Coverdale/Page
Artist: Coverdale/Page
Community Score: 8.50

Everything about Coverdale/Page, right down to the goofy copping of the Presence artwork, is an attempt to recapture the pompous majesty of Led Zeppelin. It doesn't succeed, of course, but it does leave all of the Zep clones in the dust. Although Jimmy Page plays better here than he has since 1979's In Through the Out Door, there is a... Read More

Night Breaker
Artist: Riot

A solid heavy metal album, Night Breaker was released originally in 1988 by Rising Sun; Metal Blade re-released it in 1999 and it holds up quite well, doing justice to the British heavy metal sound that was starting to splinter and deteriorate by the late '80s. Night Breaker sounds a little more polished than most Iron Maiden, and most Judas... Read More

Tokyo Tales
Artist: Blind Guardian
Community Score: 9.27

Blind Guardian where on a creative and commercial high after 1992's Somewhere Far Beyond, but the German power metal heroes decided to make some changes and take some extra time before entering the studio to forge a follow-up. The group would eventually unleash the epic Imaginations From the Other Side, a disc that took their sound and... Read More

Strength in Numbers
Artist: Tyketto
Spectral Sorrows
Artist: Edge of Sanity
Community Score: 6.00

The presciently named Unorthodox album had revealed Edge of Sanity to be much more than a predictable, stuck-on-full-throttle death metal machine, so it was only natural to expect that the Swedish quintet would continue pushing the boundaries of their sound on subsequent efforts. The only questions left to answer were "how much?" and "would they... Read More

Objection Overruled
Artist: Accept
Community Score: 9.00

As various versions of Accept had been only sporadically recording mostly subpar material throughout the late '80s and early '90s, 1993's Objection Overruled -- featuring an essential lineup and a sound quite reminiscent of the group's most popular releases -- is generally considered a strong comeback effort. Udo Dirkschneider's return to the... Read More

Wounded Land
Artist: Threshold

Hailed as England's answer to Dream Theater, Threshold's second release should have carried a "green" seal of approval. This is environmentally conscious progressive metal, which has to be the first of it's kind. Vocalist Damian Wilson has an adequate range and all of the musicians are technically competent, but there is nothing new here. They... Read More

Bastards
Artist: Motörhead

After doing the unthinkable (selling out!) on their commercially minded -- and only -- major-label release March or Die, underground heroes Motörhead thankfully returned to a more familiar sonic formula (extremely loud and fast) on the excellent Bastards. Gloriously distorted thrashers such as "On Your Feet or on Your Knees" and "Death or Glory"... Read More

Box of Fire
Artist: Aerosmith
Community Score: 9.00

For the serious Aerosmith fan looking to obtain all of the band's classic releases for Columbia, 1994's Box of Fire is a quintessential purchase. Included are all of the band's 12 releases for their original record company, as well as a five-track bonus disc that features previously unreleased/hard-to-find songs (an absolute highlight of which... Read More

Hurricane Rock 74-88
Artist: Scorpions

Imported from England, this 18-track disc is a compilation of the Scorpions' studio hits from Fly to the Rainbow through Savage Amusement. Many of the classics are here, but the album possesses one noticeable flaw -- its lack of the Scorpions' ballads. Although the Blackout hit "When the Smoke is Going Down" made it to the album, songs like... Read More

Tales From the Thousand Lakes
Artist: Amorphis
Community Score: 7.13

Bolder than The Karelian Isthmus and conceptually superior to later attempts at progressive but radio-friendly '90s metal, Tales From the Thousand Lakes might just be Amorphis' best recording. This record is heavy, yet never succumbs to the inane extremes common to the melodic death metal genre. The guitars and drums are in ample supply, and a... Read More

Groove Family Cyco
Artist: Infectious Grooves
Community Score: 10.00
Mods Carve the Pig: Assassins, Toads and God's Flesh
Artist: Thought Industry

By the time they returned to the studio to record their second album, 1993's Mods Carve the Pig: Assassins, Toads and God's Flesh, Michigan schizo-thrashers Thought Industry had learned to control their wilder creative impulses somewhat, resulting in a far more user-friendly work. Sure, the zany title and far-out cover art (once again featuring... Read More

Icon
Artist: Paradise Lost
Community Score: 9.72

Icon represents a turning point for Paradise Lost: vocalist Nick Holmes loses the limiting growl in favor of a James Hetfield-style bark and Gregorian chants, while mastermind Gregor Mackintosh (lead guitar) further perfects his brand of baroque metal. Although older fans were beginning to protest that the band was becoming a sellout, this album... Read More

Bloody Kisses
Artist: Type O Negative
Community Score: 7.97

Bloody Kisses was Type O Negative's major step forward, maintaining the long, repetitive song structures of albums past, but adding more atmospheric synths and left-field Beatlesque pop melodies. The quantum leap in songwriting is what really drives the album, but it also coincides with a newfound sense of subtlety. Aside from a couple of... Read More

Weed Out the Weak
Artist: Konkhra
Community Score: 4.00