Any ranking of albums is bound to get pushback. In fact, the ranking itself might not be terrible, but music is so subjective that someone will dispute the list's order. The positive here is that BBC Music certainly tried hard when recently putting forth its idea of the best metal albums, but the formula for the list was flawed.
Many of the albums are worth hearing. It isn't as if BBC's Robin Askew chose some wretched records among their list of 21. Good ones abound, but not the right ones, in some cases.
What almost everyone can agree with is that having a Black Sabbath album at the top of any heavy metal list is forgivable. Which one to go with is debatable, of course, but at least, as Askew does, having Ozzy Osbourne's first band's debut record at No. 1 makes sense. The issues were with what followed elsewhere.
BBC Music's ranking of best metal albums is far too limiting
Problem No. 1: Limiting the list
Askew's headline for the article is "These are the 21 greatest heavy metal albums of all time," but the ranking had already been neutered by what the writer said was one of their criteria. That is, that only one album by any given band could be listed. In other words, the list isn't really the 21 best metal albums ever. If 10 Sabbath albums are among the best of the genre, they need to be ranked.
Askew wrote, "The only self-imposed rule was that each artist should only be included once – otherwise there’d be a lot more Maiden and Sabbath, easing out many a worthy band." That is a flawed argument because the list isn't a ranking of "best metal bands," but the greatest metal albums. Inherently, some of the best albums are going to be left out, which neuters Askew's argument.
Problem No. 2: The wrong Metallica
If one is going to name only one Metallica album on such a group of records, the band's self-titled one isn't the best choice. The record is fine, but Askew appears to list the album because of its songs being more consumable for a mass audience. "Enter Sandman" is on the record, as are a couple of others. It's a good album, but it isn't Metallica's best.
That would be Master of Puppets. The album helped create the sound of modern metal without selling out any of James Hetfield and friends' thrash ethos. Is it more listenable than Ride the Lightning? Sure, but that comes with a band fully maturing. The record wasn't about selling millions of units, but it was about Metallica separating themselves on the metal scene.
Problem No. 3: Getting too cute
To be sure, Robin Askew's list is a solid one, even with its flaws. Including Opeth's Blackwater Park among the 21 albums is brilliant, for instance. But other records are simply taking the spots of more worthy albums that should have been named had the ranking not been limited to only one record per metal artist.
As great as Living Colour's Vivid was, it isn't the 15th best metal album ever. There could even be an argument that the record isn't full metal, as there is a lot of blues influence. Nothing is wrong with that, but what having Vivid in the ranking invites is the argument of why the same kind of hard rock mixed with the blues albums by Led Zeppelin aren't included.
Korn's self-titled album at No. 12 is simply wrong. Maybe the record helped create nu-metal, but does that mean the first album on any subgenre ever created should be among the best? No. Plus, Korn was fairly derivative of a more radio-friendly style of metal. Moreover, if one is going to list an early nu-metal record, then the far superior Iowa by Slipknot should have made the ranking.