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

20. Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmW5McLF-Uk More than likely the softest entry on this list, Eden was released by the band in 2007 after nearly 30 years after their last full studio album. A double disc set running in at just over 90 minutes long, LROOE proved to be a raging success spawning five top 20 singles in both the mainstream rock and the country music charts. The album reignited the band's career and returned them to success, with huge tours, awards (including two Grammys) and it was certified as 7x platinum around the world.

19. Sonata Arctica - Ecliptica

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7oOWO6xT3Y Finnish power-metal merchants Sonata Arctica took the world by surprise in 1999 with their debut album Ecliptica dashing out the gates and becoming an instant success. Their particular brand of keyboard-driven metal was something very different to the emergent nu-metal of the time as was their insistence on clean singing, guitar solos and powerful melodies. They even ingratiated themselves to the power metal community by being different, having songs about love, heartache and political problems over classic power metal subjects such as battles and fantasy characters. What SA do bring to the party is catchy melodies, ferociously talented musicianship and brilliant songs that will not only cheer you up, but get you well and truly in the mood to rock regardless.

18. Slash's Snakepit - Ain't Life Grand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1ipvyNgM5k Since leaving Guns N' Roses, Slash has done his best to keep busy with various different bands, the first of which was Slash's Snakepit, who with two different lines ups released two very different albums between 1995 and 2000. Ain't Life Grand was the latter and while it didn't get a good response with critics, it's a hard rocking, foot-stomping work that's definitely worth your attention. From the opening rock n' roll sass of Been There Lately to the self-satisfied swagger of Mean Bone, the album was unfairly criticised for its by the numbers approach to hard rock when in actual fact, what it does, it does spectacularly well. It's not an album that will reinvent a genre, but if you want a hard rock fix you could do much, much worse.