What are your top ten Alternative Metal releases?

What are your top ten Alternative Metal releases of all time?

Here's there list I just posted in the Public Lists section:

https://metal.academy/lists/single/119

01. Alice In Chains - "Dirt" (1992)

02. Faith No More - "The Real Thing" (1989)

03. Deftones - "White Pony" (2000)

04. Tool - "Lateralus" (2001)

05. Soundgarden - "Badmotorfinger" (1991)

06. Tool - "Ænima" (1996)

07. Deftones - "Ohms" (2020)

08. Katatonia - "The Great Cold Distance" (2006)

09. Alice In Chains - "Black Gives Way To Blue" (2009)

10. Faith No More - "Angel Dust" (1992)

For me, probably:

1.) Jerry Cantrell - Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2

2.) Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue

3.) Psychostick - Do

4.) Waltari - Big Bang

5.) Devin Townsend - Addicted

6.) Waltari - Space Avenue

7.) Disturbed - Indestructible

8.) Dub War - Pain

9.) System of a Down - System of a Down

10.) Stam1na - Uudet Kymmenen Käskyä

I’m not really a fan of The Gateway as much as the clans I have, so here are 5 Gateway albums coming to my mind, rated from low to high (#1 being the highest):

5. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2000)

4. Disturbed - Asylum (2010)

3. Linkin Park - Meteora (2003)

2. Coldrain - The Side Effects (2019)

1. Dir En Grey - Uroboros (2008)

Go on, I'll bite:

1. Deftones - White Pony

2. Faith No More - The Real Thing

3. Faith No More - Angel Dust

4. Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual (least metal release on here, sue me)

5. Alice in Chains - Dirt

6. Soundgarden - Louder Than Love

7. Bodycount - Bloodlust

8. Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger

9. Life of Agony - River Runs Read

10. Killer Be Killed - Reluctant Hero

Not my forte this, but I'll give it a go:

1. System of a Down - Toxicity (2001)

2. Tool - Lateralus (2001)

3. System of a Down - Mezmerize (2005)

4. Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger (1991)

5. Alice in Chains - Dirt (1992

6. Drain S.T.H. - Freaks of Nature (1999)

7. Angela Martyr - The November Harvest (2016)

8. System of a Down - Hypnotize (2005)

9. Deftones - Ohms (2020)

10. Therapy? - Troublegum (1994)

5. Alice in Chains - Dirt

Quoted Vinny

I thought you liked the last couple of Alice In Chains records far more than the Layne Stayley era Vinny. 

5. Alice in Chains - Dirt (1992

Quoted Sonny

So you've finally taken the plunge & given an Alice In Chains record a few spins, have you Sonny? I'm glad you have because "Dirt" is a top ten metal record in general for me. It's about as perfect as it gets in my opinion.

7. Angela Martyr - The November Harvest (2016)

Quoted Sonny

Interesting selection Sonny. I've honestly never heard of this artist. What can we expect from this record?

For me, probably:

1.) Jerry Cantrell - Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2

2.) Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue

3.) Psychostick - Do

4.) Waltari - Big Bang

5.) Devin Townsend - Addicted

6.) Waltari - Space Avenue

7.) Disturbed - Indestructible

8.) Dub War - Pain

9.) System of a Down - System of a Down

10.) Stam1na - Uudet Kymmenen Käskyä

Such an interesting list Tymell. Your refusal to have your opinions guided by the masses if a trait that I've always respected.

I’m not really a fan of alternative metal as much as most other metal genres, so here are 5 Gateway albums coming to my mind, rated from low to high (#1 being the highest):

5. Devin Townsend - Addicted (2009)

4. Linkin Park - The Hunting Party (2014)

3. Disturbed - Asylum (2010)

2. Linkin Park - Meteora (2003)

1. Coldrain - The Side Effects (2019)

I've never heard of Coldrain before Andi. What can we expect from this record? I was also interested to see that Dir en Grey's "Uroboros" didn't make an appearance. Didn't you give that album the full five stars last month? Surely you'd have that above "Addicted" which you were fairly critical of a few months back.

To be open & transparent, I've always thought that you're very well suited to The Gateway to be honest. There seems to be a common misconception that The Gateway is in some way less metal than the other clans however I'd argue that it's generally heavier than The Guardians & a lot of what The Infinite encompasses too. If you ever get a spare couple of hours, I'd recommend giving a full The Gateway playlist a listen. You might be surprised.

D*mn, forgot about that Dir En Grey album. Thanks for reminding me, Daniel! I'll make a slight change to my list above. Coldrain is another Japanese alternative metal band, but they mix the melody and singing of the genre with the heaviness and screaming of post-hardcore/metalcore, as opposed to Dir En Grey's wildly stylistic alt-garde metal style. Coldrain's latest album The Side Effects marks the perfect balance of alternative metal and metalcore that they had slowly built up since their punk-ish debut Final Destination from a decade prior. One song from the Side Effects album, "Revolution" (my August Gateway playlist suggestion) is beyond d*mn right good, and what got me interested in the band when a friend from the outside world showed me that song and mentioned that it was used as the theme song for Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs 2. Anyway, I plan on reviewing their albums, so you can read them and see whether or not they seem like a band for you to try listening to.

I've never realized how suitable The Gateway is for me! To look back at The Gateway albums I've rated, most of them are from bands of other genres, a couple of them (Machine Head and Stuck Mojo) were failures from an unofficial challenge (they have the only two albums that aren't non-metal to get 2.5 stars from me), a couple more, Disturbed and Linkin Park, were throwbacks to when I was following my brother's music footsteps before getting into "real" metal, the latter, Linkin Park I've reviewed all their albums in the site as a special memory-lane-like project, and of course, I told you about Coldrain. With most of The Gateway releases I listened to connected to bands of other genres and rated weak or average (in my rating system) with only a few perfect 5-star ratings, I didn't know the potential I can have in this clan, but now I might! The clan's heaviness can be a balancing contrast to the melody of The Guardians, and The Gateway can practically be like The Infinite's sibling! I might need to adjust my interest a bit more before going all in, so I'll start with listening to and commenting on the tracks between the 3 that I've already commented in this month's The Gateway playlist. And if I ever feel like sacrificing my position in a clan that I've lost interest in or if the ability to gain a 5th clan via the clan challenges gets implemented, I might take on one of the two Gateway challenges. This whole time I thought the key to the Gateway wasn't for me, but it's in my hands and I didn't know it until today...

5. Alice in Chains - Dirt

Quoted Vinny

I thought you liked the last couple of Alice In Chains records far more than the Layne Stayley era Vinny. 

I do but I don’t really see Duvall era AIC as that alternative and certainly don’t have enough value from those releases as I do from Dirt in terms of I grew up with Dirt on regular rotation.  They are still more complete releases since they reformed but in an all time top 10 Dirt has more than earned its place.

So you've finally taken the plunge & given an Alice In Chains record a few spins, have you Sonny? I'm glad you have because "Dirt" is a top ten metal record in general for me. It's about as perfect as it gets in my opinion.

Yes, in preparation for reviewing this month's feature I thought I'd better familiarise myself with their most celebrated album. I think if I had listened to it at the time it was released, when I was quite into the whole grunge thing, it would have knocked me out. I can still hear that it is a class album, but I don'thave the connection to it I think I would have had if I'd listened to it much earlier. But I am glad I've come to it eventually.

Such an interesting list Tymell. Your refusal to have your opinions guided by the masses if a trait that I've always respected.

Ha, thanks Daniel, much appreciated! A nice way of putting "you like some weird shit, man".

7. Angela Martyr - The November Harvest (2016)

Quoted Sonny

Interesting selection Sonny. I've honestly never heard of this artist. What can we expect from this record?

i think you may get something out of this, their only release to date I believe, Daniel. It takes the melodies and vocals from nineties grunge and alternative rock bands like Stone Temple Pilots and Smashing Pumpkins and marries it with huge, atmospheric post-metal chords for an interesting and melodic wall-of-sound result. I must admit, in my limited experience with both alternative and post-metal, I haven't come across anything quite like it before. It is probably more post-metal than alternative metal, so it may be that you don't feel it counts a s a bona fide alternative metal release, however. Whatever way it cuts, I still think it's a good release though.

I didn't think RATM were classed as alternative metal, but it looks like they are, so I've got to update my list:

1. System of a Down - Toxicity (2001)

2. Tool - Lateralus (2001)

3. Rage Against the Machine - The Battle of Los Angeles (1999)

4. System of a Down - Mezmerize (2005)

5. Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger (1991)

6. Alice in Chains - Dirt (1992)

7. Angela Martyr - The November Harvest (2016)

8. Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine (1992)

9. Drain S.T.H. - Freaks of Nature (1999)

10. System of a Down - Hypnotize (2005)

Small update to my top 5:

5. Disturbed - The Lost Children (2011)

4. Linkin Park - Meteora (2003)

3. Coldrain - The Enemy Inside (2011)

2. Coldrain - The Side Effects (2019)

1. Dir En Grey - Uroboros (2008)

1. Tool - Lateralus

2. Alice in Chains - Dirt

3. Deftones - White Pony

4.  Linkin Park - Meteora

5. Rage Against the Machine - The Battle of Los Angeles

6. System of a Down - Mezmerize

7. Moron Police - A Boat on the Sea - not listed as metal anywhere, but the band has roots in it

8. Alice in Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here

9. Faith No More - Angel Dust 

10. Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist

For the record, if Soundgarden's Superunkown was listed as an alternative metal album on Metal Academy/RYM, I'd probably rank it just below White Pony and drop Saturday Night Wrist as a result.

Update:

1. Deftones - White Pony

2. Katatonia - Fall of Hearts

3. Faith No More - The Real Thing

4. Faith No More - Angel Dust

5. Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual (least metal release on here, sue me)

6. Alice in Chains - Dirt

7. Soundgarden - Louder Than Love

8. Bodycount - Bloodlust

9. Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger

10. Chevelle - Niratias

I have been listening to a lot of Katatonia this past few weeks.  They are a band who very rarely get much air play beyond the debut and their latter day penchant for progressive/alternative rock/metal has not always been welcomed by me.  Fall of Hearts just spoke to me at exactly the right time in my life and I have hardly put it down since (vinyl copy on order from Peaceville as I type).  The blend of awkward and cumbersome structures that forbid catchiness but does not sacrifice memorability is clever, whether fully intended or not.

Having been over 3 years since this thread was last active, with a lot going on throughout that time, such as when I joined the Gateway clan and since took on hundreds of Gateway releases, it's time for me to update my list into a top 10, with my top 2 still standing after all these years:

1. Dir En Grey - Uroboros (2008)

2. Coldrain - The Side Effects (2019)

3. Karnivool - Themata (2005)

4. Northlane - Obsidian (2022)

5. Mushroomhead - The Righteous & the Butterfly (2014)

6. Sleep Token - Take Me Back to Eden (2023)

7. Soilwork - Övergivenheten (2022)

8. Bad Omens - Finding God Before God Finds Me (2019)

9. Celldweller - Celldweller (2003)

10. Falling in Reverse - Popular Monster (2024)