Metal albums that influenced me.

The following are the albums that changed my life (that part of my life involved in music). These albums had a huge impact on me and how I listened to music--at least hard rock and metal. They blew me away; not necessarily because they are great--which they all are--but because they opened my ears and pushed my musical mind farther than it had been pushed before.

• Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime: In 1988, I had no idea rock music was used to tell stories (I was sixteen so give me a break). Operation: Mindcrime rocked my world with it's story of political corruption, love, religious conspiracy, and murder. Mindcrime truly changed the way I viewed rock music and what I would look for in music down the line.
• Savatage - Edge of Thorns: If Queensryche's Mindcrime gave me a glimpse of what progressive epic metal had to offer, Savatage brought it into full view. While Thorns was not a rock opera, it did have an operatic feel to it. It felt epic and the songs were structured differently than I was used to.
• Savatage - The Wake of Magellan: Even though the previously mentioned albums had opened my eyes to what rock music had to offer, I still wasn't a brave soul when it came to really trying new things in rock; I had gotten my feet wet but had yet to fully immerse myself. The Wake of Magellan changed all that. For whatever reasons, Magellan was the immersion. Now I was into progressive metal fully.
• Dream Theater - Awake: I took another step into the world of progressive rock and metal with Awake. And although I would never become a huge fan of Dream Theater, this album beacme hugely influential on my listening choices and is still one of my favorite albums.
• Ayreon - The Final Experiment: This choice to purchase this album was directly influenced by my Savatage and Dream Theater listening experiences. A rock opera, The Final Experiment was one of those albums that completely wowed me . Ayreon showed me that epic metal could be quite diverse.
• Eternity X - The Edge: Ever been stunned by beautiful songs? I've never heard an album that has had more of an emotional impact on me than this one. If you haven't heard The Edge, you need to. The songs are absolutely beautiful. While it is progressive metal, that label is not sufficient: Beyond progressive is a better description.
• Sonata Arctica - Ecliptica: European power metal had never done much for me. I always wanted to like it because I felt the combination of beautiful melodies and speedy guitars were, in theory, a great combination. But until I heard Ecliptica for the first time, the right balance of speed and beauty had never been struck (at least in modern European power metal; proto-Euro power metal bands like Iron Maiden had been doing it right for a long time). Sonata Arctica struck gold. They have it perfect.

These are just a few of the metal/hard rock albums that a huge influence on me. I could add more and probably will.