992)
74		Judas Priest Stained Class (1978)
75		Black Sabbath Sabotage (1975)
76		Carcass Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious (1991)
77		Blind Guardian Imaginations From the Other Side (1995)
78		Bruce Dickinson The Chemical Wedding (1998)
79		Negură Bunget OM (2006)
80		Bathory Blood Fire Death (1988)
81		Exodus Bonded by Blood (1985)
82		Cynic Focus (1993)
83		Artillery By Inheritance (1990)
84		Candlemass Nightfall (1987)
85		Neurosis The Eye of Every Storm (2004)
86		Devin Townsend Ocean Machine – Biomech (1997)
87		Tiamat Wildhoney (1994)
88		Overkill The Years of Decay (1989)
89		Entombed Clandestine (1991)
90		Dream Theater Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory (1999)
91		Coroner Mental Vortex (1991)
92		Ozzy Osbourne Blizzard of Ozz (1980)
93		Mastodon Crack the Skye (2009)
94		Metal Church Metal Church (1984)
95		Coroner No More Color (1989)
96		Arcturus The Sham Mirrors (2002)
97		Morbid Angel Covenant (1993)
98		Anthrax Among the Living (1987)
99		Overkill Horrorscope (1991)
100		Entombed Left Hand Path (1990)