Metal: - Please Introduce Me.............gently.

Although "must-have" might not intersect with "great introduction" all of the time, I took my best stab. Mostly these are my favorites from my little corner of metal that I really enjoy. Just my opinions, no particular order:

Opeth - Blackwater Park

Tool - Lateralus

Dream Theater - Awake

Ayreon - The Human Equation (I had to pick one... but they're all good)

Kamelot - Epica

While I agree that Blackwater Park is a must have, progressive metal as epic as Opeth's work might not be the greatest starting point. Try something more simple, but still melodic. Insomnium is a good start! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vikingatheart 

While I agree that Blackwater Park is a must have, progressive metal as epic as Opeth's work might not be the greatest starting point. Try something more simple, but still melodic. Insomnium is a good start! 

Meh, I think saying something is "epic" and therefore you can't start out with it kind of propagates the stigma that the OP is talking about. Again, opinions. Better to just suggest something.

I'm not a huge metal head myself but I appreciate some of the classics. Try listening to these albums:

Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast

Motorhead - Ace of Spades

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

I would say if you're new to metal, you may want to take Vikingatheart's advice and keep things simple.  There is a ton of stuff out there that is very progressive (and awesome!), but might not be the best to ease into the genre.  

If I were to introduce any one album to someone to try get them into metal, it would be Tool's Opiate EP:  it's short (6 songs, about half an hour), it has great, decipherable vocals, and it friggin' rocks.   If you can dig some of the riffs/anger on that disc, the rest will come easy.

Hope this helps! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iniamyen 

Meh, I think saying something is "epic" and therefore you can't start out with it kind of propagates the stigma that the OP is talking about. Again, opinions. Better to just suggest something.

 

I hear and understand what you're saying, but for the sake of easing into the genre, Opeth is probably not the right choice. Who knows though?! That could be exactly what the OP is looking for. 

Gently? :P Bahhhh throw him into the fire!!! Crank up some 1349!

Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath(Don't forget Ozzy's self titled band with Randy Rhoads on guitar!), early Metallica the basics. Blind Guardian, Morbid Angel, Sepultura, Candlemass, Darkthrone & Burzum to get a taste of BM. Early Slayer, if you didn't love Slayer as a teenager then you know it just wasn't for you.

Right now you need to get Metallica's Ride the Lightning and Kill 'em All, pretty clean vocals and guitars that opened the gateway for me back in the day. Powerslave and Number of the Beast for Iron Maiden.

Gently? So... no Pantera then? 

I'd say if your starting with metal, why not start where it did? Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest.

Then keep going from there. Youtube is definitely helpful in finding out what you like before you spend $$$.

Darkspace introduced me to metal, it might not be the easiest metal around but at least it didn't have any grunts in it which was the thing that put me off when listening to metal in the first place. If you want to get a gentle introduction to metal i'd say Alcest's latest album might be just for you. As it is borderline postrock and the first track is sort of dreamy, after that, the fun begins 

You'll need to cover some key genres...

Proto-Metal:  UFO - Phenomenon

New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM):  Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast

Power Metal:  Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys

Thrash:  Metallica - Ride The Lightning

Death:  Death - Spiritual Healing

Grind:  Napalm Death - Scum

Black:  Venom - Black Metal

Also, Judas Priest:

1974 - Rocka Rolla

1976 - Sad Wings Of Destiny

1977 - Sin After Sin

1978 - Stained Class

1979 - Hell Bent For Leather

1980 - British Steel

1982 - Screaming For Vengeance

1990 - Pain Killer

I know that's more than you asked for, but I feel that by genre, those albums are great representations of the genre (even though what Venom started as black metal became something completely different just a few years later), even if they're not my favorite albums by those bands.  And Judas Priest is amazing, early albums are great rock albums, becoming proto-metal, then nwobhm, and Pain Killer being an awesome comeback album for a band who fell apart in the worst ways possible.