10 Most Important Rock Albums Of All Time

By the time the '80s got underway, metal was not necessarily a new genre anymore. As Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin started to set the guide rules for what the heavier side of rock could entail, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal erupted with some of the most punishing riffs of the genre, from Iron Maiden to Judas Priest. Then again, it was only a matter of time before America struck back.

Though Metallica had been known as pioneers of the thrash metal genre since their debut on Kill Em All, Master of Puppets really was the watershed moment for them. Instead of just having a few metal songs influenced by punk rock, the 8 tracks on this album run like sonic journeys every time you put them on, from the drug manipulation on the title track to the portrait of an insane asylum on Welcome Home.

This also serves as the perfect lasting epitaph for Cliff Burton, who passed away shortly after the album was released. Being the real musical maestro behind the group, Burton's work across songs like Orion up'd the ante for metal musicians as a whole, putting rock on the same level as Beethoven. While the Black Album may be heralded as the classic Metallica record from a sales perspective, you'd be hardpressed to find another metal release with a track list as bulletproof as this.