50 Rock And Metal Albums You Need To Hear Before You Die

26. Steve Vai - Passion & Warfare

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxMcyxypH54 Instrumental albums are always a hard sell to the vast majority of people and it is a crying shame because there are some instrumental records out there which can knock the socks off an entire career's worth of "songs". Passion & Warfare is one of these albums, a tour de force from the virtuoso guitarist, Vai treads a fine line between the excesses of late 80s shred and beautiful, soulful music. Who else could go from the spastic raunch of The Audience Is Listening to the moving and slightly tortured feel of For The Love Of God? Don't dismiss instrumental albums as pretentious fret-noodling, as you may just miss out on something spectacular.

25. SikTh - Death Of A Dead Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWdAEgbZ9Ug If you like your metal insane, schizophrenic and sometimes incomprehensible then you absolutely need to get your ears around Death Of A Dead Day, the superb second album from SikTh. SikTh became notorious for their universally-dominating sound, and although listening to their albums can sometimes feel like an assault on your senses, underneath the screaming vocalists and mind-bending riffs lay six very astute musicians who knew how to make extreme, yet accessible music. Flogging The Horses would be a good place to start as an introduction to a band who are well worth your time.

24. Iron Maiden - Live After Death

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP9khiw9u7E Yes, a live album, but also what happens to be one of the greatest live albums ever released, Live After Death was taken from Maiden's world encompassing World Slavery Tour in support of the Powerslave album. The setlist features the greatest hits from their earliest days and pretty much highlights Iron Maiden in their heyday. Considering they managed to shoehorn a note perfect rendition of Rime Of The Ancient Mariner into the setlist means you definitely need to spend some time with this superb album.