Here is 1985 and you know what: I had no metal album in my 1985 year chart until now and so only albums from my wishlist:
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Feel The Fire by Overkill
In fact I know this band mainly from their newer albums of which their 2019 album Wings Of War is really good and is even better than this also fine metal album with no bad song on it: 11th rank.
Relentless by Pentagram
They sure know how to make it sound like Black Sabbath and it never reaches their quality but a good doom album anyway. 16th rank.
Albums I listened to but weren't good enough to make it to my top chart:
I suppose I was a bit short on this one. I really like their trio that came after this album: Reign In Blood, South Of Heaven and Seasons In The Abyss. You only have to hear the start of the opening track of RIB, Angel Of Death, to know that you're in for an enthralling ride. This is not the case with Hell Awaits in my opinion and the best example is already the opening title track which starts with some beastly sounds before it starts and even then it takes them 1,5 minutes to really start. To me they're ok in their riffing but they are never better than the competition (I like the Anthrax albums of that time much more and Metallica is for me completely in another league) and I don't really like the very amelodic/gritty singing over the satanic content (I love (some) metal but I feel no connection at all with the satanic nor violent lyrical content) which was in fact becoming an asset on RIB). To conclude: every single track is OK but never did I feel what you can feel on nearly every track on Reign In Blood.
I had started with my albums list of 1986 but somehow didn't finish it (while I'm already at the finish of 1987 🧱 ) so I'll have to start over.
There was that one all time best metal album:
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Master Of Puppets by Metallica
Which at the start also features the two best metal tracks ever: the relentless Battery and the epic twist and turns of the title track. No other track is less than genial so this album deservedly earns the title of the best metal album ever in my ears.
And than the albums on my wishlist and I wanted to check out the 1986 albums of two bands of which I really like their distinct guitar sound:
5150 by Van Halen
But this album sucks completely: Sammy Hagar is a good singer and the guitar playing of Mr. Van Halen is not bad but the songs are just mediocre as hell.
And the second:
Third Stage by Boston
Maybe Boston is more of a greatest hits band: I adore More Than A Feeling and Don't Look Back not in the lease because of the great guitar sound and on their first two albums there's also other good tracks but here nothing appeals and every single song sound boring and AOR/MOR and that's also true for their big hit in the States, Amanda, which didn't do anything in most of Europe.
But of course there were other good metal albums and like always you can't do nothing wrong with a Motörhead album:
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Orgasmatron by Motörhead
and again not one weak track with Nothing Up My Sleeve, Claw and the title track as the highlights.
And then some doom/black metal:
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Born Too Late by Saint Vitus
While I very much like their self-titled debut, that wasn't really the case for this one. I don't know: somehow the new was wearing off.
and btw rest assured Repo, Reign In Blood was already in my top 10.
And I'll start with an album which certainly isn't metal but is a in any case a hardrock classic:
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Appetite For Destruction by Guns N' Roses
and whatever people say, this was a ground-breaking classic at the time because they infused some real rock'n roll in a mainstream music landscape which began to turn away from rock (a bit like the current times) (And with that I don't mean in general because in the underground a lot was going on which was going to lead to the Pixies, Nirvana and grunge). But back to the album: the tracks here are much better than they are nowadays given credit for: Welcome To The Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine, You're Crazy, Rocket Queen and especially Paradise City were absolute bombshells in a mainstream landscape which absolutely needed some genuine rock energy. Axl Rose might be a bit too much but the guitar of Slash is absolutely top here. And rises from the 19th to 10th rank of the year.
But of course in the background metal was growing more and more extreme which wasn't necessarily a bad thing in any case not in 1987 and a lot of ground-breaking trash metal albums were released of which especially Among The Living by Anthrax was without competition but this album is already in my year chart. These are the other contenders on my wishlist:
Taking Over by Overkill
Again a very good album by Overkill, a band which I'm liking more and more not only because of their old release but also because of their new stuff. 29th rank of the year.
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The Legacy by Testament
another band of which I know one or two things but never had listened to a full album and also a good one with especially the first half of the album being very good. 32nd rank of the year.
And then trash metal turned into death metal with first an aptly named band which started it all:
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Scream Bloody Gore by Death (Metal)
But I have the say, apart from the themes and the way it was delivered this is also a very fast played album which fits very well in the trash metal scene that was already there. And this is the thing: as long as these albums didn't fit within a mold and were forced to follow a certain mold like was really the case with death metal in my opinion, they were very good. A good album reaching the 27th rank of the year.
And this is also true for one of the first albums of Sepultura which could be named death metal (a bit) but was again ground breaking as a genre of their own:
And again there's another Motörhead album which was hard but which defied all genres except that it was real rock 'n roll:
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Rock 'N' Roll by Motörhead
Have I already told you all that I yet have to hear a bad Motörhead album... and again this one is no exception. Again without any real standouts (although maybe the title track is definitely one) but all of them... well.. rock. What a really good album this is and going immediately to the 19th rank of the year! (Btw just listening to live versions (most of them taken from a BBC concert) of Metropolis, Killed By Death and many of the other extras of Orgasmatron and what impressive pieces of head banging inducing tracks they are! I can really recommend them: what a pity you can't really score live outtakes of a regular album because I would certainly put it somewhere near the top of all live albums ever).
And again there's another Motörhead album which was hard but which defied all genres except that it was real rock 'n roll:
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Rock 'N' Roll by Motörhead Have I already told you all that I yet have to hear a bad Motörhead album... and again this one is no exception. Again without any real standouts (although maybe the title track is definitely one) but all of them... well.. rock. What a really good album this is and going immediately to the 19th rank of the year! (Btw just listening to live versions (most of them taken from a BBC concert) of Metropolis, Killed By Death and many of the other extras of Orgasmatron and what impressive pieces of head banging inducing tracks they are! I can really recommend them: what a pity you can't really score live outtakes of a regular album because I would certainly put it somewhere near the top of all live albums ever).
Totally agree. But, I sort of lose interest after this one.
And again there's another Motörhead album which was hard but which defied all genres except that it was real rock 'n roll:
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Rock 'N' Roll by Motörhead Have I already told you all that I yet have to hear a bad Motörhead album... and again this one is no exception. Again without any real standouts (although maybe the title track is definitely one) but all of them... well.. rock. What a really good album this is and going immediately to the 19th rank of the year! (Btw just listening to live versions (most of them taken from a BBC concert) of Metropolis, Killed By Death and many of the other extras of Orgasmatron and what impressive pieces of head banging inducing tracks they are! I can really recommend them: what a pity you can't really score live outtakes of a regular album because I would certainly put it somewhere near the top of all live albums ever).
Totally agree. But, I sort of lose interestafter this one.
Great write-ups on the others too! :D
I also love their newer ones (although there's a few I still have to listen to: more to follow...)
First an album already in my top chart and to show repo how much I like a number of Slayer albums 😈
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South Of Heaven by Slayer
I can't really say if I like RIB or this album more. RIB is faster but to me this album is much more consistent and even sounds a bit harder. The title track is incredible and also Silent Scream, Behind The Crooked Cross and Mandatory Suicide are great. It climbs from the 15th to the 9th rank of the year.
The some other albums on my wishlist and why not start with:
Under The Influence by Overkill
Sometimes they sound a lot like Metallica but somehow they have their own niche with the many breaks and the great guitars. Another Overkill album I really like and earns the 15th rank on my 1988 top chart.
And now for my choices of hard albums from the year 1989.
First an album I already own:
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Beneath The Remains by Sepultura
Again a fairly good album by Sepultura. Not everything is good but good enough to rise from the 27th to 20th rank on my year chart.
And then again a number of other speed/trash metal albums (I had the general feeling that the genre had burnt up a bit) on my wishlist:
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Handle With Care by Nuclear Assault
The first part of the album is great and starts off at a good tone with New Song. After that the quality is a bit less and the album drags along a bit along the same paths but still a good metal album and good for the 21st rank of the year.
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Blessing In Disguise by Metal Church
I liked their self-titled album much more than this one but it is still ok. The difference with the Nuclear Assault album that the better tracks are here near the end of the album. Good for the 23rd rank.
And then there is:
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Alice In Hell by Annihilator
Also with some decent tracks but none that could really keep my attention span: where speed/trash metal is turning into a formula.
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