# The Essential Music Library: Metal **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596 "2005-12-21T06:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/1 "2005-12-21T06:20:00Z")
The Essential Music Library project is an attempt to get the many musical minds of the SDMB to sit down and discuss what works are absolutely necessary for a well-stocked musical library. There will be roughly 20 threads detailing a variety of genres so that we can get the depth that would be missing from a single-threaded discussion and the breadth necessary to cover what’s out there. This thread’s topic is metal. Previous threads: [Project Planning](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=335665) | [Classical](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=336834) | [Rock](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=337956) | [Jazz](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=339051) | [Modern Rock](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=340081) | [Blues](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341203) | [Punk/Post-Punk/New Wave](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=342310) | [Opera/Choral Music](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343551) | [Rap/Hip-Hop](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=344056) | [Gospel](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=344690) | [Electronica](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=345226) | [Contemporary Classical](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=345831) | [Pop](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=345832) | [Film Music/Musicals](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=346844) | [R&B/Soul](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=347413) | [Grass & Roots](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=348001) | [Funk/Disco](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=348507) | [Non-Western/World](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=349132) | [Country & Western](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=349802) | [Folk](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=350231) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/2 "2005-12-21T06:29:20Z")
Metallica: Master! Master! Master of puppets, pulling the strings… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/3 "2005-12-21T06:35:06Z")
Sorry. That’s what I’m listening to right now. Metallica: Master of Puppets. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002H33/qid=1135146764/sr=2-1/ref=pd\_bbs\_b\_2\_1/104-0050355-7192736?s=music&v=glance&n=5174](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000002H33/qid=1135146764/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-0050355-7192736?s=music&v=glance&n=5174) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/4 "2005-12-21T06:35:45Z")
You’ll also need some Black Sabbath in there, if they’re not covered in another category. But if we accept that Metallica is the most important modern metal band (say, in the last 20 years or more), I think _Master of Puppets_ is their best album and includes everything you’d need to define Metallica. The anger, the complex, classically-influenced playing, it’s all right there. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/5 "2005-12-21T06:41:56Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > You’ll also need some Black Sabbath in there, if they’re not covered in another category. But if we accept that Metallica is the most important modern metal band (say, in the last 20 years or more), I think _Master of Puppets_ is their best album and includes everything you’d need to define Metallica. The anger, the complex, classically-influenced playing, it’s all right there. You’re right, Sabbath is the essential metal band to start with. The essential albums: Master of Reality. Volume 4. Paranoid. Black Sabbath. I’ll be back with more recs later. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/6 "2005-12-21T08:10:09Z")
Just a reminder; the first Grammy for “Heavy Metal” went to **Jethro Tull** for a song on _Crest of a Knave_, “Farm on the Freeway”, I believe. If you’re finished laughing, I’d like to add _Images And Words_ - **Dream Theater** _Surfing With The Alien_ - **Joe Satriani** _Holy Diver_ - **Dio** You’ll need some **Megadeath** , **Gwar** , **Iron Maiden** and because metal fans are so sentimental, everything ever done by **Dimebag**. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/7 "2005-12-21T08:51:24Z")
Since Master was already recommended: Megadeth : Rust in Peace Pantera: Cowboys From Hell Slayer: South of Heaven OR Reign in Blood Iron Maiden: Number of the Beast Judas Priest: Screaming For Vengeance, British Steel, Unleashed in the East AC/DC: Back in Black, High Voltage ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/8 "2005-12-21T12:30:53Z")
Metallica: To this day, they haven’t topped _Kill 'Em All_. AC/DC: _Highway To Hell_ and _Let There Be Rock_ in addition to the two listed by The Sausage Creature. Back In Black should be in every hotel room, right next to the bible. Motorhead: ALL OF THEM! Especially _Ace Of Spades_, _No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith_, and _Bastards_. I will never understand why the 'Head doesn’t sell as many records as Metallica. Iron Maiden: I’d add _Powerslave_ and the first two along with _Number Of The Beast_. _Killers_ is definitive British Metal. Black Sabbath: Just like Larry Borgia said, the first four are a must. Post-Ozzy: _Heaven And Hell_, and _Born Again_, the one with Ian Gillan. Solo Ozzy: _Blizzard Of Ozz_ and _Diary Of A Madman_. Got kind of cartoonish after that. KISS: _Hotter Than Hell_, _Alive!_, and _Creatures Of The Night_. _Creatures_ is the most metal album they ever did. Venom: _Black Metal_ Van Halen: _Fair Warning_ Judas Priest: In addition to the three listed by The Sausage Creature, I’d add _Defenders Of The Faith_, _Painkiller_, and _Demolition_. That’s right. Ripper Owens! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/9 "2005-12-21T13:23:28Z")
I’d take the first Van Halen album, myself. You’ve got to include the 80s hair metal resurgence in their as well. Things like Twisted Sister and Ratt fit that bill. Without those hair metal bands most of the current wave wouldn’t have been around. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/10 "2005-12-21T14:08:01Z")
Finally one of these I can have a say in. Iron Maiden: Number of the Beast Piece of Mind Powerslave You could also make a case for Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Motorhead: We’ve already said all, and I’d have to agree, but the best would be Overkill Overnight Sensation The others are all good, but do seem to run together sometimes. Black Sabbath: We’ve forgotten Mob Rules? How? Anthrax: Persistance of Time Sound of White Noise I’m not too fond of the other Anthrax albums, though I have seen them 3-4 times now. Bruce Dickinson: with the exception of Skunkworks, his albums are very good especially the last three Accident of Birth Chemical Wedding Tyranny of Souls Guns n Roses: Appetite for Destruction There are others such as Diamond Head, Helloween, Accept, Skid Row, Iced Earth, In Flames, and a host of others that have had good albums. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/11 "2005-12-21T14:32:12Z")
Alright! A metal thread! Metal has always been one of my favorite genre’s, as it’s so all encompassing of so many different varieties, everything from 70’s rock to things that are current today and would make your mom cry just to look at the album covers. My current picks on the somewhat darker, perhaps sub-genre versions of “metal” that need inclusion (IMHO): Cannibal Corpse- The Bleeding Stormtroopers of Death- Bigger than the Devil Dimmu Borgir-Death Cult Armageddon Opeth- Blackwater Park The Haunted-Everything Sepultura- Arise and Chaos AD Slayer- Everything. Carcass- Heartwork Mastodon- Everything Meshugga- Destroy, Erase, Improve Cephalic Carnage- Anomalies ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/12 "2005-12-21T15:05:07Z")
I have been super-busy with year-end stuff at work (budgets, staff evals, what have you) and not been able to participate in these threads with any regularity. Hmmm metal. Obviously I agree with - Metallica’s first 3 albums and the Black Album (I am not a big …and justice for all fan) - Priest - You’ve Got Another Thing Coming is their essential song but lots of their Halford stuff is worthy - Sabs - first four albums define the genre - Zep - the whole catalogue… - Pantera - add a Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven - Mastodon - Leviathan - some of the best recent stuff I have heard It’s tough, but I wouldn’t put AC/DC in the metal category - they are hard rock to me. Same with Aerosmith and even Zep, if push comes to shove. To me the question is how blues-based the material is - if it is blues based, it is hard rock - if if is heavy but not blues based, it is metal… 70’s classic rock and 80’s hair metal is tough - Van Halen is pop/blues based but has great guitar. Ratt, Poison, etc. are pop metal - but a guilty pleasure. I guess I would add as my dark horses: UFO - Strangers in the Night - Michael Schenker rocks on this album; Rock Bottom is truly amazing Montrose - the first album, with Sammy Hagar - Rock the Nation, Bad Motor Scooter etc. Proto-Van Halen - producer Ted Templeman and engineer Donn Landee were clearly practicing trying to get the VH formula - this comes close but isn’t quite as good…but the guitar tones are great… ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/13 "2005-12-21T15:50:42Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > It’s tough, but I wouldn’t put AC/DC in the metal category - they are hard rock to me. Same with Aerosmith and even Zep, if push comes to shove. To me the question is how blues-based the material is - if it is blues based, it is hard rock - if if is heavy but not blues based, it is metal… To some degree, but don’t forget that Sabbath started life as a blues band, and Danzig is very metal. Back in their day, there was no question that Zep were a metal band. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/14 "2005-12-21T17:00:58Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > To some degree, but don’t forget that Sabbath started life as a blues band, and Danzig is very metal. Back in their day, there was no question that Zep were a metal band. Yep - it is a fuzzy line for bands like the Sabs - who I think of as leaning metal; and Zep - who were clearly metal in their day but to me lean blues. Other bands like AC/DC to me there is no ambiguity… ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/15 "2005-12-21T17:49:28Z")
My list: The giants of early metal were Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple in that order. For Sabbath, the first three albums are definitely essential, and Volume 4 is pretty close. For Zeppelin, the first five albums are the absolute essentials. For Deep Purple, Machine Head is probably the only must-buy. Steppenwolf deserves a mention, even though they’re more proto-metal than anything else. They’ve got a good greatest hits package that has all the necessary songs. After that, you get into the new wave of British heavy metal and early power metal with bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, Saxon, Motorhead and Manowar. Others have covered Maiden, Priest and Motorhead, so let me just toss out a couple albums for the rest: Diamond Head’s essential recording is Lightning to the Nations; Saxon’s is probably Strong Arm of the Law; and Manowar’s is Hail to England. For hair metal, you gotta have Van Halen’s 1984, Def Leppard’s Pyromania, and something by Motley Crue (I’m skimping on the umlauts cause otherwise this would be a pain in the ass to type). You might find Guns ‘n Roses’ Appetite for Destruction in a list like this, but they were barely hair metal. The kings of thrash were of course Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer. Slayer’s only essential album (IMO) is Reign in Blood, and Anthrax’s is Among the Living. For Metallica, the first four albums are all essential. Megadeth’s most solid early albums are Peace Sells and So Far, So Good…So What?. If you like thrash, you should probably also check out Kreator, Sodom, Forbidden, Flotsam and Jetsam, Exodus and Testament. Flotsam and Jetsam’s first album, Doomsday for the Deceiver, is notable because Jason Newsted was the bassist, and it’s easy to see why Metallica decided to pick him up. Around the same time as the early thrash, you also had the first memorable doom metal bands. Sabbath worship had been widespread on since 1970, but the only band from before 1985 or so who’s remembered for it is Pentagram. Once you got acts like Candlemass (Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, greatest hits), Trouble (Psalm 9) and Saint Vitus (Born Too Late), it really took hold and has been strong ever since. Venom deserves note for being the first really Satanic metal band. They’ve got a two-disc set, In League with Satan, that’s pretty much all a casual fan could want. That’s the first fifteen or so years in a nutshell. I’ll post later stuff later. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/16 "2005-12-21T17:57:15Z")
Most of what I’d recommend has already been mentioned, but I’d like to throw in a vote for more Megadeth. Maybe _Peace Sells but who’s Buying_ or _Rust in Peace_. For completeness sake someone should throw in some hair metal like Motley Crue or Poison. I don’t know enough about the genre to make any album recs. Van Halen’s first album should be on the list. So should Guns and Roses _Appetite for Destruction_, though I’m not a big G’n’R fan. Hmm, with Dave Mustaine and Axl Rose, this post contains the two biggest assholes in heavy metal history. Some personal favorites I wouldn’t consider essential, but I’ll list 'em anyway: Clutch: _Pure Rock Fury_, _Blast Tyrant_ or pretty much anything. Helmet: _Meantime_ Nashville Pussy: Not sure which albums to mention. I think they all sound pretty similar. Fun band to see live, if they’re still playing. One of the girls breathes fire! ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/17 "2005-12-21T18:05:01Z")
Ah, forgot Alice Cooper. His sound wasn’t necessarily all that influential, but his stage show definitely was. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/18 "2005-12-21T18:08:05Z")
I didn’t see **Ultrafilter’s** post when I posted, in case some of my comments seem incongruous. Also, a rec for any of Scott “Wino” Weinrich’s many bands: The Obsessed, Place of Skulls, Spirit Caravan, and his current project The Hidden Hand. His beliefs are a bit loopy–He believes in the occult, the illuminauti, the writings of David Icke–but he plays the best doom guitar out there, IMO. He played guitar in the supergroup Probot with Lemmy on bass and Dave Grohl on drums. Oh, and a vote for Kyuss. I like _Welcome to Sky Valley_,and _Wretch_. Also Queens of the Stone Age: _Rated R_ and _Songs for the Deaf_. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/19 "2005-12-21T22:26:27Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > Also, a rec for any of Scott “Wino” Weinrich’s many bands: The Obsessed, Place of Skulls, Spirit Caravan, and his current project The Hidden Hand. Don’t forget St. Vitus… ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596/20 "2005-12-21T22:34:13Z")
Master of Puppets was the first thing I thought of. King Diamond and Venom also. Does Guns & Roses _Appetite for Destruction_ count? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-metal/336596.md?page=2)