Albums You Think Are Absolutely Perfect

Currently, I've got 78 metal albums that I consider perfect. I know that feels like a lot, but I have a firm rule about judging every genre: every genre is its own artform with its own set of rules, and these rules should be taken into account when judging. Since I listen to every type of metal, I have quite a few examples of perfection, ranging from the melodic and extreme black metal of Thurisaz to the complex and maniacal punk-metal of Converge to even the lighter but still energetic bridge between heavy metal and hair metal of Motley Crue, who put the metal in hair metal in ways most hair bands can't do.

NOTE: I do NOT consider Van Halen hair metal.

Once I get through with Decade of Aggression, I'll check on some of the metal albums I fear I may be overrating, like Stormwarrior's At Foreign Shores and Ensiferum's self-titled. But here's my top ten:

1. Metallica - Ride the Lightning (thrash and heavy with touches of speed and prog)

2. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (early heavy metal with a little doom and psych)

3. Neurosis - Through Silver and Blood (somewhat progressive atmo-sludge)

4. Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera (controversial pick, I know, but the least monotonous of the BG classics)

5. My Dying Bride - The Dreadful Hours (death doom metal with a strong Gothic touch)

6. Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2 (prog metal with touches of Queensryche and Pink Floyd)

7. Helloween - Keeper, Pt. 2 (power metal's most anthemic and catchy album)

8. Immortal - At the Heart of Winter (melodic black with some thrash and a hint of prog)

9. Black Sabbath - Master of Reality (early heavy metal with strong doom undertones)

10. Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime (a very diverse metal album, but not the prog album it's made out to be)

Edited by LightningRider - 30 Jan 2022 at 11:39am

And the Trogdor comes in the NIIIIGHT!

I give out perfect ratings pretty commonly. I believe perfection comes in many forms and that each genre is a "form" that can be perfected. As far as metal goes, I'd pick my avatar, but as far as the greatest album of all time, I've never found anything that beat out Led Zeppelin IV. BUt believe me, I've been looking.

And the Trogdor comes in the NIIIIGHT!

For albums featured on MMA, I will say:

Intronaut - Prehistoricisms
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Gorguts - Colored Sands
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

For other genres there are countless but off the top of my head:

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Van Morrison - St Dominic's Preview
Stereolab - Dots and Loops
Steely Dan - Aja
blink-182 - Dude Ranch
The Beatles - Abbey Road

Star baby, did you deep fry a piece of the Great Barrier Reef?