In 1976 when I was 12, for a penny one could join a mail-order record club and receive a stack of records via the U.S. Postal Service. Of course, there was a requirement to purchase a certain number of records at their regular (i.e., exorbitant) price, but who cared? One of the albums I ordered in my initial cache was “Kiss Alive” and, oh man, it was the most awesome thing I had ever heard!

To my mother’s horror, a slew of now-classic Hard Rock and Heavy Metal albums began to arrive at the house on a regular basis. Bands like Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Blue Oyster Cult, Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Rainbow, and others.

Fast-forward almost half a century later. After Eddie Van Halen died on October 6, 2020, I committed myself to listening to the entire Van Halen album catalog. I had never been a huge fan of the band, but was curious to revisit. Some of the albums were familiar, but most I had never heard before – or even heard of. Eddie Van Halen’s unique guitar virtuosity was mesmerizing.

Bored and locked down by a certain pandemic, I had time on my hands to wonder about other great rock/metal guitarists. This led me to revisit the Heavy Metal albums of my youth. Which led me to explore some of the well-known Metal bands I’d heard of, but had never actually listened to before (Motorhead! Iron Maiden! Slayer! Megadeth!).

Which led me to explore bands I had never even heard of before (Death! Opeth! Mastodon! Pantera!). Which led me to explore entire genres I had never heard of before (Deathcore!). Which led to further explorations. And so on, and so on.

Two years into my Metal explorations, I’ve now listened to over 1,200 albums by over 225 different bands, covering genres of Heavy Metal, NWOHM, Thrash/Speed, Glam, Death, Black, Progressive, Stoner, Emo, Doom, Power, Symphonic, Metalcore, Deathcore….

Tactical Metal features my lists, as well as occasional short blogs by myself and some of my friends.

CHRIS FRUEH’S 50 GREATEST METAL ALBUMS

  1. Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath

  2. Metallica – Master of Puppets

  3. Deep Purple – Made in Japan

  4. Slayer – Reign in Blood

  5. Black Sabbath – Paranoid

  6. Deep Purple – Machine Head

  7. Iron Maiden – Number of the Beast

  8. Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads – Blizzard of Ozz

  9. Judas Priest – British Steel

  10. Megadeth – Peace Sells

  11. Kiss – Alive!

  12. Venom – Black Metal

  13. Exodus – Bonded by Blood

  14. Death – Human

  15. Opeth – Blackwater Park

  16. Slayer – Seasons in the Abyss

  17. Bathory – Under the Sign of the Black Mark

  18. Metallica – Ride the Lightning

  19. Judas Priest – Stained Class

  20. Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden

  21. Dio – Holy Diver

  22. Mastodon – Leviathan

  23. Megadeth – Rust in Peace

  24. Sepultura – Chaos A.D.

  25. Black Sabbath – Master of Reality

  26. Blue Oyster Cult – Blue Oyster Cult

  27. Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads – Diary of a Madman

  28. Metallica – Kill Them All

  29. Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales

  30. Megadeth – Countdown to Extinction

  31. Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance

  32. Black Sabbath – Volume 4

  33. Motorhead – Ace of Spades

  34. Pantera – Vulgar Display of Power

  35. Morbid Angel – Altars of Madness

  36. Guns N Roses – Appetite for Destruction

  37. Blue Oyster Cult – Secret Treaties

  38. Rainbow – Rising

  39. Motley Crue – Too Fast for Love

  40. Diamond Head – Lightning to the Nations

  41. Mercyful Fate – Melissa

  42. Queensryche – Operation: Mindcrime

  43. Thin Lizzy – Live and Dangerous

  44. Iron Maiden – Powerslave

  45. Carcass – Heartwork

  46. Venom – Welcome to Hell

  47. Death – The Sound of Perseverance

  48. Possessed – Seven Churches

  49. Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

  50. Darkthrone – A Blaze in the Northern Sky

CHRIS FRUEH’S 50 GREATEST METAL BANDS

  1. Black Sabbath

  2. Iron Maiden

  3. Metallica

  4. Deep Purple

  5. Slayer

  6. Judas Priest

  7. Megadeth

  8. Death

  9. Ozzy Osbourne

  10. Motorhead

  11. Blue Oyster Cult

  12. Venom

  13. Opeth

  14. Motley Crue

  15. Bathory

  16. Mastodon

  17. Kiss

  18. Sepultura

  19. Dio

  20. Tool

  21. Rainbow

  22. Pantera

  23. Testament

  24. Exodus

  25. Scorpions

  26. Morbid Angel

  27. Carcass

  28. Thin Lizzy

  29. Celtic Frost

  30. King Diamond

  31. Emperor

  32. Darkthrone

  33. Converge

  34. Mayhem

  35. Mercyful Fate

  36. Dark Tranquillity

  37. Marilyn Manson

  38. Overkill

  39. Queensryche

  40. Cannibal Corpse

  41. Katatonia

  42. Neurosis

  43. Skid Row

  44. Immolation

  45. Diamond Head

  46. Alice in Chains

  47. Slipknot

  48. Killswitch Engage

  49. Suffocation

  50. Immortal