The Better Life is a great album, although I disagree with you about most of the songs being better than Kryptonite. Despite overexposure to that song, I love it to pieces.
Also, Hybrid Theory.
Over exposure is part of why I like the other songs more, but more so it's because the other songs are better.
44. Nightwish – Imaginaerum (2011)Speaking of Annette, here we have Nightwish’s magnum opus, Imaginarium or Imaginaerum. I never had a problem with Tarja, and I like their past albums, but they’re very inconsistent. I wasn’t much of a fan of Dark Passion Play though, but that had nothing to do with Annette. The songs just weren’t interesting, besides the first 3. Imaginaerum is the first Nightwish album where I think every song is great. Even the intro track, but that has a lot to do with the orchestration, which is one of Nightwish’s finest qualities. I love good Symphonic Metal, and Nightwish delivers in that regard. Even bassist Marco has stepped up his game surprising me with a side of his vocals I never heard. Epic is definitely the word to describe this album, with many different styles throughout, including an upbeat circus like section in the vein of Haken as well as an almost lounge style song. There is a spoken word section at the end of Song Of Myself which lasts a good 6 minutes, but with the beautiful music underneath, it moves along pretty quickly. If you like heavy symphonic metal, check this out. You won’t be disappointed.
Recommended tracks: Storytime, Slow Love Slow, I Want My Tears Back, Last Ride Of The Day, Song Of Myself
43. Judas Priest – Painkiller (1990)After two WTF albums by Heavy Metal giants, Judas Priest, they returned with the heaviest album they will ever make. Granted, besides Turbo and Ram It Down, it’s also the cheesiest album they will ever make. But that’s OK. It fucking slays. I’ve known about JP for a long time, hearing their singles on the radio, but I didn’t delve into their discography until probably 2005 maybe. I bought the Remasters Box set which included Painkiller with it and was blown away by how fucking heavy it was. From the opening drum fill of Painkiller, this album dominates. Any doubts JP fans had about them not being Heavy Metal again were gone once they pushed play. Leather Rebel has some insane riffage with great double bass drums accompanying it. Rob Halford proved at the time he was still the king of metal vocalists with his blistering shrieks and wails with one moment in the ballad A Touch Of Evil that’ll give you goosebumps. The closing track, One Shot At Glory is a stand out for me with an epic solo section and even more epic final vocals by Halford. If you like Heavy Power metal, you’ll love this one.
Recommended tracks: Painkiller, Leather Rebel, A Touch Of Evil, One Shot At Glory
42. Stone Sour – Come What(Ever) May (2006)My brother recommended this album to me, so I listened once and didn’t like it. Months later I decided to check it out again on my own accord and was taken aback. This album is really good. The first track, 30/30-150 starts the album off with a bang with kick ass drumming from Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin who sadly only appears on this song. The album continues the metal with the title track and Hell & Consequences before slowing down for the first ballad of the album, Sillyworld. Although the next song, Made Of Scars has some pretty silly lyrics about showing off scars, it’s still a good rocker. Same can be said for the other songs. I was so sick of Through Glass being played on the radio constantly, but somehow I liked it again once I heard it on the album. Weird. Besides 30/30-150, the best song on the album by far is Zzyzx Rd., A ballad about singer Corey Taylor’s time recovering from alcoholism. Zzyzx Rd is full of genuine emotions that have brought me to tears on occasion. Very moving. Come What(ever) May is a great Alternative Metal album with great grooves and melodies. There’s cussing on this album but it’s not distracting or anything.
Recommended tracks: 30/30-150, Hell & Consequences, Reborn, Socio, Zzyzx Rd.
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Now for a few Honorable Mentions in no particular order:
Dream Theater - Train Of Thought (2003)Balls and chunk galore, a great shredfest, perfect for blasting in the car, but not quite top 50 material, thanks to As I Am.
Nevermore - Enemies Of Reality (2003/2005)This album would have made my list, but there are a couple tracks I'm not too fond of. As for the rest of the album? Holy shit. Andy Sneap's 2005 remix made this one of the best, and heaviest sounding albums I've ever heard. Heavy fucking metal.
Megadeth - Youthanasia (1994)Although Megadeth continued to move away from thrash, their mainstream sound was still pretty heavy. An album full of catchy metal tunes, awesome riffage and loud bass.
More to come tomorrow!