Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
UK EditionUK US EditionUS AU EditionAustralia SG EditionSingapore
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About us
Don't miss these
Josh Freese
Artists “People said, ‘Hey, I saw you’re on that Avril Lavigne record.’ I went, ‘Nah!'”: The drummer who’s played on 400 albums
Justin Hawkins
Artists “He wanted it to sound tinny, so he literally put the mic in a tin”: When The Darkness teamed up with Queen’s producer
A Fractal Audio VP4 Virtual Pedalboard multi-effects pedal on a concrete floor
Guitar Pedals Best multi-effects pedals 2025: Our pick of the best all-in-one guitar FX modellers
Fender and Jackson's Iron Maiden 50th Anniversary Collection: FMIC has unveiled a signature guitar and bass collection to celebrate 50 years of the British metal institution.
Artists Fender and Jackson celebrate 50 years of Iron Maiden with limited run signature collection
David Ellefson, back to camera, playing guitar
Bass Guitars “Truly one of the most fun things I've ever done”: David Ellefson joins 1,000 musicians to tribute to Ozzy Osbourne
Sennheiser in ear monitors on a lit up dj controller
Studio Monitors Best budget in-ear monitors 2025: My pick of cheap in-ears for every type of musician
A PRS McCarty 594 on a hard case
Electric Guitars Best electric guitars 2025: Our pick of guitars to suit all budgets
MXR FOD Drive on wood floor
Guitar Pedals It’s an open secret that the MXR FOD Drive is the Dookie Drive circuit under a different name, and for just $99 you can get the tones from Green Day’s best album on your pedalboard this Cyber Monday
JHS Kilt 10 Special Edition: the silver overdrive pedal is a best-seller for the Kansas-based pedal company and has just been reissued with user-requested mods.
Guitars JHS Pedals revises the “ultimate dirt pedal” with a heap of player-requested features and more headroom
Def Leppard
Artists “I said, ‘Sorry, boys – you can’t turn this chorus down!’”: How Def Leppard created a mega-hit song in 10 days
Alex Skolnick of Testament shows off his signature ESP singlecut as he performs at Belgium's Alcatraz Festival in 2024. On the right, Kiko Loureiro and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth photographed in the corridors backstage at Wembley Arena in 2015.
Artists Alex Skolnick on the time he was on standby for Megadeth – and what to do when you can’t match a player lick for lick
Interpol
Artists How Interpol fought for success and lit a fire in indie rock with their best single
Josh Homme in the No One Knows video
Artists “Of course it was gonna be a hit! This song really is original”: Inside the making of a Queens Of The Stone Age classic
Two guitars and a pedal on a blue and white background
Guitars Thomann just carved some serious cash off Harley Benton guitars, pedals and accessories for Black Friday - here's 4 of my favourite deals for you
DarWin
Artists “Most pop music is rubbish now”: Legendary drummer Simon Phillips on producing supergroup DarWin
More
  • "The most expensive bit of drumming in history”
  • JoBo x Fuchs
  • Radiohead Daydreaming
  • Vanilla Fudge
  • 95k+ free music samples
  1. Artists
  2. Singles And Albums

Metal Hammer's 10 best debut albums of the last 25 years

News
By The MusicRadar Team published 21 October 2011

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Metal Hammer readers vote for the best debut albums of the last 25 years

Metal Hammer readers vote for the best debut albums of the last 25 years

Infamous mask-wearing US rockers Slipknot have triumphed in a Metal Hammer poll to find the best debut album of the last 25 years.

More than 16,000 people took part in the poll, arranged to celebrate Metal Hammer’s 25th anniversary.

And Slipknot’s eponymous debut got almost a third of the vote in an emphatic result. The double-platinum 1999 release beat off competition from some huge albums... click through the gallery to find out what other albums made the top 10.

"Metal Hammer has a long history of championing the new while celebrating the metal gods who created our wonderful culture,” says Metal Hammer editor Alexander Milas. “As we commence our next quarter-century of covering both kinds of music: heavy, and metal, we congratulate Slipknot on their astounding victory.

“Like all the nominees whose tremendous contributions to the world of metal have made the last 25 years so fantastic, Slipknot's success is proof our music has never been more exciting or vibrant. Horns up!"

Metal Hammer’s 25th anniversary special is out today, clocking in at a biggest-ever 164 pages and – in a tribute to the old skool – featuring an exclusive Machine Head 10-inch vinyl EP.

The Metal Hammer 25th Anniversary Party, featuring Orange Goblin, Malefice, TRC and more, is at London’s Islington Academy on 24October. Advance tickets are available via Ticketweb at the special 1986 price of £2.50.

Metal Hammer’s 25th anniversary special is out now priced at £4.99. To buy a digital edition visit iTunes or www.zinio.com/metalhammer. For more info visit www.metalhammer.co.uk.

Click onwards to see the rundown of Metal Hammer's top 10 debut albums of the last 25 years.

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine (1992)

Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine (1992)

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
Bullet For My Valentine - The Poison (2005)

Bullet For My Valentine - The Poison (2005)

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
Machine Head - Burn My Eyes (1994)

Machine Head - Burn My Eyes (1994)

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2000)

Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2000)

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
System Of A Down - System Of A Down (1998)

System Of A Down - System Of A Down (1998)

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell (1990)

Pantera - Cowboys From Hell (1990)

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
Rammstein - Herzeleid (1995)

Rammstein - Herzeleid (1995)

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction (1987)

Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction (1987)

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Korn (1994)

Korn (1994)

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
Slipknot (1999)

Slipknot (1999)

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
The MusicRadar Team
The MusicRadar Team
Social Links Navigation

MusicRadar is the internet's most popular website for music-makers of all kinds, be they guitarists, drummers, keyboard players, DJs or producers.

GEAR: We help musicians find the best gear with top-ranking gear round-ups and high-quality, authoritative reviews by a wide team of highly experienced experts.

TIPS: We also provide tuition, from bite-sized tips to advanced work-outs and guidance from recognised musicians and stars.

STARS: We talk to artists and musicians about their creative processes, digging deep into the nuts and bolts of their gear and technique. We give fans an insight into the actual craft of music-making that no other music website can.

Read more
Wolfgang Van Halen
“They’re the absolute pioneers”: Why Wolfgang Van Halen is in awe of a “super heavy” cult band
 
 
Craig 'Goonzi' Gowans and Steven Jones from Scottish metalcore heavyweights Bleed From Within pose with their weapons of choice: Goonzi [left] has an ESP LTD M1000, while Jones has a Caparison TAT Special
Bleed From Within’s Craig ‘Goonzi’ Gowans and Steven Jones on the high-performance shred machines behind their heavyweight metalcore sound 
 
 
Fender and Jackson's Iron Maiden 50th Anniversary Collection: FMIC has unveiled a signature guitar and bass collection to celebrate 50 years of the British metal institution.
Fender and Jackson celebrate 50 years of Iron Maiden with limited run signature collection
 
 
Way Huge Smalls Doom Hammer Fuzz
Players who deal in big gnarly riffs might need to add the Way Huge Smalls Doom Hammer to their ‘board ASAP
 
 
Rush in the '70s
“The high priests of conceptual rock!” Every Rush studio album ranked – from worst to best
 
 
Pantera
“No Pro Tools, no tricks. We helped change the production of heavy metal records”: Pantera's revolutionary anthem
 
 
Latest in Singles And Albums
Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers performs during a concert at Federation Square on April 11, 2007 in Melbourne, Australia
Flea teases his first solo album with a seven minute jazz rave single
 
 
Steve Porcaro at the Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary Premiere at The Grammy Museum on November 21, 2024
"The most unbelievable thing I’d ever seen": Synth player Steve Porcaro on writing with Michael Jackson
 
 
 Japanese experimental musician Yoko Ono, wife of the late John Lennon
“John and I would be standing there like two school children": What did producer Jack Douglas do to provoke the ire of Yoko Ono?
 
 
Simon Cowell and Bob Dylan
“I would’ve gone, ‘Forget it’": Bob Dylan would fail American Idol audition, according to Simon Cowell
 
 
Michael Jackson's original handwritten lyrics
“I don’t think any of us knew how huge it was going to be”: The production tricks behind Michael Jackson's Billie Jean
 
 
The Power Station
“The most expensive bit of drumming in history”: When stars of Duran Duran and Chic formed a decadent ’80s supergroup
 
 
Latest in News
Dirty Boy SilverBOY: This high-end all-analogue preamp pedal was inspired by a digital plugin
Dirty Boy turns the tables on guitar’s digital revolution with an all-analogue preamp pedal inspired by a plugin
 
 
tape double track
This $99 plugin recreates a classic studio technique invented at Abbey Road for The Beatles – and it's free for the next three days
 
 
Eric Clapton and Sheryl Crow perform at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007 held at Toyota Park on July 28, 2007 in Bridgeview, Illinois.
"They put it on hold so nobody else can record it. But he didn’t actually record it. That was when Don Henley said, ‘You need to quit giving your songs away’”: Sheryl Crow says that she once wrote a song for Eric Clapton that never saw the light of day
 
 
oxi
"We didn't want to make just another controller": OXI Instruments' E16 is a sleek and portable MIDI controller that's more powerful than it looks
 
 
Serato and AlphaTheta launch Slab for Serato Studio
AlphaTheta and Serato launch Slab, the first hardware controller for Serato Studio
 
 
Steve Cropper in 2007
“My mom said, ‘I’ll lend you a quarter if you become a guitar player.’ I think I did!”: Steve Cropper dies aged 84
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...