The 100 Best and Absolute Greatest Heavy Metal Albums in the World Ever

About 20 years ago, at high school, under request, a friend of mine made me a "best of heavy metal" tape. I remember the sense of epic I felt listening for the first time to Iron Maiden's The Trooper. God, that was music! Actually, my metal epiphany lasted a couple of weeks. In that same tape, that friend of mine put some Pearl Jam and Nirvana songs. And I picked the grunge road.

This amazing anecdote is to say heavy metal is another of the infinite music genres I'm rather ignorant about. Ignorant, but voraciously curious. Even if I'm not in high school, anymore. So welcome to the lovely and humbly named "The 100 Best and Absolute Greatest Heavy Metal Albums in the World Ever" Spotify playlist, based from the book of the same name.

With the like of Alice Cooper, Anthrax, Black Sabbath, Danzig, Deftones, Dream Theater, Guns n'Roses, Iron Maiden (The Trooper included, yes!), Judas Priest, Korn, Marilyn Manson, Mastodon, Metallica, Motley Crue, Neurosis, Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera, Rage Against the Machine, Sepultura, Slayer, Slipknot, System of a Down, Van Halen, White Zombie and many more.

Full list is below the playlists. Plural: one playlist with complete albums and the second one with three tracks each album.

Loudly enjoy.

THE 100 BEST AND ABSOLUTE GREATEST HEAVY METAL ALBUMS 
IN THE WORLD EVER

(full albums)

THE 100 BEST AND ABSOLUTE GREATEST HEAVY METAL ALBUMS 
IN THE WORLD EVER

(3 tracks each album)

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The full list (source).

In alphabetical order, by artist. Strikethrough albums (9/100) are not available on Spotify.

Accept, 'Balls To The Wall' (1983)

AC/DC, 'Highway To Hell' (1979)

AC/DC, 'Back In Black (1980)

Alice Cooper, 'Billion Dollar Babies' (1973)

Alice In Chains, 'Dirt' (1992) 

All Shall Perish, 'The Price Of Existence' (2006) 

Anthrax, 'Among The Living' (1987) 

Arch Enemy, 'Burning Bridges' (1999) 

At The Gates, 'Slaughter Of The Soul' (1995) 

Behemoth, 'Demigod' (2004) 

Benighted, 'Icon' (2007) 

Black Label Society, 'Hangover Music Vol VI' (2004) 

Black Sabbath, 'Black Sabbath' (1970) 

Black Sabbath, 'Paranoid' (1970) 

Black Sabbath, 'Heaven And Hell' (1980) 

Bruce Dickinson, 'The Chemical Wedding' (1998) 

Candlemass, 'Nightfall' (1987) 

Cannibal Corpse, 'Tomb Of The Mutilated' (1992) 

Carcass, 'Heartwork' (1993) 

Cradle Of Filth, 'Damnation And a Day: From Genesis To Nemesis' (2003) 

Danzig, 'Danzig' (1988) 

Dark Tranquility, 'The Gallery' (1985) 

Death, 'Human' (1991) 

Deicide, 'Deicide' (1990) 

Despised Icon, 'The Ills Of Modern Man' (2007) 

Deep Purple, 'Machine Head' (1971) 

Deftones, 'Around The Fur' (1997) 

The Dillinger Escape Plan, 'Miss Machine' (2004) 

Dimmu Borgir, 'Death Cult Armageddon' (2003) 

Dio, 'Holy Diver' (1983) 

Dream Theater, 'Images And Words' (1992) 

Entombed, 'Wolverine Blues' (1991) 

Exodus, 'Bonded By Blood' (1985) 

Gamma Ray, 'Land Of The Free' (1995) 

Godsmack, 'IV' (2006) 

Gojira, 'The Way Of All Flesh' (2008) 

Guns N' Roses, 'Appetite For Destruction' (1987) 

Helloween, 'Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt ll' (1988) 

Hammerfall, 'Legacy Of Kings' (1998) 

The Haunted, 'Made Me Do It' (2000) 

In Flames, 'Whoracle' (1997) 

Iron Maiden, 'The Number Of The Beast' (1982) 

Iron Maiden, 'Piece Of Mind' (1983) 

Iron Maiden, 'Powerslave' (1984) 

Isis, 'Panopticon' (2004) 

Judas Priest, 'British Steel' (1980) 

Judas Priest, 'Painkiller' (1990) 

King Diamond, 'Abigail' (1987) 

Killswitch Engage, 'The End Of Heartache' (2004) 

Kiss, 'Kiss' (1974) Kiss, 'Destroyer' (1976) 

Korn, 'Korn' (1994) 

Korn, 'Follow The Leader' (1998) 

Kreator, 'Pleasure To Kill' (1986) 

Lamb Of God, 'Sacrament' (2006) 

Machine Head, 'The Blackening' (2007) 

Marily Manson, 'Antichrist Superstar' (1996) 

Mastodon, 'Leviathan' (2004) 

Mayhem, 'Wolf's Lair Abyss' (1997) 

Megadeath, 'Rust In Peace' (1990) 

Mercyful Fate, 'Don't Break The Oath' (1984) 

Meshuggah, 'Destroy Erase Improve' (1995) 

Metallica, 'Ride The Lightning' (1984) 

Metallica, 'Master Of Puppets' (1986) 

Metallica - '...And Justice For All' (1988) 

Metallica, 'Metallica' - aka The Black Album - (1991) 

Monster Magnet, 'Powertrip' (1998) 

Morbid Angel, 'Blessed Are The Sick' (1991) 

Motley Crue, 'Shout At The Devil' (1983) 

Motörhead, 'Ace Of Spades' (1980) 

Napalm Death, 'Utopia Banished' (1992) 

Neurosis, 'The Eye Of Every Storm' (2004) 

Nightwish, 'Once' (2004) 

Opeth, 'Blackwater Park' (2001) 

Ozzy Osbourne, 'Blizzard Of Ozz' (1980) 

Ozzy Ozbourne, 'Bark At The Moon' (1983) 

Paradise Lost, 'Draconian Times' (1995) 

Pantera, 'Vulgar Display Of Power (1992) 

Queensryche, 'Operation: Mindcrime' (1988) 

Rage Against The Machine, 'Rage Against The Machine' (1992) 

Rainbow, 'Long Live Rock 'N' Roll' (1978) 

Rammstein, 'Mutter' (2001) 

Sepultura, 'Chaos A.D.' (1993) 

Saxon, 'Strong Arm Of The Law' (1980) 

Skid Row, 'Skid Row' (1989) 

Slayer, 'Reign In Blood' (1986) 

Slayer, 'Seasons In The Abyss' (1990) 

Slayer, 'God Hates Us All' (2001) 

Slipknot, 'lowa' (2001) System Of A Down, 'Toxicity' (2001) 

Testament, 'The Legacy' (1987) 

Tool, 'Xenima' (1996) 

Trouble, 'Manic Frustration' (1992) 

Type O Negative, 'October Rust' (1996) 

Van Halen, 'Van Halen' (1978) 

Venom, 'Black Metal' (1982) 

W.A.S.P, 'W.A.S.P' (1984) 

White Zombie, 'Astro Creep: 2000 (1995) 

Yngwie Malmsteen, 'Rising Force' (1984) 

Unearth, 'lll: In The Eyes Of Fire' (2006)

Uncut's 50 Greatest Singer/Songwriter Albums

(Uncut Editor's Diary)

Take a guitar, write a song, tell a story. You may end in the future versions of this sweet anthology, filled with soulseeking campfire lullabies and rather surprising choices (Bruce Springsteen pick is... Tunnel of Love?).

Order is chronological, just like a history of songwriting from Tim Hardin (1966) to Laura Marling (2013), going through Leonard Cohen & Nick Drake, Laura Nyro & Joni Mitchell, Neil Young & Bob Dylan, Lou Reed & John Cale, Elvis Costello & Nick Cave, Elliott Smith & Beck, Amy Winehouse & John Grant... The full list is here.

Missing in Spotify action are John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (John Lennon, #6), Empty Glass (Pete Townshend, #25, four songs missing), Music For a New Society (John Cale, #26) and Don't Stand Me Down (Dexys Midnight Runners, #29).

Two playlists available: a huge one with complete albums, and a slim one with three songs each album.

Enjoy.

UNCUT'S 50 SINGER/SONGWRITER ALBUMS

(full albums)

(3 tracks each album)

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Pretty Much Amazing's Best 50 Songs and 40 Albums of 2013

Uhm, maybe it's a little early. Anyway, Pretty Much Amazing has already published its end-of-year lists: Best (50) Songs of 2013 and 40 Best Albums of 2013. Here they are, in Spotify version. First playlists of many, I guess. Enjoy!

P.S. Lists are from #1 to #40 (or #50). Top 10 albums are not ranked (they're in alphabetical orders). Missing albums from Spotify are Acid Rap (Chance the Rapper, #13), mbv (My Bloody Valentine, #30), demos (Jai Paul, #34) and After Dark 2 (Italians Do It Better, #37). Missing songs are Track 2 (Jai Paul, #15), Chain Smoker (Chance the Rapper, #16), All Night (Jai Paul, #39)

PRETTY MUCH AMAZING'S ALBUMS OF 2013

PRETTY MUCH AMAZING'S SONGS OF 2013

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Reflektor: The Matrix

What does it happen when you check dozens of critic reviews for Arcade Fire's Reflektor, take note of all the references to artists, albums and songs who (maybe) influenced it, mix them with your personal preferences and put them in a 100-track spotibox? It happens something like this playlist.

Ingredients:
- 13 Reflektor songs
- some more AF past trails

- multiple tracks from often-cited references (Achtung Baby, Kid A, Remain In Light, Sandinista!, Bowie & LCD Soundsystem...)

- isolated & not always predictable musical spices from everywhere

Enjoy!

(there's a glitch in the matrix and the embed code doesn't work: let's go old style with a http playlist link)

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The Pitchfork Music Festival Paris 2013 playlist

It's the weekend of Pitchfork Music Festival in Paris. It started yesterday à la Grand Halle de la Villette and it will end tomorrow with a full night schedule. For those who are there, and especially for those who are not (like me), I made this playlist. It's based on songs by the 33 artists scheduled at the festival (just one missing: Sky Ferreira). I think it's a good way to catch the young sound of modern times according to Pitchfork. Well, at least the European-oriented canon: more indie-electro, less hip hop.

Three tracks each artist. To keep it truthful, I picked songs the artists should actually play in Paris (after a quick look on setlist.fm). To keep it colourful, when possibile I picked songs from different albums. 

Enjoy!

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