Inc. Symphonic Metal.

1.Blind Guardian - At The Edge Of Time

2.Sabaton - The Art Of War

3.Unleash The Archers - Apex

4.Kamelot - The Black Halo

5.Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth

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Must Have: The First 14

1.Anathema - Alternative 4

2.Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding

3.Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes

4.Ayreon - Into The Electric Castle

5.Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth

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This list is meant to be an extensive, but by no means exhaustive, collection of the greatest (modern) metal albums and eps. Running the gamut from avant-garde to trve norweigan black metal. *As someone who is young in age, my tastes tend to revolve around the period of the 80s to the present.* Although certain metal albums from before will certainly be featured, the period of the 60s-70s will be under-represented. I refer you to this excellent list to gain a better appreciation for some of the best metal from that period: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/freis/martin_popoffs_the_top_500_heavy_metal_albums_of_all_time/

1.Racer X - Technical Difficulties

2.Radiance (FIN) - The Burning Sun

3.Ragana - You Take Nothing

4.Rage - Black In Mind

5.Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

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In my opinion, Rhapsody from the Turilli era and Luca Turilli don't have bad albums. Except for "The Cold Embrace Of Fear" I'll leave out the EPs, the live albums and singles, so I'll just focus on the full albums.
Top 5 tracks:
1.- Emerald Sword/On The Way To Ainor
2.- War of the Universe
3.- Dark Fate of Atlantis
4.- Arcanum (Da Vinci's Enigma)
5.- Gothic Vision

1.Rhapsody - Power Of The Dragonflame

2.Luca Turilli - Prophet Of The Last Eclipse

3.Luca Turilli's Rhapsody - Ascending To Infinity

4.Turilli / Lione Rhapsody - Zero Gravity (Rebirth And Evolution)

5.Rhapsody Of Fire - From Chaos To Eternity

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This is a list of all the power metal albums I have listened to that are worth remembering. Like my other genre lists, this is not meant to be a definitive guide to power metal or a binding judgment on what power metal is or is not. The list exists purely for my own organizational purposes and may contain bands or albums that are not strictly True Knights of the Eternal Thundersword.

The first cluster includes my favorite albums in the genre (and a significant number of my all-time favorites); beyond that, they are listed by rating from 9/10 down to 6/10 and alphabetically within each bracket.

Last updated November 27, 2021.

1.Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth

2.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

3.Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond

4.Jag Panzer - Thane To The Throne

5.X Japan - Art Of Life

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I've been listening to Metal since 2005 and it has become my biggest passion in life.

Rarely a day goes by where I don't listen to it in one form or another. The bands I listened to in my teens inspired me to pick up the guitar (and later drums) and start making music of my own.

So here are the albums that have stood out and made the largest impact on me. To be as transparent as possible, I've labelled albums as 'nostalgia bias' where my memories of the album give it an advantage over others.

(Score is an average of each album's song ratings, full list located here. There are a ton of albums that I've rated 9/10 in the 'TBR' tab that may never make it to this list, be sure to check those out.)

If you discovered any new albums or like the same sort of metal, be sure to give this list a thumbs-up and leave a comment so more people can find these amazing bands!

My other lists:
Top 25 EPs (ordered & rated)
Top 200 Overlooked Albums (with genres)
Top 200 Overrated Albums (trigger warning)
So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)

Genre-Specific:
Top 50 Black Metal Albums
Top 50 Melodic Death Metal Albums
Top 45 Thrash Metal Albums
Top 40 Power Metal Albums
Top 30 Doom Metal Albums
Top 30 Heavy Metal Albums

1.Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

2.Opeth - Blackwater Park

3.Metallica - Master Of Puppets

4.Edge Of Sanity - Crimson

5.Opeth - Still Life

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Due to my love for power metal recently being rekindled I thought I'd make a list of my all time favorite power metal albums. Some of those mentioned here are crossing over into different musical directions, but I still consider them to be mainly or at least to some extent power metal.
Also I'll limit myself to only one album per band.
The layout will be band/album/favorite song from the album

1.Crimson Glory - Transcendence

2.Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian

3.Blind Guardian - A Night At The Opera

4.Lethal - Programmed

5.Sanctuary - Refuge Denied

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1.AC/DC - Back In Black

2.AC/DC - High Voltage

3.AC/DC - Highway To Hell

4.Accept - Blood Of The Nations

5.Allen/Lande - The Showdown

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Simple ranking of all my favorite albums. Favorite song from the album in the notes. Sure to change/expand as I learn and explore more within metal.
2023: This was starting to get too long so I split it into separate lists for albums at each ranking 10 to 7. This list will no longer be updated.
10: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=6891
9: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=7213
8: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=7512
7: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=8058

1.Madder Mortem - Eight Ways

2.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

3.Ayreon - 01011001

4.Ulcerate - The Destroyers Of All

5.Metallica - Ride The Lightning

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1.HammerFall - Legacy Of Kings

2.Patan - Patan

3.Helloween - Better Than Raw

4.Grave Digger - Knights Of The Cross

5.Primal Fear - Primal Fear

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Compilation of many Hard Rock or Metal Ballads I've heard. Bands and Albums are ordered by name alphabetically.

1.Accept - Balls To The Wall

2.Accept - Blood Of The Nations

3.Accept - Eat The Heat

4.Adagio - Underworld

5.Aerosmith - Aerosmith

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Since many of you felt annoyed by my previous list title I changed it and hopefully you will be ok with it.Power up everybody!!!

1.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II

2.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

3.Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I

4.Riot - ThunderSteel

5.Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free

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Fantasy metal is pretty much self-satirizing. That said, the more cheese the better. These are 10 of my favorite albums in the genre. Not sure they are all technically fantasy metal, but if they make me want to suit up and go questing for stuff, then they count.

1.Rhapsody Of Fire - Symphony Of Enchanted Lands

2.Iron Fire - Thunderstorm

3.Fairyland - Of Wars In Osyrhia

4.Blind Guardian - At The Edge Of Time

5.Bal-Sagoth - The Power Cosmic

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Alphabetical order.
Limited to 2 albums per band

Top 5 of non-metal:
Pink Floyd-The Wall
King Crimson-In The Court Of The Crimson King
Godspeed You! Black Emperor-Yanqui U.X.O
Comus-First Utterance
Explosions In The Sky-The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place

1.Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

2.Agalloch - The Mantle

3.Anaal Nathrakh - In The Constellation Of The Black Widow

4.Anaal Nathrakh - Vanitas

5.Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side

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1.Sentenced - Frozen

2.Death - The Sound Of Perseverance

3.Anathema - Alternative 4

4.Therion - Vovin

5.Rhapsody Of Fire - Symphony Of Enchanted Lands

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