While not as timeless as Ride the Lightning or Master of Puppets, Metallica's debut album-originally released in 1983-is still a fine piece of thrash metal and as good a marker as any for the debut of the genre. Fusing the rapid-fire attack of bands like Motörhead with a guitar style reminiscent of such British heavy-metal bands as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, Metallica essentially created a new kind of metal. Several of the songs from this 1983 album have since become classics, including "Seek & Destroy", "The Four Horsemen", and "Jump in the Fire". The song-writing isn't as sophisticated as on Metallica's later releases; still, it's a great listen, and essential for any heavy-metal fan. -Genevieve Williams.

One of the defining moments of the 1990s, despite happening at the start of the decade. The guitars start jittering, then "BOOMA-ABOOMA-ABOOMA-ABOOM!", the drums kick in and grunge splatters itself all over a generation of MTV viewers. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" will surely always speak to alienated teenagers, while giving them something to thrash around their rooms to, kicking the whole thing off as it means to go on. "Come As You Are" is dark and twisted, while "Lithium" and "In Bloom" show Kurt Cobain's often overlooked sense of humour, and "Stay Away" highlights the best way to shred your vocal chords. It's nigh-impossible not to love this album, and it will remain Nirvana's most affectionately remembered work. It's just a shame that a misplaced sense of "selling out" (stupid term if ever there was one) led to such an internal rejection of ". Teen Spirit". A work of genius, no question. [+]

Minutes to Midnight stands to defend Linkin Park's status as the hardest-rockin' softies in mainstream music. Like its predecessors Hybrid Theory (2000) and Meteroa (2003), Minutes to Midnight flexes plenty of decibel-heavy muscle ("Given Up," "Bleed It Out," "No More Sorrow") and made-to-order, melodic radio fare ("Leave out All the Rest," "Shadow of the Day," "In Pieces"). But for all its volume, Linkin Park likes to paint its heart openly on its sleeve with suspicious sonic drama, as in the palpably saccharine "Valentine's Day. " Fortunately, co-producer Rick Rubin brings all these elements to pinnacle effect with the surprise "Hands Held High. " On past efforts, the combination of breezy keyboard, arpeggiated guitar, choral vocals, and a military snare-beat would yield another slab of smarm, here MC Mike Shinoda drops the two best verses of his career, blending vocal styles with singer Chester Bennington for a moving piece that's as welcome a repertorial addition as Linkin Park is ever likely to muster. -Jason Kirk.

Riff rock had been what Jimmy Page's former band, the Yardbirds, were all about and on Led Zeppelin's second album, released, like its predecessor, in 1969, the inventive guitarist demonstrated that he'd indeed learned his lessons well. Witness "Whole Lotta Love", a woozy epic based on one simple, head-banging-friendly guitar riff. Or the mock-dramatic "Heartbreaker", propelled by far more intricate but similarly effective note squashing. Between Page's sonic wizardry, John Bonham beating his drums into submission ("Moby Dick"), and the juice running down Robert Plant's leg ("The Lemon Song"), Led Zeppelin here just about succeeded in raising rock & roll excess to an art form. -Billy Altman.

Kid Rock maintains a remarkable propensity for wearing his contradictions on his sleeve, and more than anything he's previously released, Rock 'n' Roll Jesus finds fuel in unresolved opposites. Is he a hard-core chauvinist ("Half Your Age") or a would-be gentleman ("When U Love Someone")? Is he a God-fearing everyman ("Blue Jeans and a Rosary") or a bohemian hero ("So Hott")? These questions are nothing new, even if the album at hand takes them to freshly delirious extremes. Ever since he first began shedding his rap/rock posture to be the next Ted Nugent, Kid Rock has constructed his public persona out of full-frontal ambivalence: race, class, sex, religion, money, whatever it takes. This album's bookends-the title song and "bonus" track, "Lowlife (Living the Highlife)"-demonstrate all this irreconcilable nonsense in no uncertain terms, but all his polar wobbling is at least stabilised by a firm commitment to southern-styled rock, tinged at times with gospel, blues, a lingering need to rap ("Sugar"), and a rare, soul-fed instrumental jambalaya ("New Orleans"). In the end, Kid Rock may be a remarkable self-promoter, but a musical Messiah he is not. -Jason Kirk.

This record has so much good material that it's a shame the production is so shoddy. Song-wise, this is probably Metallica's most sophisticated album, exploring the theme of justice and perversions thereof with a vengeance. "One" is one of their best songs ever, building from a slow, edgy beginning into effortless overdrive. The title track is excellent and never boring, despite clocking in at more than nine minutes. It's the epic of the album, but all of the songs are long, displaying impressive chops and songwriting. Metallica took a commercial turn after. And Justice for All, and it's interesting to speculate on what would have happened to their music had they continued in the direction suggested by this album. -Genevieve Williams.

Though most of Black Sabbath's classic material from this album ("War Pigs," "Iron Man," "Fairies Wear Boots," and the title track) can also be found on the collection We Sold Our Soul for Rock & Roll, Paranoid is essential for the completist. One of the best albums from one of the bands to define heavy metal, this album is chock-full of the best stuff from Sabbath's Osbourne years. (Where else will you be able to hear "Rat Salad?") The music isn't exactly complex, but it doesn't need to be; its importance lies in its evocative power, with which any teenager will be able to identify. -Genevieve Williams.

Queen brought a whole new meaning to the phrase over the top. While rock & roll flamboyance stretched back at least as far as Little Richard, Freddie Mercury continued to camp it up, taking little seriously and smirking at the music's growing pretensions while partaking in them no small bit. Many of the band's singles hold up extremely well, such as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen" and "You're My Best Friend". The quartet's canny sense of melody and sophisticated vocal harmonies-not to mention Mercury's raised eyebrow-have travelled well through the years. -Rickey Wright.

If time is the true test, then Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits confirms that they really were one of the greatest rock & roll bands in the world. While, in retrospect, fellow graduates of the class of 1987 are about as cool as poodle perms and spandex, the LA bad boys still rock like gods. Listening to the sun-drenched chords of "Paradise City" and the ensuing stadium-sized swagger is enough to make wearing leather trousers and bandanas seem like a good idea. Of course, it helped that for them sex, drugs and rock & roll was a way of life, not a fashion statement. As Axl Rose wails "I wanna watch you bleed" on "Welcome to the Jungle", like a chain-smoking lunatic possessed, it's hard not to believe he meant it. Yet equally, it was his surprisingly poetic nature that made genuinely touching love songs of "Patience" and "Sweet Child of Mine". Though none of their subsequent albums matched the drug-crazed genius of Appetite for Destruction, they did, as the Greatest Hits reminds, have their moments. From the bloated Use Your Illusion I & II came ultimate rock ballads "Don't Cry" and "November Rain", along with the primal rage that was "You Could Be Mine". And while the covers of the The Spaghetti Incident were largely forgettable, the fact that their final single was a seedy sneer through the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" seems spectacularly fitting. -Dan Gennoe.

On Songs for the Deaf, core Queens of the Stone Age members Nick Oliveri and Josh Homme, with the help of like-minded consorts Dave Grohl and Mark Lanegan, balance pure guitar-induced carnage with more complex, though no less aggressive, speed rock that whips by so fast it creates its own breeze. The disc explodes with "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire", a toxic squall of power chords and now-classic Oliveri death howls. It's here the album's recurring concept/conceit is introduced, as a generic-sounding announcer from LA's "Clone" radio spits out some psychobabble reinforcing the tired if true cliché that commercial radio stinks. Similar mock broadcasts surface elsewhere, but they're easily forgivable, given the bounty on offer. Homme-powered tracks dominate-the lurching, weirdly springy single "No One Knows" is a kind of "Monster Mash" for grown-ups; the vocal harmony-driven "The Sky Is Falling" is almost dreamy until a small army of guitars surge to the front lines to begin firing. And a lyrically winking hidden track, "Mosquito Song", is either an in-joke of ridiculous proportions or a declarative statement about the level of musicianship lurking just beneath the quaking veneer of the Queens' sound. Either way, genuine excitement comes early and often on Songs for the Deaf. It's a remarkable achievement-a hard rock record so good that it immediately evokes a conspiratorial fervour that makes you want to tell everyone you can about it. Er, job done. -Kim Hughes.

A Beautiful Lie, the second studio album from 30 Seconds To Mars, was recorded in five different countries over a period of three years, in order to accommodate vocalist/guitarist Jared Leto's acting career. Yet the album is anything but disjointed. On the contrary, it's more consistent than its predecessor, 30 Seconds To Mars, as well as more confident, more personal (lyrically), and generally more mature. True, A Beautiful Lie relies heavily on Leto's dynamic vocals to lead the way. But lead single, "Attack," illustrates the more stripped down, radio-friendly sound of the band perfectly - as do tracks "The Kill," "Was it a Dream" and "From Yesterday". The band conjure up some slower, more kaleidoscopic moments ("A Modern Myth," for example), but A Beautiful Lie is largely a punchy project with a frisky mid-tempo pace and an engagingly sonorous aura. The only criticism would be the choice of Bjork's "Hunter" as a song to cover: 30 Seconds To Mars are very far from doing the song - or themselves - justice here. However, the newly enhanced version of the album, with its re-recording of the "The Kill" and DVD featuring live performances and MTV2 moments, help make up for any occasional blips. -Danny McKenna.

Not since the days of the Clash and the MC5 has rock seen such political force as in the uncompromising debut from this American quartet. Expanding the hip-hop/metal style of bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage tap the spirits of vintage Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, coupled with hardcore punk intensity and Public Enemy-style grooves. "Bombtrack" opens the album with a shot of adrenaline and singer Zack de la Rocha's infuriated chorus of "Burn, burn, yes, you're gonna burn!" The intensity doesn't let up an inch on the militant "Killing In The Name" (with the inspiring chant, "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me!"), the ultrafunky "Bullet In The Head," and the engrossing "Fistful Of Steel". Tom Morello combines time-honoured metal-guitar riffs with sounds that suggest a hip-hop scratcher over a rhythm section that simply takes no prisoners. Intelligent and aggressive, this is unimpeachably one of the best hard-rock records ever made. -James Rotondi.

This best-of is loaded with the usual smash suspects plus three new cuts-the sub-Mellancamp "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night", the Bed of Roses-style ballad single "Always", and a low-key remake of "Living On A Prayer" titled "Prayer '94". Love 'em or not, there's no denying the loyalty of the fans. -Jeff Bateman.

Following in Staind's footsteps, Nickelback make the personal public and vent a history of frustration and resentment to melodic hard rock. Silver Side Up starts with "Never Again", an angry tirade against domestic violence that sheds light on the issue without too much sap or sentiment. The catchy "How You Remind Me" and "Woke Up This Morning" tell of rotting relationships, while other tracks touch on damaged hope and lost dreams. The post-grunge, alt-metal combo backing these songs packs as strong a punch as the lyrical material, going hard with lots of hooks. The additional slide guitar on "Hangnail" and sludgy, alt-metal riffs on "Hollywood", "Money Bought" and "Where Do I Hide" add a little meat to the alt-rock bones on Silver Side Up, elevating Nickelback above the heap of copycat rockers clogging the airwaves. -Jennifer Maerz.

Also known as the "rune" album because of the medieval symbols adorning its cover, Led Zeppelin's fourth album, released in 1971, turned them from mere superstars into giant behemoths of the rock world. On tracks like "Black Dog", "Misty Mountain Hop", and "Rock and Roll", the combination of Robert Plant's banshee wails and Jimmy Page's frenetic guitar playing forever altered the stylistic bent of hard rock music. And the foreboding "When the Levee Breaks" demonstrated that Zeppelin could indeed play the blues fairly straight if they so desired. Still, everything here ultimately took a back seat to the album's (and, ultimately, the band's) magnum opus-the expertly constructed and deftly executed classic, "Stairway to Heaven". -Billy Altman.