Major top 10 VK albums:

1. "ALIVE" by SOPHIA (1998)
2. "OTHER GOOSE" by GUNIW TOOLS (1997)
3. "-Stand by My Soul-" by FAME (1998)
4. "merveilles" by MALICE MIZER (1998)
5. "TRACES" by BLue-B (2000)
6. "Ark" by L'arc-en-Ciel (1999)
7. "Sculpture of Time" by La'cryma Christi (1997)
8. "Ja, Zoo" by hide (1998)
9. "EDEN" by LUNA SEA (1993)
10. "Parade" by Plastic Tree (2000)

(Honorable mentions: "Mayoeru ko Hitsuji no Subarashiki Hibi (迷える子羊の素晴らしき日々)" by Genius (2004), "mind soap" by Raphael (1999), "MACABRE" by Dir en Grey (2000), "TRANS" by THE SPACE COWBOYS (1997)

Indies top 10 VK albums:

1. "Dai 5 Jikkenshitsu (第5実験室)" by cali≠gari (1999)
2. "LA VIE EN ROSE" by D'ERLANGER (1989)
3. "Itachigokko (いたちごっこ)" by Kamaitachi (かまいたち) (1989)
4. "Geki-Totsu!!" by COLOR (1988)
5. "GOES NOWHERE" by superbrunch (1998)
6. "LESS THAN ZERO" by GLAZZ (1991)
7. "Meikyoku Album (名曲アルバム)" by DECAMERON (1990)
8. "humanoid 226" by PARADISE ALLEY (1998)
9. "Akuma Kicha (悪魔鬼茶)" by DEViL KiTTY (2002)
10. "Kaidan Kubitsuri no Mori (怪談 首つりの森)" by Inugami Circus-dan (犬神サアカス團) (2002)

And mini-albums are a whooole other thing altogether lol.

@tenyards said:

Plastic Tree - Traumerai

yaaas

@tenyards said:

cali≠gari - 8

I was so tempted to choose this from cali≠gari, but the spur of the moment won. I used to not like this album as much, but over the years it caught up with their other Shuuji-2 classics in a big way for me (at this point it's a gamble which one I prefer the most from Dai 6, 7, 8 or Blue Film).

cali≠gari - 8
BUCK-TICK - Six/Nine
Malice Mizer - Mervilles
GUNIW TOOLS - Dazzle (one of the greatest cover albums in the world baby)
Plastic Tree - Traumerai
Dir en grey - Kisou
Soft Ballet - Menopause (Maybe not technically vk, but close enough!)
Gackt - Mars
MUCC - Homura uta
hide - Psyence

@WhirlingBlack said:

ムック - 葬ラ謳 (MUCC - Homura Uta)

It's albums like this that I feel bad for not including, but at the same time I am apprehensive about knocking out a seminal classic that I also get tons of mileage over in its stead. A part is also that somehow I view MUCC as almost a singular phenomenon, as in it doesn't really typify vk as much.

If we're talking albums post-2000s MUCC would go straight in. Maybe it's that in my mind, the rupture before and after 1998/1999 when vk spread out to envelop an incredible range of sounds is so total that they're almost two separate things.

Top 10:
黒夢 - 亡骸を・・・ (Kuroyume - Nakigara wo…)
LUNA SEA - LUNA SEA
Aliene Ma'riage - Les Soirée 夜の舞踏会/断罪の章～神罰篇
deadman - no alternative
ムック - 葬ラ謳 (MUCC - Homura Uta)
Dir en grey - GAUZE
X Japan - Vanishing Vision
ROUAGE - ROUAGE
Malice Mizer - Memoire
sukekiyo - ADORATIO

Honourable 10:
Baiser - Ash
BUCK-TICK - 悪の華
D'espairsRay - Coll:set
emmuree - Love Letter -dark mania-
lynch. - greedy dead souls
La'Chryma Christi - Sculpture of Time
guniw tools - niwlun
DEATHGAZE - genocide and mass murder
9GOATS BLACK OUT - TANATOS
√eight - illational

Some of these albums I've listened to consistently for decades, some I listen to only every now and then but have strong feelings for. A lot of my favourite bands does not have full albums, or if they do, the best tracks are spread over several albums which makes them not really fit into a list like this.

@Tokage said:

Plastic Tree - Puppet Show

awww my beloved album

1. Guniw Tools - NIWLUN
2. Plastic Tree - Puppet Show
3. cali≠gari - 第6実験室
4. メリー - モダンギャルド
5. FLOPPY - FLOPPY
6. Dir en grey - Arche
7. サンドイッチで１２０分？- ネバーランド
8. ストロベリーソングオーケストラ - 血の濫觴
9. Buck-Tick - 十三階は月光
10. deadman - I Am Here

Honorable mentions:
メトロノーム - COLLECTION (the two COLLECTION albums, when taken together, are two of the best 'let's rerecord our old material' collection albums to come out of the VK-sphere, along with that deadman album up above and that double album cali≠gari released when Shuuji 2 joined the band.)
グルグル映畫館 - 境の朱さの所為なのです。
sukekiyo - Adoratio
SEX-ANDROID - either 平成・コトナカレ主義 (honestly tied with お茶ノ間キラー)
有頂天 - GAN (definitely not VK, but influenced a lot of the bands I like)
犬神サーカス団 - 神の犬
Zilch - 3.2.1. (again, not sure if this really counts as VK proper)
白黒キネマ - 証明 (their 'proper' full-length album is very good too, but i've definitely listened to this one more)

Not ranked btw:

1. STYLE - LUNA SEA
2. BIG WILL - AURA
3. Jealousy - X JAPAN
4. 94 Love - BY-SEXUAL
5. BLUE ROMANCE～優しい花達の狂奏〜 - LAREINE
6. Voyage sans Retour - Malice Mizer (I hardly ever listen to them anymore but it’s one of my top albums for sure)
7. LA VIE EN ROSE - D’ERLANGER
8. BOφWY - BOØWY (that doesn’t count as vkei but whatever)
9. DER ZIBET - Der Zibet (also doesn’t count as vkei uhh)
10. QUEENDOM - SHOW-YA (yet again, doesn’t count as vkei…aaa)

Honorable mention is PYROMANIA by J (ofc) which is once again not vkei.. can’t limit myself to only vkei sorry, gotta mention some other great Japanese bands/artists as well

@reiketsu said:

4. X JAPAN - BLUE BLOOD (1989)
5. Laputa - kagerou (1996)

Sweet list! I almost included these two in at least "honorable mentions", but would have been too much.

@pairdog said:

Plastic Tree - HIDE and SEEK

solid album

1. DEAD END - GHOST OF ROMANCE (1987) (do they count?)
2. BUCK-TICK - HURRY UP MODE (1987)
3. COLOR - gekitotsu!! (1988)
4. X JAPAN - BLUE BLOOD (1989)
5. ZI:KILL - CLOSE DANCE (1990)
6. ZI:KILL - ROCKET (1993)
7. Kuroyume - nakigara wo... (1993)
8. SPEED-iD - INNER DIMENSION (1993)
9. Laputa - kagerou (1996)
10. NeiL - RAZOR (1999)

if they were considered vkei i would totally add 'electric moon & more' and 'trash land' by der zibet.

Honestly with some of these bands there always exists an eternal "alternate best" album for me (see also: Kuroyume, deadman, LUNA SEA, MALICE MIZER...).

@Jigsaw said:
...

Solid list. At first I was shocked at Aliene Ma'riage at the #1 slot ...

BIG RESPECT for 第6 & モダンギャルド!!!

It hurt me to limit this to 10 ... and hurt even more to rank them.

But the rank is based on "how many times in a row can I listen to it TODAY" + "the positive memories I have associated with it"

1. cali≠gari - 第5実験室
2. Plastic Tree - HIDE and SEEK
3. deadman - no alternative
4. MUCC - 痛絶
5. BUCK-TICK - 悪の華
6. LUNA SEA - IMAGE
7. DuelJewel - Lapidary
8. ZXS - Spiral Code
9. MALICE MIZER - 薔薇の聖堂
10. GUNIW TOOLS - OTHER GOOSE

Honorable mentions:
DEViL KiTTY - 悪魔鬼茶 (inimitable INSANITY)
Dir en grey - GAUZE (obligatory nostalgia piece)
FANATIC◇CRISIS - MASK (discovered late, crazy how much this LP was influential & copied)
グルグル映畫館 - 轍 (tbh they never had a bad album)
GILLE' LOVES - 薔薇色の吸血鬼 (nothing else like it)
メリー - 現代ストイック (life changing)
KARMA=SHENJING - 流転輪廻 (beautiful, catchy & unique)
lab. - Pied & Piper (I always listen to them together!)

Super honorable mention cuz it doesn't qualify:
Janne Da Arc - 10th Anniversary Indies Complete Box (compilation of their 3 indie minis, which are incredible & timeless)

@Jigsaw said:

ネガ - GRAVE OF THE SACRIFICE

this is the wildest take i've seen here so far (i'm so partial to the ballads & two pv tracks on this i like the album that most as well)

@Takadanobabaalien said:

ZI:KILL - CLOSE DANCE

I thought this as well when I was out and I realised the reason why it didn't get a mention is that my music listening has turned so compliant that the fact that zi:kill isn't on spotify has sort placed them in them in the back. Close Dance would've made my list easy one-two years ago when I was on my biggest zi:kill kick