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

11. Racer X - Second Heat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgMjsGM-3nQ If there ever happened to be a more 80s-sounding record on the planet, it would be Racer X's sophomore effort, Second Heat. The band are credited with exposing famed virtuoso guitarist Paul Gilbert to the world and the album features one of his most loved instrumental tracks; the neo-classical shredfest that is Scarified. Elsewhere, the album features everything you could want from an 80s heavy metal album, power vocals, huge guitars, thundering double kick drums. If you like any of Yngwie Malmsteen's 80s records, you'll love Second Heat.

10. Opeth - Deliverance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPmuNdrhjEs In 2002 swedish prog-metallers wanted to try an experiment and release a double album, with each disc reflecting the light and shade of their sound. The record label didn't go for this and instead released each disc as a separate album, the lighter, more progressive Damnation and then Deliverance, potentially the heaviest thing Opeth have ever recorded. Featuring sprawling, enormous songs (all coming in at over 10 minutes long bar one), the band's trademark death metal vocals and twisty-turny arrangements, Deliverance is an hour of just heaviness incarnate. It'll take your breath away and likely leave you with a few bruises too.

9. Queen - Sheer Heart Attack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr3iJ1845S4 Before Queen released A Night At The Opera and began to print money like it was going out of fashion, the band had a more progressive, heavier sound. Their third album, Sheer Heart Attack was a step in their more radio-friendly direction that they stuck with throughout the late 70s and 80s but still featured some of their original sound and influences. The album also contained some of their best know and best loved songs including Brighton Rock and Killer Queen, providing the band's first taste of mainstream success on both sides of the Atlantic. It's often overlooked by the dominating force that was A Night At The Opera but it's definitely one of the band's greatest albums.