FirstStrikeIsDeadly
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Reviews 32
Approval 98%

Soundoffs 314
News Articles 3
Band Edits + Tags 23
Album Edits 20

Album Ratings 1249
Objectivity 66%

Last Active 05-12-22 12:43 am
Joined 04-15-14

Review Comments 1,248

Average Rating: 3.73
Rating Variance: 0.45
Objectivity Score: 66%
(Fairly Balanced)

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2023
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of...4.0
Metallica 72 Seasons2.5
Some good riffs, title song and You Must Burn and Crown of Barbed Wire are alright. That's about it though, overall this is the least inspired album Metallica ever made. Every song is way too long and the cool riffs are sparse. This just makes me appreciate Death Magnetic more.

2022
Devin Townsend Lightwork3.5
The songs where he pulls it back a little bit like Moonpeople and Call of the Void are awesome. But there are also some songs that are just really messy like Heartbreaker. Good album, not one of Devy's best but holds a few great songs.
Voivod Synchro Anarchy3.5
This album is good and all with some kickass songs on it, but it feels a little bit like Voivod going through the motions. The Wake brought a dynamic and special life to the band, but this is just more "modern Voivod." It's a good example of that sound and some parts really kick ass but I'm worried they're starting to lose that forward-thinking spirit.

2021
Spellling The Turning Wheel3.5
Shame (UK) Drunk Tank Pink3.5
Nanoray Zapper4.0

2020
Nuclear Power Trio A Clear and Present Rager4.0
Oranssi Pazuzu Mestarin Kynsi4.0
Testament Titans of Creation2.5
Body Count Carnivore3.0
Bum Rush, Thee Critical Beatdown, and The Hate Is Real all slap. Point the Finger is pretty good too. When I'm Gone is interesting. But overall the vocals can push the limits of cheesy and the songs not named here are pretty mediocre. I appreciate the increase in brutality at least.
Aktor Placebo3.0
Eminem Music to Be Murdered By3.0
Poppy I Disagree4.0

2019
Sacred Reich Awakening3.5
Just a little samey, but really there's more variety than the opening two singles let on. I dig the positive lyrics; as a band renowned largely for being politically conscious, they could've wrote something really bitter and cynical to reflect the current shitty climate. Instead they did the opposite of that and wrote something hopeful and optimistic. An interesting statement! Anyone worried this would suck after Don't Do It Donnie came out, rest assured this is a solid effort.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Infest the Rats' Nest4.0
100 Gecs 1000 gecs1.0
Unto Others Mana2.5
I expected a really cool crossover between gothic post-punk and heavy metal, and I kinda got that? Reminds me of Killing Joke but slightly more conventionally metal. Unfortunately the songs are really samey and the singer's voice gets annoying fast.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Fishing For Fishies4.0
Holocaust (UK) Elder Gods4.0
Another grower from Holocaust, this one has a spiritual moodiness to it that harkens back to some of their more progressive material, but darker. The slightly lifeless production and pedestrian metal drumming hurt it a little bit, but after listening to this enough, I think it's ultimately a great atmospheric piece of work, and the best Holocaust album in nearly 20 years.
Laster Het wassen oog4.0
GGGOLDDD Why Aren't You Laughing?4.5
Dude how is this not getting a ton of accolades? This is excellent.
Devin Townsend Empath4.0
The Caretaker Everywhere at the End of Time4.0
Pulls off its concept well. Wouldn't have minded it being a couple hours shorter though.
Aftermath There Is Something Wrong1.0
This is seriously fucking awful. What a joke, easily the worst ""tech thrash"" album I've ever heard and one of the very worst albums I have ever heard period.
Tropical Trash Southern Indiana Drone Footage4.0

2018
Sigh Heir to Despair4.0
Voivod The Wake4.0
Really love how this album pushes out in multiple different directions. There are some fast-paced numbers (Obsolete Beings especially, also Iconspiracy and to a lesser extent Always Moving), but The End of Dormancy and Spherical Perspective have ominous lurching rhythms to them early on that build in intensity, the former pulling off that buildup superbly. Orb Confusion has a punkish excitement to it and a couple thrash riffs, with some badass heavy riffs halfway through. Event Horizon has that tech as fuck opening and overall reminds me of the best tracks off Target Earth. And Sonic Mycelium is, of course, a true prog epic, with lyrical passages of great interest to those familiar with a certain previous prog epic of theirs. Vocals are a little rough sometimes but really this album is their best in 25 years. Great job Voivod.
Eminem Kamikaze2.5
Nice to hear Eminem with genuine fire again. Also nice to see him put out an album that's not a million hours long. Some good tracks on this thing but the last three songs are TRASH, the Tyler bar is quite egregious, and he really should've accepted how bad Revival was. He's shat on Relapse time after time, then has the gall to call Revival a porterhouse? The last part of Not Alike goes crazy though.
Deafheaven Ordinary Corrupt Human Love4.0
GRLwood Daddy4.0
Ministry AmeriKKKant2.5
Ironic Punishment Division Trigger Warning1.0

2017
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Gumboot Soup3.5
Eminem Revival1.0
Mike Love Unleash the Love1.0
This album should be a meme near the level of Angelic 2 the Core
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Polygondwanaland4.0
Osees Orc4.0
Brockhampton SATURATION II3.0
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Sketches of Brunswick East (w/ Mild High Club)3.5
Toxik Breaking Class2.5
It's a real shame that this turned out so mediocre, I loved Think This so dearly that I referenced it in a college essay.
Brockhampton SATURATION3.0
Death Grips Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix)4.0
Oranssi Pazuzu Kevät / Värimyrsky4.0
Kendrick Lamar DAMN.3.5
Father John Misty Pure Comedy4.0
I actually really like the political direction taken here. Maybe it's a little pretentious, but I generally think he does a good job of encapsulating the sense of division and hopelessness in the social climate in the era of this album's release. Whether touching ("Pure Comedy", "Two Wildly Different Perspectives"), ironic and satirical ("Total Entertainment Forever", "Ballad of the Dying Man"), or just bitter ("Leaving LA", "The Memo"), this album tackles its themes in an engaging way. This album's main fault is that there's just a bit of tendency towards plodding monotony, something that could've been fixed if about 10 to 15 minutes of the album were chopped out or certain sections had key or tempo changes to help keep certain songs more interesting interesting.
Body Count Bloodlust3.5
Mount Eerie A Crow Looked At Me5.0
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Flying Microtonal Banana4.0

2016
Childish Gambino "Awaken, My Love!"4.5
Metallica Hardwired...To Self-Destruct3.0
Metallica's much-belated true followup to Death Magnetic ain't half bad, but almost every track is like one or two minutes too long. That being said, James Hetfield clearly has a newfound interest in vocal harmonies, which leads to some of the more interesting moments on this album. It's also bookended by two solid thrashers. Hardwired is their briefest song in 33 years, and that brevity really works in its favor. Spit Out the Bone is also fast, but over twice as long. But hot damn is it the best song on this album. With all its riffs and energy, it definitely earns its place with songs like The Outlaw Torn, No Leaf Clover, -Human, and All Nightmare Long as among the best of Metallica's post-80s output. Other highlights include the riff-dense Atlas Rise, Moth Into Flame, and Halo On Fire, which settles into some surprising last few minutes. Lyrically, it's very corny, but I actually like that. It gives it sort of a campy vibe. After all these guys are playing metal their 50s. Dull in some spots, great in others.
Iconoclasm (USA-TX) Out for Blood4.0
Testament Brotherhood of the Snake3.5
Overall not as good as Dark Roots of Earth, but it really brings the speed in greater doses, which is much appreciated. Nowadays Testament love to play midpaced thrash, and they're great at that, but they're at their best when they're thrashing at full velocity.
Watchtower Concepts of Math: Book One4.0
They haven't put out a full album since 1989 (only releasing some singles in 2010 and 2015, all of which made it on this EP], but age hasn't stopped them from putting out this totally kickass EP. Definitely their heaviest release yet. Book 2 (or the full Mathematics album that this is pieces of) can't come soon enough!
Red Vox Blood Bagel4.0
it rocks
Devin Townsend Project Transcendence4.0
Mild High Club Skiptracing3.5
Swans The Glowing Man3.5
This is good, but it's also definitely their weakest this decade. The second half is better. I think they should cool it with the 20+ minute songs. This band has some really amazing long songs like Helpless Child, Animus, and The Apostate, but now it's just getting kinda overblown. Some highlights: the last song is truly amazing, When Will I Return is quite moving, and the title track really took me surprise when it suddenly picked up the pace.
Tim Heidecker In Glendale3.5
Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool4.0
Vektor Terminal Redux5.0
I'll remember this as one of my greatest ever listening experiences for the rest of my life. Fucking phenomenal.
Death Grips Bottomless Pit3.5
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Nonagon Infinity4.0
pilotredsun Achievement4.0
Kendrick Lamar untitled unmastered.3.5
Doom (JPN) Still Can't the Dead3.5
Voivod Post Society4.5
Oranssi Pazuzu Värähtelijä4.5
Megadeth Dystopia3.5
One of Megadeth's most solid albums in a while, certainly miles ahead of Pooper Collider. Kiko Loureiro's awesome guitar work adds plenty to Megadeth's sound. Maybe could've used more speed, though, but Megadeth aren't usually very fast anyway. Glad to hear Megadeth sounding this dark and heavy again.
David Bowie Blackstar4.5

2015
Holocaust (UK) Predator3.5
This album is a competent throwback to Holocaust's sound on The Nightcomers. Of course, this sounds different to that album, considering most of the lineup is different and quite old and the production is fairly contemporary (but more lively than most metal production these days, nice!). This one took a few months to click for me, but really it's a fun time. Just don't expect something as good as their prog-era stuff.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Paper Mache Dream Balloon4.0
Pantera History of Hostility1.0
Seriously, who buys a 9-track compilation CD these days? Why would you want to have this?
Killing Joke Pylon3.0
Deafheaven New Bermuda4.0
Iron Maiden The Book of Souls3.5
Iconoclasm (USA-TX) Iconoclasm4.0
The mix takes some getting used to, but as someone who's been checking out these guys since the Bite Your Face Off EP, their vocals have definitely improved, and the guitar playing is way tighter at this point. Fun little collection of thrashing tunes that actually kind of gives the impression of listening to a 35 minute jam-session. Cool cover art, too!
Symphony X Underworld3.5
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Quarters4.0
Death Grips The Powers That B3.5
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly4.5
A Forest of Stars Beware the Sword You Cannot See4.5
I feel I may be overrating this just a bit, but I really do dig the melodic sensibilities on here and overall vibe. A great listen!
Death Grips Fashion Week3.5

2014
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard I'm In Your Mind Fuzz4.0
Devin Townsend Dark Matters3.5
Devin Townsend Project Sky Blue3.5
Casualties of Cool Casualties of Cool3.5
Swans To Be Kind4.0
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Oddments3.5
Anewabyss Dreading My Thoughts3.5
Cynic Kindly Bent to Free Us3.0

2013
Death Grips Government Plates3.0
The Debauchees Big Machines and Peculiar Beings4.0
Black Flag What The...1.5
Sometimes you really can judge a book by its cover. Good lord, that was shit.
Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 23.5
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Float Along. Fill Your Lungs3.5
Death Angel The Dream Calls for Blood3.5
Their heaviest album in awhile! Highlights include Left For Dead, Fallen, Territorial Instinct/Bloodlust, and the title track.
Deafheaven Sunbather4.5
Black Sabbath 133.5
Megadeth Super Collider2.5
This is easily Megadeth's second-worst album. A lot of these songs almost have something going for them, but end up utterly neutered by Dave's corny lyrics and cornier singing. Kingmaker, Dance in the Rain, Built for War, and the Blackest Crow are actually alright, but overall, this was a pretty disappointing release.
Wavves Afraid of Heights3.5
Keaton Henson Birthdays3.5
Decent album. I prefer the songs that get a little more electric.
Voivod Target Earth4.0
Snake stumbles a bit on the vocals, but this is still Voivod's best since The Outer Limits.

2012
Deftones Koi No Yokan4.0
Pig Destroyer Book Burner3.0
Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city4.5
Death Grips No Love Deep Web4.0
Devin Townsend Project Epicloud3.5
Farrah Abraham My Teenage Dream Ended1.5
Swans The Seer4.5
Testament Dark Roots of Earth4.0
Rush Clockwork Angels3.5
Panopticon Kentucky4.0
Great atmosphere and great fusion of styles. Really emotionally involved in presenting its message too. My only thing is the vocals: they're very raw which I appreciate, but I can't really feel the righteous anger as much in the black metal songs if I can't understand what he's saying! And the bluegrass vocals sometimes have this kind of nerdy timbre to them that betrays their gritty working class meaning. Cool album though.
Neutral Bling Hotel In My G4 Over Da Sea3.0
is this that newfangled death grips the youngsters are into these days
Death Grips The Money Store4.0
Killing Joke MMXII3.5
Cynic The Portal Tapes4.0
The thing that makes me happiest about this trippy and generally pretty cool jazz-tinged psychadelic rock from the main dudes in Cynic is that it currently has a 38% average on Metal Archives
Sigh In Somniphobia4.0
Hello Kitty Suicide Club ^_^1.0
I, uh...wow. Someone show this to Joel from Vinesauce, he'd be absolutely flabbergasted at the idea of MIDI grindcore.
Lil Ugly Mane Mista Thug Isolation4.0
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard 12 Bar Bruise3.0

2011
Metallica Beyond Magnetic4.0
Great little EP, just what they needed after the absolutely abominable Lulu. Hate Train is mostly my least favorite, but the crunchy as hell freaking riff at about five minutes is gold. Just a Bullet Away is already a very good midpaced stomper, but the melodic section in the middle seals it as better than many of Death Magnetic's weaker tracks. Hell and Back is overall reminiscent of a Black Album song at first, until they speed things up a bit. Again pretty good, but it's held back just a bit by a certain very lame and uninspired riff (You'll know what I mean if you've listened to it) that thankfully isn't featured much. Rebel of Babylon is the best song here, and is up with All Nightmare Long as some of Metallica's best material since 1991 (or perhaps even 1988). This 8 minute epic has it all, featuring a melodic intro, a super memorable refrain, parts to thrash to, parts to mosh to (think back to the heavier section in Hate Train), and even a moment where Lars shows off better drumming than he's exactly known for. How didn't this one make it onto Death Magnetic? Beyond Magnetic is overall a collection of one decent track, two great tracks, and one mega killer one that helped wash down the bitter taste Lulu left.
Vektor Outer Isolation4.5
Megadeth Th1rt3en3.0
My expectations were pretty high after hearing Never Dead, but this isn't awesome like I thought it'd be. It's comprised half of good stuff (Discounting re-recorded/reused stuff, the best songs are probably Public Enemy No. 1, Whose Life Is It Anyways, and Never Dead) and half of lame stuff. Guns, Drugs & Money, Fast Lane, Black Swan, and Deadly Nightshade are examples of the latter. Dave's vocals are also not very good here. There's enough good music here to sort of redeem it, though.
Lou Reed and Metallica Lulu1.0
Human fecal matter varies significantly in appearance, depending on diet and health. Normally it is semisolid, with a mucus coating. Its brown coloration comes from a combination of bile and bilirubin, which comes from dead red blood cells. Human fecal matter can even take audio form, as exemplified by the 2011 collaboration album Lulu by Lou Reed and Metallica...It's been three years, but the scars still remain. Cool parts of tracks like Frustration and Iced Honey, or even the admittedly beautiful first three minutes of Cheat On Me, just can't save this absolute fucking disaster. The greatest crime here is Little Dog, which goes absolutely fucking nowhere for eight goddamn minutes. I actively despise this album. May it swallow my sharpest cutter like a colored man's dick. (EDIT Dec. 2018 - I respect their artistic intent and appreciate what they were going for more now. They really tried, but this still sucks, sorry.)
The Beach Boys The Smile Sessions5.0
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Willoughby's Beach3.0
Anthrax Worship Music4.0
Revocation Chaos of Forms4.5
Original, interesting, and fucking awesome! Great album.
Kendrick Lamar Section.804.0
Queensryche Dedicated to Chaos1.5
Devin Townsend Project Deconstruction3.5
Deafheaven Roads to Judah4.0
Death Grips Exmilitary4.5
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Anglesea3.0
Sabbat Sabbatrinity3.5
Radiohead The King of Limbs4.0
Death Grips Death Grips4.0

2010
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy3.5
Killing Joke Absolute Dissent3.5
The Third Eye Foundation The Dark3.5
Swans My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky3.0
Suicidal Tendencies No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family3.5
Eminem Recovery3.0
Exodus Exhibit B: The Human Condition3.0
Better than Exhibit A, boasting a lot more standout tracks.
Deftones Diamond Eyes3.5
Murmuure Murmuure4.0
Heathen The Evolution of Chaos4.0
Good album, though it doesn't match their previous albums (Particularly the mega ultra masterpiece that is Victims of Deception), and the production is ass incarnate. One interesting bit of trivia is that, judging by the lyrics to A Hero's Welcome, they seem to have done a political 180 from the days when they were writing songs like Pray For Death ("The government builds machines that kill/And they use our money against our will!").

2009
Tyler, the Creator Bastard3.5
Vektor Black Future4.0
The two epics at the end are absolutely amazing. Killing Technology: Part 2? (Side note: This album has some sick ass screams.)
Devin Townsend Project Addicted4.0
Slayer World Painted Blood3.5
Doesn't match their classic shit, sure, but it's still their best album in a while.
Paradox Riot Squad3.5
Megadeth Endgame3.5
Megadeth's heaviest record in a long time. I don't think it's as good as their classics, but it's the closest we're gonna get to them. The best songs are This Day We Fight, Head Crusher (I was so hyped when this was first released), and The Right To Go Insane.
Pissed Jeans King of Jeans3.0
Madder Mortem Eight Ways4.0
Voivod Infini2.5
Devin Townsend Project Ki3.5
Eminem Relapse3.0
maudlin of the Well Part the Second4.0
Children Hard Times Hangin at the End of the World4.0
Death (USA-MI) ...For the Whole World to See5.0
Holy shit. Can I really say anything else? This is absolutely amazing, yet the band slipped through the cracks because they stuck to their guns and refused to change their name back in the day. Everything from ragers like Rock'n'Roll Victim to the melodic Let the World Turn rules. Let there be death! 3.9 average my ass...
Black Sabbath 1969 Demo3.5
Something about this supposed "1969 Demo" sounds fishy to me. It's obviously cobbled together from different sources, because each song sounds different. The Rebel is alright sonically is definitely legit all the way through. It's alright, and doesn't sound much like classic Sabbath. Pretty cool towards the end. When I Came Down is obviously a 52 second clip looped twice, and then the intro's looped with reverb as an outro. This is definitely Sabbath in their early stages. Tony's guitar has that unmistakable sound to it, and Ozzy's always distinctive. Thomas Jones...this one doesn't even sound like it's actually Black Sabbath! I could be wrong, but this just doesn't sound like them at all. The production really tips me off that this song is fakely being passed off as the Sabs. Lame! Early One Morning Blues has super rough production. Ozzy's voice is definitely there, so this is Sabbath. Overall, this kind of reminds me of some of those bizarre metal bootlegs from the '80s and early '90s. The actual material is cool, it's super interesting to hear Sabbath's earliest stuff.
Amesoeurs Amesoeurs4.5
A cool, unique album. Post-punk, black metal, shoegaze, all come together for great music!

2008
Cynic Traced in Air4.0
Metallica Death Magnetic3.5
Their best since the Black Album in my opinion. Not only are they finally being fast and heavy again (WITHOUT shit production, if you listen to the GH3 rips instead of the actual thing), they've also brought back guitar solos and songwriting with a little more depth than "repeat ad infinitum"...for the most part. Much of you've come to love from Metallica's classic period is here; there's thrashers like My Apocalypse, more accessible and catchy stuff like Cyanide, an excellent half-ballad in The Day That Never Comes, and as implied before, the songs are long, but not just copy/pasted. The absolute best track here is All Nightmare Long, which is the single greatest song they've released in years. A couple songs fall flat though, namely Judas Kiss and The Unforgiven III. The actual CD is way too fucking loud; such are the pitfalls of modern music production. Death Magnetic isn't amazing but it's a solid return to form.
Judas Priest Nostradamus3.5
This ain't half bad, and in fact, I would go as far as to say that this could've been totally awesome, if not for one fatal flaw: it is WAY too long and overblown. They could've cut this down to around 70-80 minutes, keeping it epic in scope but preventing it from being too bloated for its own good, and it would've been great. Doing that and then making a couple of the remaining songs much faster would have produced a classic. Slow pace and length aside, this is still a fundamentally good album, and it's nice to see an old band still trying to do new things. Some of the tracks are pretty damn solid, like NOOOOOOSTRAADAAMUUS (enough said), the stomping Prophecy, the orchestral and epic Revelations (which embodies what they were probably trying to do here more than anything else on the album), Conquest, and Persecution, which carries the faster pace that this album needed more of. As mentioned, there are certainly lesser tracks as well, like the pretty crappy ballad New Beginnings, and with the exception of the AWESOME final two songs, the second disc isn't very good, but something about the great atmosphere, the epic scope, and the sheer audacity of this group of fifty-somethings put out a double-disc, 102 minute metal opera in 2008 makes me not want to rate this below a 3.5. If you enjoy Judas Priest and big grand albums, and are feeling patient, then check out Nostradamus.
Testament The Formation of Damnation4.0
Pretty great album, though not quite the "comeback" that some may label it. The next one's better. Title track fucking slays, though.
Death Angel Killing Season2.5
Warbringer War Without End2.5
There just isn't very much dimension to this. There are some cool riffs and cool leads, and the singer's voice is cool as first until you're twenty minutes into the album, at which point things just feel like a drag. Many parts of it are more than headbangable, but there's nothing that really stands out here. I'm glad that the old school thrash attitude extended to the production. Guitars slice and chug, the drums sound great and have that classic thrash vibe, and overall it doesn't sound too loud or brickwalled. No bass, though.
2007
Alien Kids Alien Rap - Songs About Life on the Planet Glumph5.0
A timeless classic in the world of hip hop. There are albums like Illmatic, and then there are true masterpieces transcending space and time like Alien Rap - Songs About Life on the Planet Glumph.
Exodus The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A2.5
Not too great. Most of the songs are boring and drag on for a million and one years. With that being said, the best song is the longest one, The Atrocity Exhibition. The Exhibition duology doesn't really sound like Exodus to me, though.
Radiohead In Rainbows4.0
Megadeth Warchest4.5
Soulja Boy Souljaboytellem.com1.0
I wanted to make the whole shoutout just say "YOOOOU" extended to fifty characters, but I got a white page that just said "No" when I tried to post it : (
Ministry The Last Sucker3.5
Killing Joke Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell3.5
Symphony X Paradise Lost3.5
Another solid Symphony X album, this time with a dash of extra heaviness. Were those death growls in Domination?
Devin Townsend Ziltoid the Omniscient4.5
Megadeth United Abominations3.5
Machine Head The Blackening3.5

2006
Death Breath Stinking Up The Night4.0
Deftones Saturday Night Wrist4.0
Melvins A Senile Animal4.0
Amesoeurs Ruines Humaines4.0
Flying Lotus 19833.5
Slayer Christ Illusion3.0
Way better than their previous two albums, and features the return of Dave Lombardo! The first five songs are all excellent. I particularly like that Skeleton Christ and Eyes of the Insane are both Slayer songs with very downtuned guitars that DON'T suck! Jihad has a really cool concept, and still had some shock value in 2006, especially with the outro. Black Serenade is also pretty cool. The other four songs aren't that good, and Catatonic in particular sounds a bit like the sludge of their last two albums. Also, Tom Araya's vocal style gets grating at times. I wish he'd sound like he did on their classic albums again. But man, it was refreshing to hear a Slayer album that didn't suck all the way through or almost all the way through. I would also recommend checking out Final Six; it was supposed to be on the album proper, but instead ended up only being on the Special Edition. It's a good song.
Voivod Katorz3.0
Strapping Young Lad The New Black3.5
Scott Walker The Drift3.0
Tool 10,000 Days3.5
Ministry Rio Grande Blood3.5
Stereolab Fab Four Suture4.0
J Dilla Donuts4.0
The Devin Townsend Band Synchestra4.0

2005
Sigh Gallows Gallery3.5
System of a Down Hypnotize4.0
Boris Pink3.5
Opeth Ghost Reveries4.0
Heathen 2005 Demo4.0
The first and last songs are pretty good, but Dying Season is an amazing modern thrash metal classic. It's a real shame that this has much better production than The Evolution of Chaos.
Crazy Frog Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits1.0
any of you guys remember that thing on funnyjunk where crazyfrog sounds would play in the background to a picture of a formula one racing vehicle and you were supposed to not laugh
Megadeth Greatest Hits: Back to the Start4.0
Meshuggah Catch Thirtythree4.0
System of a Down Mezmerize4.5
Stereolab Oscillons From The Anti-Sun3.5
Strapping Young Lad Alien4.0
Death Angel Archives And Artifacts4.0
"The Ultra-Violence" and "Frolic Through The Park" are brickwalled now, but that's not important; what is important is the fancy bonus tracks and disc of old recordings! The included "Kill As One" demo tape was produced by none other than Kirk Hammett! The demo songs on Disc 2 are mostly just alright, but with Silent Killer being fucking great. Disc 3 is hit-or-miss; you've got some interesting stuff like The Morrows Memoirs (Seriously, a really good song. How did this one not make it to an album?), Samson, and Betrayed (Which should have replaced Ex-TC on Act III imo), but then most of the rest of the disc...well, it's easy to see why a lot of these didn't make it to full albums. Still, if you haven't heard The Ultra-Violence or Frolic Through The Park, or just want to hear a bunch of rare demo tracks ranging (in my subjective opinion) from shitty to great, get this box set!
Aphex Twin Analord 104.0
Meme ちとてとち4.5
A lot of people will click on this out of curiosity out of the goofy name, but hopefully someone who does that checks this album out and sees the beauty it holds. Either this is a really pretty, melancholic little album that I enjoyed a lot, or it being 5AM is kind of messing with my senses. Maybe both?
PFFR Chrome Ghost3.0

2004
Devin Townsend Devlab3.0
Eminem Encore2.0
Brian Wilson Smile4.5
Wintersun Wintersun4.0
Gary Wilson Mary Had Brown Hair4.0
Megadeth The System Has Failed3.5
THIS was the comeback they really needed after Risk, and if they'd have skipped The World Needs A Hero for this, it would've shredded heads.
Bjork Medulla4.0
Ministry Houses Of The Molé3.5
Death Angel The Art of Dying3.0
Most of the album's alright, and a few songs are really good. Famine takes a while to grow on you, but then there are awesome tracks like The Devil Incarnate and 5 Steps of Freedom. Kind of weird how the first roughly half or so rules and then it peters out until the end, but oh well.
Exodus Tempo of the Damned4.0
These corny lyrics are the shit man. You tell em Zetro.
Stereolab Margerine Eclipse4.5
Spastic Ink Ink Compatible4.0
Mindblowing upon first listen. The music here is actually made rather intimidating from the incorporation of synthesizers. It makes for an...unsettling effect. Having a vocalist also makes things feel a little more coherent, enough so for me to label this the better of Spastic Ink's two albums.
Dream Theater Master of Puppets2.5
LaBrie's voice is clearly not meant for thrash vox. Great performances from everyone else, though.
Crotchduster Big Fat Box of Shit3.5
Peccatum Lost in Reverie3.5

2003
M83 Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts3.5
Homestar Runner Strong Bad Sings and Other Type Hits3.5
Dream Theater Train of Thought4.0
"The heaviest Dream Theater album" is unfortunately hampered by a non-negligible amount of corny moments, but it is Dream Theater, who traffic in cheese about as much as...uh, Kraft? Awful rapping parts aside, this is another great-but-not-amazing Dream Theater album.
Kayo Dot Choirs of the Eye4.0
Stereolab Instant 0 In The Universe4.0
Extol Synergy4.0
Virus (NO) Carheart3.5
Killing Joke Killing Joke (2003)4.0
Radiohead Hail to the Thief4.5
Boris Akuma no Uta4.0
Metallica St. Anger3.0
Close to being a solid album, a lot of good riffs and good hooks, cool vocal harmonies too. But DAMN, they just HAD to go with that drum sound, just HAD to stretch those songs out. Oh well, guess it'll always be a "what could've been" album.
Deftones Deftones4.0
Holocaust (UK) Primal4.0
Anthrax We've Come for You All2.5
Production is excellent, and there are a few great songs to be found here. What Doesn't Die evokes feelings of Anthrax's glory days, especially coming after the disappointing Stomp 442 and Volume 8. Taking the Music Back and W.C.F.Y.A. are both pretty good. Aside from everything I mentioned, though, this album was ultimately another overall mediocre John Bush-era release.
Opeth Damnation4.0
The Devin Townsend Band Accelerated Evolution4.0
Linkin Park Meteora3.0
Voivod Voivod3.5
Occasionally draggy and repetitive, and largely lacking their trademark progressive edge which only occasionally shows itself. Still a good time, and it's nice to see 3/4 of the lineup all together here for the first time in 12 years. (Side note: A LOT of songs end with Snake shouting the title over and over.)
Strapping Young Lad Strapping Young Lad4.0
PFFR Injustice Center3.0
Sabbat Karmagmassacre3.5

2002
System of a Down Steal This Album!3.5
Opeth Deliverance3.5
Symphony X The Odyssey4.0
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Yanqui U.X.O.4.5
Watchtower Demonstrations In Chaos4.0
Every song off Energetic Disassembly is here but Violent Change...and those songs all sound better here, despite being studio demos! That alone makes this worth owning, but then there are also some cool Control and Resistance demos, plus two exclusive tracks! You like Watchtower? Check this out, ESPECIALLY if you haven't checked out Energetic Disassembly yet.
Sonic Youth Murray Street3.5
Eminem The Eminem Show4.0
Dream Theater Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence4.0
If it was just The Glass Prison and then disc 2, it'd be a 4.5
Agalloch The Mantle4.0
Might bump this up to 4.5 sometime because there are some amazing moments, but sometimes it feels kind of boring and padded out.
Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man Out Of Season4.0
Arcturus The Sham Mirrors4.0

2001
maudlin of the Well Leaving Your Body Map4.0
Testament First Strike Still Deadly2.0
The production isn't even as good as Low, and I thought The New Order sounded fine anyways, so the "better production" thing doesn't really do anything for me. This does have plenty of tracks from their fantastic debut The Legacy, which unfortunately suffers from poor, dated production. Now if this would have been exclusively songs from The Legacy and similarly poorly produced Souls of Black...I still would have been disappointed, because as it is, this album takes tracks from Testament's classic first two albums...and sucks all the life and old school charm out of them! They just don't sound as fun with Chuck Billy's changed voice. Or with guitars tuned to Drop-D.
Aphex Twin Drukqs3.5
Ozzy Osbourne Down to Earth3.0
The Other People Place Lifestyles Of The Laptop Cafe4.0
Slayer God Hates Us All2.0
More nu metal inspired Slayer. I would say that it's only slightly better than Diabolus In Musica, if only because I like Disciple (Man, I love that unexpected outro) and Payback. But two decent songs don't elevate the record above overall dreck level. Good thing they snapped out of this with Christ Illusion and the excellent World Painted Blood.
The Microphones The Glow Pt. 24.5
System of a Down Toxicity4.0
Radiohead Amnesiac4.0
Stereolab Sound-Dust4.5
Bjork Vespertine4.0
Judas Priest Demolition2.5
Like Jugulator, not truly putrid to my ears, but nonetheless quite forgettable. Did they have to throw nu metal and industrial stuff into the mix? Did they have to make all the songs drag for so long? Subterfuge might be the worst Priest song ever made. I sense bits of potential in this, but they're drowned out by mediocrity. Time for me to put on some Stained Class to wash out my ears.
Sigh Imaginary Sonicscape4.5
maudlin of the Well Bath4.0
Devin Townsend Terria4.0
Tool Lateralus4.0
Megadeth The World Needs a Hero3.0
This album isn't "a return to thrash" as some might've thought, but it's a return to metal at least. A couple great songs, a lot of just okay stuff, but a step in the right direction.
Thought Industry Short Wave on a Cold Day4.0
The Angels of Light How I Loved You3.5
Opeth Blackwater Park4.5
Pokemon Pokemon Christmas Bash1.0
Pig Destroyer Prowler in the Yard4.0
Fugazi The Argument3.5
Madder Mortem All Flesh Is Grass4.0
PFFR Rock Rocker Rocketh3.5

2000
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven4.5
Symphony X V: The New Mythology Suite4.0
Electric Wizard Dopethrone3.5
Radiohead Kid A4.5
Holocaust (UK) The Courage to Be4.5
Devin Townsend Physicist3.5
Deftones White Pony4.5
Iron Maiden Brave New World3.0
Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP4.5
Sonic Youth NYC Ghosts & Flowers3.0
This album's okay. There are some neat chords (Thurston Moore's on the strings, after all) but most of the songs don't really go anywhere. This album can be annoyingly pretentious, too, mainly with the spoken poetry. On that note, fuck Side2Side, get outta here with that crap. All that being said, there are some times where this kinda clicks. For example, Renegade Princess gets pretty energetic, and Nevermind (What Was It Anyway) hits the kind of slightly atmospheric and lowkey yet memorable vibe I think they were going for. Other times are kind of charmingly eccentric, and the blasts of noises can be kind of interesting. A lot of this album is rather boring and unmemorable, enough for me to say this is probably the worst full Sonic Youth album, but it's not terrible.
Stereolab The First Of The Microbe Hunters3.5
Pantera Reinventing the Steel2.5
Megadeth Breadline1.5
Girls With Attitude Girls With Attitude1.0
Anal Cunt Howard is Bald4.0
By far the best and funniest album in Anal Cunt's repertoire. It would've been nice if they were to have continued with this lighthearted, goofier style of humor with lots of musical homages. (Happy 300th rating, me!)
Boris Flood4.5
Sabbat Satanasword3.5
Devin Townsend Ass-Sordid Demos I4.0
My rating applies to the Spotify verison, which has a totally different track listing than the original issue being detailed here. Those 1991 demos are pretty dang cool and quirky!

1999
Metallica S&M3.5
A bit of a mixed bag. One one hand, the fact that many songs are tuned a half step down from their original recordings irks the hell out of me because I'm weird like that, James' voice is a bit weak, and because it was the late '90s, there are a lot of Load/Reload songs on here. But the two new songs are both very good, and many songs sound pretty effective with symphonic backing, especially The Call of Ktulu.
Drexciya Neptune's Lair4.0
Sounds like a Sega Genesis throwing a rave.         ‌        ‌‌‌ ‌ ‌‌‌ ‌ ‌‌
Dream Theater Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory4.5
The Dismemberment Plan Emergency & I4.5
Opeth Still Life4.5
Fishmans 98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare4.5
Stereolab Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night4.5
Megadeth Risk2.0
Honestly? Crush Em is the nadir of Megadeth's discography. I really just don't like this album, even if it has some alright moments. I'll at least admit that Breadline is pretty good.
Mr. Bungle California4.5
Testament The Gathering4.5
Testament bounces back and releases their best album since The New Order. By the way, this sounds pretty much nothing like that oft-atmospheric and melodic record. Rather, The Gathering is an all-out brutal assault, with plenty of death metal influences mixed with badass riffage and obvious thrashy moments. DNR and Fall of Sipledome are unmistakably brutal thrash, while Legions of the Dead is more death metal inspired. The Gathering was Testament's most consistent album in a long time, and the second in a row to feature a legendary metal drummer behind the kit; Demonic had Gene Hoglan, while this album has Dave Lombardo. I'm sure this would have led to an awesome comeback if it weren't for Chuck Billy falling ill with cancer soon after.
Tom Waits Mule Variations3.5
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada4.0
Aphex Twin Windowlicker4.0
Eminem The Slim Shady LP4.0
Control Denied The Fragile Art of Existence4.0
This album's a bit of a grower but it's pretty good. Chuck had a good thing going here, RIP.
maudlin of the Well My Fruit Psychobells... A Seed Combustible3.5
Rage Against the Machine The Battle of Los Angeles4.0
Sabbat Karisma4.0
Listen to the Japanese version of this album! The mixing and vocal performances are better, and you still can't understand what the hell they're singing in the English version anyway.

1998
Osamu Sato Lucy in the Sky with Dynamites4.0
Stereolab Aluminum Tunes3.5
Death The Sound of Perseverance5.0
Complete masterpiece, and the pinnacle of Chuck Schuldiner's career. Featuring some clean vocals in the Painkiller cover!
Rob Zombie Hellbilly Deluxe3.5
Opeth My Arms, Your Hearse4.0
Anthrax Volume 8: The Threat Is Real2.0
Anal Cunt Picnic of Love4.0
Anal Cunt, the band behind tracks like "Hitler Was A Sensitive Man", "I Sent Concentration Camp Footage To America's Funniest Home Videos", "I Lit Your Baby On Fire", and "I Respect Your Feelings as a Woman and as a Human"
System of a Down System of a Down4.0
Slayer Diabolus in Musica2.0
What the hell is this, Slayer? Slayer tries to modernize, and they even adopt some nu metal techniques here. You know what this has most in common with nu metal? It sucks.
Symphony X Twilight in Olympus4.0
Quite good! I can't quite say this compares to Divine Wings, but it certainly seems to me that they still had some of the creative high they were on with that album, because, in my opinion at least, this is one of their best.
Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea4.5
Recommended to me by a friend that believes the hype. After a few listens, it's safe to say I do too. I kinda hated Jeff's voice at first, but then I got used to it.
Hive (USA-CA) Devious Methods4.5
3.5 average, huh? I don't even listen to this kind of music much, but this album jams. Dark, atmospheric, pounding, groovy...this album makes me want to buy a subwoofer.
Koji Kondo The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time OST4.5
Holocaust (UK) Covenant4.5
Boris Amplifier Worship3.5
Amon Tobin Permutation4.0
Sonic Youth A Thousand Leaves3.5
Devin Townsend Infinity4.0

1997
Metallica Reload3.0
The former pioneers that brought thrash metal to the mainstream release this and its older brother. There's some cool stuff on this album. Bad Seed, Where the Wild Things Are (which is really atmospheric and cool), and Attitude are all pretty good. Fuel is fun (and fast, unlike almost anything else they were putting out at the time), and Devil's Dance is sick as hell, but everything else here is sadly mediocre. Shitty filler tracks like Carpe Diem Baby are a chore to fully listen to, and that's indicative of the real problem with the worse tracks (and most of the album, really); it's mostly boring and forgettable. You can really tell that this is really just a leftovers album. Barring Lulu, Reload is certainly Metallica's worst studio album, at least if you're like me and think that St. Anger is overhated.
AFI Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes3.0
Judas Priest Jugulator2.5
Remember how awesome it was when Judas Priest decided to get way heavier out of nowhere on Painkiller, incorporating influences from (then-)contemporary thrash groups? I guess they tried to catch that lightning in a bottle a second time, but now with groove influences. Didn't work out too well. This isn't truly irredeemably horrible, and Tim "Ripper" Owens isn't half bad (except when he's shouting, like at the beginning of Abductors or on a lot of Brain Dead, which may be the worst song on here), but the lame studio effects and the occasional forgettable riffs really drag this down. I can't really say it's Tim Owen's fault that Judas Priest's late 90s attempt to be heavy and cool was more or less a stinker, but Rob could've provided songwriting contributions to make this better. After all, Fight's first album was pretty good and it had some thrash and groove influences too.
Deftones Around the Fur3.5
Aphex Twin Come to Daddy3.5
Dream Theater Falling into Infinity3.5
Bjork Homogenic4.0
Stereolab Dots and Loops5.0
Kara's Flowers The Fourth World4.0
Godspeed You! Black Emperor F♯ A♯ ∞4.5
Spastic Ink Ink Complete4.0
What the fuck was that? I think I enjoyed it. Oh, by the way, A Wild Hare totally goes with scenes from Bambi!
Fishmans Uchuu Nippon Setagaya4.5
Devin Townsend Ocean Machine: Biomech4.5
Thought Industry Black Umbrella3.5
They aren't the crazy band they were on Mods Carve the Pig, but they do moody and still weird alternative rock well.
Megadeth Cryptic Writings3.5
This is the poppy hard rock album Risk wishes it was, and with some solid metal songs on it too!
Radiohead OK Computer4.0
Amon Tobin Bricolage3.5
Michiru Yamane Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight OST4.5
Fantastic and varied soundtrack. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night carries a series tradition (At the time, at least; I haven't played a Castlevania game more recent than it) of having great music.
Symphony X The Divine Wings of Tragedy4.5
A hell of an album. I don't know how they went from their debut to THIS in just three years, but they did. You like prog metal? You like power metal? Hell, you like ANY kind of metal? Listen to this!
Impaled Northern Moonforest Impaled Northern Moonforest4.0
Obviously the music sucks, and there are no real lyrics, but the cover, album/band title, sheer concept (acoustic black metal), and absurdly hilarious song titles which had me crying with laughter all add up to one of the funniest joke albums ever made.
Strapping Young Lad City4.5
Nobuo Uematsu Final Fantasy VII: Original Soundtrack5.0
It really shows how great Nobuo Uematsu is that this isn't even his best score, yet it's still worthy of a 5.
Testament Demonic3.0
On Demonic, Testament tries to be pretty much as heavy as possible, adopting death growls, downtuning their guitars, and slowing to try and be as crushing as possible. This brings mixed results; the good songs are pretty cool, but that label only applies to six (maybe seven) of eleven tracks here. The songs that aren't standouts are just kind of boring, and it's honestly a bummer to see the end of the old Testament sound. But hey, it has that fucking awesome part at around 1:17 in Distorted Lives.
Forbidden Green2.0
What a fall from grace. They go from awesome to boring to, on this album, just bad. Next!
Komar, Melamid and Dave Soldier People's Choice Music5.0
CHRISTMASTIIIIIIIME, CHRISTMASTIIIIIIME, DOOO ALL YOUR SHOPPIIIING...AT WAL-MART!
Voivod Phobos3.5
Good, but sometimes boring and repetitive. The vocals aren't great either. Snake's voice is the only voice for Voivod! Still not bad though, I like the sludgier direction in spite of some plodding moments and the first few songs are badass.
Christoph De Babalon If You're Into It, I'm Out Of It4.0
Electric Wizard Come My Fanatics...4.0
Hive (USA-CA) Working With Sound3.5
Mayhem Wolf's Lair Abyss2.5
The Third Eye Foundation Ghost4.0
Annihilator Remains2.5

1996
Aphex Twin Richard D. James Album4.0
Koji Kondo Super Mario 64 Original Soundtrack4.5
Fishmans Long Season4.5
Swans Soundtracks for the Blind5.0
Tool Ænima4.0
Aphex Twin Girl/Boy EP3.5
Alice in Chains MTV Unplugged4.5
Melvins Stag4.0
Opeth Morningrise4.5
Metallica Load3.0
It's okay. I guess you can't really blame people for being pissed off this wasn't thrash metal. For what it is, half of it is either boring (The House Jack Built, Thorn Within) or actually sucks (Pure Twisted Me, Cure, and god forbid Mama Said), but then some of it's alright (Ain't My Bitch, Bleeding Me, King Nothing) and then some of it is very good (Wasting My Hate, The Outlaw Torn) so if you really like Metallica this is worth listening to, I guess. It certainly has its gems, but it's not regarded as one of their best for good reason.
Sabbat The Dwelling5.0
Simply incredible. Total creativity and evil atmosphere and passionate performance from beginning to end.
Punky Bruster Cooked on Phonics3.5
Pantera The Great Southern Trendkill4.0
Pantera's heaviest, yet also with some of their most somber moments. Maybe their best?
Manic Street Preachers Everything Must Go4.5
Carbonized Screaming Machines4.0
Just a little more subdued than Disharmonization, but still continues down the path of weirdness. I cannot BELIEVE how underrated it is either, there is so much creativity on this album.
Rage Against the Machine Evil Empire3.5
Edge of Sanity Crimson4.0
Stereolab Emperor Tomato Ketchup4.5
Killing Joke Democracy4.0
Sepultura Roots2.0
Booooo! The first song is cool...but it's the only worthwhile thing here.
Sacred Reich Heal4.0
Thought Industry Outer Space Is Just a Martini Away4.0
Fishmans Kuuchuu Camp3.5
Ministry Filth Pig3.0
Monstrosity Millenium4.0
D.R.I. Full Speed Ahead3.5
Coroner The Unknown Unreleased Tracks (1985-1995)2.5
Look, I get that Coroner is often avant-garde, but a lot of this is just a little too out-there for me. Octopus is really cool and atmospheric, and S.W.A.T. is just awesome, but most of the "ambient" stuff here can really just be thrown away. Also, the recording quality of the live tracks sucks, and it's honestly a little distracting how downtuned the guitars are in the live performances. But hey, the demo tracks with the frontman of Celtic Frost are cool!
System of a Down Demo Tape 23.5
The Wesley Willis Fiasco Spookydisharmoniousconflicthellride4.0
CAAAASPER CAAAASPER CAAAASPER CAAAASPER CASPER THE HOMOSEXUAL FRIENDLY GHOST!!!!
Cardiacs Sing to God 4.0
Pan.Thy.Monium Khaooohs And Kon-Fus-Ion4.0
This album is pretty dang awesome. Just wish I could hear it without the retarded frog vocals
Deep Turtle Flutina4.0
The Third Eye Foundation Semtex4.5
The first four songs are INCREDIBLE music, insane blasts of mix of noisy drum n bass and shoegaze. The combination of rhythmic pulse and atmosphere is nuts. The latter two tracks are overlong and not nearly as impressive but they sure do bring in the atmosphere.
Prong Rude Awakening4.0

1995
Koji Kondo Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island4.5
A lot of this game's soundtrack doesn't really sound like Mario music, and it really sounds like there was a good effort taken to make this game's soundtrack feel special. In any case, it's really great; I especially love the innocent yet suitably "tribal" sound of the game's title theme, the mysterious cave music, the surprising final boss theme, and the quite beautiful credits theme. Some of the best stuff on 16 bit hardware!
Voivod Negatron3.5
E-Force's vocals can't match Snake's (although he's better here than on Phobos), but this is heavy as shit and has some kickass stuff on it, as every Voivod album should. I guess it's their worst album at that time, though, because RRROOOAAARRR was a little more fun for me.
Alice in Chains Alice in Chains4.0
Symphony X The Damnation Game3.5
Total improvement all around from their first album to their second, and introducing awesome vocalist Russel Allen! The mighty "A Winter's Dream" is one of my favorite Symphony X songs ever.
Anthrax Stomp 4422.0
Ozzy Osbourne Ozzmosis3.0
Unfortunately, it's the last Ozzy Osbourne album worth owning. There are some good songs here. Perry Mason, Thunder Underground, and My Jekyll Doesn't Hide are all great, crunching stompers, and Denial and Tomorrow are pretty good too. But this album really suffers from being too soft. Most of the album is half heavy/half soft power ballads, really! Seriously, the tracklist goes like this: Heavy, power ballad, power ballad, heavy, power ballad, kinda heavy, power ballad, power ballad, heavy, ballad. Ozzy was obviously going for a more modern approach here, and overall I don't know if it really worked out for him.
Mr. Bungle Disco Volante4.0
Deftones Adrenaline3.5
Merauder Master Killer3.5
Stereolab Refried Ectoplasm4.0
Michael Jackson HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I3.5
Bjork Post4.0
Carcass Swansong4.0
Very different for Carcass, but still pretty cool. Childs Play and Room 101 are my favorite cuts.
Opeth Orchid3.0
Radiohead The Bends3.5
Strapping Young Lad Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing3.5
Death Symbolic4.5
Imagine how ballin this could've been with Tim Aymar (Control Denied) on vocals
Testament Live at the Fillmore4.0
It's an alright live album, but the real jewels on here for me are the acoustic versions of Testament ballads.
Coroner Coroner3.5
The new tracks are really cool, and quite groove-like (basically, in the style of Grin). Nothing else is too interesting, though.
Forbidden Distortion2.5
Holy shit, every song on this album drags and drags and drags. Every time I try to listen to it I get bored and want to skip ahead. I sense some good riffs buried in here, but the layer of boredom masking them is just too deep for me to bother digging through.
Portal (Cynic) Portal4.0
Zeitgeist The Eyes of Time4.0
Swans The Great Annihilator5.0
Sonic Youth Washing Machine3.5
Scott Walker Tilt3.5
Fugazi Red Medicine4.0
Ved Buens Ende Written In Waters4.0
Electric Wizard Electric Wizard4.0
Jacob's Optical Stairway Jacob's Optical Stairway3.5
Goldie Timeless4.5
Aphex Twin ...I Care Because You Do3.5

1994
Megadeth Youthanasia4.0
The last in a line of great Megadeth releases for a while. Slower than Countdown, but still awesome! A few songs are kinda boring, but in general, you'll either be singing along to uber-catchy tracks A Tout Le Monde or Elysian Fields or banging your head to slower, rippingly heavy numbers like The Killing Road or Black Curtain. Too bad it was downhill from here.
Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York4.0
Fishmans Orange4.0
Tiamat Wildhoney4.0
Melvins Stoner Witch3.5
Queensryche Promised Land3.5
Dream Theater Awake4.0
Sabbat Fetishism3.0
Testament Low3.0
Alex Skolnick's absence is certainly a detriment to Testament's sound, but Low isn't all bad. It has one of my favorite Testament ballads, Trail of Tears, the death metal monster Dog Faced Gods (A foreshadowing of their later musical experiments), and Urotsukidoji, which is a funky hentai metal instrumental! That's right, hentai metal; it's named after a tentacle hentai series, and features voice samples from it. Low is okay, I guess, but either this or Demonic could qualify as Testament's worst.
Slayer Divine Intervention3.0
The best songs are Killing Fields, Fictional Reality, Dittohead, the title track, and 213. Slayer went downhill starting with this album, and I'm sad to say that Diabolus in Musica and God Hates Us All both sucked the big one. However, the production isn't that bad, and I don't get why everyone rags on it.
Manic Street Preachers The Holy Bible4.5
Machine Head Burn My Eyes3.5
Stereolab Mars Audiac Quintet4.0
Killing Joke Pandemonium4.0
Emperor In the Nightside Eclipse4.0
Sonic Youth Experimental Jet Set, Trash, and No Star3.5
Nobuo Uematsu Final Fantasy VI: Original Soundtrack5.0
People often talk about how Final Fantasy VII has one of the greatest video game soundtracks ever. Hell, I distinctly remember it being voted as having the best game soundtrack of all time on a show on G4 around ten or so years ago. But this stuff is, quite simply, Nobuo Uematsu's finest work. I especially love how the overworld and airship themes match their respective worlds. In the World of Balance, the overworld theme reflects perseverance as the Returners do battle against the Empire. The airship theme evokes flying freely through the sky. In the World of Ruin, the overworld theme reflects the bleakness and despair of the desolate, dying world around you. The airship theme here sounds like the last remaining beacon of hope in a dying landscape as our heroes resist the world's new ruler, Kefka. Awakening evokes feelings of solitude, reflecting Terra's struggle of self-discovery. I could go on, but the point is that this is masterfully composed and memorable stuff that evokes a wide range of emotions and styles.
Pantera Far Beyond Driven4.0
The highlights aren't as amazing as Vulgar Display of Power's, but there are a few lesser tracks throughout (that are still decent) instead of Vulgar's big dip from tracks 7 to 10, so I daresay this is a little better overall. I appreciate how fucking PISSED they were on this album. When Pantera achieved mainstream success, they responded by getting even heavier instead of going soft. Mad respect for that. And also mad respect for having the balls to end the album on a cover of Planet Caravan.
Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral4.0
Aphex Twin Selected Ambient Works Volume II4.0
Dizzy Mizz Lizzy Dizzy Mizz Lizzy4.0
Gargoyle Tsuki no Toge4.0
Alice in Chains Jar of Flies4.5
Symphony X Symphony X2.5
Not awful or anything, but it just feels very cliche and generic. It's mediocre and unmemorable, and feels like "going through the motions" of the kind of metal Symphony X plays. I do like Rod Tyler's voice, though!
Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka Earthbound5.0
One of the best and most unique video game OSTs ever.
Nevermore Nevermore3.0
Depressive Age Lying in Wait3.5
Almost a soft 4.5. Another great album from Depressive Age!
Acid Bath When the Kite String Pops4.0
Drive Like Jehu Yank Crime4.0
Thinking Fellers Local 282 Strangers From the Universe4.0
Slint Slint3.5
Slogan Voluntary Swoon4.0
Pretty cool songs on this obscure piece of mid-90s prog metal. Check the synth chimes in Passing Away, the energy of Immortality Express, the dissonance of Source, and the general greatness of Branch and the title track.
Deep Turtle There's a Vomitsprinkler in My Liverriver4.5
Robert Hood Internal Empire3.0
Mayhem De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas3.5
Burzum Hvis Lyset Tar Oss4.0
Ved Buens Ende Those who Caress the Pale4.0
Prong Cleansing4.0

1993
Melvins Houdini4.0
Nirvana In Utero4.0
Fight War Of Words4.0
Little Crazy is cheesy in a really bad way (though it does briefly pick up around the solo) but beside that this album is generally pretty good. There are a few awesome standout tracks, like Nailed to the Gun, Into the Pit, and Kill It.
X Japan Art of Life4.5
Annihilator Set the World on Fire3.0
This would so be a 4 if it weren't for all the boring parts. This album has some really great songs, like the title track, No Zone, Knight Jumps Queen (IF YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN!), and Brain Dance.
Voivod The Outer Limits4.5
The Outer Limits is Voivod's return to having a bit of an aggressive edge to their music. It's nowhere near as aggressive as their first three albums; Snake's still singing (His vocal performance is very strong, by the way), and I can only recall one brief fast/thrashy section off the top of my head. But just listening to the introduction to Fix My Heart, you know they were trying to be a bit more hard-edged. Whatever wider things you want to say about this album's aggressiveness or whatever don't really matter as much as the fact that this is another solid release from Voivod. Most of these songs are pretty damn good. But then there's Jack Luminous, which kicks so much ass and is one of the greatest musical accomplishments in Voivod's long career. There are dark and atmospheric passages, more raw and aggressive passages, and seemingly gentle and serene passages...that soon become eerie, of course. Since the album has Jack Luminous, as well as fantastic production, a ripping opener, and a string of consistently great tracks other than those two highlights, it's worthy of being considered a quality Voivod release.
Stereolab Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements4.5
Burzum Det Som Engang Var3.5
Fishmans Neo Yankees' Holiday3.5
Fugazi In on the Kill Taker4.0
Death Individual Thought Patterns4.5
Maybe, just maybe, there's almost a little too much going on per song at certain points...but not usually. Kicks ass.
Bjork Debut3.5
Anacrusis Screams and Whispers4.0
Anthrax Sound of White Noise4.0
Gargoyle Tenron4.0
This is a fun, speedy Japanese metal album which some greatly appreciated variety. Sometimes it thrashes hard, but at other points it's just a rockin' good time, with some songs throwing elements of funk and punk into the mix. The gruff, exaggerated vocals add some campiness, but I think that works in this album's favor.
Radiohead Pablo Honey3.5
Tool Undertow4.0
Sabbat Disembody3.0
Believer Dimensions4.5
Badass Christian prog/thrash (yep.) with a very tight and technical feel, mostly lacking in the band's typical speedy assault but sprinkled with bits of atmosphere, dissonant guitar work, and symphonic experimentation, culminating in the epic four-part suite Trilogy of Knowledge (that might not make sense, but the first part is an intro, so you could still call it a three-part composition), which impressively meshes the band's technical metal style showcased on this album with a string section and a soprano singer! Highly recommended for those looking for some heavy old-school tech metal.
Living Colour Stain3.5
Thought Industry Mods Carve the Pig5.0
This album is fucking crazy, even more than their previous one. And if you've heard Songs for Insects, you'll know that's a hell of an accomplishment.
Stereolab The Groop Played "Space Age Batchelor Pad Music"4.0
Sacred Reich Independent3.5
Sacred Reich softens their approach even more, with nothing here even reaching the fastest parts of The American Way. Most of this album is pretty good and catchy, much more accessible than most of anything on Ignorance. This album somewhat feels a bit like a product of the times, what with the style of riffage and sudden Eb tuning. The title track's video just screams early '90s. Said title track's main riff is fucking awesome and high energy, and while Just Like that is a bit overlong, it still has a sick as fuck groove. Crawling is obviously inspired by Black Sabbath; listen to the riff at about 5:08 and tell me that they weren't jamming to some Master of Reality recently. Phil's vocals are quite strained on I Never Said Goodbye (His performance on this album overall seems to indicate that his vocal cords have taken a beating), but it's still a decent little ballad. Other good tracks include the fun and fast paced Pressure, and moody instrumental If Only. A couple songs on here kinda mediocre, and the riffs do tend to sound similar, but I still contend that this is a pretty cool little album.
Sepultura Chaos A.D.3.0
Obliveon Nemesis4.0
Coroner Grin5.0
This album has a punishing, unique groove to it. It mostly doesn't thrash like their previous albums at all, but it instead builds upon the hints of an unsettling atmosphere glimpsed at in No More Color and Mental Vortex. This album packs a ton of atmosphere actually, from its strange percussive intro to the ambient droning interlude to the various sound effects and movie samples utilized. They even utilize electric sitars and female backing vocals sometimes. (The latter was done on Mental Vortex, but that was a Beatles cover, so...) The final track, Host, is stunning in how eerie it manages to be, and is a fantastic display of Coroner's capabilities beyond simply thrash metal. With its experimental nature, long songs, and occasional odd time signatures, I'd classify this as a progressive metal album with some serious bite. With Tommy T. Baron's fantastic guitar work (stellar riffs and amazing leads abound), Marquis Marky's excellent drumming and lyrics (which are quite thoughtful and really compliment the album's dark atmosphere), and Ron Royce's best vocal performance (and best bass performance, for that matter), this album is a criminally underlooked masterpiece. Truly ahead of its time.
Atheist Elements4.0
Different from Unquestionable Presence, but terrific in its own right. The production is not good though.
Cynic Focus4.5
Aspid Extravasation4.5
Brutal, technical, and awesome Russian thrash! A little cheesy sometimes, but that's part of the fun. AVOID THE REMASTERED CD EDITION AT ALL COSTS! It's pitched up and made faster...sounds really dumb.
Bobby Prince Doom4.0
Featuring MIDI ripoffs of D.R.I.'s "Hooked", Slayer's "Behind the Crooked Cross", Pantera's "Mouth For War", and S.O.D.'s "Sargent D and the S.O.D.", with some other, more atmospheric tracks that are still great.
Carcass Heartwork4.5
Entombed Wolverine Blues4.0
Ripped Through My Eyes2.0
Shitty trebly mixing, terribly annoying vocals, and utterly unmemorable, samey songwriting. There are a couple interesting grooves here and there, a riff that catches the year, but then either the vocals poop all over it or it goes into some annoying or boring direction.
Thinking Fellers Local 282 Admonishing the Bishops4.0
Carbonized Disharmonization4.0
Damn, this is really fucking crazy. So crazy that it sometimes collapses into incoherence, but it can pull itself together long enough for some pretty cool songs, like the first two tracks and Spanish Fly.
Pestilence Spheres4.0
Mayfair Behind...3.5
Tom Waits The Black Rider3.0

1992
Melvins Lysol3.0
Nobuo Uematsu Final Fantasy V: Original Soundtrack4.0
Thinking Fellers Local 282 Mother of All Saints2.5
Doom (JPN) Doom VI - Illegal Soul4.0
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine4.0
Fishmans King Master George3.5
Alice in Chains Dirt4.5
Nine Inch Nails Broken4.0
Tom Waits Bone Machine3.5
Stereolab Low Fi4.0
Exodus Force of Habit3.0
I actually like this just a little better than Impact is Imminent, if only because this one at least has a bit of variety instead of being generic thrash metal all throughout. That, and the highlights are pretty good songs in their own right. The one fast thrash metal song at the end, Feeding Time at the Zoo, is Exodus doing a fine job at what they do best. Good Day to Die and Me Myself & I are both solid tracks and the best example of the style most typical of this album. As for said style, it's midtempo, "groovy", and depending on the song, can be a fun time or quite boring, with most songs being just about passable. As would become a big problem with this band, most of the songs are way overlong. This is definitely a lesser attempt at a "Black Album" than the ones by Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, but they were at least trying harder on here than on Impact is Imminent.
The Beach Boys Summer in Paradise1.0
Sonic Youth Dirty4.0
Soundtrack (Video Game) Super Metroid4.5
Dream Theater Images and Words4.5
Megadeth Countdown to Extinction4.0
Suicidal Tendencies The Art of Rebellion2.5
Black Sabbath Dehumanizer3.5
Faith No More Angel Dust4.0
Jeff Mills Waveform Transmission Vol.13.0
Testament The Ritual4.0
Testament's Black Album smokes pretty much every other thrash metal band's attempt at one.
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Henry's Dream3.5
Thought Industry Songs for Insects3.5
Man...this record is just freaking crazy. So much variety! Terrible production though.
Aphex Twin Digeridoo4.0
The Cure Wish4.0
Stereolab Peng!4.0
Body Count Body Count4.0
Defiance (USA-CA) Beyond Recognition3.0
There's potential on this album, which is why it's a downer to listen to. You listen to this great part, thinking they're gonna go somewhere awesome...but nope, still just eh.
Exhorder The Law3.0
Bad Religion Generator3.0
Tool Opiate4.0
Ride Going Blank Again3.5
Demolition Hammer Epidemic of Violence4.0
A bit overrated, but still kicks ass if you're looking for sheer brutality.
Burzum Burzum3.5
Sabbat Evoke4.0
Pantera Vulgar Display of Power3.5
This album is front loaded as fuck. Almost all of the first half is golden, while the second half definitely falters in comparison, though Hollow is a great closer.
Aphex Twin Selected Ambient Works 85-924.0
Alice in Chains Sap3.5
Stereolab Switched On4.5
D.R.I. Definition2.0
Depressive Age First Depression4.0
Mekong Delta Kaleidoscope4.0
Awesome album, complete with pretty good vocal performances this time around, which is a welcome change as most of their albums before this had some pretty painful singing. (Doug Lee sung on Dances of Death too, but here the vocal melodies are stronger.) I must say, though, that there are a couple things on here that make me think of other progressive thrash metal albums. There's a riff in "Misunderstanding" that sounds like a major riff in Coroner's "Divine Step (Conspectu Mortis)", and "About Science" features the lyric "Controlled by confusion, confused by control"....Watchtower much? Still a great album that overcomes the weaknesses of Mekong Delta's previous work.
Deathrow Life Beyond3.5
Swans Love of Life3.5
This is good, but it kind of feels like a collection of B-sides from the previous, superior album White Light from the Mouth of Infinity. Still, check it out if you really liked that album. One particularly interesting thing about this album is that you can start to see the affinity for recorded conversations and ambience that would go on to define the band's magnum opus Soundtracks for the Blind. There aren't many standouts on here unfortunately, but No Cure for the Lonely can be a tearjerker.
Holocaust (UK) Hypnosis of Birds5.0
Bastard Wind Of Pain3.0
Trouble Manic Frustration4.0
Ministry Psalm 694.0
Prong Prove You Wrong3.5

1991
Michael Jackson Dangerous3.0
Talk Talk Laughing Stock3.5
Voivod Angel Rat5.0
Angel Rat isn't exactly a metal album (Despite what impression Panorama or maybe the opening five seconds to The Outcast might give you), but it is a very cool alternative-ish progressive rock album. Catchy, unique, atmospheric, and with eccentric lyrics that touch on a variety of themes (including some social commentary), the psychedelic and sometimes mellow vibe this album creates makes it a vastly different listen than anything they'd put out before, with little aggression or complicated and wonky proggy passages, but if you're in the right mood for it, it's nonetheless a very good listen that'll suck you right in.
Fishmans Corduroy's Mood4.0
My Bloody Valentine Loveless4.0
NoMeansNo 0 + 2 = 14.0
Death Human5.0
Death takes a massive leap in quality. With this and The Sound of Perseverance, Chuck Schuldiner has created at least two definite masterpieces. You will be missed, buddy.
Soundgarden Badmotorfinger3.5
Aion Aionism2.5
Public Enemy Apocalypse 91 The Enemy Strikes Black3.5
Nirvana Nevermind4.0
Pestilence Testimony of the Ancients4.0
Atheist Unquestionable Presence5.0
Prepare to be riffed to death, with sublime performances from the whole band to match.
Mr. Bungle Mr. Bungle4.0
Metallica Metallica4.0
Metallica tones things down a bit with The Black Album. They've basically abandoned the progressive evolution they undertook through in the '80s; only four out of twelve songs here reach the six minute mark, and there aren't nearly as many riffs packed in each song. That's okay, though, because the songs are still pretty good. This is not "thrash", but blistering numbers like Through the Never, The Struggle Within, and the super heavy The God That Failed make it clear that while Metallica's music might be more accessible, but haven't lost their metal attitude yet. Some tracks, like the boring and repetitive Wherever I May Roam (How did this get to be a single? It has like one or two good riffs in six in a half minutes.) or the cheesy Nothing Else Matters, are pretty weak, but most of the album is solid. The production is fucking great, too. If the fast songs were a little faster and had more thrash oomph in their drumming, this album would've been received better by hardcore fans, I think.
Anacrusis Manic Impressions4.0
Daniel Johnston Artistic Vice3.5
Fugazi Steady Diet of Nothing3.5
Jello Biafra and NoMeansNo The Sky is Falling and I Want My Mommy3.5
Anthrax Attack of the Killer B's3.5
Nobuo Uematsu Final Fantasy IV: Original Soundtrack4.0
N.W.A. Niggaz4Life3.5
Fishmans Chappie, Don't Cry3.0
Melvins Bullhead3.5
Heathen Victims of Deception4.5
Sepultura Arise4.0
It's pretty good, but not quite as good as the last two. As far as I'm concerned, this is their last truly great release.
Doom (JPN) Human Noise4.5
Damn, this rules. This band is underrated and overlooked, but somehow this album is underrated and overlooked even in the context of this band. Great production, heavy as fuck, proggy as fuck, amazing performances all around.
Queen Innuendo3.5
Wolf Spider Hue of Evil2.5
Wrathchild America 3-D3.0
Carcass Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious4.5
Voivod Angel Rat Sampler4.5
I like the remix of Clouds in My House better. I also generally prefer the remix of The Prow, although I'd prefer the organ in The Prow to be louder like on the album. The other two songs are great.
Dark Angel Time Does Not Heal4.0
Amazing riffage abound! Two big problems though. One, the vocals take some getting used to and are just not great overall. The guy is often off-tune and has very little range in terms of pitch or vowels. Two, the last few songs don't live up to the rest of the album's lofty standards. Also, avoid the "Black Edition" of this, which comes with a couple live bonus tracks, sounds like ass thanks to "remastering"; AKA senseless brickwalling. All that being said, if you're a fan of more extreme thrash metal, get this and Darkness Descends. The last song is about the movie Bambi!
Overkill Horrorscope4.0
Almost edging out The Years of Decay as the best Overkill album, Horrorscope is an absolute freaking classic! With quality tracks like Coma, Thanx For Nothing, Bare Bones, Live Young, Die Free, and the ultra-heavy Nice Day...For A Funeral, Overkill's ability to write awesome riffs is in full force here. Also...the picture of them on the back is cool. An absolute must-have for any thrash fanatic.
Coroner Mental Vortex5.0
The magnum opus of Coroner's career, and undoubtedly one of the best metal albums of all time, let alone the 90s.
Cyclone Temple I Hate Therefore I Am3.5
This is fine, but they REALLY wanted to sound like Metallica. Like this has every melodic thrash cliche in the books.
Cynic Demo 19914.0
Very reminiscent of Death's Human, but with a bit of the promise that would blossom into the unique and groundbreaking Focus.
Tourniquet Psycho Surgery3.5
Cheesy lyrics (I don't like to dog on something for religious lyrics, I mean I didn't mind it in Believer's stuff, but it really isn't pulled off great here), terrible vocals (something like Zetro, only with a lot less charm and too corny) and a wimpy drum production that brings down a great performance bely some great riffs and some killer speedy sections.
Wolf Spider Drifting in the Sullen Sea4.0
Technically Wolf Spider's true final album (at least, it was the last recorded one), and like their other albums, it rules. Either this or Kingdom of Paranoia is their best.
Devastation Idolatry4.5
Die Kreuzen Cement3.5
More accessible and perhaps poppier than Century Days. Hearing Die Kreuzen with production this good is very nice. This doesn't really sound like Die Kreuzen to me, as they've kinda toned down the shrieky vocals (for the better imo) and the guitar playing is a little more restrained, but it's a good alternative rock album in its own right.
Poltergeist (CHE) Behind My Mask3.0
Swans White Light From the Mouth of Infinity4.5
Secrecy Raging Romance4.0
Thinking Fellers Local 282 Lovelyville2.5
Slint Spiderland4.0
Post Mortem Festival of Fun2.5
Tool 728264.0
Sabbat Envenom3.5
Satan Bless You through Reek of Cremation is a truly great run. The album unfortunately gradually drops off after that--much of Carcassvoice is a mess--but at least maintains its simple Satanic metal charm throughout. The dark ambient bookends are cool too.
Bad Yodelers Window3.0
OLD Lo Flux Tube3.0
Armored Saint Symbol of Salvation4.0

1990
Psychotic Waltz A Social Grace3.0
Bad Religion Against the Grain3.5
Gargoyle Furebumi3.5
Kreator Coma of Souls4.0
Remains brutal while showcasing more range than on Pleasure to Kill, and the occasional political lyrics.
Ride Nowhere3.5
Slayer Seasons in the Abyss4.0
Slayer continues bringing forth variety in tempo, sublime riffs, and awesome soloing. Tom's vocals are at their absolute best, finding a balance between earlier brutality and attempts at a vocal melody that were first forgotten with Haunting the Chapel, storaged until their return in South of Heaven, and now done very well here. They thrash more often here than on South of Heaven. I would give this a slightly higher score, but the three weaker tracks bring down the album's quality for me. Still fucking awesome stuff, though.
Testament Souls of Black3.5
The songwriting and production take a noticeable dive from Practice What You Preach. Still a good album, though. Alex Skolnick's guitar-work, which is always fantastic, might be at its absolute greatest here. Check out the solos in Malpractice and Seven Days of May to see what I mean. They try to bring back some thrash influence here; this album is faster on average than Practice What You Preach. It's certainly rushed, but it's classic Testament, so it's only mediocre at worst.
Megadeth Rust in Peace5.0
Annihilator Never, Neverland4.0
Coburn Pharr has a cool name but his name and vocals both pale in comparison to Randy Rampage. He does a fine job as a replacement though. This one's a little less intense than the classic Alice in Hell, but it's still great in its own right.
Judas Priest Painkiller4.5
This whole album is a masterpiece of incredibly intense fucking METAL incarnate. Possibly their best effort.
Demolition Hammer Tortured Existence4.0
Anthrax Persistence of Time4.0
The final album of Anthrax's glory years, and the last until 2011 to feature their best vocalist, Joey Belladonna. Darker, heavier, and more complex than any of their previous releases. Some songs drag on a bit, though, and that's coming from someone who doesn't mind long songs at all. Highlights include Time, Blood, H8 Red, and One Man Stands.
Jane's Addiction Ritual De Lo Habitual4.0
Alice in Chains Facelift4.0
Queensryche Empire4.0
Pixies Bossanova4.0
Nocturnus The Key4.0
Pantera Cowboys from Hell4.0
The best Pantera album. Phil's vocals are at their absolute greatest, too. What if they stayed this badass?
Exhorder Slaughter in the Vatican4.0
Sonic Youth Goo4.5
Sabbat The Seven Deadly Sins4.0
Artillery By Inheritance4.5
Sacred Reich The American Way4.0
Sacred Reich mellows their approach a bit, but that's okay, because they pull it off well. Phil Rind's vocals have now settled comfortably into aggressive and rough singing instead of just shouting; he even drives Crimes Against Humanity more than the guitar riffs do. This fits well with their more varied and less brutal approach. Hell, they even have a semi-ballad here, in the form of Who's To Blame. They're even more reliant on social commentary as lyrical subject matter than before. They even tell their listeners to explore genres other than metal; the fun yet oft-derided 31 Flavors is a rap/funk number with sexual double entendres. As much as I like a lot of songs here, though, the album as a whole just can't quite achieve a score above a 4 for me. Individually, the songs are pretty damn good (Well, except for I Don't Know, which even seems to rip a riff from Violent Solutions from their first album; this song obviously sounds like they were out of ideas), but listening to the whole album...something about it just lacks a specific punch. For one thing, I really wish this had just a little more of the band's brutal thrash approach seen on Ignorance; I Don't Know is supposed to be really fast, but doesn't really work that way. When you're in the right mood, though, this album's best moments fucking rule.
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds The Good Son3.5
Death Angel Act III4.0
Death Angel continues their experimental direction with Act III, their only major label album (With fantastic production to match!), and the last of their albums featuring the original lineup. They do a lot of different things here, from acoustic ballads Veil of Deception and A Room With A View, to top-notch funk metal numbers Discontinued and Stagnant, to more straightforward metal stuff. They don't really thrash very often, which is a little disappointing, but the mighty Seemingly Endless Time, The Organization, and Stop provide some traces of their earlier stuff. To think their sound had come so far in just three years! This would be 4.5 or maybe even 5 worthy if they didn't tragically run out of steam towards the end. After Stagnant comes three tracks that are clearly inferior to the preceding material. Ex-TC has a catchy chorus, but is still probably the worst song here. There isn't much to say about it; it just kinda sucks. Disturbing the Peace takes a bit to get going but is actually pretty good, even if it can't match the first seven songs. Falling Asleep seems like it'll suck as hard as Ex-TC, but a minute and a half in they suddenly come launching through with lots of momentum and great riffs. Chorus is good too! But then they go into this absolutely abysmal section where vocalist Mark Osegueda is chanting "Rock-a-bye baby..." and it doesn't work at all. After that, the song's fine, but the mediocre parts drug down what could've been a decent ending to a pretty good album. Even though it loses steam, Death Angel's third act is still some great stuff.
Obliveon From This Day Forward4.0
Bathory Hammerheart4.0
Scatterbrain Here Comes Trouble4.0
Prong Beg to Differ3.5
Minor Threat Complete Discography4.5
Death Spiritual Healing4.5
People call this Death's worst album? This is my favorite pre-Human Death release! Side note: the snare sound reminds me of Beneath the Remains.
Naked City Naked City4.5
I don't think I've ever heard anything quite like this before. It's pretty amazing, and VERY unhinged. Some of the sax squealing stuff gets annoying, and some of the really fast stuff just kind of blurs together, but when this album's good it's pretty damn great. The soft parts are beautiful, and the louder parts are energetic as hell! If there's one thing I could definitely say about this album, it's that it's very original.
Believer Sanity Obscure4.0
Nonpoint and especially Dies Irae are fucking AWESOME. Pretty much everything else thrashes hard too. Someone please review!
Atheist Piece of Time3.5
Fucking immense! Gets a little samey, but as an album it works quite well.
Primus Frizzle Fry4.0
Paradox Heresy4.5
This thing riffs like a beast, has great vocals to match, and it's a concept album about the crusades! How dope is that? Recommended to all thrash metal fans.
Forbidden Twisted into Form4.0
Great riffs, vocals rule, catchy choruses, AWESOME production...
Realm Suiciety3.5
Atrophy Violent by Nature3.5
Don't make the mistake I did and judge this by the weak title track, because it's actually good. I dig the social commentary bent of the lyrics.
Cynic '90 Demo4.0
This is brutal as hell, a bit technical in parts too. Awesome production!
Daniel Johnston 19904.5
If you're in the right mood, you WILL cry at Careless Soul. If you're in that mood and you've ever been through a rough breakup or had to get over unrequited love, you'll cry harder at Some Things Last A Long Time.
Wolf Spider Kingdom of Paranoia3.5
Xentrix For Whose Advantage?3.5
Though this album would have benefited a little from more riffs not in E and a lot from some less stale vocal melodies, it's worth checking out for fans of melodic thrash metal. By the way, the cover at the end is awesome.
Mekong Delta Dances of Death (and other Walking Shadows)4.0
Secrecy Art In Motion4.0
Hellwitch Syzygial Miscreancy4.0
Fuck's with the album and song titles? Cool album but I don't wanna need a thesaurus to decipher this shit.
Fugazi Repeater3.5
Moral Decay To Build an End3.5
Public Enemy Fear of a Black Planet3.5
Suicidal Tendencies Lights...Camera...Revolution4.0
Trouble Trouble4.0
Bad Yodelers I Wonder...3.5
Killing Joke Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions3.5
Exodus Impact Is Imminent2.5

1989
Pestilence Consuming Impulse4.0
Savatage Gutter Ballet4.0
Morbid Saint Spectrum of Death4.0
You know what, that "FUCK YOU!" in Scars is so hype.
Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine3.5
Overkill The Years of Decay4.0
Voivod Nothingface5.0
Gargoyle Misogi3.5
Thinking Fellers Local 282 Tangle3.5
Bad Brains Quickness3.5
Motley Crue Dr. Feelgood3.0
Doom (JPN) Incompetent...4.0
D.R.I. Thrash Zone3.5
D.R.I.'s most metal 80s album. Many a memorable moment, either from awesome group shouts ("LABELED...UNCURABLE!", "YOUSAYI'MSCUMYOUSAYI'MSCUM", "AB! DUC! TION!", et cetera) or from fantastic riffage. This is probably the riffiest D.R.I. album, with Spike Cassidy cranking out awesome riffs-aplenty. The best songs in this regard (and the best songs overall) are Thrashard and the underrated Gun Control and Kill the Words. Kill the Words is D.R.I.'s best song of their metal era, by the way. Fun little album, but derivative and boring at times.
Testament Practice What You Preach4.0
Practice What You Preach was their most straightforward and successful record of the '80s. Possibly their "commercial" peak? Most of the songs aren't too fast (but there's still some speedy parts) but that's okay because the songwriting is mostly excellent and often quite catchy.
Watchtower Control and Resistance4.5
Fucking awesome thrash-tinged jazz metal. Songs are awesome, lyrics rule, production is great, and fantastic performances from everybody. And yes, I'm including Tecchio. Gotta love those old school screeches!
Intruder A Higher Form of Killing4.0
Mostly just an alright album, but major props for The Martyr, which is just top notch for the genre.
Faith No More The Real Thing4.0
Kreator Extreme Aggression4.0
Either this or Coma of Souls is my favorite pick from Kreator.
Dream Theater When Dream and Day Unite3.5
Starts off pretty promising, but then it kinda peters out when the songs start getting longer. Not bad for a debut though, and boy were they gonna improve a lot in a couple years.
Nirvana Bleach4.5
Sabbat (UK) Dreamweaver3.5
Coroner No More Color4.5
For my money, this is when Coroner truly became a badass fucking band.
Morbid Angel Altars of Madness4.0
Sepultura Beneath the Remains4.0
Fucks your soul with riffs just like the last one. There are some really, really cool slow sections scattered about, which seem to hint at their groove metal days in the coming years.
DBC Universe4.0
The Cure Disintegration4.0
Annihilator Alice in Hell4.5
Gets kinda samey, but Alison Hell totally rules, and when the band starts thrashing, they kick fucking ass! The riffs truly burn like a buzzsaw blade.
Outrage (JPN) Blind to Reality2.5
Aion Deathrash Bound3.5
Slint Tweez3.5
Sodom Agent Orange3.5
I sure do love the album Sodom by the 80s punk band Agent Orange.
Pixies Doolittle4.0
Dark Angel Leave Scars3.5
This album is dark as hell. Be it the downtuned guitars, very grim subject matter (touching on topics like suicide and sexual abuse/assault), or raw production, something about this album just seems downright evil. It's not fantastic (Immigrant Song is a really bad cover and Worms is ominous, but feels like filler), but a few songs like The Death of Innocence, The Promise of Agony, and No One Answers are really good, and all the breakdowns are absolutely insane, like the one just a bit before the two minute mark in the title track. Not as good as the one just before or after, but has some great stuff in it.
Death Angel Frolic Through the Park3.5
Exodus Fabulous Disaster4.0
Exodus bounces back with Fabulous Disaster, which deserves a place in any thrasher's collection as much as Bonded By Blood and sports my favorite production of any of their albums. There's actually variety here, too. Thrashterpieces like The Last Act of Defiance, Open Season, and my second favorite Exodus song, Fabulous Disaster, are still the norm here, but the midpaced songs are much more entertaining here than on Pleasures of the Flesh. We've got The Toxic Waltz, which is an awesome mosh anthem that was an MTV hit for the band. It's built around a heavy yet fun riff, and a lovable chorus. This song, the cover of Low Rider by War, and Cajun Hell, another slower paced track, demonstrate a sort of silliness found in Zetro-era Exodus that is sadly missing from their newer work, which takes itself all too seriously. Like Father, Like Son, which is another lower tempo track save a few bursts of speed, is pretty serious, though, with lyrics about child abuse. It's also heavy as all hell. Verbal Razors is the weakest track here, but the venomous lyrics at least serve as goofy entertainment. This is Exodus' last great album in my opinion.
Toxik Think This5.0
Catchy, uber technical, and more than headbangable, Toxik's Think This is a progressive thrash album that'll leave your pants soaked with semen and/or vaginal fluids for days. Thrash out to Spontaneous, wrap your head around Technical Arrogance's complexity, never forget the mega memorable chorus to Machine Dream, or check out the amazing power ballad There Stood the Fence. And not only is the music good, but it's all (mostly) held together by the concept of society and the media, and the way the media reinforces things in society, and the occasional hypocrisy presented by society/the media's messages...and stuff. This framework is brilliantly reinforced through the use of ads. For example, "Shotgun Logic", about substance abuse/addiction, begins with the classic "This is your brain on drugs" ad, followed by a beer commercial, showing our culture's clashing attitudes on things like drugs and alcohol. Another song, "Machine Dream", is about how advertisements reinforce certain beliefs about body image and self worth. A cookie commercial is played, followed by the sounds of one of those old fashioned exercise tapes, to demonstrate the innate hypocrisy of the advertisements you see and hear on TV and the radio...and stuff. With lyrics that are (mostly) still relevant today and music that'll ALWAYS rip, Toxik's sophomore album is a classic for any fan of thrash or progressive metal.

^I wrote this in high school and while it's pretty stupid, everything I said about how good this is remains completely true.
Cynic Reflections of a Dying World3.0
So many people knocking this, but why? It's not half bad.
Onslaught In Search of Sanity3.0
Awesome vocals! This could've been a cool album, but all the songs are like twice as long as they need to be. Five minute long intro of random ambient noises? Sheesh! I bet their fucking sound guy was sitting in the studio after making it like "Yeah, what a cool soundscape I've created..." No bitch.
Jad Fair & Daniel Johnston It's Spooky2.0
I love Daniel Johnston, but this album...I'm just not feeling it, sorry. (Soundoff #200!)
Mekong Delta The Principle of Doubt4.0
In my opinion, their strongest album up to this point, with some really impressive material. The Twilight Zone theme cover is amazing. Those vocals in The Jester, though...yeesh.
Die Kreuzen Gone Away EP3.5
Melvins Ozma3.0
Swans The Burning World3.5
Holocaust (UK) The Sound of Souls4.5
Fugazi 13 Songs4.0
Fates Warning Perfect Symmetry3.5
Suicidal Tendencies Controlled By Hatred/Feel Like Shit...Deja Vu2.5
NoMeansNo Wrong4.5
Bad Religion No Control3.5
Devastation Signs of Life3.5
Loudness Soldier of Fortune3.5
Calhoun Conquer Lost In Oneself3.0
Equinox Auf Wiedersehen3.5
Sabbat The Devil's Sperm is Cold4.0
Ministry The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste3.5

1988
Daniel Johnston Merry Christmas4.0
Heathen Demo with Paul Baloff3.0
Sorry, but Paul Baloff just doesn't fit Heathen nearly as well as David White. But hey, the intro to Hypnotized sounds really eerie and cool here.
Bad Religion Suffer4.0
Vendetta Brain Damage4.0
Eazy-E Eazy-Duz-It3.0
Geinoh Yamashirogumi Akira OST4.0
Sacred Reich Surf Nicaragua4.0
Much improved production from Ignorance, I get the feeling that if they'd have went into the studio to record a full album around this time it would have been their best release ever. Oh well, the title track is excellent and probably the second most known Sacred Reich song. Draining You of Life makes its full studio debut, and One Nation is crushingly heavy (if a bit repetitive). I really love the lyrics to One Nation and Surf Nicaragua, and the War Pigs cover is pretty nice. The bonus live recordings are good too.
Sonic Youth Daydream Nation4.5
Forbidden Forbidden Evil3.5
Ozzy Osbourne No Rest for the Wicked4.0
Anthrax State of Euphoria4.0
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Tender Prey3.5
Talk Talk Spirit of Eden3.5
Metallica ...And Justice for All5.0
Almost the best Metallica album, and one of my favorites of all time. Lars is at the top of his game, James sounds fucking pissed, the riffs are great and heavy, the solos are the absolute best in the band's history, and the songwriting tends to be more progressive than ever before for Metallica, featuring longer songs with the occasional tempo change. Blackened features some megaton riffs and might be close to my favorite Metallica song, One was the band's first "big hit" and is the best "ballad" they've ever written (Sorry, Fade to Black), and The Frayed Ends of Sanity was so complex, they didn't play it live until twenty six years after its release! ...And Justice For All could be considered the ultimate culmination of everything great about Metallica back then; a keen eye for melody, heaviness, and talented songwriting and performances. Metallica will never again release an album of this quality.
Jane's Addiction Nothing's Shocking4.0
Death Leprosy4.0
N.W.A. Straight Outta Compton4.0
Anacrusis Suffering Hour3.5
Faster and heavier than expected! This is the same band that put out Screams and Whispers? I just want to know what girl cheated on Kenn Nardi and pissed him off enough to write Frigid Bitch.
Thinking Fellers Local 282 Wormed by Leonard4.0
Mr. Bungle Goddammit I Love America!!!$ɫ!!3.5
Slayer South of Heaven4.0
Voivod Dimension Hatröss5.0
Here we have a concept album narrating the exploits of the Voivod. (The full plot's explained in the Nothingface press kit, which you can find via Google) Here, Snake actually sings instead of shouting, and the songwriting begins to lean more towards the progressive end of the "progressive thrash" label. But there are still fast and loud moments to be found. More importantly, though, is that there are enough impressive and memorable moments here for me to christen this Voivod's best album, since they possess an ability to be both technical and at times crushing.
D.R.I. 4 of a Kind3.0
Killing Joke Outside The Gate4.0
This is a damn good, maybe even great album severely underrated because it's called "Killing Joke" despite not being very heavy. Or maybe people just don't like the layered, busy synths. But I really appreciate what Jaz Coleman was trying to do here. The first two songs are SOOOO good.
Pantera Power Metal3.5
Judas Priest Ram It Down3.0
The opening title track may have been their fastest yet, and a song titled Love Zone on an 80s metal album is actually not half bad! Still carries some of Turbo's problems, worst of all general cheesiness and corny production, the Johnny B. Goode cover is, in Halford's own words, "silly", and it still pales in comparison to both their 70s material and the almighty upcoming Painkiller, but it's not horrible. Dare I say this could've been a 3.5 if the second half was as decent as the first, or possibly even a 4 if the second half were better, but unfortunately they couldn't quite get it together all the way.
Testament The New Order4.5
Here, Testament slows down just a bit and tries to sound more dynamic and atmospheric, and they pull it off pretty damned well. With all-time classics like Trial By Fire, Into the Pit, and A Day of Reckoning, The New Order is an awesome melodic thrash record, and my personal favorite release of theirs.
Sabbat (UK) History of a Time to Come4.0
Queensryche Operation: Mindcrime4.5
Outrage (JPN) Black Clouds4.0
My rating for the album improved a whole 1.0 once I heard the remixed version now on Spotify. Holy shit the songs sound way better with a snare sound that actually carries momentum.
Iron Maiden Seventh Son of a Seventh Son4.0
King's X Out of the Silent Planet3.5
Cardiacs A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window4.0
Pixies Surfer Rosa3.5
Doom (JPN) Killing Field5.0
One of this band's very best works, with some of their craziest material.
X Japan Vanishing Vision3.5
Pretty cool album. Production suuuuuuuucks, but I can forgive that because the music is good speed metal.
Sabbat Desecration3.5
Megadeth So Far, So Good... So What!3.5
Most of this is better than it gets credit for. Hook In Mouth and Set The World Afire are probably my favorite songs on here. Into the Lungs of Hell is an instrumental, which isn't very common for this band. Mary Jane is kind of lame, but it and the Anarchy in the UK cover are the only ones I skip when listening to this CD. Kinda funny how he doesn't perform that song anymore because of the first line. The production is really weak in the original, so get the remastered version if you can.
Znowhite Act Of God3.5
ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...dyin time's here
Vio-Lence Eternal Nightmare4.0
Sean Killian's vocals aren't too great and can occasionally be outright distracting, but they do have plenty of attitude. The rest of the band thrash like there's no tomorrow, and the riffage is in fine fette. Highly recommended for fans of Exodus' Bonded by Blood.
Doom (JPN) Complicated Mind4.5
I highly recommend this album to Coroner fans, especially those that appreciate that band's "artsier" side. So many good riffs on this thing. The second song in particular is amazing.
Coroner Punishment for Decadence3.5
Personally I find this a little overrated. It's a definite improvement over their overly samey debut but has its own problems with the songs kind of blurring together, and the production is only a little improved. Masked Jackal and Skeleton On Your Shoulder are some badass songs though.
Cynic '88 Demo3.0
Die Kreuzen Century Days4.5
Another departure for Die Kreuzen, this one seems to pretty much entirely ditch their hardcore punk roots but is instead a very interesting, layered alternative rock album.
Mekong Delta The Music of Erich Zann3.5
Flotsam and Jetsam No Place for Disgrace4.5
Deathrow Deception Ignored4.5
Excellent German tech thrash with a Joey Belladonna soundalike on vocals (until Bureaucrazy)? Sure, why not. This whole album is an underrated masterpiece, but Triocton and Narcotic are particularly amazing songs.
Target (BE) Master Project Genesis4.0
Sadus Illusions3.0
Holy Terror Mind Wars3.5
Realm Endless War3.5
When that opening riff kicked in, I immediately got hyped up. That being said, this album can get boring on repeat listens.
Scanner Hypertrace4.0
Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back3.5
Suicidal Tendencies How Will I Laugh Tomorrow If I Can't Even Smile Today?3.5
NoMeansNo The Day Everything Became Nothing4.0
NoMeansNo Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed4.0
Bathory Blood Fire Death4.0
Pestilence Malleus Maleficarum4.0
Blind Illusion The Sane Asylum4.0
Ministry The Land of Rape and Honey3.5
Prong Force Fed3.5
Fates Warning No Exit4.0

1987
Rick Astley Whenever You Need Somebody3.5
Candlemass Nightfall4.5
Hard, unstoppable, crushing RIFFS, but with a fair bit of dynamics to even things out, with some awesome instrumental interludes and AMAZING vocals from Messiah Marcolin. I might just 5 this shit.
Savatage Hall of the Mountain King4.5
Exodus Pleasures of the Flesh4.0
Exodus gains Steve "Zetro" Souza, but Pleasures of the Flesh ultimately doesn't hold a candle to Bonded by Blood. There are still some great tracks, though, like Deranged, Parasite, Faster Than You'll Ever Live To Be, Chemi-Kill, and the raging closer Choose Your Weapon. Unlike their debut, Pleasures of the Flesh is usually at its best when it's going full speed. The fuck is that Tarzan shit going on at the start of the title track though?
Kreator Terrible Certainty3.5
Pixies Come On Pilgrim3.5
Overkill Taking Over3.5
Metallica The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited3.5
Mayhem Deathcrush3.5
Michael Jackson Bad4.0
Tom Waits Franks Wild Years3.5
Sabbat Born By Evil Blood3.0
Prong Primitive Origins3.0
Testament The Legacy4.5
Dated production can't cripple this thrash metal monster. Testament is a consistent band, but they don't manage to match this fantastic album album often, though they would surpass it just a year later.
Toxik World Circus4.0
Clearly not as evolved as Think This, but still a good, hard slab of heavy metal.
Hades Resisting Success3.0
Sonic Youth Sister4.0
Death Scream Bloody Gore4.0
This album from the guy who went on to write songs like Symbolic and Misanthrope uses the word "cunt" nine times on this album. BAPTIZED!!!! IN BLOOOOOOOOD!!!!
Motley Crue Girls, Girls, Girls3.0
Anthrax I'm the Man3.5
I'm not sure why you'd need three versions of the same song on an EP, but whatever, it's a neat and funny little song. The Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath cover is pretty good, I just wish it weren't played a half-step down. I'm picky, though. The live performances aren't bad. The production is like that on Among the Living, and that album had good production.
Death Angel The Ultra-Violence4.0
If you want Death Angel at their thrashiest (this is definitely their heaviest album by far), go for The Ultra-Violence. The songwriting can be a little shaky, but there's plenty here for fans of thrash metal, including some great riffs and amazingly shrieky vocals.
Faith No More Introduce Yourself3.5
Fleetwood Mac Tango in the Night4.0
Voivod Killing Technology4.5
"WE ARE CONNECTED." Thus begins Voivod's golden age. Killing Technology is aggressive and raw, with Snake still shouting hard into the mic, but here they begin to dip into more inspired, progressive territory. Just check out the rhythms near the end of the opening title track to see what I'm talking about. This is where Voivod really started to embrace sci-fi themes more, add new layers of technicality, and overall become the band that most people think of when they think "Voivod". Killing Technology is challenging and difficult stuff; this isn't some cliche thrash album with typical E-tuned chugga-chugga riffage, not at all. This album really brims with great ideas, from the angular and dissonant riffs driving most parts of the songs, to the more distinctly memorable moments like a great number of riffs in the opener, the fucking evil moment at about 3:24 in Overreaction, the great chorus to Tornado, or that impressively fast section starting at around 1:53 in Order of the Blackguards. A special highlight (and a serious contender with the previously mentioned rhythms later on in the opening title track) would be that one MONSTER riff in This Is Not An Exercise that plays for the first time almost a minute in. And I haven't even brought up Ravenous Medicine, which is one of my favorite Voivod songs ever. Even the sound is better than before, with raw yet competent production and a guitar tone that actually allows for some more legible riffs. Great fucking album.
Doom (JPN) No More Pain4.0
I'm Your Junky Doll and Til Death are pretty damn sick. Intro to Body to Body is stunning too, though the rest of the song doesn't quite live up to it. The rest of the album is pretty good too. It's faster, meaner, and more straightforward than most of their output after that, and it's pretty fucked up and cool too. While it doesn't reach the creative heights of their ensuing work, the raw, untamed energy does hint at amazing things to come for this band, and there are some flashes of brilliance here and there.
Satan Suspended Sentence4.0
I like the singer on this album more than the singer on their first album! It's quite a taboo opinion, that, but I think he just sounds rawer and cooler. In general this album is pretty good, I dig the thrashy influences. The lyrics to S.C.U.M. are pretty messed up though, and not in a cool metal way.
Anthrax Among the Living4.5
D.R.I. Crossover3.0
Probably D.R.I.'s most "important" album, but far from their best.
Coroner R.I.P.3.5
Counting the intros to songs as separate tracks just feels like blatant padding to me. That's just a minor thing that bothers me, though. Cool album.
Mr. Bungle Bowel Of Chiley3.0
Helloween Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I4.0
Rating bumped up just a bit by how groundbreaking this is, but this would probably get a 4.5 anyways on the strength of its powerful choruses, killer power metal riffs, and the epic Halloween.
Husker Du Warehouse: Songs and Stories3.0
Heathen Breaking the Silence4.0
Sacred Reich Ignorance4.0
Sacred Reich's explosive debut. It's worth getting the remastered edition, which is really loud, but has nifty bonus tracks and improved sound quality.
Sepultura Schizophrenia4.5
Riff potpourri! This album spits out so many fucking riffs...not a bad song on here.
Paradox Product of Imagination3.0
Mekong Delta Mekong Delta3.5
Chikusyo Death in Life4.0
Devastation Violent Termination2.0
Swans Children of God4.5
Wolf Spider Wilczy pająk3.5
It's like Kill 'Em All, but from Poland. Cool little album.
Target (BE) Mission Executed3.0
Daniel Johnston The Lost Recordings4.0
Deathrow Raging Steel3.5
These guys were badass even before their magnum opus Deception Ignored
Big Black Headache3.0
Big Black Songs About Fucking3.5
Melvins Gluey Porch Treatments3.0
Public Enemy Yo! Bum Rush the Show3.0
Suicidal Tendencies Join the Army3.5
Adolescents Brats in Battalions3.0
DBC Dead Brain Cells3.0
Coven 13 Worship New Gods3.0
Interesting goth influence on display, but not that great. Maybe more spins needed...
Trouble Run to the Light4.0
The Cure Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me4.0
Celtic Frost Into the Pandemonium3.5

1986
Husker Du Candy Apple Grey3.5
Kraftwerk Electric Cafe4.0
Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill3.0
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Your Funeral... My Trial3.5
Dead Kennedys Bedtime for Democracy4.0
Killing Joke Brighter Than a Thousand Suns4.0
Slayer Reign in Blood4.5
Reign in Blood has Angel of Death and Raining Blood, which must mean it's their best album, right? Well, Reign in Blood is actually quite overrated. It's by no means bad; every song is at least enjoyable to some extent. But it's not the magnum opus many claim it to be, because of one reason. The first and last songs aren't better than the rest just because they have the best riffs; they're the most developed. Criminally Insane, Epidemic, and Postmortem are the only other songs that there's something to them over than "cool and brutal fast riffs, maybe a tempo change". But there still isn't really a "bad" song here; digested as an album, it's still great. The songs are just better developed on their other albums from Hell Awaits to Seasons in the Abyss.
Metal Church The Dark4.0
The relentlessly 80s snare sound makes me wince just a little, completely unfitting for this album. Cool record though.
Iron Maiden Somewhere in Time4.5
Kreator Flag of Hate3.5
Megadeth Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?4.5
Savatage Fight for the Rock2.0
At least Hyde and The Edge of Midnight are kinda cool. Lady in Disguise would be way better played by a different sort of band with some different instruments. But man...this is a pretty bad album overall. It has this lame 80s radio rock sound to a lot of it, like they were trying a little too hard to be successful. Nothing nearly as badass as Rage to be found on this record But that's largely the record company's fault, I've heard.
The Smiths The Queen Is Dead3.5
Dark Angel Darkness Descends4.0
It took a while, but this album eventually grew on me. It's angry, evil, and brutal as all fucking hell, it's the L.A. caffeine machine's most menacing album, it's Darkness Descends! A couple songs could use some improvement (Hunger of the Undead isn't very memorable, and Black Prophecies is a little too long), but for the most part this is solid and fucking EVIL thrash metal.
Candlemass Epicus Doomicus Metallicus4.5
Sonic Youth Evol3.5
Mr. Bungle The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny3.0
Doom (JPN) Go Mad Yourself!3.5
Ozzy Osbourne The Ultimate Sin2.5
Judas Priest Turbo2.5
The cheesiest album Judas Priest would ever put out, and not cheesy in a cool way like Painkiller, but rather cheesy in a "stock glam production, synths, and lame lyrics" way. Locked In is actually not too bad, but when you compare even the best stuff on here to the essential Priest classics, it just doesn't stack up. Rock You All Around the World is almost good on this album, but compare it to a better known fast-paced Judas Priest ripper like Exciter or Hell Bent for Leather and it just doesn't stack up. The lyrics on that one are just fucking stupid too, which is a recurring element through the whole album. To this record's credit, while it does beat the whole "let's try to put a super catchy chorus in" thing to death, it does stick sometimes. Overall, though, there's a pretty good reason this is often regarded as Priest's weakest 80s effort.
Nuclear Assault Game Over3.0
Voivod RRRÖÖÖAAARRR3.5
Metallica Master of Puppets5.0
A slightly more mature album than Ride the Lightning, but very similar in style and structure to that one. I prefer RtL, but this still contains some of Metallica's very best material and showcases their knack for catchiness, heaviness, and good songwriting.
Sepultura Morbid Visions3.0
It's okay. Their next two albums eviscerate this one into another dimension, though. The outro is unintentionally funny as shit.
Kreator Pleasure to Kill4.0
A little overrated, but still some fine brutal thrash. No doubt a key inspiration for death metal.
Sacred Reich Draining You of Life3.5
Sacred Reich and Rest in Peace are alright songs, but it's Draining You of Life (The only song on here that didn't make it to Ignorance, instead saved for the Surf Nicaragua EP) and No Believers that shine the most. The latter has better vocal delivery here than on its "official" studio release. Freaking vicious! This demo doesn't feature the social commentary they're known for, unless you count No Believers, which is anti-religion.
Die Kreuzen October File4.0
Die Kreuzen's real breakthrough album, blending their hardcore punk roots (which had already been melded with dissonant riffing) with eerie textures. It's a little slower than their more frantic self titled LP (and their debut EP, Cows and Beer), but it feels heavy in a different way. It even has a fairly soft track, Cool Breeze, layered with pretty acoustic guitars. Very cool record!
Coroner Death Cult (demo)3.0
Swans Holy Money3.5
Annihilator Phantasmagoria4.0
This demo's pretty cool, because Jeff Waters is on the mic doing some proto death growls. This makes for an rather nteresting alternate way to experience the three songs on this EP that would go on to make it to Annihilator's first two studio albums. The first song's alright too.
Big Black Atomizer3.5
Talk Talk The Colour of Spring4.0
Agent Orange This Is the Voice3.5
NoMeansNo Sex Mad4.0
Bad Brains I Against I3.5
Detente Recognize No Authority3.0
Queensryche Rage for Order3.5
Ministry Twitch3.5

1985
Stormtroopers of Death Speak English or Die4.5
Chock-full of riffs, speed, awesome mosh sections, and hilariously offensive lyrics. If you're easily offended or don't like short songs, go ahead and pass.
Daniel Johnston Continued Story with Texas Instruments3.0
Anthrax Spreading the Disease4.5
Celtic Frost To Mega Therion4.0
Husker Du Flip Your Wig3.5
Kreator Endless Pain3.0
Slayer Hell Awaits4.5
Fucking evil! This album was the first full LP to showcase the brutality that Slayer were truly capable of. This album's murky and fucking venomous as hell. It's interesting how long the songs are here, too, especially considering that they'd trade this occasionally more progressive approach for a more raw and stripped down one next time around.
The Cure The Head on the Door4.5
Tom Waits Rain Dogs4.0
Propaganda A Secret Wish4.0
Megadeth Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!4.5
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds The Firstborn Is Dead3.0
Sabbat Sabbat4.0
Savatage Power of the Night3.5
Dead Kennedys Frankenchrist4.0
Exodus Bonded by Blood4.5
The best Exodus album. Every song is chock full of awesome, memorable, and mega heavy riffs. Tends to be mid-paced, but the speedy sections are just as awesome. The tetralogy of Piranha through Strike of the Beast deserves special recognition.
Overkill Feel the Fire3.5
Motley Crue Theatre of Pain2.5
Killing Joke Night Time4.5
The Smiths Meat Is Murder3.5
I was eating pork chops when I started listening to this so Morrissey can suck my DICK
Watchtower Energetic Disassembly4.0
Production sucks, but riffs are wicked. This album rules m/
Anthrax Armed and Dangerous3.5
The debut of Joey Belladonna, although he wouldn't appear on a full length album until later that year. I'm especially partial to the alternate versions of some of the best tracks from Fistful of Metal.
The Velvet Underground VU3.0
Pentagram Pentagram4.5
D.R.I. Dealing with It!4.0
D.R.I.'s best hardcore release. This was before they'd released Crossover, so this album is still mostly hardcore punk with only slight tinges of thrash metal. Most songs here are fast and only two songs here are above three minutes, but in general there's a lot more variety than on the Dirty Rotten LP. Highlights include I'd Rather Be Sleeping, Soup Kitchen, Mad Man, Stupid Stupid War, Couch Slouch (Which originates from their Violent Pacification EP), God Is Broke, Karma (which to me is one of the most metallic songs here), Argument Then War, and the re-recordings of The Explorer and Reaganomics.
Fates Warning The Spectre Within3.5
Daniel Johnston Respect3.0
A slim majority of the songs here are rather spotty. The good songs, however, are really, really good. An Angel Cry and Good Morning You in particular are so, so, SO good!
Dark Angel We Have Arrived2.0
Sucky vocals, generic riffs, eh drumming. To think this band would one day release Time Does Not Heal...
Whiplash Power and Pain3.5
Sepultura Bestial Devastation3.0
Swans Greed3.5
Sonic Youth Bad Moon Rising3.5
Destruction Infernal Overkill2.5
Husker Du New Day Rising3.5
Black Flag Loose Nut3.0
NoMeansNo You Kill Me4.0
Dead or Alive Youthquake3.5
Faith No More We Care a Lot3.5
Trouble The Skull3.5

1984
Black Flag Slip It In3.5
The Stalin Fish Inn3.5
The first half of this is pretty cool, The Stalin's sound evolved fast! The second half can be kinda boring, and the overlong ending track is worse than the one on Mushi.
The Smiths Hatful of Hollow4.0
Mercyful Fate Don't Break the Oath4.0
Iron Maiden Powerslave4.5
Black Flag Family Man3.0
I come to infect. I come to rape your woman. I come to take your children into the street.
Voivod War and Pain4.0
Although Voivod is famous for their more intricate, technically impressive progressive stuff, War and Pain is simply raw, loud, fast, and angry. It's hard to describe this with a simple category, but it's definitely got some evident thrash and punk influences. How many other albums have Snake threatening to rape your child? Voivod (the song) contains a seemingly simple yet memorable and badass main riff, with a catchy chorus too, not to mention the headbanging fucking mania nearly three minutes in. Then there's Warriors of Ice, with that awesome chorus riff and killer climax, the decidedly UN-sexual and lovably violent Suck Your Bone (Which sports another memorable chorus!), and the galloping riffage of Nuclear War. There are other good songs, like Blower, which thrashes your face to hell. The loud and rough production makes this a bit of an acquired taste, and the lyrics are juvenile and sometimes outright incoherent. ("GO SHIT! I'M NOT A FISH!" The concept of the Voivod in the land of Morgoth is cool and all, but you wouldn't know anything about that if you hadn't read about it.) Still a great raw thrash album, and Away's performance is particularly notable; I love the way he opens these songs!
Slayer Haunting the Chapel4.0
Metallica Ride the Lightning5.0
Ride the Lightning is the true blueprint to Metallica's standard '80s sound. There's viciousness on display with Fight Fire With Fire and Trapped Under Ice, as well as similarly lethal but more pummeling and slow than slicing and speedy tracks like For Whom the Bell Tolls, which is one of the band's most well known songs, or Creeping Death, which features a fucking amazing midsection. The ambitious thrash quartet expands their musical palette in other ways, too. Escape features a catchy chorus, but a crushing enough midsection to keep it metal. Fade to Black, the band's first ballad, showcased their songwriting strengths at more than just thrashy mayhem. Definitely one of Metallica's greatest albums, and the first in a trio of absolute classics of not just thrash metal, or even heavy metal, but maybe the entire harder edge of rock music as a whole.
Celtic Frost Morbid Tales4.0
Great album. Would've liked a little more speed, though. Kinda funny how the guitars are all raw and downtuned and cheap sounding but the drums sound all awesome and pristine, exactly how metal drums should sound imo
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds From Her To Eternity2.5
Venom At War with Satan3.5
Rush Grace Under Pressure4.5
Holocaust (UK) No Man's Land2.5
A disappointing sophomore effort. One wonders why John Mortimer didn't just replace half of these songs with studio recordings of the "new" songs on Live: Hot Curry & Wine.
Megadeth Last Rites4.0
Cover art is better than either edition of Killing Is My Business
Hellhammer Apocalyptic Raids2.5
The Smiths The Smiths4.0
Talk Talk It's My Life3.5
Anthrax Fistful of Metal3.5
Judas Priest Defenders of the Faith4.0
It has cheesy 80s production and the worse songs are corny as hell, but hey, the faster numbers are still really cool. You just can't go wrong with Freewheel Burning, The Sentinel, or Eat Me Alive, the last of which gets special props for pissing off the PMRC.
Manuel Gottsching E2-E44.5
Metal Church Metal Church4.0
Thrash Queen Manslayer1.0
Die Kreuzen Die Kreuzen4.0
Daniel Johnston Retired Boxer4.5
The recording quality is even lower than Daniel's other cassette tapes, which is a shame because the music is really, really good. Emotionally heavy and often quite beautiful, this is definitely one of his best.
Queensryche The Warning3.5
Swans Cop3.0
Big Black Racer-X3.5
Scott Walker Climate of Hunter3.5
Bad Religion Back to the Known4.0
Cardiacs The Seaside4.0
Sortilege Métamorphose4.0
Trouble Trouble/Psalm 93.5
Husker Du Zen Arcade4.5
Black Flag My War3.5

1983
Ozzy Osbourne Bark at the Moon3.5
Slayer Show No Mercy3.5
Slayer's a lot more NWOBHM influenced on this album, and it's interesting hearing them before they got more brutal.
Misfits Earth A.D./Wolf's Blood4.0
Sonic Youth Kill Yr Idols3.0
Husker Du Metal Circus3.5
Motley Crue Shout at the Devil4.0
The greatest Crue album by far, and the first album that I ever really got into. It's more polished than Too Fast For Love, but has enough aggression to carry songs like Bastard (This one pissed off the PMRC!), Red Hot, and Knock 'Em Dead Kid. God Bless the Children of the Beast is really cool, and Danger is an awesome softer song. The title track is also tons of fun. There isn't anything else that's essential by Motley Crue after this. I would recommend getting the version with bonus tracks, because the demo versions have much more raw production including a PERFECT drum sound.
Daniel Johnston Hi, How Are You5.0
It's interesting to me that people compare Daniel Johnston with Wesley Willis, or say that he's only known because of his mental health issues, or say that this album sucks musically. Even if Daniel didn't have an incredible life story, this would still be a phenomenal album with amazing, relatable lyrics, lots of variety (which makes for a very interesting listen), and fantastically flowing, very catchy songwriting. My favorite Daniel Johnston album. Lucky stars, in your eyes~
Queensryche Queensryche EP4.0
Tom Waits Swordfishtrombones3.5
Metallica Kill 'Em All5.0
The rawest and least polished of Metallica's golden '80s quadrilogy, Kill 'Em All is a badass debut LP that pioneered the thrash metal movement. There's quite a bit of variety here; you've got raw, speedy numbers like Hit the Lights, Motorbreath, Whiplash, and Metal Militia. Other songs, like The Four Horsemen or Seek and Destroy, are lengthy metal epics that hint at the direction their music would soon take. Jump In the Fire fits into neither of these categories, but the riffage is unbelievably fun and catchy. No Remorse is the best song on here, if only because of the earth-shattering heaviness achieved as James shouts "ATTAAAACK!" and the music ramps up to mach five. It's not a super-godly kickass masterpiece like their other 80s albums, but it's a fantastic listen nonetheless.
Daniel Johnston Yip/Jump Music4.0
has some pretty good songs, gets really good towards the end
Killing Joke Fire Dances3.5
Pantera Metal Magic1.5
IN THIS DAY AND TIME...OF METAL MAGIC...WE NEED...ROCK AND ROLL...WE NEED...a much better album. The title track's riffage is actually slightly neat, and the first song's kinda catchy, but the vocals are so, so awful, and most of the album just sucks.
Satan Court in the Act4.0
Iron Maiden Piece of Mind4.0
Holocaust (UK) Live (Hot Curry & Wine)4.0
The Stalin 虫4.0
An enjoyable 80s hardcore album, generally pretty fun and angry until the long, plodding closing track, but I'll forgive that for the good time everywhere else...plus the drone of that song actually works in its own way.
David Bowie Let's Dance3.5
Savatage Sirens4.0
Warlord Deliver Us3.5
Sonic Youth Confusion Is Sex3.5
Pink Floyd The Final Cut3.0
The lyrics are very, very good, and Not Now John is awesome, but this album gets old fast. Touching, maybe, yet samey and mostly not very memorable. Roger Waters' vocals on this album are weird.
V8 Luchando por el Metal3.5
D.R.I. Dirty Rotten4.0
Quick and dirty hardcore, not what D.R.I. is best known for but they were great at it. Favorites include I Don't Need Society, Commuter Man, Balance of Terror, Who Am I, Money Stinks, War Crimes, Reaganomics (which is better on Dealing With It), Capitalists Suck, and Blockhead. In the original "Dirty Rotten EP" release, the sides were flipped, resulting in a vastly different track order.
Daniel Johnston More Songs of Pain3.0
My least favorite of his home-made tapes, but it still has some good songs. Nice Beatles cover!
Swans Filth3.5
Big Black Bulldozer3.5
Husker Du Everything Falls Apart3.5
Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies4.0
Agent Orange When You Least Expect It...3.5
Bad Religion Into the Unknown3.5
Bad Brains Rock For Light4.0
Ministry With Sympathy3.5

1982
Michael Jackson Thriller4.5
Dead Kennedys Plastic Surgery Disasters4.5
Heavy Load Death or Glory3.5
Discharge State Violence State Control4.0
Die Kreuzen Cows and Beer4.0
Rush Signals4.5
The Cure Pornography3.5
Daniel Johnston The What of Whom3.5
Metallica No Life 'til Leather4.0
Judas Priest Screaming for Vengeance4.0
Doesn't stack up to their masterpieces, but nonetheless a significant improvement upon its predecessor.
Daniel Johnston Don't Be Scared4.5
This album will destroy you. Essential sadcore, as is Hi, How Are You and 1990.
Talk Talk The Party's Over3.0
Black Flag TV Party3.5
NoMeansNo Mama3.5
Husker Du In a Free Land3.0
Anvil Metal on Metal3.5
Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast4.5
Sonic Youth Sonic Youth3.5
Orange Juice You Can't Hide Your Love Forever3.0
Descendents Milo Goes to College5.0
Witchfinder General Death Penalty4.0
Killing Joke Revelations3.5
Led Zeppelin Coda3.5
Swans Swans4.0
Big Black Lungs3.0
Agent Orange Bitchin' Summer3.5
Misfits Walk Among Us2.5
Discharge Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing3.5
Bad Religion How Could Hell Be Any Worse?3.5
Bad Brains Bad Brains4.0
T.S.O.L. Weathered Statues4.0
T.S.O.L. Beneath The Shadows4.0
Acid Acid3.0
Venom Black Metal4.0

1981
Black Flag Damaged4.0
Dead Kennedys In God We Trust, Inc.4.5
The Dead Kennedys rev up to full speed here, in tribute to the Washington DC hardcore punk scene. This is the Dead Kennedys' most traditionally "hardcore" release. The lyrics are biting (literally on one track...hey, that was a little clever) and displaying as excellent a sense of satire as ever. We've Got A Bigger Problem Now is possibly my favorite Dead Kennedys song, switching between lounge jazz and a fantastic intense remake of California Uber Alles, only this time they're after Ronald Reagan instead of Jerry Brown. Cool EP, though you're more likely to find it with Plastic Surgery Disasters nowadays.
Venom Welcome to Hell4.0
Husker Du Land Speed Record2.5
Ozzy Osbourne Diary of a Madman4.0
King Crimson Discipline4.5
This Heat Deceit4.0
Black Flag Six Pack3.5
Killing Joke What's THIS For...!3.5
Motley Crue Too Fast for Love4.0
Too Fast For Love is one of two truly great Motley Crue albums. They sound a lot rawer here than on just about anything they'd release afterwards, and the production matches this.
Gary Glitter I've Got Sweets5.0
Holocaust (UK) The Nightcomers4.0
T.S.O.L. Dance With Me4.5
Judas Priest Point of Entry3.0
This isn't really bad or anything, just boring. It loses steam after a few tracks and from then on is just average hard rock. You can still tell the guys playing this are talented (Rob Halford's vocals are still pretty cool), but it's like it's being squandered.
Rush Moving Pictures5.0
Adolescents Adolescents4.0
Daniel Johnston Songs of Pain4.0
"Like a Monkey in a Zoo" brought me to tears. Daniel Johnston is a genius. A genius who deserves a big hug. Gets just a little extra kudos for including Grievances ("The quintessential Daniel Johnston song") and being his first full album.
Circus Mort Circus Mort4.0
Kraftwerk Computer World4.0
Agent Orange Living in Darkness4.0
Crass Penis Envy4.0
NoMeansNo Betrayal, Fear, Anger, Hatred3.5
Discharge Why3.0
Bad Religion Bad Religion3.5
T.S.O.L. T. S. O. L.4.0
The Cure Faith3.5
Electric Light Orchestra Time4.0

1980
Motorhead Ace of Spades4.0
Diamond Head Lightning to the Nations4.5
Circle Jerks Group Sex3.0
Ozzy Osbourne Blizzard of Ozz4.0
Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables4.5
David Bowie Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)3.5
Discharge Decontrol3.5
Black Flag Jealous Again3.5
Killing Joke Killing Joke4.5
Queen The Game4.0
Discharge Fight Back3.5
Black Sabbath Heaven and Hell4.5
The Cure Seventeen Seconds3.5
Judas Priest British Steel4.0
Scorpions Animal Magnetism4.0
Discharge Realities of War3.5
John Williams Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back5.0
Rush Permanent Waves4.5

1979
The Clash London Calling4.0
Motorhead On Parole3.5
Pink Floyd The Wall4.0
Killing Joke Almost Red3.0
Fleetwood Mac Tusk4.0
Black Flag Nervous Breakdown3.5
Yellow Magic Orchestra Solid State Survivor4.0
Judas Priest Unleashed in the East4.5
Collection of some of 70s Priest's greatest songs, now with extra intensity! Exciter, Hell Bent For Leather, Delivering the Goods, Victim of Changes, Starbreaker, all classic Priest stompers enhanced with bolder, stronger sounding guitars. Pretty much the only song that isn't in its ultimate form for me is Tyrant because it's lacking the cool backing vocals.
This Heat This Heat3.0
Led Zeppelin In Through the Out Door3.5
Michael Jackson Off the Wall4.0
David Bowie Lodger3.5
The Cure Three Imaginary Boys3.5
Motorhead Overkill4.5
Frank Zappa Sheik Yerbouti4.0

1978
Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra4.0
Queen Jazz3.5
The Clash Give 'Em Enough Rope3.5
Rush Hemispheres5.0
Judas Priest Killing Machine4.0
Slipping a bit with a disappointing final track (that is at least preceded by a great ballad) and a generally lower level of consistency than their previous works, Killing Machine is still a 70s Priest record, and is thus still pretty good. It does have Hell Bent For Leather and Running Wild, after all! Take on the World is pretty good for a blatant attempt at an arena rock anthem, too.
Kraftwerk The Man-Machine4.0
The Rezillos Can't Stand The Rezillos3.5
Judas Priest Stained Class4.5
Total fucking masterpiece, damn close to being the traditional metal album to end all traditional metal albums.
Crass The Feeding of the 50002.5
Jandek Ready for the House3.5
This album scares the hell out of me. What Can I Say, What Can I Sing made me feel some kind of deep, unbearable dread.
Big Star 3rd4.0
Slave The Concept4.0
Tom Waits Blue Valentine4.0

1977
Queen News of the World4.0
David Bowie "Heroes"4.5
Rush A Farewell to Kings4.5
Dennis Wilson Pacific Ocean Blue4.0
Judas Priest Sin After Sin4.0
Not half bad. Special shoutouts to Starbreaker, Dissident Aggressor, and the almighty Let Us Pray/Call for the Priest.
The Clash The Clash4.0
Kraftwerk Trans-Europe Express4.0
Television Marquee Moon4.0
Fleetwood Mac Rumours4.0
Pink Floyd Animals4.5
David Bowie Low4.5
Yes Going for the One4.5
The Stooges I'm Sick of You3.5
Gary Wilson You Think You Really Know Me4.0

1976
Queen A Day at the Races3.5
Frank Zappa Zoot Allures3.5
Led Zeppelin Presence3.5
Rush 21125.0
Judas Priest Sad Wings of Destiny4.5
This album is so amazing, it's like they were chosen by some divine force to steer metal into its next evolving stages, the torch passed from Black Sabbath. Especially since it came out the year after their last masterpiece.
David Bowie Station to Station4.5
Mort Garson Mother Earth's Plantasia4.0

1975
Queen A Night at the Opera4.0
Van der Graaf Generator Godbluff4.0
Rush Caress of Steel3.5
Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here4.5
Brian Eno Another Green World4.0
Black Sabbath Sabotage5.0
Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac4.0
Lou Reed Metal Machine Music1.0
The Mothers of Invention One Size Fits All4.0
Neu! Neu! '754.0
David Bowie Young Americans3.5
Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti4.5
Rush Fly by Night3.5
Kraftwerk Radio-Activity4.0
Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares4.5

1974
Queen Sheer Heart Attack4.0
King Crimson Red5.0
Judas Priest Rocka Rolla4.0
Whoa, this is fucking awesome! I mean, that part in Deep Freeze that's just wailing guitars sucks, but even then that song has a great part following that section.
Frank Zappa Apostrophe4.5
David Bowie Diamond Dogs4.0
King Crimson Starless and Bible Black3.5
If only it'd maintained the momentum of those magnificent first two tracks. Still not bad.
Queen Queen II4.0
Brian Eno Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)4.0
Rush Rush3.0
Yes Relayer4.0
Kraftwerk Autobahn3.5
Tom Waits The Heart of Saturday Night3.5

1973
Yes Tales from Topographic Oceans3.5
Black Sabbath Sabbath Bloody Sabbath4.5
David Bowie Pin Ups3.0
Queen Queen3.5
David Bowie Aladdin Sane4.5
Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy5.0
Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon5.0
King Crimson Larks' Tongues in Aspic4.0
Lou Reed Berlin4.0
The Stooges Raw Power4.5
The Beach Boys Holland3.5
The Mothers of Invention Over-Nite Sensation4.5
Tom Waits Closing Time3.5

1972
Lou Reed Transformer4.0
Black Sabbath Vol. 44.0
Yes Close to the Edge5.0
Frank Zappa Waka/Jawaka4.5
Jericho Jericho5.0
David Bowie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars4.5
Pink Floyd Obscured by Clouds4.0
Randy Newman Sail Away4.0
Nick Drake Pink Moon5.0
Flower Travellin' Band Made in Japan4.0
I hear a little bit of Voivod and Die Kreuzen in Aw Give Me Air. The remake of Part III of Satori is awesome. Great album, cool band!
Captain Beyond Captain Beyond4.5

1971
David Bowie Hunky Dory4.0
King Crimson Islands3.5
Yes Fragile4.5
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV5.0
Pink Floyd Meddle4.5
Van der Graaf Generator Pawn Hearts4.0
The Beach Boys Surf's Up4.5
Black Sabbath Master of Reality4.5
Nick Drake Bryter Layter4.5
Yes The Yes Album4.5
Can Tago Mago3.5
Flower Travellin' Band Satori4.5
Orang-Utan Orang-Utan4.0

1970
Van der Graaf Generator H to He, Who Am the Only One4.0
Sir Lord Baltimore Kingdom Come4.5
The performances on this album are just FULL of energy! This is some very early heavy metal that ain't afraid to kick your ass remarkably hard for 1970.
King Crimson Lizard4.0
David Bowie The Man Who Sold the World3.5
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin III4.5
Pink Floyd Atom Heart Mother4.0
The title suite is just awesome, and the first two songs of side B are great. Fat Old Sun isn't quite up to their standard, but it's good too. As for Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast, it's almost a great closer, but there are too many stretches of eating noises, which is a shame, because most of the actual music in the song is fantastic. I still prefer it over every Pink Floyd album before it.
Black Sabbath Paranoid5.0
The Beach Boys Sunflower4.0
T2 It'll All Work Out in Boomland4.5
Yes Time and a Word4.5
The Stooges Fun House4.0
Deep Purple Deep Purple In Rock4.0
King Crimson In the Wake of Poseidon4.0
The Beatles Let It Be4.0
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath4.5
Van der Graaf Generator The Least We Can Do Is Wave to...3.5
The Mothers of Invention Burnt Weeny Sandwich3.5
Stray (UK) Stray3.5
Lucifer's Friend Lucifer's Friend4.0

1969
The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground4.0
Pink Floyd Ummagumma3.0
The album's structure was a neat idea, but this album is nonetheless underwhelming. The live tracks are great, but the studio tracks sure sure aren't, except for bits of Sysyphus (especially the second part) and the third part of The Narrow Way. I'll keep the generous rating for the neat structure, the occasional interesting studio moments, and the fantastic live portion.
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin II4.0
King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King5.0
The Beatles Abbey Road4.5
Fleetwood Mac Then Play On3.5
Scott Walker Scott 44.0
Van der Graaf Generator The Aerosol Grey Machine3.5
The Stooges The Stooges3.5
Pink Floyd More2.5
David Bowie Space Oddity3.0
Scott Walker Scott 33.5
The Mothers of Invention Uncle Meat3.5
The Shaggs Philosophy of the World3.5
The laugh factor wears off after a while, but it's good for some quick yuks.
The Beatles Yellow Submarine3.0
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin4.0
Yes Yes3.5
Frank Zappa Hot Rats4.5

1968
The Beatles The Beatles4.0
The Mothers of Invention We're Only in It for the Money4.5
Pink Floyd A Saucerful of Secrets4.0
The Beach Boys Friends4.0
Scott Walker Scott 23.0
Fleetwood Mac Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac3.0
The Velvet Underground White Light/White Heat3.0

1967
The Beach Boys Wild Honey3.5
The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour4.0
Scott Walker Scott3.5
The Beach Boys Smiley Smile3.5
Pink Floyd The Piper at the Gates of Dawn3.0
The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band4.0
David Bowie David Bowie2.5
The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground & Nico4.0
The Mothers of Invention Absolutely Free3.0

1966
The Beatles Revolver4.5
The Beach Boys Pet Sounds5.0
The Mothers of Invention Freak Out!4.0

1965
The Beatles Rubber Soul4.0
The Beatles Help!3.5
The Beach Boys Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)4.0
The Beach Boys Today!4.0
Now this is where they really started getting good. The largely introspective mood of Side B is a hint of things to come on Pet Sounds, but the fun and upbeat When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) and Good To My Baby are also standout tracks.
Vince Guaraldi Trio A Charlie Brown Christmas4.0

1964
The Beatles Beatles for Sale3.0
The Beach Boys All Summer Long3.5
Previous Beach Boys LPs were mostly mediocre with flashes of Brian Wilson's brilliance here and there, but this is in my view their first decent album. Still some "meh" numbers, but more great songs like I Get Around, Wendy, and Girls on the Beach, and most of the lesser songs are alright. Those curious on the Beach Boys, consider starting here chronologically.
The Beatles A Hard Day's Night3.5
The Beach Boys Shut Down Volume 22.5

1963
The Beatles With the Beatles3.0
The Beach Boys Little Deuce Coupe1.5
The Beach Boys Surfer Girl3.0
The Beach Boys Surfin' U.S.A.2.5
The Beatles Please Please Me2.5

1962
The Beach Boys Surfin' Safari2.0

1955
The Four Freshmen Four Freshmen and 5 Trombones4.0
1707
Johann Sebastian Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 5655.0
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