THE HARVESTERS OF SORROW (OR THE TOP FIVE METALLICA ALBUMS)

With a band like Metallica, who’ve been making music for longer than many of their fans have been Alice, it’s hard to determine the best five records they’ve made. Sure there are plenty of albums we won’t mention here, but there’s also more amazing songs than you can count. Either way, enjoy this Top Five albums list.

5 HARDWIRED… TO SELF DESTRUCT (2016) 
Released in 2015, hard core fans reveled over the bands “return to glory,” of sorts. This record builds on the early days of the metal giants career, and foregoes much of the radio friendly tracks prevalent from the late 90’s to the mid Aughts. The record is long, but for the most part, it continues the legacy of the band, bridges the gap from where they were to where they went, and that they can still write epic metal songs. Not perfect, but certainly better than Load, Reload, or anything else made during that period. 

4 …AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (1988)
Recorded during the height of the hair metal movement, “..AJFA '' served at the time as a warning shit for a momentous future. This record, for my money, proved them as the best metal band in the world. With tracks like the blistering opening of “Blackened” to quite possibly the best metal song of all time, that being “One,” “For All '' has everything fans loved about the band before this. Musicianship and instrumentation are essentially without flaws, while Hetfiellds vocals and lyrics add the last Little touch of fire to make the band unstoppable and legendary. 

3 RIDE THE LIGHTNING (1984)
“Ride the Lightning” opens up with a traditional, quiet, lovely guitar section, but it doesn’t last. Instead, for the remaining 46 monitors the listener is thrust into classic thread done to perfection. “ Fight Fire with Fire” is a harbinger of the relentless  chords and vocals were presented with, but the classics like “For Whom the Bells Toll,” ring with the same intensity now that they did in the 80’s. Also, never forget the brilliant simmering intensity of “Fade to Black,” it’s one of the main reasons the band is a juggernaut now. 

2 THE BLACK ALBUM (1991) 
As far as modern hard rock or metal albums go, the “Black Album” as it’s frequently referred to,  stands confidently above the vast majority of albums released during the decade. After four blisteringly heavy records, the bands new approach enabled them to bring the epic mess of the precious records and meld that energy with a more forward song writing structure. In the end it ended up being accessible and epic in a brilliant way that bridged the gap between the band they were before the Black album, and the band they’d become after the Black record. 

1  MASTER OF PUPPETS (1986)
BAT- TER- RY! Maybe the best metal album ever made, albeit certainly the best metal record the 80’s ever gave us. From start to finish “Master of Puppets” delivers time and time again. “Battery” blisters you under the weight of Hammett’s guitars and the drums of Ulrich, while the classic title track still has a drum and guitar section that’s brawny enough to make even the heaviest metal band turn and give their appreciation. There’s really not a bad song in the entire record, but when you have tracks like “Battery,” “Master,” and especially “Orion,” aka the best instrumental song in all of metal, it’s hard to be mediocre at all. 

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