The Top 50 Thrash Albums of All Time - 20 -11

Now we are down to the top 20 albums of what is the most influential sub-genre of  metal . It opened the door for bands to play louder, harder and faster thus spawning Death metal, black metal, grind core etc.. yeah doom stayed on it's own path. The bands that came out of it are now considered the biggest bands in metal...I mean Metallica and Slayer, come one end of debate. Normally I try to limit it to one album per artist. There are some artists that had much more of an impact so they might get another entry or two. There is thrash ranging from proto-death metal to hard core to power metal bands that evolved with the times. I grew up during the rise of thrash and listened to it through out highschool so some of this is determined by which albums did I listen to the most as they came out and which have endured the test of time. Lets face it none of your Toxic Holocausts or Revocations can touch these bands. They are pretty much tribute bands in comparison


20 - Suicidal Tendencies-" How Will I Laugh Tomorrow, When I Can't Even Smile Today"  1988

 This album finds them crossing over into metal in the best way possible. "Join the Army" found them heading in this direction and they perfected it here.


 

 19- Iced Earth -  "the Dark saga" 1996 


The aggression of this album is what makes it thrash rather than power metal. The songs are what makes it awesome. The guitar tone on this album is unreal. Matt Barlow gives what might be one of the top 5 vocals performances on this list.

 

18-Annihilator - "Alice in Hell" -1989


 I wore this rucking tape out back in the day. Jeff Waters is still doing it but this was the perfect storm with DOA singer Randy Rampage.


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17- Testament-  " New Order " 1988 


 The Perfect blend of power and frantic energy. Chuck Billy's vocals did not sound like every one else and had a commanding personality to them.

 

16 - Angkor Wat- "Corpus Christi" 1990 

Yes it opens with "Blue Velvet" samples and industrial elements. This shit is mindblowing. It is still ahead of of it's time.





15 -  Anthrax -"Spreading the Disease" -1985


 This album introduced singer Joey Belladonna , who would prove to be crucial to their sound. It is a madhouse

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14- Exodus- Bonded By Blood " -1985

 Of the band's on this list who were around in 85, these guys might be the heaviest. This album should be mentioned when it comes to thrash albums that influenced black metal.



 



13- Flotsam & Jetsam - " No Place For Disgrace" - 1988 



 If you have heard this album then you know why it deserves to be here. If you have not heard this album, then why the fuck are you even reading this? Listen to it now.



 


12-Gwar- Scumdogs of the Universe "1990

 The open track slays in a way that solidfies their place in the top 20. Known for their theactrics people often do not realize what an under rated band this is. They started off punk on their first album and bring the thrashing metal in a big way here.


 


11- Judas Priest - " Painkiller" 1990 

 Judas Priest came back to redeem themselves from a run of two duds "Ram It Down" and "Turbo" to show that they were still the metal gods. Preist arguably influenced thrash more than any other classic metal band. This album set them off into a heavier direction they maintained until "Nostradomus".

The Top 50 Thrash Albums of All Time 30 -21

Digging deeper into the countdown of what is the most influential sub-genre of  metal . It opened the door for bands to play louder, harder and faster thus spawning Death metal, black metal, grind core etc.. yeah doom stayed on it's own path. The bands that came out of it are now considered the biggest bands in metal...I mean Metallica and Slayer, come one end of debate. Normally I try to limit it to one album per artist. There are some artists that had much more of an impact so they might get another entry or two. There is thrash ranging from proto-death metal to hard core to power metal bands that evolved with the times. I grew up during the rise of thrash and listened to it through out highschool so some of this is determined by which albums did I listen to the most as they came out and which have endured the test of time. Lets face it none of your Toxic Holocausts or Revocations can touch these bands. They are pretty much tribute bands in comparison

30- Vio-Lence -"Eternal Nightmare"

1988 Two of this band's members went on to form Machine Head. The punkvocal approach set these guys apart along with the very sharp hooky riffing.


 


29- Coroner- " Punishment for Decadence" 1988

 1988 was a good year for thrash the genre had it's legs under it enough to begin experiementing. This Swiss band was highly technical but still cared about writing songs.



28- Nuclear Assault - "Survive" 1988


Three in a row from 1988. Dan and John were both former members of Anthrax. Lilker's bass playing propels this album along with the commanding howl of Connelly.


   



27-Voivod -"Killing Technology" 1987 


 Still rooted in thei more punk sound, they just began to cross over into a more spacey prog form of thrash. Way ahead of their time.



 



26- Fear of God - "Within the Veil" 1991


 In 1991 women in metal were rare. Women fronting band's this heavy unheard of. The late Dawn Crosby was capable of harsh snarls and clean vocals , this album is wonderfully dark.


 


25- Metal Church - "Blessing In Disguise"- 1989



1989 Their previous efforts with David Wayne are great ,but lean more toward power metal. Here the attack is more fine tune and Howe's voice is less flashy, and he focused his grit to serve the songs.


 



24- Sanctuary- "Refuge Denied" 1987

 Produced by Dave Mustaine the guitar has that Megadeth bite but with soaring vocals that still carry menace ratherthan just being operatic for the sake of being operatic.



 



23- Overkill- "Under the Influence"



1988 I am sure many of you want to see "Taking Over" here instead , but guess what this is my list, go make your own, the songs here are better.



 



22- Power Mad- "Absolute Power" 1989 



 One of the best metal bands you have not heard. They did make it into Lynch's " Wild at Heart" movie which is their claum to fame, but they were froward thinking when it came to song writing.



 


21-Sacred Reich - "the American Way"


 These guys were ahead of the curve when it came to how metal was about to change. There is enough groove here to transcend thrash .



 

The Top 50 Thrash Albums of All Time 40- 31

Continuing out countdown of what is the most influential sub-genre of  metal . It opened the door for bands to play louder, harder and faster thus spawning Death metal, black metal, grind core etc.. yeah doom stayed on it's own path. The bands that came out of it are now considered the biggest bands in metal...I mean Metallica and Slayer, come one end of debate. Normally I try to limit it to one album per artist. There are some artists that had much more of an impact so they might get another entry or two. There is thrash ranging from proto-death metal to hard core to power metal bands that evolved with the times. I grew up during the rise of thrash and listened to it through out highschool so some of this is determined by which albums did I listen to the most as they came out and which have endured the test of time. Lets face it none of your Toxic Holocausts or Revocations can touch these bands. They are pretty much tribute bands in comparison.



40- Riot-" the Privledge of Power" 1990

There is still plenty of their more classic metal sound on this album, but the cover of Al Dimeola's "Racing with the Devil on a Spanish Highway" cements their place on this list. It might be the most power metal album on this list, but when they lay on the speed it proves why they are here.



39- Fates Warning- "No Exit" - 1988


 These guys shed some of the classic prog metal leaning for this more in your face release.


 

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The lyrics to this album go beyond the normal metal malarky. Technical yet groove riffs from a under rated band.





37-Forbidden- "Twisted into Form" -1990

Blended classic metal influences with catchy foreward thinking thrash.


 

36-Prong -"Beg to Differ"1990 

 These groove monsters were my first indication that metal was changing .






35-S.O.D-"Speak English or Die" 1985

When I listen to this album now I often think , what would happen if this album came out today. It gives a middle finger to everything, which is just what kids today need to hear so they are not such pussies.




34- Angkor Wat - "When Obscurity Becomes the Norm" 1989

1989 When this album came out the world was not ready for this band.

 

33-Dark Angel -"Leave Scars" 1989 

 "Darkness Descends" might be the album the so called metal purists might want here, but they do not know shit because the songs on this one are better.




32- Machine Head- "Burn My Eyes" 1994 

1994 Yeah tis band would eventually turn into shitty nu-metal, but how can you not sing along to the cry of " Let Freedom ring with a shotgun blast"



31- Diamond Head - "Behold the Beginning" 1980


Metallica really ripped these guys off . I mean you do not need "Kill'em All" on here since this album is where it came from . This might be the first thrash album, even though by today's standards it is rock n roll.


 

The Top 50 Thrash Albums of All Time 50- 41

Of all the sub-genres of metal thrash was the most influential. It opened the door for bands to play louder, harder and faster thus spawning Death metal, black metal, grind core etc.. yeah doom stayed on it's own path. The bands that came out of it are now considered the biggest bands in metal...I mean Metallica and Slayer, come one end of debate. Normally I try to limit it to one album per artist. There are some artists that had much more of an impact so they might get another entry or two. There is thrash ranging from proto-death metal to hard core to power metal bands that evolved with the times. I grew up during the rise of thrash and listened to it through out highschool so some of this is determined by which albums did I listen to the most as they came out and which have endured the test of time. Lets face it none of your Toxic Holocausts or Revocations can touch these bands. They are pretty much tribute bands in comparison.


50- Atrophy- "Violent By Nature" 1990

The 2nd album from this Arizonia band found them dialing their song writing in to combine aggression and hooks.






49- Helstar- "A Distant Thunder"


Before power metal was really thought of as power metal, there were melodic speed metal bands giving a harder take on what Queensryche once did. This Texas band did it better than most of their
peers.

 






48Tankard - "The Morning After" 1988 


 This is not the only German band on the list. However where most German thrashers has a very militant dark nature to their chug, these guys wrote songs about getting wasted and had more of a punk party attitude.


 


 47-Meliah Rage - "Solitary Solitude" 1990

   This Boston band, might have been heavier on their 1988 album "Kill to Survive" ,this album has the edge due to the songwriting being better.,





 46- DRI- "4 of a Kind" 1988


 Yeah, the first two albums are great. The joke is what do you call a punk band that learns how to play their instruments...metal ! They were never shabby , but this album found them maturing into more of a metal band with the hard core punk side dialed back. There were never shabby just perfected the formula here.


 



45-Forced Entry -"As Above , So Below" 1991 


 Being a thrash band in Seattle in 91 was going against the grain. They evolved into something different than the rest here with songs like "Bone Crackin' Fever".


 

44 Laaz Rockit- "Annihilation Principle"- 1989 


The 4th album from this Oakland band found them evoling from a more classic power metal sound into a tighter thrashy sound. The vocals are given a great deal of focus and not an after thought.


 


43-Kreator- 'Extreme Aggression" 1989 


 This German band's "Pleasure to Kill" album is highly regarded, but here is where their song writing falls into place, but not forsaking any of the snarl. They were alsos a hug influence on death metal bands to come.



42-Onslaught -" In Search of Sanity"


1989 Steve Grimmett from Grim Reaper sings on this album and it still stays more thrash than power metal, while Steve has never sounded better.


 



41-Wrathchild America - "Climbin' the Walls" 1989

 This West Virgina band might get mistaken for being Metallica wanna bes until you really listen to them and hear how much rock n roll they inject into their take on thrash. They are not afraid to cover Pink Floyd and Drummer Shannon Larkin went onto play in Godsmack.