The Top 5 Guitar Albums That MADE ME 

Thanks for watching! What were the top 5 guitar albums that made YOU as a player?!

When you are 14 years old and you are hit with MOP, Peace Sells and Reign in Blood. When they are first released. There are no words to describe the awe you felt putting on those headphones and cranking it.

5 years ago my brother got an acoustic guitar, and the only rock band I knew at the time was Aerosmith. I tried to learn some guitar stuff out of boredom and the holy youtube algorithm got me to listen to appetite for destruction for the first time, and holy shit. I kept playing the album non stop, and then Use your illusion, and the whole old school rock music. Got myself an electric, and I play everyday now.

Mine are Boston-boston Europe-prisoners in paradise Europe-out of this world Greta van fleet-anthem of the peaceful army Van halen-one

I think my 5 are: - ride the lightening - rust in peace - VH 1 and mean street - the wall - blizzard of ozz

For me, in no especial order: - Queensryche: Operation mindcrime - Dream theater: Metropolis Part II. Scenes from a memory - Whitesnake: 1987 - Joe Satriani: Time machine - Savatage: Streets: a rock opera.

My 5 are: Dio- holy diver Trivium-shogun Audioslave- self titled Alice In Chains- facelift Avenged sevenfold-city of evil

Man, I am such a Dad-rocker in comparison, but this is a really cool exercise for all of us to think about. For me it was Hendrix, Clapton and Zeppelin initially, with EVH and particularly 1984 coming a little later for me, but there are so many albums and so many other artists that had an impact that trying to pick just five albums is really tough!

5 records that influenced my guitar playing the most are: - Leviathan by Mastodon - Nocturnal by TBDM - Cowboys from Hell by Pantera - Laid to Rest by Lamb of God - Still Life by Opeth

Something about Eddie's riffs that always puts a smile on my face.

Interesting! For me, in discovery order, I'd have to say: KISS - Alive II Ozzy - Blizzard of Ozz Def Leppard - High n Dry Metallica - ...And Justice for All White Stripes - De Stijl (very much later influence)

In no particular order the albums that made me the guitarist I am today: Metallica - ...And Justice For All Joe Satriani - Is There Love In Space? Dream Theater - Images and Words Animals as Leaders - Animals as Leaders Periphery - Periphery II Death - Sound of Perserverance

For me, my 5 are: Bridge of Sighs - Robin Trower Van Halen 2 Vulgar Display of Power - Pantera Cocked and Loaded - LA Guns Thunder In The East - Loudness

Iron Maiden Piece of Mind, Judas Priest Screaming for Vengeance, Scorpions Blackout, Metallica's Kill 'em All, AC/DC Back in Black. These albums highly influenced me and developed my playing style. But there is many others!

1: And Justice For All - Metallica 2: Demanufacture - Fear Factory 3: Stabbing The Drama - Soilwork 4: Far Beyond Driven - Pantera 5: Couldn't Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughn.

My five would probably be Foreigner 4, Journey Escape, YJM's Rising Force, Images and Words, Destroy Erase Improve.

Middle aged dude so here's what I got: Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti Black Sabbath, Master of Reality ACDC, Back in Black Scorpions, Blackout Yngwie, Rising Force

Great list. It’s different than my list, but that’s ok. See how easy that was people ? Cheers 🍻

My style of playing is highly influenced by Dave Mustaine,James Hetfield,Kirk Hammett and Chris Poland. So, the albums that made me are Killing is my business, The System Has Failed, Peace Sells, And Justice For all and lastly Kill Em All

Bought Passion & Warfare the day it came out, what an amazing album, Steve really didn't need to do anything after that to have a lasting legacy.

First 5 albums that came to mind: Trivium-Ascendancy In Flames-Whoracle Testament-The Gathering Sylosis-Conclusion of an Age Threat Signal-Under Reprisal Guitar-wise these were the most influential when I was a teenager/early 20s when I played actively.

Top 5 Guitar Albums over here Uncle Ben: • Van Halen: 1984 or Van Halen II (Can’t decide) • SRV: Texas Flood • Pantera: Far Beyond Driven • John Mayer: Continuum • Boston: Boston

I grew up in late 70s - early 80s. What an awesome time! VH 1st, 2nd Yngwie 1st Racer X - Street Lethal Queensryche - The Warning Fates Warning - Awaken the Guardian Metallica - Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets ..... so many more.

Thank you! Such great stories, always enjoy your comedic enthusiasm and talent.

VH1 i was thunderstruck by it at the age of 12. it changed my life then there have been many more, but that record changed EVERYTHING in my life

Uncle Ben, you are correct sir…I have never, ever heard anyone play that swinging shuffle on “I’m the One” exactly like Eddie did…there’s just something about it that makes it truly his, and his alone…rock on my man!!

1. Metallica - Kill Em All 2. Misfits - Static Age 3. Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes from a Memory 4. Converge - Jane Doe 5. Fleetwood Mac - Then Play On 1984 gets a very honorable mention, that whole album still kicks my ass and one day I'll actually learn some songs off of it.

Beautiful episode right there Ben. Thanks again for sharing those mind blowing experiences into music and yourself. Really appreciated. Sincerely ✌🏻

Yng has become a bit controversial, but 'Marching out', is such an important record for me. The sort of intensity that I'd never heard before and Jeff Scott Soto seriously up there with Dio and the best. I saw the light, that night.

Went to a middle/high school run by Brothers of the Holy Cross and one of them was a total metal freak with his office walls covered in cassette holders. He’d loan a couple tapes at a time to me and curated my earliest real music experiences. 1987-1988 he turned me onto Metallica, the Ramones, Megadeth, Anthrax, all sorts of Euro stuff I don’t even remember, Iron Maiden, etc. It was formative to say the least. I found GnR at that time, Pearl Jam… good times being a high school kid during an epic time in music!

A couple of the same for me: 1. Appetite for Destruction 2. Black Album-Metalica 3. Blizzard of Oz-Ozzy 4. VH 1 5. Pornographitti

1. Heartwork - Carcass 2. Superunknown - Soundgarden 3. Joyland - Andy McKee 4. Blood Mountain - Mastodon 5. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son - Iron Maiden

Love your videos Ben! I learn so much from you! Thank you!

In no specific order these are mine: Van Halen - VanHalen 1 Dokken - Tooth & Nail Metallica - Ride the Lightning Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast Anthrax - Spreading the Disease

Tony Iommi is way up there for me.....he is THE riffmaster .....Jimmy Page with Whole Lotta Love and especially Black Dog. Van Halen of course. Early Dokken. Mr Big too many to mention.

Super fun video Ben -- thanks for sharing brother. Take care.

Highly enjoyable content! Mr. Eller! Thank you!

You're playing and tone sounds awesome by the way, Uncle Ben... you're an inspiration

Vulgar Display of Power pushed me to start playing guitar. Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction and Beat It solo - my favorite too.

Another great video Uncle Ben!!

Great list and seriously well represented through your playing!

6 Albums that greatly influenced me; I couldn't do just 5: Rush - 2112 Metallica - Ride the Lightning Van Halen 1 Joe Satriani - Surfing with the Alien Extreme - Pornograffitti Scorpions - Blackout BTW, the 1st song I ever learned was Fade to Black from 'Guitar for the Practicing Musician' magazine. Once the song started to sound pretty good I decided to check Metallica out and buy the album.

My five are: Poison- open up and say ah! Van Halen - Van Halen Metallica - master of puppets Guns N’ Roses - appetite for destruction Megadeth - rust in peace Others because it’s impossible to have a top 5 Poison - look what the cat dragged in Metallica - kill ‘em all Motley Crue - shout at the devil Ratt - out of the cellar Skid row - skid row - slave to the grind And so many more

exceptional playing. Great history i can definitely relate to. Good stuff man. Thanks.

Good morning Professor Uncle Ben! I'm 61 so my albums for guitar were Zeppelin IV Deep Purple Machine Head ,Van Halen !! Many more

In order of importance to me: 1. Van Halen. 2. Blizzard of Ozz. 3. Van Halen II. 4. Diary of a Madman. 5. Perpetual Burn. 6. 5150. 7. First three Dio albums with Vivian Campbell. 8. Bark at the Moon. 9. Speed Metal Symphony. 10. Back for the Attack.

Not a guitar player (a drummer), but I have always appreciated awesome guitarists. My top 5 guitar albums are: Van Halen, Van Halen....Blues Saraceno, Plaid.....Metallica, Ride The Lightning.....Yngwie Malmsteen, Magnum Opus....Judas Priest, Painkiller....honorable mention.....Symphony X, Paradise Lost...

Your tone sounds huge man. Really love it!

Fantastic video!!

The album that changed my life musically was Powerslave by Iron Maiden. I remember my mom bought me that cassette sometime in 1985 because I loved the cover art. Never heard Maiden before but since then I’ve been a metal head.

These were all eye opening for me in terms of what could be done on a guitar at different points in my journey. Metallica - ride the lightning (riffs!) Megadeth - rust in peace (solos) Opeth - Blackwater park (unique song structures and compositions) Wintersun - wintersun (more crazy solos and neverending melodies) Dissection - Storm of the lights bane (cohesive rythms and melodies at high tempos)

My list (no particular order)... Van Halen 1 ~ Van Halen Tooth And Nail ~ Dokken Appetite For Destruction ~ Guns N' Roses Back For The Attack ~ Dokken Shout At The Devil ~ Motley Crue Although... I must say, The Beatles were the reason I even picked up a guitar in the first place which lead to me learning every chord, riff and solo to pretty much every Beatles song which helped develop my chordal knowledge and rhythm. From then I found my further love for more guitar heavy music such as those listed above, and now my playing is firmly bedded in the style of the guitar players of the 80s. That's my guitar DNA Great video Uncle Ben as always! Thank you for sharing. Keep rockin' everybody! 🤟🎸

I really enjoyed you talking about Steve the way you did I had a very similar experience 💯

Mine would have to be: Van Halen - 5150 Extreme - III Sides To Every Story (yeah I know, not Pornograffitti, but it was the first CD my family owned and it's embedded into my psyche just that little bit more) David Lee Roth - Eat 'Em And Smile Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists Enslaved - Isa

1. Van Halen 1978 2. Rising Force 3. Speed Metal Symphony 4. A Via Musicom 5. Extreme 1

Great list!!

incredible video very inspirational.

Man. I can't limit this to five players, let alone five albums. No matter what, I'm gonna leave huge influences of mine off. EDIT: I'm gonna leave Eddie off. He's my biggest single influence, but he's everybody's biggest influence, so I wanna give some time to some of my other big heroes. 1: Dokken: Tooth and Nail. Ed was my 1st guitar hero, and George Lynch was my 2nd. I probably put more time into learning their riffs than any other band. 2: Y&T: Black Tiger. Anyone who's into early 80s hard rock & metal and hasn't heard this album is doing themselves a disservice. Dave Meniketti is an absolute monster. 3: Anthrax: Among the Living. Scott Ian's rhythm playing influenced me like James Hetfield's influenced everyone else. 4: Prong: Cleansing. Tommy Victor's masterpiece. This album is just riff after riff after riff. Snap Your Fingers, Snap your Neck. 5: Devin Townsend: Synchestra. I play in open C now because of Dev. His solo/DTP albums from Ocean Machine through Sky Blue are what the music in my head sounds like, and the one I got into first was Synchestra.

Uncle B, I think you really had fun making this video. Excellent job 👏 👍

You playing battery was super accurate. Nice 5.appitite for destruction 4.countdown to extinction 3.alice in he'll 2.fear of the dark 1.bodycount copkiller. They were the albums that did it for me. Great memories of discovering quality music for the first time.Bodycounts album was a very special album that just came out of nowhere.great stuff.

Your stuff is awesome and you seem like such a cool guy Ben. Cheers.

Of all the riffs in VH1, for some reason Little Dreamers has been ingrained in my memory more than any other. Something about its swagger, its slow, easygoing pace, but smooth notes is just so damn sweet. Simple, sweet, perfect. But of course the entire album is perfection in general.

Great selection 👌

Ben your guitar tone always Rocks man

The band's that made me are accept"metal heart" love those riffs tracks and guitar tone( screaming for a love bite love that intro!), vh1, (evh rules and so dose the amps!) Glenn Tipton Judas priest screaming and British steel, Rush early alums 2112, Farwell to Kings, of course moving pictures, early metallica like master and kill em all..

When I was around 13 years old and found Master of Puppets, it’s all I wanted to listen to for like 6 months straight, maybe longer, and I still have never gotten tired of that album. Every single song is an absolute banger and it’s what got me into playing bass. I can listen to that entire album in my head at this point, hah.

Love your guitar and tone when covering the Extreme album!!!

Sweet gits. Good vid!

Love the “sacred ground” reference when it comes to certain songs and actually learning to play them.

Fark the haters Unca Ben, you can swing, bro! Every time I hear those old EVH riffs I'm blown away by how original and different they are to everything else. God bless ya Eddie RIP. 🙏

Awesome vid. Crystal Planet is one of my favorite albums of all time

The Rippingtonns-Live in L.A. (Russ Freeman) Cheap Trick-Live in Budokan Joe Satriani-The Extremist Chic Corea-Behind the Mask (Frank Gambale) All VH

Great Selection ! Totally agree with you and believe it or not - I have all 5 records. I would add Al Di Meola records and the first Greg Howe album !

Top o the morn, Uncle Ben!

-Rust in Peace -Blizzard of Ozz -Van Halen I -Technical Difficulties (Racer X) -Friday Night in San Francisco

Thank you for the video!!! Passion and Warfare has also changed my life. So true

I agree with every single thing you said !! And even though no one would be like Eddie , you’re playing is as spot on as it gets 🤘🤘🤘

I remember my dad showing me Metallica right when the single for Hardwired dropped and being 13 years old, it absolutely blew my mind. I actually started as a bassist because of Cliff Burton, but I always had interest in playing guitar as well. About 2 years later when Slayer were on their farewell tour, there was a show in my area but the show was falsely advertised as strictly 18+ (spoilers it wasn’t and I’m pissed I had to miss it haha). The day before, Gary Holt did a guitar clinic that I went to and after being at that clinic I begged my friends older brother to let me borrow the old beat up Kramer that was in his closet and it’s been an amazing journey since :) My 5 records would def have to be Van Halen 1 Mastodon - Crack the Skye Metallica - Master of Puppets Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory

Extreme! Haven't listened to them in decades, but I loved that album so much when it came out! Great pick

I know I’m late to the party but this might be the best guitar tone I’ve ever heard on RU-vid. Just sick sick shit. Love all the album choices btw. Awesome

Love the VH tone you got. Gotta have VH1 as #1 ☺️

I know what you mean about Passion and Warfare. For me, this was "the one" that changed how I listened to music. I heard it and immediately knew there was something far more complex than the other guitar virtuoso stuff I'd heard up until that point. The hooks didn't immediately grab me in the way that Satch did, but after taking more time to get to know the album, it really did change my life. My top 5 is probably: 1. Steve Vai - Passion and Warefare 2. Shawn Lane - Powers of Ten 3. CAB - CAB 4. Joe Satriani - The Extremist 5. Dream Theater - Images and Words (I just block out James LaBrie's voice!)

Sweet video. Also, SWEET Mastodon shirt!!

Damn dude, this is fantastic retrospective that makes me think about what I'd include in my own Mt. Rushmore (+1) of formative guitar albums - it's a really fun way of taking inventory of oneself as a player and thinking about what your voice is on the instrument. Your tone and playing is ridiculously spot-on, too, which is a great testament to how much your chosen albums shaped you as a player!

Journey - Escape, Ozzy - Blizzard, VH - Fair Warning, Night Ranger - Dawn Patrol, Def Leppard - High N Dry

Van Halen 1 ( or fair warning/1984), Dark side of the moon (or the wall), master of reality, rust in peace, Diary of a Madman. There are many great albums but I feel like these albums in particular were defining moments for me as a guitar player.

Our guitar influences are exactly the same just a couple of album differences due to me being a little older. Surfing and Kill Em All for example. You can see the joy in your face as you recall playing these songs when you we’re learning them 😁

Love it! Great list uncle Ben. I've got your #1 and #5 on my list, along with Rising Force Marching Out, Dokken Under Lock and Key, Journey Evolution. I still have a stack of Guitar for the Practicing Musician sitting in an old milk carton.

Death - The sound of perseverance Death - Symbolic Carcass - Heartwork Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet Dissection - Storm of the light's bane

My top 5 (technically 4 albums and a band, but still), in order of discovery, with reasons! The Beatles: My dad is a MASSIVE Beatles fan. He always has been, and, thanks to him playing their songs ENDLESSLY in the car when I was growing up, so am I. Now, John and George made me aware of rock music, but, at a tender age of 6 to 10, I didn't really pick out much in terms of guitar work. It was just really fun music to sing with my dad. Oh, sure, I noticed that there WERE guitars, but I'd heard guitars in country music, seen it on TV, and heard it at my church. But at the time, I wanted to play drums. As an aside, shoutout to my uncle for letting me try and play guitar a few times when he and my aunt would babysit me and my sister. Little too young, but the seed was there. Back in Black: To get to my guitar journey, we really have to start at an unusual place: Hearing Hell's Bells at my local hockey team's games. The intro alone made me stop listening to country music, because like... That intro is a RIFF. And then, when I convinced my parents to buy me a guitar at 16, the first riff I learned how to play was, you guessed it, Back in Black. And even on my cheap little Yamaha acoustic guitar, I felt pretty damn good about my guitar playing. After that, I got an electric guitar and started to play this album more and more, and I started to play more of the riffs. Then, my dad made the incredible mistake of telling me about Slash. Appetite for Destruction: This album made me realize that not everything was about riffs. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE the riffs on this album. Mr. Brownstone, Paradise City, Rocket Queen, and, of course, the immortal Sweet Child O' Mine, which I'm sure my parents got sick of after about a week of me playing literally JUST the intro and BUTCHERING it. But the solos, man. Slash really taught me about just letting it all hang loose when you're soloing, and just having FUN with it. Speaking of having fun with solos... Van Halen 1: ... That lead me to Eddie. Like you, when I first heard Eruption, I was hooked. I'd started to do leads by this point (Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers was a go-to for me to practice), and I was even on the youth worship team at my church, playing semi-decent rhythm stuff, but I'd never heard a guitar do that. When I told my dad about this, quote, "Cool new band I found on Pandora", he laughed and wowed me with old stories of seeing and hearing Eddie make his guitar "talk". My mind was BLOWN, and I had to see and hear it for myself. Cut to me exploring the rest of their popular songs, eventually watching Live Without a Net, and *THAT* solo. You know the one. That got me into more chordal rhythm stuff, which I use TO THIS DAY in my playing, and a little bit into more virtuosic lead playing, but I wasn't QUITE ready for it yet. That would come soon, though. First, there were a couple of really underrated, right-handed virtuosos waiting for me in the weeds. Master of Puppets: And who were those right-handed virtuosos, you might ask? They were none other than James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett. Yes, I consider Kirk to be a virtuoso. Maybe not to the point of Vai, Satriani, Becker or Malmsteen, but the point remains the same. The connective point, really, came from trying to learn how to tap, and coming across One off of ...And Justice For All. Now, why did I pick Master instead of that one? Because trying (and failing) to learn that solo (while loving the song) made me go looking for the rest of their discography. Now, I'd heard of Metallica. I'd heard Enter Sandman and enjoyed it. I'd heard St. Anger and enjoyed it, to the point where that song was my pump-up song the year I played football. But when I came across Master... Like you said, Ben, it was a gamebreaker for me. I HAD to learn how to play Master of Puppets. Now... Even 7 years later? Yeah, I still can't play it. 😂😂 At least, not up to speed. All of these people really made me who I am on guitar, and without them... I don't think I'd have made out of high school alive. There were times where listening to these songs (along with some rap and specific country songs) were all that got me through the day. So, to John Lennon, George Harrison, Angus and Malcolm Young, Izzy Stradlin, Slash, Eddie Van Halen, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, I say thank you for getting me through the hard times, thank you for saving my life, and, most importantly, thank you for, to paraphrase my favorite Disney movie of all time, The Emperor's New Groove: "Leading me down the path that ROCKS."

That "orange & blue" swirl - utilising the opposite color on the colorwheel - is really well done. Orange & Blue is beautiful, and you've done a REALLY nice dip-job on it. Well Done :) "LiL'JpD."

Doesn't matter is you can swing like them or not, no one can play like you Ben. Your a master of the craft my friend! Keep up the good tutorials and videos bud!! Great work on this one..

My dad was traveling with a coworker and looking for something to do one night in the 90s. His coworker was into music and found out about a show that night. My dad went with him. A bald guy with sunglasses melted his face and he brought home a CD. I think that's when I realized guitar was cool. So my top 5 - G3 Scenes From a Memory Van Halen I Blackwater Park The Way of All Flesh

I remember when I first got interested in guitar, long before I even dreamed of trying to play there were only a handful of guitarists that got me absolutely hooked on the sound of this amazing instrument. Great video because it reminded me of the feeling I got when I first heard these guys Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, SRV , Billy Gibbons, Slash , Kirk Hammett, Tony Iomi , EVH, Steve Clarke, David Gilmore, Kim Thayil and later Adam Jones. Some of them not going to blow anyone away with technical proficiency or shred ability but I never cared for that alone, stll don't. . It was always about can the piece move me or how well it worked with a song . Just my 2 cents.

Dude your inspirations are pretty much the exact same as mine except I got P&W right when it came out & had Vai sign it 👍🏻 I had the full album tab of passion and I used to listen to it beginning yo end following along with the tab. I didn’t even try to play it. I just read along & I have to tell you that taught me so much about the guitar that I couldn’t explain. True statements

I always love reading about how bands write songs or how certain riffs come to fruition

I have been playing since the mid-90s. I grew up listening to Van Halen and always assumed that guitar was just for people born with a special gift. then when I started listening to Nirvana and discovered the power chord, I realized that there are so many levels of guitarists. now I finally have the confidence to try all music. learning guitar is a lifelong journey!

Great video, Ben! You weren’t lying though, no one can swing like Eddie. That riff from House of Pain that starts right after the solo has been kicking my ass for some time now lol. That groove is no joke

Very good choices. I would agree.

That was awesome! All of them made it in my top 10 . I'd throw in some far beyond driven and some rust in peace but yeah all of that blew my head back. Hell yeah!