Cut to a scene in a cozy living room. UMH is sitting in a red velvet chair smoking a pipe, reflecting on all the wonderful music he's heard in his lifetime. He looks directly into the camera.
"Oh, it's you! Been a while, hasn't it?" The camera moves up and down in a nodding fashion. "No doubt you've come to talk about my top 50 albums!" UMH gets up and disrobes to reveal a Polkadot Cadaver t-shirt and jeans. He is officially tired of trying to make a funny introduction, and just gets on with it.
50. Slipknot - Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses).jpg/220px-Slipknot_-_Vol._3-_(The_Subliminal_Verses).jpg)
Well, we're already off an a controversial note. I'll be the first to admit that nu-metal and metalcore are probably my most hated, nay, despised musical genres ever. However, Slipknot is the one and only band responsible for my transition out of mainstream pop and into the wonderful world of heavy music. Believe it or not, before I was Ultimetalhead, I was Ultiboybandhead. This album deserves this spot for getting me out of that crap alone, but this album is truly quite a piece of work. The songs aren't focused exclusively on being heavy, there's very little rap (A defining quality of nu-metal), there's some rather beautiful clean vocals, and there's tons of variety. On one hand, you've got songs like Three Nil which are full-on assaults of metal, and later on a song like Vermilion Pt. 2 soothes you with its acoustic touches. There's even an industrial experiment in The Virus of Life. Overall, even if you think Slipknot are "teh SuckZorZ", you owe it to yourself to give this album a spin.
Recommended tracks: Circle, Vermilion, Vermilion Pt. 2, The Nameless
49. Megadeth - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?
Less controversial territory with this one, I'd say. Megadeth, much like Slipknot, was responsible for getting me out of a phase, only instead of N*SYNC it was Metallica. While this was one of the last Megadeth records I checked out during my obsession with them, it's obvious that this is one of Dave Mustaine's finest moments. Guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Gar Samuelson give such a unique, almost jazzy flavor to Dave Mustaine's crushing rhythm work. The guitar solos on Good Mourning/Black Friday are undoubtedly some of the best solos in the history of thrash/speed metal. Of course, one could never mention this album without giving some attention to the legendary title track. It was Megadeth's first political song, and it started a long trend of politically charged songs that now litter the Megadeth catalog. If you're a metal fan and you haven't heard this album, then you're seriously missing out.
Recommended tracks: Wake Up Dead, Peace Sells, Good Mourning/Black Friday
48. Polkadot Cadaver - Purgatory Dance Party
Harry got me into these guys with the song "Pure Bedlam For Half-Breeds", and I can't thank him enough. This band is absolutely insane. They combine what would otherwise be fairly generic metal with genre switches and some acrobatic vocals. The most impressive song on this album has to be "Bring Me the Head of Andy Warhol", which is what I would imagine what being stuck inside a psychotic, raging lunatic's head would sound like. It's criminal that this band isn't more popular within the avant-garde metal circles. Also, SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN SATAN.
Recommended tracks: Bring Me The Head of Andy Warhol, What's The Worst Thing That Could Happen?, Pure Bedlam For Half-Breeds
46. Ayreon - 010011001
This album is...long. Really, really long. You'd have to be absolutely stupid to make a prog-metal album this long and expect it to hold peoples' attention, but Arjen Lucassen did it anyway. Why? Because he damn well felt like it. The craziest part of this story is the album is actually extremely good. There's a monumental cast of singers on this album, including Daniel Gildenlow, Hansi Kursch, Jorn Lande, and Anneke van Giersbergen (aka the best female singer ever). Arjen Lucassen plays most of the guitars, basses, and keyboards on this album, which is an even more impressive thought when actually listening to the album. There's plenty of layers here that merit repeated listens. The story is interesting enough for Ayreon noobs, and a great close to the Ayreon storyline for the faithful ones who've stayed with Arjen throughout this lengthy project. The all-star vocal cast is more than enough to put this album in my top 50, but the album is a great, if not enormous slab of prog metal goodness.
Recommended tracks: Age of Shadows, Ride the Comet, The Sixth Extinction
Topic: Top 50 Albums: The UMH Experience (Read 65177 times)
