30. Mad Season - Above [1995]Mad Season is a supergroup of sorts with Layne Staley (Alice in Chains) on vocals, Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) on guitar, Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees) on drums along with John Baker Saunders on bass. Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens Of The Stone Age, etc.) also makes two appearances here.
The resulting sound is kind of like Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam jumped in a time machine and became a unified early 70's hard rock band. Staley's vocals are so unique that the music can't escape the Alice sound to some extent, however McCready and Martin take the music in a different direction. It's very dark throughout, very mellow and jazzy at times, excessively psychedelic bluesy at others (which I love). McCready is given space to work his magic on guitar and there are times that I could swear John Bonham is on drums with Martin's powerful playing.
If you're a fan of stuff like Zeppelin, bluesy Sabbath, Cream and enjoy Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam you should really give this a listen. The real gems of the album take a little longer to get into but give them time and you'll find the magic.
Check out:
"Wake Up",
"River of Deceit",
"Artificial Red",
"Long Gone Day",
"November Hotel" 29. Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf [2002]For me this is "stoner rock" at its perfection. Your invitation to the desert trip Odyssey that is “Songs for the Deaf” begins with the buzz of a radio tuner, and a few moments of scrambling through various distant channels sent from the Mexican border.These radio transmissions carry you through the album.
Most know that Songs For The Deaf was recorded with Dave Grohl on drums and he did an exceptional job here. Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan both have unique voices and the pair never fail to keep me on my toes waiting to see what they put together. Band leader Homme has a knack for tricking you into you into thinking the songs are only about their great chugging fuzz-laden riffs and bashing drums but they manage to meld a superb sense of melody into heavy music with a groove. Two of their bigger hits are on this release and "Go With The Flow" is a personal all-time favorite of mine, though I've heard it hundreds of times.
Check out:
"No One Knows",
"First It Giveth",
"The Sky Is Fallin'",
"Hangin' Tree",
"Go with the Flow"28. Megadeth - Rust In Peace [1990]Rust In Peace is well thought of by most throughout the metal scene.It took me a while to get used to Dave Mustaine's singing style. I actually didn't come around to the sound till the Countdown To Extinction album (which I also like). Marty Friedman is a magician on the guitar and he clearly helped elevate Mustaine's game here. The vicious riffs and electric solos throughout Rust In Peace are astounding and the songs are very well composed and produced.
Even though I grew up through the peaks of Megadeth and Metallica I never got in the middle of the conflict between the bands fans. Personally I think it'd be hard for either group's fans to deny the two groups best efforts at least. Rust In Peace to me is Megadeth's best, a true thrash classic.
Check out:
"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due",
"Hangar 18",
"Tornado of Souls",
""Rust in Peace... Polaris"" 27. Black Sabbath - Sabotage [1975]Sabotage is what I'd consider the Sabbath's angriest sounding album. Ozzy's vocals on this album are probably better than at any time in his career. Where some of the other Sabbath albums generally had a couple clunkers among the classics; Sabotage for me is clunker free. Yes even "Am I Going Insane (Radio)" works for me especially the creepy laughing/screaming at the end that fades into "The Writ". This album also features another likely metal foundation from Black Sabbath in "Symptom of the Universe", which many people feel is the first legit thrash metal song.
Check out:
"Hole in the Sky",
"Symptom of the Universe",
"Megalomania",
"The Writ" 26. Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime [1988]Another classic, especially to many on these forums. What can I say about this amazing album that isn't already known or already been combed over a thousand times? Although I had heard many great things about the album I didn't come around to give it a serious listen till after Empire had been released. It's clearly among the top concept albums ever but its even more than the sum of it's parts, as many of the songs are great even as stand alone tracks. Superb thematically, lyrically, and musically. Operation Mindcrime was perfect execution and a serious game changer. A defining moment in metal and progressive music.
Check out:
"Revolution Calling",
"Speak",
"I Don’t Believe in Love",
"Eyes of a Stranger"