Category: Metal
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Ozzy Osbourne ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ (1980)
It was the spring of 1980 and the legendary Ozzy Osbourne was in the midst of a decade-long bender of epic proportions. Jettisoned from his former band Black Sabbath, the wayward frontman was at somewhat of a career and personal crossroads– his musical longevity was uncertain considering the massive amounts of cocaine and alcohol he…
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Okilly Dokilly ‘Howdilly Doodilly’ (2016)
It’s not often you run into a heavy metal band dressed up as Ned Flanders from The Simpsons singing lyrics from Homer’s dorky neighbor, but here we are living our best lives. The band Okilly Dokilly rose to prominence in 2019 after their song “White Wine Spritzer” was featured during the closing credits of a…
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As I Lay Dying ‘Shadows Are Security’ (2005)
Shadows Are Security was one of those albums I discovered in high school when I was first getting into melodic metalcore. I was a punk rock kid through and through for most of my early teens, but around the time Underoath dropped They’re Only Chasing Safety in 2004 it set me off on a path…
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Slayer ‘Show No Mercy’ (1983)
In the damp, dimly lit corners of Los Angeles in 1983, four young men carved their path into heavy metal history with the release of Show No Mercy. The album was completely self-financed, with lead singer Tom Araya using the life savings he earned as a respiratory therapist and guitarist Kerry King’s father chipping in…
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System of a Down ‘Toxicity’ (2001)
Today when a band gets labelled with the term nu-metal it’s almost a credibility death sentence. Back in 2001? Not so much. This was the era when Korn and Limp Bizkit were a mainstream thing, constantly played on MTV, and every young male in their teens was obsessed. Amidst this backdrop System of a Down…
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Metallica ‘Ride The Lightning’ (1984)
1984’s Ride The Lightning was an ambitious next step Metallica following the release of their debut album Kill Em’ All. Whereas their debut album was just an absolute slugfest of heavy overhand rights, Metallica took greater artistic chances with their second album which ultimately paved the way for them to release their magnum opus Master…
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Dream Widow ‘Dream Widow’ (2022)
Dave Grohl’s love for all things rock and roll comes through in every single project he touches. Whether it be his documentary on Sound City Recording Studios, his numerous contributions to rock through bands like Foo Fighters and Nirvana over the last 30 years, or just a casual interview over a plate of hot wings,…
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Corelia ‘Nostalgia’ (2011)
I first stumbled on Corelia a few years after college and can’t really recall how I found them. But I purchased the album digitally in 2012 on my iTunes account (remember when people did that?!?!) and I’m constantly reminded of them every time I connect my phone to the Bluetooth speakers in my car. Nostalgia…
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Megadeth ‘Killing Is My Business…and Business Is Good!’ (1985)
Despite Dave Mustaine incessantly whining like a petulant toddler for the better part of the last forty years about being kicked out of Metallica in 1983 (the guy seriously can’t get out of his own way), Megadeth is totally kick ass and helped to spearhead the American thrash metal movement in the 1980’s alongside their…
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Elder ‘Reflections of a Floating World’ (2017)
It’s rare that I hear a band for the very first time and am immediately impressed by their ingenuity– listening to a full album every day for 450 days in a row will do that to you, especially when you supplement that already staggering habit with hits of singles throughout the day. But when I…
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Mötley Crüe ‘Dr. Feelgood’ (1989)
In the history of music there’s no band that better encapsulates the hedonistic and over the top lifestyle of rock and roll than Mötley Crüe. There’s been countless bands that told tales of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll in their music, and a handful who truly lived the lifestyle. And then there’s Mötley Crüe.…
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In Flames ‘Colony’ (1999)
Swedish heavy metal bangs so damn hard and In Flames 1999 album Colony is no exception. Featuring the piercing vocal growls of lead singer Anders Fridén, the dual attack of guitarists Björn Gelotte and Jesper Strömblad, and the steady rhythm section attack of bassist Peter Iwers and drummer Daniel Svensson, Colony was one of my…
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Hanoi Rocks ‘Two Steps From The Move’ (1984)
As if the album cover didn’t give it away, Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish glam rock band from the 80’s that encapsulated all of the excess of that era unironically. Two Steps From The Move was their breakthrough album in the United States, and with the production guidance of the legendary Bob Ezrin (who worked…
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Spiritworld ‘DEATHWESTERN’ (2022)
Spiritworld’s DEATHWESTERN is an apocalyptic deluge of distorted guitars set in a dystopian American West populated by blood-thirsty demons and tales baptized in blood. It’s thrash metal meets hardcore in the arid desert, a brutal and heavy affair that doesn’t let up on the gas pedal throughout its entire 36-minute runtime. If you’re looking for…
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Trans-Siberian Orchestra ‘Christmas Eve and Other Stories’ (1996)
I grew up in Cupertino and saw its rise from a relatively docile South Bay city to the tech epicenter of the world during Apple’s meteoric rise as the largest company on Planet Earth. Every year around Christmas my family would take a quick five minute drive from our house to Oak Meadow Court where…
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Def Leppard ‘Hysteria’ (1987)
The history behind Def Leppard’s Hysteria is a wonderful story about persistence in the face of adversity. After releasing their breakthrough hit Pyromania in 1983, Def Leppard went on a world tour that put them on the path to becoming one of the largest glam metal bands of their era. They initially entered the studio…
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Metallica ‘Master of Puppets’ (1986)
Master of Puppets is a hallmark album in metal history that is often lauded as one of the genre’s most important albums of all-time. Along with going six times platinum (which is insanely impressive for a thrash metal full-length) it has the unique distinction of being the very first metal album to be selected by…
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Korn ‘Follow The Leader’ (1998)
There was a moment in music history where Korn owned the MTV airwaves alongside fellow nu-metal compatriots Limp Bizkit. So it only makes sense that Korn’s breakout album Follow The Leader (which celebrated its 25th anniversary last month) would feature none other than the red backwards hat wearing Fred Durst on “All In The Family”,…
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Melvins ‘Houdini’ (1993)
Melvins are perhaps known best for their influence on Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain, who frequently cited the group as one of his largest musical inspirations during his lifetime, as well as its influence on contemporary sludge metal virtuosos Mastodon (drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor cites this album as a massive influence as well). Cobain was actually…
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Scorpions ‘Love At First Sting’ (1984)
“Rock You Like A Hurricane” is an iconic hair metal song and Scorpions are an iconic heavy metal band, selling over 100 million records during the course of their 60-year history. It puts them at the top of best-selling lists of not only heavy metal but bands of any genre, influencing cultural powerhouses like Guns…
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Dokken ‘Under Lock and Key’ (1985)
Dokken comes from the iconic era of glam metal bands like Ratt and Poison, where image was nearly as important as the music. Big hair, big drums, big vocals, big guitar solos— if everything is in fact bigger in Texas, then everything was indisputably the biggest in 1985 when hair metal stood on top of…
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Ratt ‘Invasion of Your Privacy’ (1985)
When Los Angeles glam metal was having its moment in the early-80’s, there were two bands that defined the genre– Mötley Crüe and Ratt. Ratt’s 1985 album Invasion of Your Privacy is basically a perfect example of what made glam such a scene– overdriven fuzzy guitars, massive sing-a-long choruses, shredding guitar solos, fat drums with…
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Judas Priest ‘British Steel’ (1980)
If Black Sabbath’s Paranoid was the album that defined heavy metal in the 70’s, Judas Priest’s British Steel was the album that defined heavy metal in the 80’s. Featuring early elements of thrash, glam metal, and hard rock, Judas Priest took the slow plodding sludge grooves of the previous era, turned up the BPM, and…
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Dream Theater ‘Images and Words’ (1992)
Dream Theater is one of the “Big Three” in prog metal, and alongside Queensrÿche and Fates Warning helped prog metal become more than just a small niche genre stuck in between the demise of 80’s glam metal and 90’s alternative rock. Images and Words is an eclectic grab bag of prog rock influences– from New…
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Wolfhand ‘The Devil Arrives’ (2020)
A lone figure in a wide brimmed black hat appears just over the skyline. His long and dark leather jacket blows in the breeze, flowing with the dusty desert wind and yet unperturbed by it, a man who transcends . The silver glint of his revolvers, one-a-side dutifully attached to his hip as they have…
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Mastodon ‘Crack The Skye’ (2009)
Mastodon’s excellent 2009 album Crack The Skye sounds like Ozzy Osbourne did some LSD and decided to write a sludge metal record. That’s the best way to describe it in a nutshell, but peek under the covers and there is an incredible amount going on as Mastodon’s mastery over metal is the stuff of recent…
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Dio ‘Holy Diver’ (1983)
Dio was formed after Ronnie James Dio left to pursue a solo career following his (first) stint as lead singer of the eminent metal band Black Sabbath. Replacing a legend such as Ozzy Osbourne in a band that was notorious for its substance abuse issues was bound to be a herculean task, and despite a…
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Sepultura ‘Chaos A.D.’ (1993)
Chaos A.D. is a brutally heavy mash of thrash, hardcore, and death metal that hits like a gut punch straight to the solar plexus. Sepultura was one of the more influential heavy metal acts in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and along with Pantera helped to develop a more groove-oriented form of death-metal that…
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Iron Maiden ‘The Number of the Beast’ (1982)
Iron Maiden is one of the all-time metal greats and I’m beyond pumped to see them live for the first time alongside AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Tool, and Guns N’ Roses later this year at PowerTrip Live. I just booked my tickets last week and have been on a metal kick ever since. I literally…
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Killswitch Engage ‘The End of Heartache’ (2004)
I was a sophomore in high school when The End of Heartache first dropped. It represented my first foray into what I would call pure modern metal. I’d been listening to the forebears of metal like Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy for a minute, but hadn’t quite dabbled in the true dark arts yet. And…
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Animals As Leaders ‘Parrhesia’ (2022)
Prog metal is having its moment in the Plank household the past few weeks, with excellent albums like Colors by Between The Buried and Me and Remember That You Will Die by Polyphia being a handful of favorites. Today we take a trip to the harder side of instrumental metal with the raucous Parrhesia by…
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Limp Bizkit ‘Significant Other’ (1999)
Limp Bizkit may be the band that best represents the culmination of the 90’s hard rock excess, the proverbial “jumping of the shark” moment for guitar-driven music that went too far and eventually pushed mainstream listeners into the arms of pop and hip hop, elevating those genres to achieve commercial domination. That’s a helluva legacy…
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Polyphia ‘Remember That You Will Die’ (2022)
Polyphia is one of the (if not the) most popular instrumental prog-rock bands operating today and their 2022 album Remember That You Will Die underscores just why– it’s filled with hooks aplenty and simply virtuosic instrumental performances. Guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage absolutely shred throughout the entirety of this 39-minute affair, taking their metal…
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Between The Buried And Me ‘Colors’ (2007)
When one of Dream Theater’s co-founders names your album his favorite of the year you know you’ve made it in the prog metal scene. That was the case for Between The Buried and Me and their album Colors when prog-rock legend drummer Mike Portnoy (along with numerous other publications) named this 65-minute eclectic journey the…
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Black Sabbath ‘Paranoid’ (1970)
Black Sabbath is the most important heavy metal band of all time, hard stop. It’s impossible to overstate just what they did for the genre. The fact a record as heavy as Paranoid came out in 1970 is sort of shocking. You almost don’t blame the parents of yesteryear for losing their shit over kids…
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