What are the most popular metal albums? (Guardians edition)

Inspired by Sonny sharing with us the top 20 most popular metal releases on RYM, I thought, what if we shared the most popular albums in each clan and judge which ones deserve their right in the list? So that's what I'm doing, starting with my main clans. Any of you please feel free to do the same with the other clans. Here are the 20 most popular releases in the Guardians, according to RYM, with the number of ratings and average score:

#1 Black Sabbath - Paranoid (37200 / 4.20)

#2 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (25844 / 4.06)

#3 Black Sabbath - Master of Reality (25134 / 4.12)

#4 Metallica - Metallica [Black Album] (22752 / 3.48)

#5 Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (18016 / 3.92)

#6 Iron Maiden - Powerslave (16159 / 3.99)

#7 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Vol. 4 (16002 / 3.93)

#8 Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (15985 / 3.98)

#9 Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden (13270 / 3.83)

#10 Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (12352 / 3.97)

#11 Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind (12159 / 3.82)

#12 Metallica - Load (11618 / 2.67)

#13 Iron Maiden - Killers (11241 / 3.71)

#14 Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell (11228 / 3.85)

#15 Judas Priest - Painkiller (11093 / 4.00)

#16 Black Sabbath - Sabotage (10874 / 3.80)

#17 Metallica - Reload (10658 / 2.42)

#18 Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time (10478 / 3.87)

#19 Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction (9180 / 3.64)

#20 Motörhead - Ace of Spades (9143 / 3.85)

I've realized that only the most popular classic heavy metal releases appear in the Popular 20 list for The Guardians, so here's another list, this time only including power/symphonic/neoclassical metal releases:

#1 Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I (5078 / 3.78)

#2 Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II (4775 / 3.83)

#3 Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-Earth (4561 / 3.79)

#4 Blind Guardian - Imaginations From the Other Side (4263 / 3.84)

#5 Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors (4041 / 3.69)

#6 Children of Bodom - Follow the Reaper (3766 / 3.48)

#7 Children of Bodom - Hatebreeder (3532 / 3.52)

#8 Nightwish - Once (3446 / 3.52)

#9 Nightwish - Oceanborn (3395 / 3.61)

#10 Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond (3304 / 3.80)

#11 Wintersun - Wintersun (3294 / 3.63)

#12 Helloween - Walls of Jericho (3189 / 3.69)

#13 Children of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll (2989 / 3.34)

#14 Nightwish - Wishmaster (2905 / 3.52)

#15 DragonForce - Inhuman Rampage (2786 / 2.62)

#16 Nightwish - Century Child (2768 / 3.51)

#17 Arcturus - La masquerade infernale (2641 / 3.60)

#18 Children of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet? (2620 / 2.86)

#19 Symphony X - The Divine Wings of Tragedy (2614 / 3.71)

#20 Nightwish - Dark Passion Play (2614 / 3.38)

For the heavy metal list, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and the 3 heavy metal Metallica albums are just all f***ing over the list, and it makes sense for the former two because of their importance in developing heavy metal as we all know today. Still there are a few albums that have shared the spotlight such as Judas Priest's Painkiller, Megadeth's Countdown to Extinction, and Motorhead's Ace of Spades.

For the list WITHOUT classic heavy metal, there are lots of great power metal albums I used to fully enjoy, one of them being DragonForce's Inhuman Rampage so that's a good win for me! I'm surprised to see Arcturus (usually avant-garde/progressive metal) and Children of Bodom (melodic death metal) on the list. I should really check out those Helloween albums and see if they help me prove my heart of a Guardian.

So what do you all think?

The overall Guardians top 20 looks pretty much how I would expect it to. I don't know enough about power metal to comment on the second list, but even I have heard of all those bands so it is probably fairly accurate.

Though the Helloween albums weren't perfect for me (would've been if I found them 5 years ago but I didn't), I had fun reviewing them, so let's extend both lists to 25 and look out for more.

Heavy metal:

#21 Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance (8709 / 3.88)

#22 Dio - Holy Diver (8591 / 3.86)

#23 Rainbow - Rising (8329 / 3.92)

#24 Slayer - Show No Mercy (8012 / 3.72)

#25 Judas Priest - British Steel (7985 / 3.65)

WITHOUT heavy metal:

#21 Children of Bodom - Something Wild (2564 / 3.33)

#22 Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera (2494 / 3.56)

#23 Kamelot - The Black Halo (2424 / 3.74)

#24 Blind Guardian - Tales from the Twilight World (2396 / 3.67)

#25 Septicflesh - Communion (2252 / 3.68)

I'm quite stunned at Slayer's Show No Mercy ending up in the heavy metal list, but it's there because speed metal has been switched to a Heavy Metal subgenre in RYM, which has not yet taken effect here. It's also a bit surprising to see usually death metal bands Children of Bodom and Septicflesh on the list.

Now let's check on the Metal Academy charts and see the differences. Here are all the Guardians releases with minimum 15 ratings, sorted by rating number:

#1 Black Sabbath - Paranoid (22 / 4.4)

#2 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (22 / 4.1)

#3 Iron Maiden - Powerslave (18 / 4.4)

#4 Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (18 / 4.3)

#5 Metallica - Metallica [Black Album] (18 / 3.8)

#6 Black Sabbath - Master of Reality (17 / 4.4)

#7 Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (17 / 4.1)

#8 Judas Priest - Painkiller (16 / 4.5)

#9 Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny (16 / 4.0)

#10 Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden (16 / 3.8)

#11 Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind (15 / 4.2)

#12 Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (15 / 4.1)

#13 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Vol. 4 (15 / 3.8)

Not a lot of difference with just 5 Black Sabbath albums, 5 Iron Maiden albums, two Judas Priest albums, and Metallica's Black Album. It would probably be easier seeing which power/symphonic/neoclassical metal albums reign in the charts if we could be able to filter the albums by genres instead of clans there. Ben, if you're reading this, please implement that ability!

Ben, if you're reading this, please implement that ability!

You already can from the releases page. The charts page is pretty much redundant these days as Ben's done a great job with the releases page.

Got it. Thanks for the heads-up, Daniel! Power/symphonic/neoclassical Metal Academy chart list coming soon...

Well here's my power/symphonic/neoclassical Metal Academy chart list with minimum 8 ratings, sorted by rating number:

#1 Blind Guardian - Imaginations From the Other Side (13 / 4.6)

#2 Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-Earth (12 / 4.1)

#3 Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond (11 / 4.2)

#4 Blind Guardian - Battalions of Fear (10 / 3.8)

#5 Blind Guardian - Follow the Blind (10 / 3.7)

#6 Running Wild - Death or Glory (9 / 4.2)

#7 Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II (9 / 3.9)

#8 Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors (9 / 3.9)

#9 Gamma Ray - Power Plant (9 / 3.8)

#10 Nightwish - Dark Passion Play (9 / 3.7)

#11 Nightwish - Oceanborn (8 / 4.3)

#12 Nightwish - Wishmaster (8 / 4.3)

#13 Blind Guardian - At the Edge of Time (8 / 4.3)

#14 Gamma Ray - Land of the Free (8 / 4.2)

#15 Iced Earth - Night of the Stormrider (8 / 4.1)

#16 Blind Guardian - Tales From the Twilight World (8 / 4.1)

#17 Gamma Ray - Somewhere Out in Space (8 / 4.0)

#18 Rhapsody of Fire - Dawn of Victory (8 / 3.9)

#19 Iced Earth - Iced Earth (8 / 3.8)

#20 Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror (8 / 3.7)

#21 Metallica - S&M (8 / 3.6)

#22 Helloween - Walls of Jericho (8 / 3.6)

#23 Wintersun - Wintersun (8 / 3.3)

#24 DragonForce - Inhuman Rampage (8 / 2.8)

Wow, I see most of the Blind Guardians albums in here! Also appearing in the list are Running Wild's Death or Glory, Rhapsody of Fire's Dawn of Victory, and a few Gamma Ray classics. After that wild review ride through the first two Helloween albums, I feel like doing the same with the first two Iced Earth albums. Might also try Metallica's S&M, known as an orchestral metal retelling of their greatest hits!

I'd suggest that some of the releases in the Metal Academy lists are being boosted by having been awarded feature release status given the low rating numbers required to enter the list (see "Inhuman Rampage", "Dawn Of Victory", "Power Plant", etc).

That's right, Daniel, and those 3 releases you've mentioned from DragonForce, Rhapsody of Fire, and Gamma Ray were my own Guardians feature releases, so that's kind of an unfair advantage. With that, I've decided to exclude releases I've rated, not only to see what the ratings would be like without me, kinda like an "It's a Wonderful Life" experiment, but also in case any of you find some good recommendations. Here they are, with minimum 5 ratings, sorted by rating number (includes earlier ratings I've deleted because I've moved away from the albums' bands):

#1 Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors (9 / 3.9)

#2 Iced Earth - Night of the Stormrider (8 / 4.1)

#3 Iced Earth - Iced Earth (8 / 3.8)

#4 Metallica - S&M (8 / 3.6)

#5 Wintersun - Wintersun (8 / 3.3)

#6 Children of Bodom - Follow the Reaper (7 / 3.4)

#7 Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings (6 / 4.3)

#8 Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes (6 / 3.9)

#9 Helloween - Helloween (6 / 3.9)

#10 Unleash the Archers - Apex (6 / 3.8)

#11 Helstar - Nosferatu (6 / 3.3)

#12 Therion - Theli (5 / 4.2)

#13 Therion - Secret of the Runes (5 / 4.0)

#14 Iced Earth - The Dark Saga (5 / 3.9)

#15 Helloween - Straight Out of Hell (5 / 3.9)

#16 Iced Earth - Horror Show (5 / 3.7)

#17 Septicflesh - The Great Mass (5 / 3.7)

#18 Brothers of Metal - Emblas Saga (5 / 3.6)

#19 Septicflesh - Communion (5 / 3.5)

#20 Within Temptation - Hydra (5 / 3.4)

#21 Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn (5 / 3.3)

#22 Fleshgod Apocalypse - Veleno (5 / 3.3)

#23 Helloween - Helloween (5 / 3.3)

#24 Fleshgod Apocalypse - King (5 / 3.1)

A few more Helloween and Iced Earth albums have appeared here, along with albums from a few other bands I haven't listened to before and used to but completely moved away from.

Now let's check on the Metal Academy charts and see the differences. Here are all the Guardians releases with minimum 15 ratings, sorted by rating number:

#1 Black Sabbath - Paranoid (22 / 4.4)

#2 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (22 / 4.1)

#3 Iron Maiden - Powerslave (18 / 4.4)

#4 Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (18 / 4.3)

#5 Metallica - Metallica [Black Album] (18 / 3.8)

#6 Black Sabbath - Master of Reality (17 / 4.4)

#7 Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (17 / 4.1)

#8 Judas Priest - Painkiller (16 / 4.5)

#9 Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny (16 / 4.0)

#10 Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden (16 / 3.8)

#11 Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind (15 / 4.2)

#12 Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (15 / 4.1)

#13 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Vol. 4 (15 / 3.8)

Not a lot of difference with just 5 Black Sabbath albums, 5 Iron Maiden albums, two Judas Priest albums, and Metallica's Black Album. It would probably be easier seeing which power/symphonic/neoclassical metal albums reign in the charts if we could be able to filter the albums by genres instead of clans there. Ben, if you're reading this, please implement that ability!

Now let's decrease the minimum rating number to 13 and extend that list:

#14 Judas Priest - Stained Class (14 / 4.1)

#15 Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time (14 / 4.1)

#16 Iron Maiden - Killers (14 / 3.9)

#17 Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance (14 / 3.5)

#18 Judas Priest - British Steel (14 / 3.4)

#19 Metallica - Load (14 / 2.9)

#20 Metallica - Reload (14 / 2.7)

#21 Blind Guardian - Imaginations From the Other Side (13 / 4.6)

#22 Black Sabbath - Sabotage (13 / 3.9)

#23 Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction (13 / 3.7)

Glad to find a power metal release (Blind Guardian) here, though I'm still going to keep the power/symphonic/neoclassical metal lists.

After having fun with the "most popular 50 Infinite albums and EPs in 2021" last week, I've decided to the same with my other 3 clans. So here they are for The Guardians, with the number of ratings and average score:

#1 Iron Maiden - Senjutsu (2507 / 3.13)

#2 Helloween - Helloween (1388 / 3.53)

#3 Darkthrone - Eternal Hails...... (1315 / 3.25)

#4 Epica - Omega (706 / 3.43)

#5 First Fragment - Gloire éternelle (697 / 3.58)

#6 Accept - Too Mean to Die (542 / 3.25)

#7 Unto Others - Strength (500 / 3.47)

#8 Andrew W.K. - God Is Partying (456 / 3.24)

#9 Therion - Leviathan (391 / 3.09)

#10 Powerwolf - Call of the Wild (329 / 3.40)

#11 Dread Sovereign - Alchemical Warfare (327 / 3.30)

#12 Herzel - Le dernier rempart (268 / 3.47)

#13 KK's Priest - Sermons of the Sinner (257 / 3.14)

#14 Beast in Black - Dark Connection (250 / 3.43)

#15 Volbeat - Servant of the Mind (242 / 3.41)

#16 Eternity's End - Embers of War (226 / 3.65)

#17 Orden Ogan - Final Days (225 / 3.33)

#18 Cirith Ungol - Half Past Human (217 / 3.36)

#19 Various Artists - The Metallica Blacklist (214 / 3.50)

#20 Warrior Path - The Mad King (212 / 3.45)

#21 Vulture - Dealin' Death (199 / 3.34)

#22 Pharaoh - The Powers That Be (198 / 3.53)

#23 石渡太輔 [Daisuke Ishiwatari] - Guilty Gear -Strive- Digital Soundtrack (197 / 3.62)

#24 Heavy Sentence - Bang to Rights (192 / 3.52)

#25 Mechina - Siege (191 / 3.07)

#26 Dragony - Viribus Unitis (186 / 3.15)

#27 Seven Spires - Gods of Debauchery (176 / 3.47)

#28 Bewitcher - Cursed Be Thy Kingdom (170 / 3.26)

#29 Lovebites - Glory, Glory, to the World (169 / 3.56)

#30 Rhapsody of Fire - Glory for Salvation (168 / 3.29)

#31 Edu Falaschi - Vera Cruz (165 / 3.49)

#32 Black Label Society - Doom Crew Inc. (163 / 3.26)

#33 Silver Talon - Decadence and Decay (162 / 3.33)

#34 Labÿrinth - Welcome to the Absurd Circus (161 / 3.30)

#35 Blaze Bayley - War Within Me (157 / 3.41)

#36 Running Wild - Blood on Blood (155 / 3.14)

#37 Lucifer - Lucifer IV (155 / 3.39)

#38 Bloodbound - Creatures of the Dark Realm (151 / 3.41)

#39 Aephanemer - A Dream of Wilderness (150 / 3.56)

#40 Pentakill - III: Lost Chapter (149 / 3.10)

#41 Crystal Viper - The Cult (145 / 3.26)

#42 Rage - Resurrection Day (175 / 3.35)

#43 Sirenia - Riddles, Ruins & Revelations (139 / 2.92)

#44 Haunt - Beautiful Distraction (136 / 3.13)

#45 Significant Point - Into the Storm (135 / 3.29)

#46 Brainstorm - Wall of Skulls (132 / 3.63)

#47 Portrait - At One With None (127 / 3.39)

#48 Lunar Shadow - Wish to Leave (122 / 3.24)

#49 Bonehunter - Dark Blood Reincarnation System (120 / 3.43)

#50 Dalriada - Őszelő (117 / 3.47)

A few of these albums actually have just the speed metal label, but again, it's there because speed metal has been switched to a Heavy Metal subgenre in RYM, which has not yet taken effect here.

Let's extend both lists to 30 and look out for more albums.

Heavy metal:

#26 Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny (7903 / 3.89)

#27 Iron Maiden - Brave New World (7885 / 3.72)

#28 Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark (7581 / 3.21)

#29 Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz (7033 / 3.75)

#30 Metallica - Garage Inc. (7005 / 3.15)

WITHOUT heavy metal:

#26 Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes (2253 / 3.65)

#27 Blind Guardian - Battalions of Fear (2167 / 3.38)

#28 Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings (2110 / 3.72)

#29 Blind Guardian - Follow the Blind (2102 / 3.33)

#30 Nightwish - Angels Fall First (2037 / 3.06)