Fifty Albums Continued...

This time with quicker descriptions, I guess. Sorry for the delay. And the laziness. 

 26. UFO -- Lights Out


Sharp metal with a collection of melodic rock tunes. Schenker at his finest? Maybe not. Still incredible.

27. Arcturus -- Aspera Heims Symfonia

My very first black metal album, and still one of my favorites. This is also where I learned of Kristoffer Rygg, who we'll be seeing more of a little further down the list.

28. King Crimson -- Red

Prototype heavy metal and prog rock bliss. A must, regardless of your tastes.

29. Kansas -- Point of Know Return

Got into this one late, given how my taste was slanting at this point. However, it's still a great record.

30. Parliament -- Mothership Connection

A love for classic funk kicked off with this Parliament album. Was thrilled when they played Handcuffs when I saw them in Myrtle Beach a few years ago.

31. Anathema -- Eternity

I'd been listening to doom metal for a bit when I heard this one, but Eternity has something special running in its veins. It's a beautiful album, but it's not for people who need sunshine in their music.

32. The Who -- The Who By Numbers

I consider this to be their magnum opus. Listen to Imagine a Man and see if you can find a comparable song from The Who.

33. Blackfield -- II

One of my favorite pop albums, Blackfield II is a melancholy dripping, Simon and Garfunkel - esque collection of songs from two amazing artists. End of the World is still one of my favorite songs, and Christenings is incredible.

34. Savatage -- Streets

A throwback to my love for concept albums, I got into Streets about a year after buying it. It's a shame that Savatage never reached this level again.

35. Frank Zappa -- Lather

This album is something of a cheat. Lather is three discs of pure Zappa, undiluted, completely out of the realm of sanity.

36. Death -- Human

Human finds Chuck Schuldiner moving away from the blood and gore of early Death completely, and features most of Cynic as his band. This makes for an incredible record.

37. Dragonland -- Astronomy

I hate to use the term, but Astronomy really is an epic work of power metal. Eschewing typical lyrics about dragons and other fantasy cliches, Astronomy looks into the self and writes songs about personal empowerment, and then dips into some neoclassical for the fantastic Beethoven's Nightmare.

38. David Bowie -- The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

More pitch perfect pop steeped in darkness, Ziggy Stardust is an incredible album that most people still don't understand. The glam rock aesthetics neatly conceal the bitter state of mind that Bowie would be weaving his lyrics around for years to come.

39. Miles Davis -- Seven Steps to Heaven

Yes, Kind of Blue is really good, but this is my personal jazz heaven. I can't say too much about it other than "go listen to the title track!"

40. Todd Rundgren -- Something/Anything

Ambition doesn't usually rear its gorgeous skull into typical pop, but Todd Rundgren did something mostly unheard of with Something/Anything: he recorded a double album of pop songs almost completely by himself. It's a great little record too.

41. Ulver --Shadows of the Sun

And here comes Garm again with the masterful work called Shadows of the Sun. Just listen to it. You should have done so years ago.

42. Jeff Buckley -- Grace

Some people who are reading this might be surprised by the sheer volume of pop music that I've dropped in here, but once they listen, they start to understand. Grace is the sole studio work of a gifted singer/songwriter, who never truly got a chance to spread his wings. Grace stands as a testament to writing amazing music, and pairing it with well written music. Most singer/songwriters can't even get one of these things right.

43. Love -- Forever Changes

A prophetical album that spelled the end of the sixties while most people were immersed in the summer of love, Forever Changes was Love at their best, and at the time, that was saying quite a bit. A must have album.

44. Megadeth -- Rust in Peace

It's kind of typical that I'd choose Rust in Peace as how I represent thrash metal on this list, but really, it is so very great. Marty Friedman slays on this record, and Megadeth never had songwriting as strong as this again. Though I think that The System Has Failed comes pretty close.

45. Ansur -- Warring Factions

All I really need to say is Buckethead playing for the Black Metal version of Rush, and you should already be looking for a copy. Amazing.

46. Jethro Tull -- A Passion Play

While Ian Anderson may not have much nice to say about this record, I love it. It took me years to fall in love with it, but once it happened, I was playing the whole thing on repeat. Only the brave should try this one out.

47. Prince -- Controversy

If you thought Darling Nikki was an offensive song, then you've heard nothing. Controversy is brilliant.

48. Clint Mansell -- The Fountain OST

Post rock blended with the Kronos Quartet, forming a record of immense beauty. Watch the film, and you'll understand.

49. Sonata Arctica -- Silence

This is probably the worst album on this entire list, and I absolutely love it. Cheesy to the point of being painful, and a collection of terrible lyrics...but it's just so very fun.

50. Blue Oyster Cult -- Tyranny and Mvtation

I've been listening to Blue Oyster Cult for a while, but when Tyranny and Mvtation slipped into my collection, I couldn't get enough of it. Slick hard rock textures and some of the darkest lyrics you could find in American rock at the time, BOC released an impressive record that was, in my opinion, the peak of their Black and White period.