200 Greatest Metal Albums

Paranoid and Master of Puppets album covers
Criteria (Equally Weighed):
Acclaim - Critical acclaim/fan reaction
Popularity - How the album did on the charts/how many copies were shipped
Impact - How the album affected music as a cultural force/how much the album stood out on it's release (originality)
Influence - How an album changed the overall sound of metal

Last Updated: 2020-12-27
Greatest Metal Albums
  1. Paranoid - Black Sabbath
  2. Master of Puppets - Metallica
  3. Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
  4. Reign in Blood - Slayer
  5. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
  6. Ride the Lightning - Metallica
  7. Master of Reality - Black Sabbath
  8. Rust in Peace - Megadeth
  9. Sad Wings of Destiny - Judas Priest
10. Ace of Spades - Motörhead
11. Powerslave - Iron Maiden
12. Kill 'Em All - Metallica
13. Welcome to Hell - Venom
14. Blizzard of Ozz - Ozzy Osbourne
15. Under the Sign of the Black Mark - Bathory
16. Human - Death
17. Rainbow Rising - Rainbow
18. Screaming for Vengeance - Judas Priest
19. Scream Bloody Gore - Death
20. Holy Diver - Dio
21. Piece of Mind - Iron Maiden
22. Vulgar Display of Power - Pantera
23. Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? - Megadeth
24. Operation: Mindcrime - Queensrÿche
25. Volume 4 - Black Sabbath
26. To Mega Therion - Celtic Frost
27. Don't Break The Oath - Mercyful Fate
28. Altars of Madness - Morbid Angel
29. Blood Fire Death - Bathory
30. Black Metal - Venom
31. Images & Words - Dream Theater
32. Stained Class - Judas Priest
33. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
34. Hell Awaits - Slayer
35. ...And Justice For All - Metallica
36. Seasons in the Abyss - Slayer
37. Killers - Iron Maiden
38. Epicus Doomicus Metallicus - Candlemass
39. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - Black Sabbath
40. Painkiller - Judas Priest
41. Beneath The Remains - Sepultura
42. Seven Churches - Possessed
43. Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. II - Helloween
44. Overkill - Motörhead
45. Lightning to the Nations - Diamond Head
46. Sabotage - Black Sabbath
47. Transylvanian Hunger - Darkthrone
48. Hvis lyset tar oss - Burzum
49. British Steel - Judas Priest
50. Melissa - Mercyful Fate
51. Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. I - Helloween
52. Bonded By Blood - Exodus
53. Cowboys From Hell - Pantera
54. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son - Iron Maiden
55. In the Nightside Eclipse - Emperor
56. Among the Living - Anthrax
57. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas - Mayhem
58. Heaven & Hell - Black Sabbath
59. Somewhere in Time - Iron Maiden
60. Pleasure To Kill - Kreator
61. Metallica - Metallica
62. Through Silver and Blood - Neurosis
63. South of Heaven - Slayer
64. Heartwork - Carcass
65. Angel Dust - Faith No More
66. Scum - Napalm Death
67. Show No Mercy - Slayer
68. Killing Machine - Judas Priest
69. Unquestionable Presence - Atheist
70. Diary of a Madman - Ozzy Osbourne
71. Walls of Jericho - Helloween
72. Slaughter of the Soul - At the Gates
73. Darkness Descends - Dark Angel
74. Dirt - Alice in Chains
75. The Real Thing - Faith No More
76. Imaginations from the Other Side - Blind Guardian
77. Aenima - Tool
78. Under a Funeral Moon - Darkthrone
79. Abigail - King Diamond
80. Individual Thought Patters - Death
81. Hammerheart - Bathory
82. Shout At The Devil - Mötley Crüe
83. Leviathan - Mastodon
84. Filosofem - Burzum
85. Storm of the Light's Bane - Dissection
86. Blackwater Park - Opeth
87. Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious - Carcass
88. The Years of Decay - Overkill
89. Lateralus - Tool
90. Long Live Rock N Roll - Rainbow
91. Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
92. A Blaze In The Northern Sky - Darkthrone
93. Left Hand Path - Entombed
94. Blessed Are The Sick - Morbid Angel
95. Focus - Cynic
96. Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk - Emperor
97. Defenders of the Faith - Judas Priest
98. Sunbather - Deafheaven
99. The Jester Race - In Flames
100. Follow the Leader - Korn

101. The Angel And The Dark River - My Dying Bride
102. Countdown To Extinction - Megadeth
103. The Last In Line - Dio
104. Arise - Sepultura
105. Awaken The Guardian - Fate's Warning
106. Nightfall In Middle-Earth - Blind Guardian
107. Streetcleaner - Godflesh
108. Pierced From Within - Suffocation
109. Blackout - Scorpions
110. Pure Holocaust - Immortal
111. Restless And Wild - Accept
112. Destroy Erase Improve - Meshuggah
113. So Far, So Good, So What? - Megadeth
114. Still Life - Opeth
115. Battle Hymns - Manowar
116. Toxicity - System Of A Down
117. Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory - Dream Theater
118. Leprosy - Death
119. Welcome To Sky Valley - Kyuss
120. The Legacy - Testament
121. Badmotorfinger - Soundgarden
122. Death Penalty - Witchfinder General
123. At The Heart Of Winter - Immortal
124. Cause Of Death - Obituary
125. Too Fast For Love - Mötley Crüe
126. Symbolic - Death
127. Killing Technology - Voivod
128. Times Of Grace - Neurosis
129. Horrified - Repulsion
130. Bergtatt: Et eeventyr i 5 capitler - Ulver
131. Angel Witch - Angel Witch
132. Dopesmoker - Sleep
133. The Satanist - Behemoth
134. Mental Funeral - Autopsy
135. Strong Arm Of The Law - Saxon
136. Land Of The Free - Gamma Ray
137. Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! - Megadeth
138. Covenant - Morbid Angel
139. Iron Fist - Motörhead
140. Facelift - Alice In Chains
141. Into Glory Ride - Manowar
142. None So Vile - Cryptopsy
143. Spreading The Disease - Anthrax
144. Enemy Of The Sun - Neurosis
145. Hall Of The Mountain King - Savatage
146. Horrorscope - Overkill
147. Slowly We Rot - Obituary
148. Crack The Skye - Mastodon
149. Korn - Korn
150. Mob Rules - Black Sabbath
151. Crimson - Edge Of Sanity
152. Fistful Of Metal - Anthrax
153. Far Beyond Driven - Pantera
154. Bark At The Moon - Ozzy Osbourne
155. Blues For The Red Sun - Kyuss
156. Feel The Fire - Overkill
157. Awake - Dream Theater
158. World Downfall - Terrorizer
159. Oceanborn - Nightwish
160. Balls To The Wall - Accept
161. NOLA - Down
162. Denim And Leather - Saxon
163. Souls At Zero - Neurosis
164. The Mantle - Agalloch
165. Symphonies Of Sickness - Carcass
166. New Bermuda - Deafheaven
167. Vikingligr Veldi - Enslaved
168. Nightfall - Candlemass
169. Psalm 69: The Way To Succeed And The Way To Suck Eggs - Ministry
170. Agent Orange - Sodom
171. Deicide - Deicide
172. I.N.R.I. - Sarcofago
173. Fear Of The Dark - Iron Maiden
174. Nothingface - Voivod
175. Clandestine - Entombed
176. Bathory - Bathory
177. Tomb Of The Mutilated - Cannibal Corpse
178. Infernal Overkill - Destruction
179. No More Tears - Ozzy Osbourne
180. Dopethrone - Electric Wizard
181. Metal Church - Metal Church
182. Coma Of Souls - Kreator
183. Morbid Visions - Sepultura
184. City - Strapping Young Lad
185. Relentless - Pentagram
186. A Social Grace - Psychotic Waltz
187. No More Color - Coroner
188. Holy Mountain - Sleep
189. At War With Satan - Venom
190. Whoracle - In Flames
191. Wheels Of Steel - Saxon
192. Turn Loose The Swans - My Dying Bride
193. Alice In Hell - Annihilator
194. Legion - Deicide
195. Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow - Rainbow
196. Jane Doe - Converge
197. Persecution Mania - Sodom
198. Bloody Kisses - Type O Negative
199. No Rest For The Wicked - Ozzy Osbourne
200. Enthrone Darkness Triumphant - Dimmu Borgir




Paranoid album cover
Master of Puppets album cover
Number of the Beast album cover
Reign in Blood album cover




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