What is the best hard rock album of all time?

Maximum volume, maximum swagger — from thunderous riff-driven classics to polished arena anthems. Some of these albums broke sales records; all of them broke eardrums. Cast your vote!

1

Back in Black

AC/DC's 1980 tribute to Bon Scott, featuring Brian Johnson's debut and some of the most iconic riffs in hard rock history.

2

Led Zeppelin IV

Led Zeppelin's 1971 fourth album, home to Stairway to Heaven and the thunderous When the Levee Breaks.

3

Appetite for Destruction

Guns N' Roses' 1987 debut, an unrelenting hard rock tornado from Los Angeles that permanently altered the rock landscape.

4

Machine Head

Deep Purple's 1972 album recorded in a Montreux casino during a fire, featuring Smoke on the Water and Highway Star.

5

Paranoid

Black Sabbath's 1970 heavy metal blueprint featuring Iron Man, War Pigs, and Tony Iommi's doom-laden guitar riffs.

6

Van Halen

Van Halen's 1978 self-titled debut that rewrote the hard rock rulebook with Eddie Van Halen's revolutionary guitar technique.

7

Hysteria

Def Leppard's 1987 polished hard rock colossus, one of the best-selling albums of the decade with seven charting singles.

8

Highway to Hell

AC/DC's 1979 final album with Bon Scott, a hard rock landmark featuring the title track and Girls Got Rhythm.

9

Ace of Spades

Motorhead's 1980 speed-metal classic featuring the relentless title track and Lemmy Kilmister's bass-driven sonic assault.

10

Rocks

Aerosmith's 1976 stripped-down hard rock peak, often cited by Guns N' Roses and Metallica as a primary influence.

11

Slippery When Wet

Bon Jovi's 1986 mega-selling arena rock album featuring Livin' on a Prayer, a quintessential stadium hard rock experience.

12

Blizzard of Ozz

Ozzy Osbourne's 1980 solo debut featuring Randy Rhoads' classical-influenced guitar mastery in a hard rock framework.

13

Screaming for Vengeance

Judas Priest's 1982 hard rock and heavy metal masterpiece featuring You've Got Another Thing Comin' and Rob Halford's soaring vocals.

14

Physical Graffiti

Led Zeppelin's 1975 sprawling double album showcasing the band at the absolute peak of their creative and hard rock powers.