Now, these don't have to be your favourite but if someone said 'So, what exactly is this Thrash business anyway?', besides replying 'Thrash is my business and business is good' which 10 albums do you think most encapsulate Thrash and which song would would you pin-point as the albums Thrash highlight. I'm going to think about this and reply soon, but I'm putting it out there to get your mental juices a-flowing.

In no order:

1. Destruction - Eternal Devastation
2. Vio-Lence - Eternal Nightmare
3. Exodus - Bonded by Blood
4. Artillery - By Inheritance
5. Dark Angel - Darkness Descends
6. Slayer - Reign in Blood
7. Megadeth - Rust in Peace
8. Nuclear Assault - Game Over
9. Sepultura - Schizophrenia
10. Sabbat - History of a Time to Come

Agent Steel and Razor would have got in there but they are kind of Speed Metal-ly too so I left them out.

My list would echo Tom's in many places, but extra votes go to:

Slayer - Hell Awaits (wouldn't call Show No Mercy a thrash album)
Sodom - Persecution Mania
Kreator - Pleasure to Kill
Voivod - Killing Technology (if you want to call it thrash at all)

Not including proto-death metal releases like Seven Churches, None Shall Defy, etc. (though Pleasure to Kill could be called such perhaps).

1. Metallica - Kill Em All - first
2. Dark Angel - Darkness Descends - aggressive
3. Voivod - Killing Technology - weird
4. Megadeth - Rust in Peace - technical
5. Sepultura - Beneath the Remains - intense
6. Slayer - Hell Awaits - evil
7. Kreator - Pleasure to Kill - violent
8. Heathen - Breaking the Silence - melodic
9. Sodom - Obsessed by Cruelty - primitive
10. Metallica - Master of Puppets - beyond thrash

1, slayer -reign in blood - all of it is good, any song from it.
2, metallica - ride the lightning - fight fire with fire
3, anthrax - among the living - caught in a mosh
4, kreator - extreme aggression - stream of consciousness
5, megadeth - rust in peace - holy wars
6, testament - practice what you preach - practice what you preach
7, venom - black metal - black metal
8, exodus - impact is imminent - changing of the guard
9, slayer - south of heaven - south of heaven
10, forbidden - twisted into form - step by step

Definite bands and themes showing themselves up. I think all these lists are good but Bill's might be best as it encapsulates a range of thrash. Some strange choices by ceedee1 e.g. I would have gone with The Legacy for Testament, I have gone for Bonded by Blood and would have also gone for Forbidden Evil. Still, each to their own.

Mine (no heirarchy):
Slayer - Reign in Blood = pretty much thrash taken to its logical conclusion, speed, some melody, chaos and violence. (Choice track: Post-Mortem for being such a riff-fest).
Metallica - Kill Em All = first and very damn thrashy. I think it really encapsulates 'Thrash'. (Choice track: No Remorse. Probably the thrashiest track on the album).
Megadeth - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying = A really varied yet undeniably thrashy thash album. Was tempted to go for Rust in Peace but this might be better in explaining what is thrash. (Choice track: Wake Up Dead. Something about the structure that I think makes this a great thrasher).
Sepultura - Beneath the Remains = Like Bill said there is an intensity to this captures thrash at its most extreme degree. (Choice track: Like RiB, could be any but I've gone for Stronger than Hate because I'm feeling the power of that song at the moment).
Exodus - Bonded by Blood = I don't know why but this feels like the ultimate Thrash album for me. It's like Kill Em All but taken up a notch a brilliant honing of thrash. (Choice track: ...And Then There Were None as it's a slight change of pace compared to the others yet resolutely thrash)
Dark Angel - Darkness Descends = Sits somewhere between Reign in Blood and Beneath the Remains but still very much its own beast. Like Bonded by Blood in that it really shows what thrash is about but with a more extreme edge. (Choice track: Perish in Flames because its furious and the riff is great).
Vio-Lence - Eternal Nightmare = the most thrash-riff filled album there is (NOT literally). Non-stop, pure thrash. (Choice track: Kill on Command because it has a great intro, a great outro and doesn't let up in the middle).
Nuclear Assault - Handle with Care = Still my favourite NA album and they add a punkier/moshier edge while still being resolutely thrash (well except for Funky Noise and Mother's Day but that's also kind of the point). (Choice track: New Song is such a belter. Flys along and has that break-downy riff in the middle. Top class).
Death Angel - The Ultra-Violence = Just another album that screams THRASH at me. Sometimes ridiculously OTT thrash. (Choice track: Kill as One as it is probably the most ludicrously thrash thing on the album).
Possessed - Seven Churches = I accept the proto-death comment from James but this is still truly a thrash album to me. The guitars are evil as fuck and THAT voice. Like Beneath the Remains, as far as you can go before becoming Death Metal (Choice track: Penagram for the evil riff work. But, again, could be any of them).

Slayer - Reign In Blood - Postmortem/Raining Blood
Metallica - Master Of Puppets - Disposable Heroes
Vio-lence - Eternal Nightmare - Phobophobia
Sabbat - History Of A Time To Come - For Those Who Died
Anthrax - Spreading The Disease - Madhouse
Death Angel - The Ultra-Violence - Kill As One
Forbidden - Forbidden Evil - Chalice Of Blood
Nuclear Assault - Survive - Fight To Be Free
Exodus - Bonded By Blood - Bonded By Blood
Megadeth - Peace Sells But Who's Buying - Wake Up Dead

Ten albums isn't enough though - didn't have room for Testament's "The Legacy", Sepultura's "Beneath The Remains", Onslaught's "The Force", Crumbsuckers' "Beast On My Back" and a ton of others. In fact, 2 or 3 of the albums on that list are pretty interchangeable with ones not on the list depending on my mood.

explanation about my choices

i don't like the first metallica album, i know people worship it and all that, but i don't like the production, the terrible lyrics and the blues-based riffs. for me ride the lightning is when metallica really got their sound and songwriting together. same goes for exodus. although bonded by blood is a better album than kill em all.

testament - i think that practice... is where testament developed a sound of their own. again, great production, great songs, great album.

but i kinda think that proper "thrash "didn't start until a lot of these bands' second albums when they got out of using speeded up rock riffs and developed the thrash sound that we all know and love. i never really liked the really early stuff, which i know will make everyone now come on and call me a cunt

ceedee1 wrote:explanation about my choices

i don't like the first metallica album, i know people worship it and all that, but i don't like the production, the terrible lyrics and the blues-based riffs. for me ride the lightning is when metallica really got their sound and songwriting together. same goes for exodus. although bonded by blood is a better album than kill em all.

testament - i think that practice... is where testament developed a sound of their own. again, great production, great songs, great album.

but i kinda think that proper "thrash "didn't start until a lot of these bands' second albums when they got out of using speeded up rock riffs and developed the thrash sound that we all know and love. i never really liked the really early stuff, which i know will make everyone now come on and call me a cunt

Cunt.

Nah, there are plenty of people on here that probably don't go strictly for the earlier stuff. There is legend of an ex-forumer called (Allegedly) Metal Iain that would probably concur with you on Testament. Too be honest I haven't heard PWYP that much but I got the impression it was less 'thrashy' than their earlier stuff. New World Order, to me, would just as easily fit in these lists.

Ride the Lightning is a perfect choice. Kill Em All just captures the 'thrash' sound better for me, personally. Probably its historical position does it a favour with me too.

Forbidden, though. Their first album is ridiculous in the best possible way.

Stil that's the point of these lists. They're subjective, there are no definitive answers.

Onslaught's "The Force"


.... What? Don't fucking look at me like that, you all knew that was coming.

I'd have to say... The Best of the Beatles.

Cheers.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If you play it at 78.

no order and no way to make it to bloody top 10:

Anthrax - Among The Living
Exhorder - Slaughter In The Vatican
Accuser - Repent
Agent Steel - Unstoppable Force
Testament - The Legacy
Sodom - Persecution Mania
Exodus - Bonded By Blood
Artillery - By Inheritance
Forbidden - Forbidden Evil
Megadeth - Rust In Peace
Stone - No Anaesthesia!
Sepultura - Beneath The Remains
Heathen - Victims Of Deception
Kreator - Pleasure To Kill
Destruction - Infernal Overkill
Metallica - And Justice For All

YES! Great to see love for Persecution Mania over bloody Agent Orange!

thrasherdave wrote:YES! Great to see love for Persecution Mania over bloody Agent Orange!

both album is fucking classic
the reason I choose PM is becuase this the first Sodom album I ever heard
[and EVEN the bloody first German thrash album I ever own]
so I always have special love for it
but Agent Orange is really so awesome,
it gives me orgasm every single fucking time I play it