Is there a discography in the world of Heavy Metal which can be called perfect or almost perfect? Well..let's discuss that, shall we? Before I begin my rant, let's set up some ground rules here. Bands with less than 5 full length studio recordings will not be included(no demos, no rare recordings,garage recordings, live recordings etc). Beside these ground rules, know that this is only a reflection of what I consider to be good; in no way does it reflect the popular opinion or the greatness of the bands and their respective discographies. So, please don't put me under the guillotine if I don't think too highly of Black Sabbath's discography. Ahh!.. there, I spoilt the fun already eh? Also remember that my evaluation of a band's discography is not indicative of my liking towards the band; I might rate Blind Guardian's discography as the best in all of Power Metal, but Helloween is still my favourite Power Metal band. I hope you get the picture now.
So, after much deliberation(lol), I shortlisted a few bands who have a discography with the least blemishes(again..IMO). Metallica is obviously out of the race as Load was blah, Re-Load was mediocre and St. Anger was utter crap. Anyway, there are so many of my favourite bands who just went haywire after a spree of great albums, so I'm not gonna go there.
Let's start with the oldest band to make this shortlist..Van Halen. Everything from 1978 to 1991 is pure gold...errmm...platinum actually(according to RIAA) . Nine albums during this period; and atleast four of these are all time classics--Van Halen, Van Halen II, Fair Warning and 1984 and the rest were excellent too. The last two studio albums in Balance and Van Halen III stop this band just short of having the perfect discography. It's almost there though, it's almost perfect!
The next band to make this shortlist is the almighty Slayer! 1983-1990 is their pinnacle, with a strong debut in Show No Mercy and following it up with all time classics in Hell Awaits, Reign In Blood, South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss is no small feat. There is one post Seasons album though which is utterly boring, yeah, I'm talking about Diabolous In Musica. C'mon..electronica and Slayer don't go together...naah! Divine Intervention was very good, God Hates Us All was ok and Christ Illusion was excellent! in my opinion. So there you have it...Slayer....another almost perfect discography.
Next band on the shortlist is Iron Maiden. Although they have about 3-4 albums which either suck or are just about mediocre, I still had to include them for the sheer number of great albums these guys have given us. Their self titled debut, Virtual XI and X-Factor were mediocre and Dance of Death was utter crap. But!, everything from Killers(1981) and Fear of The Dark(1992) was absolutely splendid, not to mention the three eternal classics in The Number of The Beast, Powerslave and Piece of Mind. Brave New World was good and the latest A Matter of Life and Death was also very good. So that was Iron Maiden for you, another almost perfect discography.
The next band to make this shortlist is In Flames. In Flames are not the originators of Melodic Death Metal; that title belongs to At The Gates(some might even say Carcass on their Heartwork album), but they surely are the band that defined, redefined and revolutionised this form of music. Everything from Lunar Strain(1994) to Clayman(2000) is pure bliss! and the sophomore release in The Jester Race is arguably the greatest Melodic Death release ever. Reroute to Remain was good and Soundtrack to Your Escape was plainly bland. Their 2006 release, Come Clarity, however, was an excellent release again. So that was In Flames...an almost perfect discography.
The next band to make this list is the super talented Dream Theater. Nothing much to say here..everything from When Dream and Day Unite(1989) to Train of Thought(2003) is pure progressive madness, it's just perfect! The last two albums in Octavarium, which was crap! and Systematic Chaos, which was good but not upto Dream Theater standards, are keeping this discography away from the perfect tag. If they had chosen to retire after Train Of Thought, this would be IT...the perfect discography.
The next band is Megadeth, one of my favourite bands. Everything from Killing is My Business to Countdown to Extinction was great. Yes, I thought So Far So Good was great too, sorry; and Peace Sells and Rust in Peace are metal classics. Countdown to Extinction was a little radio friendly but still an excellent album and Youthanasia was very good. Cryptic writings was excellent again, but the follow up in Risk was utter disappointment. Not only is Risk the worst from Megadeth but perhaps one of the worst pretend-metal albums ever! Word Needs a Hero was just about OK and The System Has Failed and United Abominations have been very good. Megadeth!...another almost almost perfect discography(no typos there, it was meant that way).
The next band to make this shortlist is Dark Tranquillity. Contemporaries of In Flames, and some might say, even better than them. They gave three excellent albums during 1993-1997, including the classic The Gallery. Too bad they followed it up with two very experimental albums in Projector and Haven, and that's what put them in this almost perfect slot, because after that they have given three back to back masterpieces in Damage Done, Character and Fiction again.
Next on the list are the German gods Kreator. Kreator are the European equivalent of Slayer, and boy! do they THRASH!! Ok, I'll be honest here, they have made this list purely on my bias. I love this band so much that I decided to totally ignore the four utterly forgettable albums between 1992-1999. Want names....uhh!...Renewal, Cause for Conflict, Outcast and Endorama; all these albums are disappointments. But the five preceding ones and the two succeeding ones are all masterpieces, yes, all of them!In fact, between Pleasure to Kill, Extreme Aggression, Coma of Souls and Enemy of God, I just cannot decide which is my favourite.
Next on the list are Children of Bodom. Other than Are You Dead Yet, which was good, Something Wild,Follow The Reaper,Hatebreeder and Hate Crew Deathroll are all excellent!! Nothing more to say, I hope Blooddrunk is as good as Children of Bodom have been all these years.
Next up is another German mammoth named Blind Guardian. Honestly speaking, the Blind Guardian discography does not have any blemishes as such, except for A Night At The Opera where they went a little overboard with their symphonic/operatic indulgence, that's it. Everything from their debut in Battalions of Fear to A Tiwst in The Myth ranges from very good to excellent to classic. The two classics being Imaginations from The Other Side and Nightfall in Middle Earth.
Next up are US Power Metal giants, Iced Earth. Well, I gotta admit, this is actually very close to being perfect. Ten studio albums, and not a single one which can be labeled average or mediocre, except for Tribute to The Gods perhaps, which was underwhelming for Iced Earth's standards. Night of The Sotrmrider, The Dark Saga, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Horror Show, The Glorious Burden..oh! how many masterpieces have these guys put out. Despite of constant lineup changes all these years, they still belt out excuisite and thrashy Power Metal. And, if I didn't mention it yet...Matt Barlow is a GODLY singer.
Hmm..we've talked about eleven bands till now, and not one of them has a perfect discography. Is there a band which does not have any mediocre album, which does not have any album that was disappointing? Fortunately, there is!!!....and that band is......
The brainchild of Chuck Schuldiner(RIP), also known as the father of Death Metal. Their debut Scream Bloody Gore is the first ever Death Metal album(yes, Seven Churches started the cookie-monster vocals, but this was real Death Metal). After shaking up the world and giving birth to a new genre with their debut, Death gave another thrashstastic headbanger in Leprosy. Followed Leprosy with the technically brilliant Spiritual Healing. In 1991, they released Human; an album which was to mark a progressive change in Death's sound and also a revolution in extreme music. They followed Human with Individual Thought Patterns and Symbolic; two albums which EVERYBODY should listen to. It doesn't matter if you don't like Death Metal, heck!, it doesn't matter if you don't even like any kind of heavy music...you still got to listen to the musical wizardry contained in these two masterpieces. The Sound of Perseverance was Death's last studio album; this is also a work of art(although most people don't think too highly of it), absolutely brilliant! So that was Death...the discography of Death is not just perfect, it's GODLY! Take my word for it, you won't be disappointed.
The Gotherburg kings are back after the solid Come Clarity in 2006. It hurts to say that one of my all time favourite bands have released such a generic and uninspired musical set. Yes, The Mirror's Truth is very catchy on the first listen and a couple of other songs do manage to almost hold your attention, but otherwise, it's all...uh...a big bore. I won't waste my breath on a song by song review here. If you're one of those who are still mesmerized by their Jester Race/Whoracle/Colony days...stay away from it! If you think Reouroute to Remain or STYE kicked ass, then pick this up, you'll love this even more! Anyway, this album is perhaps the most accessible In Flames album to date, and I'm pretty sure it will win them many new fans, but they just might lose some old time fans too. It's not a bad album per se, it's just not my type, actually it's not In Flames anymore.
