Top Metal Albums Of All Time

Heralded by many as the greatest metal recording of all time; Metallica’s 3rd studio album was also the first Thrash record to go platinum. It was the classical influence and inclusion of melodic guitar parts in addition to driving thrash riffs which the band had perfected having pioneered the sound on ‘Ride The Lightning’, which won the band critical acclaim from outside the metal community. Its musical and, politically charged, lyrical content saw the album deemed as ‘culturally, historically or aesthetically significant’ by the American Library Of Congress in 2015 and is the only metal album to be preserved by the Nation Recording Registry.

Writing for the album began in a garage with Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield vamping out riffs to form songs before bringing Kirk Hammett and Cliff Burton in to rehearse. The band were looking to give the tracks more harmonic and melodic depth, they looked to a number of resources outside the metal genre for inspiration, citing Kate Bush and Simon & Garfunkel as the genesis for some of their musical ideas. The album was also originally to be produced by Rush’s Geddy Lee but busy schedules wouldn’t allow it. Following dissatisfaction with the acoustic quality of the studio they canvassed, the band decided to fly out to Lars Ulrich’s native Denmark.

In a bold move, the band decided not to take the standard practice of releasing singles or music videos in advance of the album’s launch and instead embarked on a European tour with Ozzy Osbourne. It was during the Swedish leg of the album’s supporting tour on which bassist Cliff Burton tragically died when the band’s tour bus crashed. This was also the last album to feature any creative input from former guitarist Dave Mustaine (although there are claims that he co-wrote ‘Leper Messiah’).

A couple of lesser-known facts about ‘Master Of Puppets’: Cliff’s bass solo on ‘Orion’ was previously on the guitar yet Cliff learnt Kirk Hammett’s licks and transcribed much of the original guitar take. James Hetfield has the notation of this solo tattooed on his arm. Did you know that Lars borrowed Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen’s snare fro the recording whilst he was recovering in hospital following the loss of his arm.

As for guitars - Kirk used his Jackson Flying V “Randy Rhoads’ equipped with EMG 81 humbuckers and a Gibson Flying V with stock pickups which were sapped out for EMGs after the recording of the album. James used a Jackson King Custom “Kill Bon Jovi” guitar loaded with high output Seymour Duncan Invader pickups. Amp wise the set up of choice was the Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ often alongside 100w Marshall JCM800 heads.

1980 was a time of change for the world of heavy metal with a new wave of hungry bands leaving the ‘old guard’ metal pioneers in their wake. Judas Priest was already well established, with 3 previous albums to their name, but recognised the need to do something different in order to survive the new popularity afforded to the genre. The intention with ’British Steel’ was to create a more commercial sounding album with melodic hooks in addition to trademark metal riffs, whilst retaining the band’s metal sensibilities. It has been speculated that the catalyst for this was Priest’s recent tour with ACDC who’s ‘Back In Black’ album had taken the same direction.

Recorded over a month at John Lennon’s former stately home Tittenhurst Park (home of Ringo Starr at the time of recording who had left the house in the hands of the band whilst visiting his girlfriend in L.A.), the band took the brave approach of going into the studio without fully writing and preparing all material, hoping the isolation and inspiration would bolster the creative process.

The album boasts game-changing metal riffs, in particular ‘Rapid Fire’ which is seen by many as the single root and precursor to thrash metal. The band adopted some unorthodox recording techniques during the sessions; taking their cue from Led Zeppelin IV, amps were mic’d up in large rooms around the house so they could be driven to saturation and the drums were placed in the reception hall with microphones hanging above the kit from the stairwells. This was in the days before digital sampling so some home solutions had to be employed - take a listen to the marching robots on ‘Metal Gods’ that is actually the sound of Ringo Starr’s cutlery draw being shaken. The sound bites on ‘Breaking The Law’ are analogue recordings of milk bottles being smashed by the band. It is also noted that the sirens heard on that track are a real police car, recorded as it passed by the house.

From a guitar gear point of interest; with KK Dowling and Glenn Tipton have a long affiliation with Gibson. Guitars were coupled with the perfect marriage of 50w Marshalls driven hard. It has been widely said that both guitarists used Rangemaster Treble Boosts during the recording in addition to MXR distortion and an Echoplex for ambient effects. It is worth noting that Dowling and Tipton pioneered the duel metal guitar set up with Tipton favouring a fat, humbucker tone with a mid-range scoop, whilst Dowling went in for a thinner, mid-cut sound. The result is an interlocking of the two players, even when performing in unison.

Did you know that the cover artwork actually depicts the hand of the album’s Polish art director Roslaw Szaybo’s hand holding an out of scale fake razor blade. The blade prop, apparently remained on his art studio wall until recent years when it simply went missing.

Released October 1986 under, primarily hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings (associated with artists such as Run DMC and LL Cool J), Reign In Blood saw an overhaul of the band’s overall sound and tone. Being the first metal band to work with the label, producer Rick Rubin set about yielding tighter and faster performances from guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hannaman, King stated later that previous guitar tones and recordings had been hidden in overuse of reverb, something that Rubin instantly removed from the production process. This delivered cleaner mixes and allowed the listener to hear the technical prowess of the band and intricate guitar playing in more definition gaining Slayer newfound respect amongst critics and metal fans.

Chief riff writer Hanneman and King were growing tired of the stock verse: chorus format riffs of their metal contemporaries, and so made the move to reduce repetition and crafted songs in a different fashion. The result is an intense breakneck ride through short, punchy blast beat-driven metal assaults with the total run time of the album coming in at a swift 29 minutes in total. Kerry King after joked that he wanted to produce something that could ‘fit on one side of a cassette tape’. With the average track paced at a galloping 220bpm, it is no surprise that it’s short and to the point!

Despite zero radio play (possibly due to the concerns over the lyrical content which had delayed the release of the album), Reign In Blood debuted at #127 on the Billboard Top 200 and climbed to #94 six weeks later and reached #47 in the UK Album Charts.

Guitar wise; both Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King have a long-standing relationship with BC Rich, with Hanneman opting for a ‘Bich’ model during the album’s recording and King using his ‘Mockingbird’ (this was prior to his signature model). Both guitars were loaded with Dimarzio Super Distortion pickups which the guitarists have cited as a key ingredient in their sound. Reign In Blood was recorded exclusively using a stock metal amp of choice - Marshall JCM800 2203 running into 4x12 speakers. It has also been suggested that Tubescreamers were used to get the extra grit and gain needed for the heavier tones.

Released in March 1982, ‘Number Of The Beast’ reached #1 in the UK Album Charts and also gave Iron Maiden their first top 10 single. Recording took place over only five weeks due to the complex writing sessions running over schedule. The album was also the first to feature Bruce Dickinson and, whilst he didn’t receive official credits on the album due to legal complications with his former band, his lyrical narratives became the bedrock of the Maiden we all know today. Bringing Bruce into the band was also a cue for the bassist and chief writer Steve Harris to open the band up to the more creative and multi-movement arrangements of which he felt the previous vocalist Paul Di’anno was not up to the task of performing.

Derek Rigg’s now-famous artwork on the cover of the album sparked a riotous response from right-wing religious groups who held gatherings at which they burnt or smashed vinyl copies of the album. Supernatural connections to ‘Number Of The Beast’ began during recording, when they, apparently suffered continuous equipment failures and dimming lights. Whether the is to be believed or not, it is true, however, that producer Martin Birch was involved in a car crash with a bus transporting nuns and the repair bill he received totalled £666! Spooky!

British retailer HMV conducted a survey of the UK population during preparations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and polled the public on their favourite album to be released during the Queen’s 50 years on the throne; surprisingly ‘Number Of The Beast’ won with 50,000 votes!

From the guitar gear side of things, both Dave Murray and Adrian Smith used Marshall 50w heads into 4x12 cabs with Murray opting for Celestion speakers and Smith favouring EVs. During the recording of the album, the amps were placed in large wooden rooms and multiple microphones were used to capture the full frequencies and sense of space. Dave Murray was also known to boost his signal before hitting the amp using an MXR Micro Amp and adopting a Dunlop Crybaby Wah during certain solos. Both players have a long term affiliation with Strats. these were always fitted with a humbucker on the bridge position.

Did you know; the reading from the Book Of Revelations heard at the beginning of the album’s title track is not actually read by horror thespian Vincent Price as per the original plan. It was reported that Price’s fee was too high and so an unknown, named sound-alike was employed to perform the reading instead.

So there we have it; some inspiration to get your ears and fingers in a playing frame of mind! Plus a few fun facts to impress your friends with!