13. TESTAMENT : THE LEGACY (1987) - MEGAFORCE

Megadeth's "Peace Sells but who's buying?", Metallica's "Master of Puppets", Slayer's "Reign in Blood", and Anthrax's "Among the Living"  were the other four thrash albums that dominated at the time. But this album remains Testament's legacy and also the sadly forgotten classic! To be fair, if it had been the "Big Five" instead of the "Big Four," it definitely would have been Testament who would have been the fifth.

This is the band's best effort, mostly due to axeman Alex Skolnick's blistering riffs, powerful leads, wailing solos, and all around great guitar work. "Over The Wall" and "The Haunting" both have two amazing guitar solos which have several parts to them, and "Apocalyptic City" features arguably Alex's best solo. Elsewhere, "Raging Waters" has a propulsive rhythm which is powered by fast, cascading riffs; "Curse of the Legions of Death" shoots by with scorching, almost machine gun guitar work; and "Do Or Die" is so fast, the riffs almost sound like a buzzsaw. 

It may not be as groundbreaking as, say, "Master of Puppets," but when all is said and done, "The Legacy" is a great and important chapter in the history of thrash. A must, I repeat, MUST for metalheads.

Line-Up : Chuck Billy: Vocals, Alex Skolnick: Lead Guitar, Eric Peterson: Rhythm Guitar, Greg Christian: Bass, Louie Clemente: Drums

PS :  After the release of this album, Testament quickly managed to increase their exposure by heading out on a successful tour of America and Europe with Anthrax, who were then touring in support of their Among the Living album.