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

14. Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpHxRc6ic-A Another thrash classic from the Big Four, coming from the indomitable Slayer. After two wildly successful albums and tours for Reign In Blood and South Of Heaven, Slayer managed to make it three in a row with this album. Featuring some of Slayer's most loved songs including the title track, Dead Skin Mask and War Ensemble, the album was lauded for achieving that delicate balance between accessibility and face-smashing brutality. While Slayer's quality and appeal may have waned slightly throughout the 90s, they certainly kicked the decade off in style.

13. Van Halen - Van Halen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBOLf2UyzU8 Van Halen's debut album took many people by surprise upon it's release in 1978, from the critics who heaped scorn across their "bar band" sound to the radio DJs who didn't think the band would go anywhere, Van Halen defied them all. The album is now considered by many to be one of the greatest rock albums of all time and features many of the band's most well-known songs such as Running With The Devil, Eruption and Ain't Talking 'Bout Love, creating an instant guitar hero in Eddie Van Halen. For a band who were written off by so many people so early on, they certainly proved their detractors wrong and put out an album which has become a bonafide classic.

12. Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjY_Sa0sylM One of the most eclectic men in metal, Devin Townsend's run of form at this point in his career is unprecedented. Having written four albums in four different styles for the Devin Townsend Project, the third in the pack is not only his heaviest; it's one of his best. Deconstruction is a chaotic, intense concept album telling the story of a man on a quest to find the meaning of existence in an oppressive world. The album spawned some of Townsend's best songs including the live favourite Juular as well as the absolutely demented, 16 minute-long opus The Mighty Masturbator which even features a little guest dialogue from another of Townsend's insane creations, ZIltoid The Omniscient. Seriously, just listen to it, the insanity will be apparent from the first few chords.