Heavy Metal reminds me of my younger angst-ridden years, when I was a rebellious adolescent. As a typical rebellious adolescent, I loved my heavy metal music. Metallica was my favorite, but I also liked Megadeth, Anthrax and Testament. Have a look at my list of five essential heavy metal albums.

#5: Megadeth: Rust in Peace

In the late 1980's heavy metal was getting very progressive. All of the top guitar players were trying to outdo each other in terms of virtuosity and speed, and Megadeth was no exception. With the talented guitar playing of Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman, Megadeth produced their most ambitious album ever. Rust in Peace is full of the things we all love our heavy metal to have...Shredding guitar solos, awesome drum tracks, and lyrics about the end of the world. Who can resist this classic album?

#4: Iron Maiden: The Number of the Beast

The Number of the Beast is the must-have Iron Maiden album, and why not? It has all of the doom and darkness of any great metal album, some awesome guitar shredding and soloing, and that classic british heavy metal sound. Iron Maiden was one of the great innovators of heavy metal, influencing some of the greatest heavy metal bands that came later. This classic album features some of the great Iron Maiden tunes such as "The Number of the Beast" and "Run to the Hills". One element of Iron Maiden's sound that is interesting is the harmonizing of the guitar solos, producing a thicker, more rich sound. Hear it on this classic album.

#3: Black Sabbath: Paranoid

Paranoid is one of the first heavy metal albums ever, and contains some of the most classic heavy metal songs ever written. The songs "Paranoid" and "Ironman" are legendary metal songs, and are both on the album Paranoid. Also a very essential fact: Ozzy Osbourne sings on this album. This is where a heavy metal legend got his start. In addition to the classic guitar riffs and doomy lyrics, Paranoid delivers a unique listening experience: Slightly metal, slightly bluesy, slightly psychedelic, very unique for its time, and hands-down a rock and roll classic.

#2: Pantera: Cowboys From Hell

Pantera was never really my cup of tea, but I always liked this album. It showcases the genius guitar playing of Dimebag Darrell, one of the most original and talented heavy metal guitarists of all time. Cowboys From Hell was released at a time when Pantera was moving from a glam-metal to a thrashy tough-guy metal band. On my copy, Dimebag Darrell's name is shown as "Diamond Darrell". Anyway, this album has lots of energy, aggression, angst, anger, and emotion, but is not quite as heavy as later Pantera efforts, such as Vulgar Display of Power. I like the classic songs like "Cowboys from Hell", "Primal Concrete Sledge" and the thrashy "Domination". I feel like a real badass listeing to 'Tera, and you will too!

#1: Metallica: Master of Puppets

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Battery is the best metal opening song ever. Master of Puppets guitar solo...badass! Who doesn't love Damage Inc or Sanitarium? Songs like "Orion" solidified Metallica's place as both a badass, dark, metal band, but also as a serious group of musicians who wanted to explore more melodical aspects of metal. Metallica was an innovative band that produced so many classic metal songs, it's hard to even think of them all. No one can doubt the songwriting skills of James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, sharpened by Metallica's musically talented deceased bass player, Cliff Burton. Master of Puppets has so many great things going for it. It has some great mellow parts, thrashy parts, crazy guitar soloing parts, you name it. This album has it all, and was one of the most innovative metal albums of all time. If you even dabble in heavy metal, you have to own Master of Puppets!!

So....That's it folks. My essential metal post part 1. If you don't like the list, write your own...Or leave a comment.

Enjoy the music.