 Definitive Rock & Metal Albums
by Jom
June 14th 2008 | 95 Comments
Over the past few weeks, the Rock & Metal forum at the Sputnikmusic community forums congregated to create a list of 5-10 definitive, essential, iconic, must-listen, insert-your-adjective-here albums that exemplify the different subgenres that exist in rock and metal. The aim of this project is to help veteran headbangers and newcomers alike pinpoint albums that best define the below genres - they are not necessarily the contributing users' all-time favorite albums. For example, say you have never heard of Folk/Viking Metal before, want to learn more about it, and are curious as to what record to check out first. With this guide, you can read the attached genre write-up, scan the list of the suggested records, and pick one (or two, or all ten) from the list! Here at the reviews site, numerous bands are labeled under general genres rather than their more specific genres (for example, doom metal is not currently in the Sputnikmusic database, so bands like Isole are under 'Metal' rather than the non-existant 'Doom'), so the R&M community went to work to create these lists. The final lists were compiled via a stratified points and ranking system, with a one-album-per-band rule being emphasized (exceptions were made for artists like Pink Floyd, who played psychedelic and progressive rock at different stages of their career. Also: albums such as 'Blackwater Park' by Opeth could not transcend genres, such as falling on both the death and progressive metal lists). The genres: Traditional Heavy Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Folk/Viking Metal, Grind, Metalcore, Deathcore, Nu/Mainstream Metal, Industrial, Drone/Stoner/Sludge, Classic Rock, Mainstream Rock, Hard Rock/Hair Metal/Sleaze, Powerpop/Pop Rock/Glam Rock, Alternative, Post-Rock/Post-Metal/"Atmospheric Sludge Metal", Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Jam Rock, Fusion, Folk Rock, Krautrock, Noise Rock, Stoner Rock The list of contributors, in alphabetical order: Aakon_Keetreh, Angmar, Apocalyptic Raids, ArrestThisMan, ATC, Bfhurricane, Collis, Crimson, Dimmu Burger, dinosaurxbrocore/Mappy, dub sean, Eliminator, Epilogue, Frankie, guitrguy, Iai, illpressureurhinges1, Interviewer/surveyer, Iron Bars, IsItLuck?, italic zero, jarhead12343, jebus FX, Joe, Jom, jpj, lak89, masscows, masterchaos, Obsequies, pate, Pebster49, Pete, rasputin, repcak, Riva, Shattered_Future, Silenius, slep, Spat Out Sexy Men, Stevie, Surf, Sweboy, the2stranger, ThrashMaster27, Txus, UmphreysHead Without further ado, here is R&M's official list of genre-defining rock and metal albums (please note that the bolded artist/albums are not the #1 albums for each, but coincide with the captions!): Traditional Heavy Metal Of all rock & roll's myriad forms, heavy metal is the most extreme in terms of volume, machismo, and theatricality. There are numerous stylistic variations on heavy metal's core sound, but they're all tied together by a reliance on loud, distorted guitars (usually playing repeated riffs) and simple, pounding rhythms. Heavy metal has been controversial nearly throughout its existence -- critics traditionally dismissed the music as riddled with over-the-top adolescent theatrics, and conservative groups have often protested what they perceive as evil lyrical content. Still, despite -- or perhaps because of -- those difficulties, heavy metal has become one of the most consistently popular forms of rock music ever created, able to adapt to the times yet keep its core appeal intact. For all its status as America's rebellion soundtrack of choice, heavy metal was largely a British creation. The first seeds of heavy metal were sown in the British blues movement of the '60s, specifically among bands who found it hard to adjust to the natural swing of American blues. -All Music Guide 1. Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
(pictured above right: Steve Harris)
2. Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny
3. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
4. Motörhead - Ace of Spades
5. Mercyful Fate - Melissa
6. Dio - Holy Diver
7. Venom - Black Metal
8. Metallica - ... and Justice for All
9. Running Wild - Black Hand Inn
10. Manilla Road - Open the Gates Death Metal
In the constant quest in metal in the 80s to make heavier, faster and more extreme music death metal emerged in the mid 80s with important acts like Sepultura, Possessed and Celtic Frost. In the late 80s the death metal sound was fine tuned with Morbid Angel, Death and Deicide amongst others creating dissonant, seemingly disjoint music with guttoral vocals and morbid themes. The focus is within the name: death. Death is explored in itself as well as being a metaphor for all kinds of lyrical message, from environmental destruction to social decline. Sweden provided a specific style of death metal with Entombed and Dismember who incorporated much of thrash metal into their sound, whilst the USA provided different styles of death metal, amongst them Suffocation who were very important in the development of "brutal" death metal which took guttoral vocals and lyrics of a very gorey nature.
-Stevie
1. Cryptopsy - None So Vile
2. Death - Scream Bloody Gore
3. Possessed - Seven Churches
4. Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness
5. Atheist - Unquestionable Presence
6. At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul
7. Autopsy - Severed Survival
8. Suffocation - Effigy of the Forgotten
9. Entombed - Left Hand Path
10. Necrophagist - Epitaph
 Thrash Metal
1. Slayer - Reign in Blood
2. Metallica - Master of Puppets
3. Megadeth - Rust in Peace
4. Exodus - Bonded by Blood
5. Dark Angel - Darkness Descends
6. Kreator - Pleasure to Kill
7. Sodom - Agent Orange
8. Sepultura - Beneath the Remains
9. Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales
10. Anthrax - Among the Living
(at left: Scott Ian)
Black Metal
Black metal has its roots in thrash and heavy metal bands such as Venom, Bathory and Celtic Frost in the early 1980s who combined their respective genres with dark aesthetics and satanic imagery that would be inspiration for artists that would later define black metal as a separate genre. Many fans refer to these bands as part of the 'first wave' of black metal.
The 'second wave' of black metal grew within the early 1990s particularly in Scandinavia where bands created fast, sweeping, melodic and dark music accompanied by often blastbeat drumming and shrieking vocals (although this is not definitive of the genre) with a nihilistic, satanic or pagan pretext. Black metal aims to create a cold, harsh atmosphere reminiscent of winter, death and hatred. The philosophy is largely a revolt against the established Christian society, and embraces individualism, satanism, misanthropy, nature and in many cases national socialism. Black metal has a wide range of styles, from simple, raw black metal such as Beherit and Darkthrone, who drew influence from acts like Bathory and Sarcofago, to blasting, chaotic black metal like Dissection and Marduk, influenced also by death metal and traditional heavy metal.
The diverse styles of black metal are bound by the same basis, atmosphere and philosophy that defines black metal. Many have embraced the idea that black metal is about satanism exclusively, though differing views within black metal are present. A national socialist sentiment in black metal was part of black metal amongst some of the 'second wave' of black metal with bands like Burzum and Graveland, though it was not until recently that bands emerged that were overtly national socialistic.
-Stevie
1. Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss (pictured above right)
2. Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse
3. Mayhem - De Mysteriis dom Sathanas
4. Ulver - Nattens Madrigal
5. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger
6. Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane
7. Immortal - Pure Holocaust
8. Drudkh - Autumn Aurora
9. Bathory - Bathory
10. Gorgoroth - Under The Sign of Hell Doom Metal
 Doom metal was born in the eighties and like almost any metal genre hugely inspired by Black Sabbath. The debate about Black Sabbath actually being doom metal or not still rages on to this day, but no matter your opinion, their influence on the doom genre has been enormous. While doom metal has some of its roots in blues music, the blues sound is dropped, but the blue note not. The slow, pessimistic and heavy sound played by mostly downtuned guitars is a trademark. In the eighties the typical Black Sabbath sound was developed further by bands like Candlemass, Saint Vitus, Trouble and Pentagram, in the form of traditional doom. In the nineties doom metal developed even further and combined it's sound with influences from almost any other metal genre and even took influences from outside the metal genre. This experimentation caused a huge diversity in bands within the doom metal genre. With doom subgenres as depressive black, doom/death, funeral doom, sludge, gothic doom, (ambient) drone doom and so on.-the2stranger
1. Candlemass - Nightfall
2. Reverend Bizarre - In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend (above left)
3. Saint Vitus - Saint Vitus
4. Warning - Watching from a Distance
5. Worship - Dooom
6. Solitude Aeturnus - Beyond the Crimson Horizon
7. Cathedral - Forests of Equilibrium
8. Pagan Altar - Mythical & Magical
9. My Dying Bride – Turn Loose the Swans
10. Thergothon - Stream From the Heavens
Power Metal
The offshoot of '80s speed metal, power metal came into its own as a mix of traditional heavy metal aesthetics with highly melodic guitar leads and ball-bursting falsettos. Whilst many would describe it as "swords and sorcerers" metal, this is an unfair summary of modern day power metal. From the balls-to-the-wall sound of genre heavyweights Manowar to the epic high fantasy content of Rhapsody of Fire's music, power metal contains something to please any metal fan; be it Sabaton's gritty presentation of modern history, Blind Guardian's tribute to Tolkien, Lost Horizon's belief in the power of oneself or Running Wild's rum-and-roll antics. Indeed, there seem to be only two rules in power metal: 1) Make it loud and make it powerful and 2) You will be huge in Japan.
-Riva
1. Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-Earth 2. Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt. I/II 3. Kamelot - The Black Halo 4. Lost Horizon - A Flame to the Ground Beneath 5. Rhapsody - Symphony of Enchanted Lands 6. Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings 7. Gamma Ray - Land of the Free 8. Sonata Arctica - Reckoning Night 9. Nightwish - Oceanborn 10. HammerFall - Legacy of Kings
Progressive
1. Opeth - Still Life
2. Cynic - Focus (at right: Sean Malone)
3. Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors
4. Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. II: Scenes from a Memory
5. Symphony X - The Divine Wings of Tragedy
6. Edge of Sanity – Crimson
7. Queensryche – Operation: Mindcrime
8. maudlin of the Well - Bath
9. Between the Buried and Me - Colors
10. Wintersun - Wintersun
Folk/Viking Metal  A blend of traditional melodies and metal, this folk and viking metal are heavily inspired by Northern European mythology and culture. Bathory was the first band to use this inspiration for their lyrics, aesthetics, and music on their album Blood Fire Death which was the birth of Viking Metal. Bands like Falkenbach have expanded on Bathory's original vision by changing up instrumentation to include flutes and acoustic guitars. These sections of traditional folk music are commonly used to contrast the black/heavy metal basis of most bands in the genre. Other bands like Amon Amarth purely rely on lyrics to convey their Viking themes, otherwise playing a solid Melodic Death Metal style. The use of clean vocals and large choir vocals is also common, such as Ensiferum's "Battle Song" chorus. The genre is wide musically, but it is unified by themes of bravery, paganism, battle, and nature.
-Silenius1. Bathory - Blood Fire Death
2. Agalloch - The Mantle
3.Ensiferum - Ensiferum
4. Windir - 1184
5. Enslaved - Eld
6. Falkenbach - ...Magni Blandinn Ok Megintiri...
7. Amon Amarth - Fate of Norns (pictured above)
8. Skyclad - Folkemon
9. Summoning - Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame
10. Primordial - To The Nameless Dead
Grind
1. Napalm Death - Scum
2. Repulsion - Horrified
3. Terrorizer - World Downfall
4. Carcass - Reek of Putrefaction
5. Brutal Truth - Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses
6. Cephalic Carnage - Anomalies
7. Insect Warfare - World Extermination
8. Pig Destroyer - Prowler in the Yard 9. Assuck - Misery Index
10. Circle of Dead Children - Human Harvest
Metalcore
Fusing together the raw intensity of Hardcore with the technical prowess and aggression of metal, Metalcore bore rise to many underground bands throughout the 1990's. Key characteristics to the genre being a mix of melodic passages, at times complex musicianship and the most recognisable feature: the breakdown.
Bands like Botch, Converge, Poison The Well and 7 Angels 7 Plagues helped pioneer and popularize the genre each releasing acclaimed albums such as We Are The Romans, Jane Doe, The Opposite of December and Jhazmyne's Lullaby.
These artists along with other external influences such as Melodic Death Metal helped influence a more commercially popular 2nd wave of bands in the 21st Century, such as Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying and I Killed The Prom Queen.
Another thing to note is that within metalcore is a large Christian movement with a distinct, dissonant and airy sound pioneered by bands such as Zao, Eso-Charis, This Runs Through, and Underoath.
-Frankie
1. Converge - Jane Doe (above right: Jacob Bannon)
2. Botch - We Are The Romans
3. Poison the Well - The Opposite of December
4. 7 Angels 7 Plagues - Jhazmyne's Lullaby
5. Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity
6. Avenged Sevenfold - Waking The Fallen
7. SikTh - Death of a Dead Day
8. Misery Signals - Of Malice and the Magnum Heart
9. Rorschach - Autopsy
10. Knut - Challenger*
10. Underoath - The Changing of Times*
10. All That Remains - The Fall of Ideals*
*represents three-way tie
Deathcore
1. Glass Casket - We Are Gathered Here Today
2. The Red Chord - Fused Together In Revolving Doors
3. Embrace the End - Counting Hallways to the Left 4. Despised Icon - The Healing Process
5. All Shall Perish - The Price of Existence
6. Animosity - Shut It Down
Nu/Mainstream
 After the rampant mainstream success of Metallica, Vulgar Display of Power, and Superunknown (among others), America's music industry saw itself approaching the turn of the century with heavy metal as a serious commodity - its fanbase was no longer limited to outcasts now that a significant 'jock' contingent had begun attending Faith No More gigs. Nu-metal was the logical result; not for nothing was it once known as 'sports metal'. By scaling back metal's preoccupation with darkness and fantasy, and fusing it with hip-hop, electronica, funk, alternative rock, and a few of pop's more worldly quirks, bands like Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and KoRn found a legion of fans who'd never normally go near a metal album ready to embrace them. It's become easy to scorn nu-metal with hindsight, but from 1999 to 2002, this music ruled the industry.
-Iai
1. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory
2. System of a Down - System of a Down
3. Deftones - White Pony
4. Korn - Korn
5. Slipknot - Iowa
6. Limp Bizkit - Significant Other
7. Mudvayne - L.D. 50
(Pictured above: Ryan Martinie)
8. Spineshank - Self Destructive Pattern
9. Static-X - Wisconsin Death Trip
10. Disturbed - Believe
Industrial
1. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
2. Samael - Reign Of Light
3. Godflesh - Streetcleaner
4. Throbbing Gristle - 20 Jazz Funk Greats
5. Ministry - Psalm 69
6. Coil - Horse Rotorvator
7. Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park
8. Non - Children of the Black Sun 9. Swans - The Great Annihilator
10. Nurse with Wound - Homotopy To Marie
Drone/Stoner/Sludge
A big potpouri of genres thrown on a pile, it might seem. But on closer inspection closely they're related. The genres named in this category are influenced by or developed out of the already broad genre of doom metal. Drone took the slow and heavy riffing of doom metal even further. With downtuned guitars and riffs hardly decipherable, this is a very extreme genre that is mainly the terrain of bands like EARTH, Boris and Sunn O))).
The stoner metal genre, also hugely influenced by Black Sabbath, took the blues aspect more into account. But not only the blues sound, also the psychedelic sound of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and others were taken in. All in all this created a gerne of mellowed, laid back music, with a profound love for psychedelic and mariuhana induced excursions. Main bands: Sleep, Bongzilla and Weedeater.
Sludge metal came to be as doom metal musicians starting adding agressive and abrasive hardcore influenced sounds to their compositions. Starting out with bands as Crowbar and Eyehategod, the genre developed over the years with bands as ISIS and Neurosis who added a more atmosperical and layered sound.
-the2stranger
1. Sleep - Sleep's Holy Mountain
2. Sunn O))) - Black One
3. Nadja - Thaumogenesis
4. Boris - Amplifier Worship
5. Om - Conference of the Birds
6. Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
7. Bongzilla - Amerijunaican
(Above: Mike "Magma" Henry)
8. The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls With Sand
9. Ufomammut - Snailking
10. Melvins - Houdini
Classic Rock
1. Led Zeppelin - IV
2. The Who - Who's Next
3. Deep Purple - Machine Head
4. AC/DC - Back in Black
5. Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
6. Cream - Disraeli Gears
7. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
8. Boston - Boston
9. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run (at left)
10. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory  Mainstream Rock 1. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
2. Incubus - Morning View
3. Oasis - Definitely Maybe
4. Cold - 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage
5. Counting Crows - August & Everything After
6. Alice in Chains - Dirt
7. Alien Ant Farm - ANThology
(At right: Tye Zamora)
8. Hole - Celebrity Skin
9. Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
10. AFI - Sing The Sorrow
 Hard Rock/Hair Metal/Sleaze1. Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction 2. Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil
(at left: Nikki Sixx)3. Van Halen - Van Halen 4. The Cult - Sonic Temple 5. Extreme - Pornograffiti 6. Alice Cooper - Trash 7. Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous 8. Skid Row - Slave To The Grind 9. KISS - Destroyer 10. Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry
Pop Rock/Powerpop/Glam Rock 
As the 1970s dawned, popular music had exploded into adulthood following the rapid growth spurt of psychedelia, and sales were at an all-time high thanks to the ever-increasing presence of pop on the radio and television, and a rapidly expanding adult audience. The more cynical out there might claim that glam rock, power pop, and New Wave were no more than the attempts of major record labels to cash in on the rock trend by repackaging it for kids and girls, but culturally and musically, the importance of several of the artists involved cannot be understated. David Bowie struck a major blow for artists everywhere by claiming to be gay and reinventing himself as an androgynous alien; Marc Bolan's transition from hippie strum to glam stomp made him one of the first real cult heroes in rock; Elvis Costello's nerdy glasses and pop nous were instrumental in helping punk and all its less antisocial offshoots survive throughout the '80s. At its best, pop rock offers the listener unforgettable hooks served with just enough subversion to avoid being vacuous, as the murder ballad "Alison", the ode to heroin "Another Girl, Another Planet", and the deliriously gay "Jey Boy Jet Girl" - classics one and all - will attest.
-Iai
 1. Weezer - Pinkerton
2. Barenaked Ladies - Stunt
3. David Bowie - The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust...
4. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
5. U2 - Joshua Tree
6. T. Rex - Electric Warrior
7. Marvelous 3 - ReadySexGo
8. Butch Walker - Letters
(above right)
9. Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix
10. Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams
Alternative Rock
1. Jeff Buckley - Grace
2. Radiohead - OK Computer
3. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
4. dredg - El Cielo (at left: Mark Engles)
5. Muse - Origin of Symmetry
6. Pixies - Surfer Rosa
7. Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
8. The Red Paintings - Walls
9. The Flaming Lips - Transmissions from the Satellite Heart
10. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Post-Rock/Post-Metal/"Atmospheric Sludge Metal"
1. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
2. Isis - Panopticon
3. Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place
4. Slint - Spiderland
5. Red Sparowes - At the Soundless Dawn
6. Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood
7. Talk Talk- Laughing Stock
8. Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun
9. Rosetta - The Galilean Satellites
10. Jesu - Silver*
10. Mogwai - Young Team*
10. Pelican - Australasia*
*represents three-way tie
Progressive Rock 1. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King 2. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
(At right: David Gilmour)3. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound 4. Yes - Close to the Edge 5. Fair To Midland - Fables From A Mayfly... 6. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute 7. Tool - Lateralus 8. Rush - 2112 9. Camel - Moonmadness 10. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick Psychedelic Rock
1. Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
2. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
3. The Zombies - Odessey & Oracle
4. Love - Forever Changes
5. Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn
6. The Soft Machine - Volume One/Two
7. Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
8. Flower Travellin' Band - Satori
9. White Heaven - Out
10. Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs Jam Rock
The Jam Band genre is incredibly vast and diverse. There is no criteria for what the music has to sound like. It is based extensively around improvisation. At these kinds of concerts there are multiple "jams" that can last anywhere from 5 minutes, to over an hour. Jam bands have all kinds of different musical stylings, ranging from Bluegrass to Alternative rock, to Progressive. The cornerstone of Jam Bands are live performances; fans will often travel around the country with a single group for years on end. Live taping is also very prominent, most bands encourage fans to bring in their own microphones and equipment to tape the audio of shows and distribute freely amongst each other.
-UmphreysHead
1. The Allman Brothers Band - Live at the Fillmore East
2. Grateful Dead - American Beauty
3. Phish - Billy Breathes
4. The String Cheese Incident - Born on the Wrong Planet
5. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
6. The Disco Biscuits - Senor Boombox
7. Widespread Panic - Space Wrangler
(at left)
8. Dispatch - Bang Bang
9. Dave Matthews Band - Before These Crowded Streets
Fusion1. Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire 2. Frank Zappa - Hot Rats 3. Al Di Meola - Flesh On Flesh 4. John Zorn - Naked City  5. Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow
6. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
7. Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius
8. Dixie Dregs - What If
9. Stanley Clarke - School Days
10. Bill Bruford - One Of A Kind
Folk Rock
1. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
2. Neil Young – Harvest
3. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
4. Leonard Cohen - Songs of Love & Hate
5. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
6. Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
(At left)
7. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Deja Vu
8. The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
9. Sol Invictus - Death of the West
10. The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Krautrock
1. Can - Tago Mago
2. Neu! - Neu!
3. Faust - Faust IV
4. Amon Duul II - Yeti
5. Kraftwerk - Kraftwerk
Noise Rock
1. High Rise - II
2. The Jesus Lizard - Goat
3. Arab on Radar - Yahweh or the Highway
4. Sonic Youth - Confusion is Sex
5. Melt Banana - Teen Shiny
6. Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain
7. Mainliner - Mellow Out
8. Comets on Fire - Blue Cathedral
Stoner Rock
1. Kyuss – Blues for the Red Sun
2. Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
(At right: Josh Homme)
3. Spiritual Beggars - Ad Astra
4. Clutch - Clutch
5. Orange Goblin - Healing Through Fire
-----
In summation: This R&M forum project highlights the aforementioned community's consensus opinion as to what albums best exemplify the above genres. The lists above do not necessarily indicate users' all-time favorite albums, but rather, albums that serve as genre-defining records in the above categories. Cheers, The Rock & Metal Forum at http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/
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Comments
I apologize that this looks like crap. The original one looked awesome, but then Sputnikmusic's server decided to go pffthththhff while I was submitting the first final copy, so :(.
I have more to edit in later.
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Staff features?!?!?! NO WAY
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fucking awesome feature Jom. I think it looks fine. I'm gonna read everything in a hot minute.
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This is pretty fucking sweet. I had no idea [i]Letters[/i] would make the pop-rock list or I might have voted for it!
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i am sooo gonna check out bongzilla
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seriously awesome.
I'm happy to have contributed my small share to the list.
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I am very glad The Mars Volta made it on this list.
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For a minute I thought the bolded albums were the top picks, and I was like 'wtf Alien Ant Farm?!'
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Cool feature.
But a lot of these picks aren't very good.
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thats a really weird lone sonic youth record.
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So many overrated albums on the post-rock list.
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There's two Sonic Youth albums - one's under Alternative (Daydream Nation), the other's under Noise Rock. Not sure which one you are mentioning.
I will have to fix the confusion later. I wanted to get this out as a segue into the next staff feature that's upcoming next month.
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I'm bitter about L.D. 50 not winning the best nu-metal album.
This was a pretty awesome feature though!
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[quote]fucking awesome feature Jom. I think it looks fine.[/quote]
Agreed, keep up the good work/cool features.
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oh wow I missed Daydream Nation, Jom.
Tyler's right on the post rock. Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place is good, nothing more
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"The lists above do not necessarily indicate users' all-time favorite albums, but rather, albums that serve as genre-defining records in the above categories."
Read the fine print folks.
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List= biggest waste of time ever tbh. Some of the choices are ridiculous.
Too much focus on metal.
No Nirvana at all under alternative? Good way to prove how irrelevant this list/site is.
Why isn't punk a category?
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jimay-- Even with that statement this list is ridiculous, if not more so. Nirvana's Nevermind was not "genre-defining" in Alternative? Sh!t list.
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There are so many retarded things in the above post that it's almost pointless to point them out.
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If only R&M was as enlightened as ilikemusicthatsucks.
I just compiled the list; not my problem that the consensus didn't meet his standards. I mean, it's one thing if he participated, but he didn't! I don't see how that's my problem, either, considering how often updates were posted on this project and how people could participate.
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"Good way to prove how irrelevant this list/site is."
Um, do you realise that nobody actually cares if you leave? This was a group consensus list- there are always going to be flaws.
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Jom-- didn't really mean to blame you for any of this, rather the not-so-smart user base who made such terrible choices. I would have participated if not for the fact that I have not had internet access for some time now.
[quote]Um, do you realise that nobody actually cares if you leave? [/quote]
Um, yeah, so? Only a few more care if Sputnik leaves altogether.
[quote]This was a group consensus list- there are always going to be flaws.[/quote]
Yes I know, but damn, I didn't realize how weird the users on this site really are. This list is nothing BUT a flaw. It isn't indicative at all of "definitive" anything. And again, where's the punk rock section? Is "drone/stoner/sludge" really more deserving of a category than f*cking punk?
It just seems this wouldn't be that difficult of a list to make, if people would have looked at the history of some of the albums with the biggest influence in music, rather than rely on their gut opinion.
Alright now I probably seem like a huge dick at this point so I'm just gonna shut up now.
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I don't understand why you are crying...its kinda funny though
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ilikemusicthatsucks is crying because helikesmusicthatsucks
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Hey ilikemusicthatsucks
do you see the title
definitive Rock & Metal Albums
no punk, and alternative/indie was generally "Swept under the rug" we'll say
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"I would have participated if not for the fact that I have not had internet access for some time now."
Is this because they don't give internet to douchebags? Have they finally implemented this rule?
"Um, yeah, so? Only a few more care if Sputnik leaves altogether."
well I'm pretty sure most of the site would be upset if sputnik died altogether, given the reaction the recent problems. In your recent internet hiatus or whatever, I haven't seen one post along the lines of "hey, where's that ilikemusicthatsucks".
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Hey Illuvatar
you're right!
the title doesn't say punk!
it all makes sense now, since you know, punk doesn't fall under "rock." if it did, we'd hear more people refer to it as "punk rock." Oh wait....
[quote]Is this because they don't give internet to douchebags? Have they finally implemented this rule?[/quote]
*burn* lawlzorzez!!!!1111f*cku
[quote]well I'm pretty sure most of the site would be upset if sputnik died altogether, given the reaction the recent problems.[/quote]
I'm pretty sure nobody cares about "most of the site." Hell it took forever for even god damn WIKIPEDIA to feature reviews from this site. Now that's pretty lawlzortastic. But hey I'm glad you pointed out that "most of the site" would care if the site went away, because what I said was definitely said in utter seriousness and definitely needed to be rebutted instead of being seen as, say, juvenile sarcasm. Have a nice "life."
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No, but this was a contest done withing the rock and metal section of the site, and there was a specific thing where they just wanted what is classified as strictly rock and what is strictly classified as metal. you can call it punk rock yes but that still means "punk" is the keyword there.
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Punk is its own genre on the site and on the forums. The list was constructed in the Rock & Metal portion of the site. Not that hard to understand.
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Yeah, I don't know if you have gone to the forums or not ilikemusicthatsucks, but Punk has its own forum. Rock & Metal is combined into one, then Punk (with a subforum of Hardcore/Emo), then Alt/Indie, Pop-Punk, then Jazz/Funk/Blues, Other, and so on down the line.
The project was just out of Rock & Metal only. Punk (I think, I know Hardcore does for sure) has its own genre list, I think, but R&M wanted to expand on it a bit, so it got published it here as well.
It was just an attempt, albeit a feeble one, to try to link the forums and the reviews site together. Metal is the most popular genre here, and R&M is the most popular genre forum. However, not many forum users use the reviews site, and vice versa. Anything I can do to try to link the two.
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"Yes I know, but damn, I didn't realize how weird the users on this site really are. This list is nothing BUT a flaw. It isn't indicative at all of "definitive" anything."
Maybe not, but maybe you're taking this far too personally. This was a project designed to a) get the forum users debating music in a constructive fashion, and b) providing a useful resource for people looking to get into the genre.
If we wanted the statistically most significant albums, we'd just have gone on Wikipedia and ripped that shit off. But the purpose was for forum users to say "actually, these are the albums I think you should check out first." Nirvana or not, that's a really strong introduction to alternative rock, both the popular and underground varieties, and for that reason I'd say the process was a resounding success.
"Hell it took forever for even god damn WIKIPEDIA to feature reviews from this site."
Um, no? Literally a couple days after the staff designation was created, we went to wikipedia and told them what was up and they said "Cool!" It's almost as if you're wrong about everything!
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lol at I like music that suck
Great job Jom. I think the list looks great.
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Jom-- It makes a little more sense now. Thanks. :)
Still think people got a lotta stuff wrong though. But w/e just my opinion.
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I have to agree with Dave in the sense that it showcases both 'mainstream' complemented by the more underground, word-of-mouth stuff. I would have probably been disappointed with a Wikipedia Top Ten list because the users here tend to know a lot of music and can pick from literally thousands of artists.
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[quote]Is this because they don't give internet to douchebags?[/quote]
if this was true the majority of the users on this site would be gone indefinitely
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some surprising picks, which is always welcome.
the guys over at r&m kinda know their shit
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^Yes, and sh*t is the right word to use here.
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^You had terrible music taste so please stfu.
Once I saw Slayer at number 1, I knew this would be a joke.
This list is pretty laughable but seriously fuck all the idiots that placed converge over botch.
Cream #6, behind ACDC? Please Sputnik I understand opinions but this is just retarded.
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I am quite satisfied with the lists although the format of paragraphs is irritating for my eyes.
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"I understand opinions but this is just retarded."
Aw shit, we should have had this guy draw up the lists! Stupid stupid stupid!
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I'm quite surprised the Nevermind didn't make it to the Mainstream Rock list, considering the fame and influnce it had, but anyways this was pretty awesome, great job.
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HighandDriving's comment is pretty lawl
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yeah man the fact that Slayer is #1 on the thrash metal list is totally retarded man because they're TOTALLY not part of "the big four" of thrash metal or anything man
seriously man
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Obviously CREAM should have been #1.
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hahah The comments from kid who never enter R&M make this list worth it.
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[quote=ilikemusicthatsucks]Jom-- It makes a little more sense now. Thanks. :)
Still think people got a lotta stuff wrong though. But w/e just my opinion.[/quote]
tbh, the only issue is that rifles at recess isnt listed for deathcore
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Jom- Yes I know the big 4, so what? I'd imagine they'd make top 4 but not over Metallica or Megadeth.
Spat- You would take AC/DC over Cream.
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Is that a statement of fact?
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highanddriving I'm not really sure why you're being such a bitch about this. If you contributed, sure. Did you? No. Right to whine revoked.
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Awesome stuff Jom master. Loved to contribute.
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I forgot to contribute to this. I feel silly
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I dont really understand why weezer is in a rock and metal list.. especially when everyone is whining about how it has nothing to do with punk.. which is a subgenre of rock. Pop/punk is derived from punk, and is also related to pop rock... (through the pop if no one could tell..) i also dont understand why Pinkerton was chosen as it is Weezer's least "pop rock" album.. Can anyone shed light onto this mystery?
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Punk and Pop=pink both have their own sections at the forums
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"Punk and Pop=pink both have their own sections at the forums"
So does alternative.
Give up the argument, you all know this list is pretty bad, you're just trying to cover up for the fact that this website's users have all been exposed as stupid.
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I'm not really sure what you're arguing about anymore because you're the only one carrying on, so I'll just say okay! and let you go on doing whatever it is you do here.
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Needs more Slipknot - S/T
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Did Choirs of the Eye really not make the post-metal list!? Is this not Sputnik!?
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it's great that selling england by the pound made it. :)
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The fact that I have never heard of many of these bands probably doesn't say much about my indie cred...oh well.
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Hybrid Theory above White Pony, interesting.
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oh and there needs to be a thrash and electronica category
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There is a thrash category - great job reading. Electronic music has very little relevance to rock or metal save for industrial, and even that is a stretch.
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could have expanded on a description for industrial, a most fascinating genre. still, great list :)
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great!
I think I should take a look at the forums every now and then, so I don't miss something like that ;)
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btw, it's interesting that almost every metal genre has a long, wordy descriptions, whereas such interesting genres like Psychedelic-, Progressive- and Folk-Rock have none :/
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Sikth = Metalcore ? I would think that SikTh would be in progressive. Great to see that album there, one of my all time favourites
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All the lists I am familiar with seem very appropriate except the mainstream rock one. This was a pretty cool idea me likey
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Eh, 'Alive or just breathing' should definitely be on that metalcore list, even as nr.1 if u ask me.
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Cool to see Colors (BTBAM) in the list, I didn't expect to see them
Finally I can give my friends a link instead of trying to make them understand the meaning of some genres and that DevilDriver is NOT Doom Metal
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Awesome features, bad picks for some of the metal sections, especially the nu-metal section.
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Seriously where is Matthew Good in all this..:(
And lol at ilikemusicthatsucks...
Noone takes what you say for real cause you gave Protest the Hero a 2. >:D
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I found this really informative and helpful, thanks.
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Jom, thanks for all your hard work in compiling this list.
Lots of surprises on there, including Kayo Dot's inexplicable absence and Botch's number 2 finish :( But that's hardly Jom's fault. So quit bagging.
Didn't contribute. Oh well, better luck to me next time.
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Just found this... cool stuff, except Fair to Midland being considered prog rock.
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Progressive Rock
1. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
2. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
3. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
4. Yes - Close to the Edge
6. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
9. Camel - Moonmadness
10. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
YES
5. Fair To Midland - Fables From A Mayfly...
7. Tool - Lateralus
8. Rush - 2112
NO, I would replace them with :
5. Marillion "Script for a Jester's tear" is key for Progressive rock revival and continuation through the the 80's
6. Procupine tree "The sky moves sideways" although much Pink-Floyd-esque, was essential for people to realise that it was OK to develop 15+ minutes ethereal yet ambitious songs and albums in the 90, with all the grunge around.
7. Ayreon "The universal migrator". QuestionableI admit. But brillant double album in the progressive vein of mixed influence (folk, jazz, heavy, rock, ambiant, cold wave), great musicianship and compositions.
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hang on a minute, Death of a Dead Day is NOT Metalcore...
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AWE-FUCKING-SOME... I just find the lack of Mastodon a tiny bit disturbing...
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huh, I tend to disagree with most of these lists.
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I'm pleased with Surfer Rosa instead of Doolittle.
Not pleased with the lack of Dopesmoker, Symbolic and Junta
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gothic rock and gothic metal could have gotten a list too....
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What about grunge and everythind under the punk banner
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I can't complain about this because I got some new, very promising psychedelic bands from this list. Very well done. :)
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why would we do everything under the punk banner when it was the ROCK and METAL forum versus the PUNK forum
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[quote]Post-Rock/Post-Metal/"Atmospheric Sludge Metal"
1. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven[/quote]
ilu
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Nicely done, at the very least it is a good collection.
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Good job here! But where's RATM, the CREATORS of Nu metal, an why the fuck is muse even on the list; they're just a radiohead ripoff one and the same.
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LD 50 should be #1 for nu-metal
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There is one important distinctive genre left out. Sludge metal, I like it and stuff but it lacks lots of descriptions (and people should stop bitching whether their favorite band isn't on the list. Virgin Steele isn't on here, but you don't see me throwing a tantrum)
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