THKD’s Top 100 Metal Albums: An Introduction + Album #1: Celestial Season – Solar Lovers (Displeased, 1995)

For a while now, I’ve been trying to think of an interesting ongoing feature for this site, a long-term project that would not only take some time to complete, but also provide me with something of a challenge.  To the outsider, a top 100 albums list might seem like one of the most obvious choices possible and not a particularly challenging one either.  I beg to differ.  I’ve been living with some of my favorite metal albums for over a decade.  They’re almost a part of me.  Listening to them is nearly as routine for me as getting up at 6:15AM, taking a shower, brushing my teeth, getting dressed, hopping on the bus and heading into work Monday – Friday.  What do you say about an album you’ve been so close to for so long, an album that has become a part of the very fabric of your existence?  Herein lies part of the challenge.  The other part lies in the fact that I am not an expert on metal, rather, I am a student of metal.  I am still learning, still discovering new favorites all the time, whether they be in the form of recent releases or old classics I missed out on the first time around.  I seriously doubt that THKD’s Top 100 Metal Albums will be totally solidified until the final entry is posted, and I envision a lot of agonizing in my future.