Top 50
My 50 favorite albums of all time. Whatever inconsistencies exist with my genre lists exist because those were thought up with some thought given to seniority, and I tried my best not to pick albums based on my emotional attachment to them. Here the method was completely the opposite: this list is 100% subjective. Enjoy. |
50 | | Paradise Lost Lost Paradise |
49 | | Dead Can Dance The Serpent's Egg
This band is often sold as being better than it is by hessians trying to look open-minded, but they're a still a pretty good listen, particularly this album and their first EP. |
48 | | Runemagick The Supreme Force of Eternity |
47 | | Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 |
46 | | Amorphis The Karelian Isthmus |
45 | | Dolorian Dolorian |
44 | | DJ Shadow Endtroducing... |
43 | | Drudkh Forgotten Legends |
42 | | Godspeed You! Black Emperor Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada
I'm not big on post-rock, but this band, Yndi Halda and that one Mono album really are quite something. |
41 | | Mournful Congregation The Monad of Creation |
40 | | Perotin Perotin (The Hilliard Ensemble) |
39 | | Tangerine Dream Ricochet |
38 | | Pink Floyd Meddle |
37 | | Summoning Nightshade Forests |
36 | | Thergothon Fhtagn-nagh Yog-Sothoth
I'm not sure whether Lovecraft would actually dig it, but I do think it captures the spirit of his works masterfully. |
35 | | Vali Forlatt |
34 | | Isengard Vandreren
A work that feels almost incomplete at points and is therefore all the more exciting to the imagination. Underrated as fuck. |
33 | | Primordial To The Nameless Dead |
32 | | Paysage D'Hiver Paysage D'Hiver |
31 | | Magma Magma
Unlike the bands who would imitate and follow them, Magma's madness had a point, and once you manage to crack through a few of the layers it reveals a strange beauty. |
30 | | Gregorio Allegri Miserere; Messe; Motets |
29 | | Franz Liszt A Faust Symphony |
28 | | Edward Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85
Especially the Jacqueline DuPre recordings. She makes the piece come alive like no one else. |
27 | | Fanisk Noontide |
26 | | Disembowelment Transcendence Into the Peripheral |
25 | | Worship Last CD Before Doomsday
One of the most harrowing experiences in metal, there are times when I can't really bring myself to listen to it because I know I'll end up in an awful mood. |
24 | | Mayhem De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas |
23 | | Franz Schubert String Quartet No.14 (Death and the Maiden)
My favorite composer of chamber music, also a master of the symphony and the song. The quintessential romantic hero. |
22 | | Darkthrone Under A Funeral Moon |
21 | | Demigod Slumber of Sullen Eyes |
20 | | Septic Flesh Mystic Places of Dawn |
19 | | Blind Guardian Somewhere Far Beyond |
18 | | The Bulgarian Voices Angelite Fly, Fly My Sadness |
17 | | Emperor In The Nightside Eclipse |
16 | | Fates Warning The Spectre Within |
15 | | Slayer Hell Awaits
Reign in Blood is better, of course, but I like this one more. Its more immersive and atmospheric, it feels like there's more to discover. |
14 | | King Crimson In The Court of the Crimson King
The greatest progressive rock band, with Magma a close second. |
13 | | Funeral Tragedies |
12 | | Klaus Schulze X |
11 | | At The Gates The Red In The Sky Is Ours |
10 | | Enslaved Hordanes Land |
9 | | Burzum Hvis Lyset Tar Oss |
8 | | Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 82 |
7 | | Candlemass Epicus Doomicus Metalicus |
6 | | Metallica ...And Justice for All |
5 | | Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons |
4 | | Bathory Hammerheart |
3 | | Sortilege Larmes de Héros
The heroic Weltanschauung ideal that permeates all true metal is perfected. |
2 | | Ludwig Van Beethoven Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55
Where there not an implicit one album per "band" rule this man would absolutely rule the list. |
1 | | Skepticism Stormcrowfleet
The soundtrack to all my dreams and visions. |
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