Top Six albums I couldn't live without

[Shaman]

Mr Bungle Disco Volante

I was a bit confused when I heard that album for the first time I have had the self titled album for quite some time, and I loved it! Then I just had to get this one as well, and like I said, I was a bit shocked at first

A great album, even more insane than the first

 

[El Caco]

Yes I felt the same way at first, I think everyone does but slowly I began to regard it as one of the best recordings ever, now I consider it a must own.

 

[DslDwg]

Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman
Randy was such a huge influence on me picking up the guitar. Maybe doesn't have the iconic tunes that Blizzard of Oz has but Diary of a Madman in my opinion might have been one of greatest constructed metal songs of the era.

Rush - Hemispheres
Probably the lesser known of their thematic albums 2112 probably being the most famous. Hemispheres just talks to me - great album.

Metallica - Ride the lightning
Hard to choose between it and Master. Just love speed and intensity and go for the more simplistic songs. Banged my head endlessly to Fight Fire with Fire - classic

Megadeth - Rust in Peace
This might be the perfect metal album in my opinion. Still a benchmark - great songs great playing.

Steely Dan - A Decade of Steely Dan
My one oddball - a friend turned me on to this album - I probably had heard all the songs previously but the collection is as close to perfection as you can get. Completely not my normal style of music but I just never get tired of hearing this album. great great songs.

Dream Theater - Train of Thought
Hard to pick my favorite love these guys. Just love the songs and album leans a little more metal than some of the others.

 

[TMatt142]

Nice....nice to see some Steely Dan in here to switch things up a bit!....Here's mine..

Dream Theater- Awake
Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare
Devin Townsend - synchestra
Extreme - Pornografitti
Eric Johnson - Ah via musicom
John Petrucci - Suspended animation

Of course there are more...but these are what I've been listening to consistantly the past year or so.

 

[DefinedInSilere]

Control Denied- The Fragile Art Of Existence
Kalmah- Swamplord
Arsis- A Celebration Of Guilt
Funkadelic- Maggot Brain
Demons & Wizards- Demons & Wizards
Necrophagist- Epitaph

That was difficult....

 

[Lucky Seven]

Megadeth - Rust in Peace

Yes - Fragile

Scorpions - World Wide Live

Marty Friedman - Loudspeaker

Hiromi Uehara - Spiral

Dream Theater - Images and Words

 

[Anthony]

Wintersun- Wintersun
Smashing Pumpkins- Mellon Collie
The Cure- Disintegration
Dream Theater- Images and Words
Nevermore- This Godless Endeavor
Nobuo Uematsu- Final Fantasy VII Soundtrack

 

[Ken]

Thankfully, I will never have to make those choices.

 

[neroceasar]

Death - Spiritual Healing

Spiritual healing is my favorite death album. And the cover is one of the best covers of all time.

 

[COBHC]

Control Denied- The Fragile Art Of Existence
Kalmah- Swamplord
Arsis- A Celebration Of Guilt
Funkadelic- Maggot Brain
Demons & Wizards- Demons & Wizards
Necrophagist- Epitaph

That was difficult....

nice to see another kalmah and demon and wizards fan

my list

Demons & Wizards - Demons & Wizards
Kalmah - Swampsong
Iron Maiden - Best of the Beast collection ( hope thats not cheating lol )
Children of Bodom - Follow The Reaper
Children of Bodom - Something Wild
Elvenking - The Scythe

 

[TheSixthWheel]

Like many of you, I found that I was crap at selecting only 6. This is as few as I could select, while still covering a few areas.

Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
Moody, thick album.
Tool - Lateralus
80 minutes of sonic adventure.
Cog - The New Normal
So much substance for a 3-piece.
Metallica - Master Of Puppets
80's thrash doesn't get much better in my mind.
Soilwork - Figure Number Five
Arch Enemy - Wages Of Sin
In Flames - Soundtrack To Your Escape
Opeth - Blackwater Park/Deliverance
Couldn't choose. Mikael Akerfeldt is a musical genius.
Porcupine Tree - In Absentia
Steven Wilson is also a musical genius.
Meshuggah - Chaosphere/I ep
Couldn't choose again. Haake and Thordendal are both kings among men.
Fear Factory - Obsolete/Demanufacture
Whatever you think of Dino, he sure is good at what he does.
Sepultura - Chaos A.D.
When I was 16, I'd never heard metal like this.

Ok, so that's 14 and an EP. Crap effort, I know. But I don't see myself being separated from any of those albums, ever.

 

[Jan]

Here's my list:
Whoops, I forgot the 6th!
6. Amorphis - Tales From the Thousand Lakes
Those melodies, those brilliant melodies!

Actually, that'd be my ABSOLUTE number one... It's simply magical. The essence of what I like in my metal.

So, here it goes:

1. Amorphis - Tales From the Thousand Lakes (although Elegy is pretty kickass too)
2. In the Woods - Omnio (I had a hard time deciding between this album and the Heart of Ages)
3. Orphaned Land - Sahara (or maybe Mabool?)
4. Iona - A Woven Cord
5. Paradise Lost - Draconian Times (though the selft titled album is good too - I mean the recent one, not their first one)
6 Extol - Undeceived

If I could extend the list to ten, I would add:

7. In Flames - The Jester Race (and Reroute to Remain and Whoracle)
8. Death - Symbolic
9. Clannad - Legend
10. Virgin Black - Sombre Romantic

Other bands I love are Spiral Architect, Sirrah, Orphanage, Eluveitie, Alkonost, The Ocean Collective, SSOGE, Pantokrator... eh, I could go on forever...

 

[K7_Munky]

This was tough but here it is
cannibal corpse-the bleeding
slayer-god hates us all
otep-house of secrets
sepultura-chaos a.d.
korn-untouchables
slipknot-iowa
theres a lot more but I couldnt even list them all

 

[ibznorange]

6) Alien Ant Farm - ANThology

5) Tool - Aenema

4) Say Anything - Was a Real Boy

3) Sikth - The Trees are Dead and Dried Out, Wait for Something Wild

2) Cake - Fashion Nugget

1) The Deftones - White Pony LE Red

 

[SeanC]

Megadeth - Rust in Peace: Man this album fucking rules.

Cacophony - Speed Metal Symphony: The vocals may kind of suck but Marty Friedman and Jason Becker shredding it up on the same albums counts for hours and hours of listening value.

Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time: With songs like Caught Somewhere in Time and Stranger in a Strange Land this one just never gets old. And the guitar tones sound amazing.

Symphony X - The Divine Wings of Tragedy: Not necessarily my favorite Symphony X CD but I really don't think I could continue life without it.

Rush - Moving Pictures: This album is just perfect.

Testament - The New Order: This album also fucking rules.

 

[eightballhemhorrage]

My list is quite a bit different from everyone else's on here but here we go!!!

Presidents of the USA ~ any album

KoRn ~ follow the leader

Snoop Dogg ~ Doggystyle

Strapping Young Lad ~ the new black

Tech N9ne ~ Absolute Power

Scissor Sisters ~ Self titled

Make fun all you want i like a TON of different music. There is everything from Swedish Metal to rap to bluegrass in my cd changer.

 

[Tybanez]

Ugh,tough call;

Steve Vai-Passion and Warfare
Van Halen-Van Halen 1
Ozzy Osbourne-Blizzard of Ozz
Dream Theater-Images and Words
Megadeth-Rust in Peace
Deftones-White Pony

 

[AVWIII]

3. Orphaned Land - Sahara (or maybe Mabool?)

Awesome choice!

Unexpect - In a Flesh Aquarium, but re-done with We Invaders pasted before IaFA begins. If you've ever listened to those albums in a row, you know why.
Nile - In their darkened shrines
The Police - Greatest hits ( I can never figure out Police album I'd want)
Cynic - Focus
Do Make Say Think - You, You're a History in Rust
Death - individual/symbolic/perseverance. I couldn't choose. Each of them is phenomenal.

If I could somehow kill someone and get their six as well:
Augury - Concealed
Quo Vadis - Day into Night
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
SYL - alien
Queen - Classic Queen + Greatest hits with radio ga ga permanently removed.

 

[The Trooper]

This is rough...well, exclusing "Best Of's" and live albums, I guess I'd shoot for (in no prticular order):

Metallica - Master of Puppets

Hard to chose here, and the Black Album also makes a strong case. But if I had to choose one, I'd want THE thrash classic with me. I'd love to have TBA too, but I don't want to use another slot on Metallica.

Iron Maiden - Powerslave

Such a hard choice here too. I could have easily went with a handful of albums, and Somwhere in Time is a close second (highly underrated album IMO). But with tracks like Aces High, Powerslave...and Rime of the Ancient Mariner which could keep me occupied for hours by itself, I think this is the right choice. Now if I can only talk my band into covering the song Powerslave...

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

Again, extremely difficult to choose one. Even though it's only around 40 minutes or less, I could put this album on repeat and listen to it for days.

Judas Priest - Stained Class

Nothing beats vintage Priest form the earlier days. There was nothing that sounded quite like this album before, and nothign since.

Led Zeppelin - IV

Another band I could have went a lot of different directions in, but I'll stick here for tried and true. LOTs of close seconds, though.

RUSH - Moving Pictures

Thought about 2112, though about Hemispheres, etc. But this one is just flawless from start to finish.

 

[Makelele]

I don't know about not being able to live without them, but these ones rule

Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse

Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane

Devin Townsend - Terria

Strapping Young Lad - City (this album really helped me through some tough times a while ago, especially the song "Underneath the Waves")

Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (for being the first PT album I heard,)

Metallica - And Justice for All