A bit late to the party, but great list Repo! Never heard the Angel Witch album, good write-up on that one. Gotta give it a try. Maiden and (especially) Rush records are both favourites. _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
A bit late to the party, but great list Repo! Never heard the Angel Witch album, good write-up on that one. Gotta give it a try. Maiden and (especially) Rush records are both favourites.
Oh, cool! Thanks! What would your personal top 5?!?!
Oh, cool! Thanks! What would your personal top 5?!?!
That's tough as I'm not that familiar with early 80s metal apart from the classics, but I'd go with this.
1. Permanent Waves
2. Lightning to the Nations
3. Iron Maiden
4. Heaven & Hell
5. Ace of Spades (just ahead of British Steel)
Used to love the first 3 Ozzy albums, but now I don't feel like that theatrical AOR inspired take on metal is my jam. Still some fantastic songs on those first 3 😁 _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
That's tough as I'm not that familiar with early 80s metal apart from the classics, but I'd go with this.
1. Permanent Waves
2. Lightning to the Nations
3. Iron Maiden
4. Heaven & Hell
5. Ace of Spades (just ahead of British Steel)
Used to love the first 3 Ozzy albums, but now I don't feel like that theatrical AOR inspired take on metal is my jam. Still some fantastic songs on those first 3 :D
Diamond Head's first album -- aka the 'White Album," Lightning to the Nations, or simply "Diamond Head" -- is somewhat like the Ark of the Covenant of heavy metal. By unlocking its New Wave of British Heavy Metal secrets, one will discover most all the connecting points between the genre's '70s originators and the ensuing '80s hordes -- arguably even more so than via Iron Maiden. - Allmusic
Totally understand why this is so high on your list!!! Lightning To Nations was just nipping at the heels of my Top Ten!!! Both Brian Tatler's riff & tone would go into my Metal Hall of fame. It slips into my Top 15 instead of my Top Ten for two reasons. A couple of the songs on the first side need some editing. They needed to be tightened up just a bit. You can tell this was a demo that could have used a bit of editing. Second, the second side doesn't come close to measuring g the first. It's a front loaded album. Again, it's a demo so that's not so surprising. On a demo you're going to lead with your best tracks, and those first four tracks are inarguably four of the most important thrash songs of all time. And that is NOT hyperbole!!! I think half of Kill 'Em All comes from the first four tracks!
Used to love the first 3 Ozzy albums, but now I don't feel like that theatrical AOR inspired take on metal is my jam. Still some fantastic songs on those first 3 :D
Totally!!! There's something gothic and otherworldly to the first three. Ozzy was a prophet. Spreading a rock n' roll gospel. He seemed sincere and authentic and then...
dropped. It sounded flat & uninspired. Ozzy was no longer a prophet. Ozzy simply became a lovable old man who had to put out albums as part of the industry. Some likable songs but that intangible authenticness is lost for the rest of his career.
BUT, those first three Ozzy albums are SACRED, with everything that particular word implies, to the rock cannon. Diary is my fave, but all three are just great AOR metal.
After really thinking about it, a top ten just doesn't make sense for 1980. I just have to mention a few more crucial albums or or I'd risk just being flat out negligent.
Ok? Who's idea in marketing was this? There was just no way this was going to go down with Kiss Army. BUT, to us Kiss heads who weren't afraid to check out a glory hole now and then, the smooooth Yacht Rock loafer sheen to this LP made it quite the CULT record back in the early 80s. Totally worth checking out if you really like 70s Kiss songwriting and realize that they are pure Power Pop geniuses who just wanted to make lots of money too!
Diamond Head's first album -- aka the 'White Album," Lightning to the Nations, or simply "Diamond Head" -- is somewhat like the Ark of the Covenant of heavy metal. By unlocking its New Wave of British Heavy Metal secrets, one will discover most all the connecting points between the genre's '70s originators and the ensuing '80s hordes -- arguably even more so than via Iron Maiden. - Allmusic
Lightning To Nations was just nipping at the heels of my Top Ten!!! Both Brian Tatler's riff & tone would go into my Metal Hall of fame. It slips into my Top 15 instead of my Top Ten for two reasons. A couple of the songs on the first side need some editing. They needed to be tightened up just a bit. Not surprising. It's a demo. Second, the second side doesn't come close to measuring up to the first. It's a front loaded album. Again, it's a demo so that's not so surprising. On a demo you're going to lead with your best tracks, and those first four tracks are inarguably four of the most important thrash songs of all time. And that is NOT hyperbole!!! I think half of Kill 'Em All comes from the first four tracks!
After really thinking about it, a top ten just doesn't make sense for 1980. I just have to mention a few more crucial albums or or I'd risk just being flat out negligent.
Ok? Who's idea in marketing was this? There was just no way this was going to go down with Kiss Army. BUT, to us Kiss heads who weren't afraid to check out a glory hole now and then, the smooooth Yacht Rock loafer sheen to this LP made it quite the CULT record back in the early 80s. Totally worth checking out if you really like 70s Kiss songwriting and realize that they are pure Power Pop geniuses who just wanted to make lots of money too!
Diamond Head's first album -- aka the 'White Album," Lightning to the Nations, or simply "Diamond Head" -- is somewhat like the Ark of the Covenant of heavy metal. By unlocking its New Wave of British Heavy Metal secrets, one will discover most all the connecting points between the genre's '70s originators and the ensuing '80s hordes -- arguably even more so than via Iron Maiden. - Allmusic
Lightning To Nations was just nipping at the heels of my Top Ten!!! Both Brian Tatler's riff & tone would go into my Metal Hall of fame. It slips into my Top 15 instead of my Top Ten for two reasons. A couple of the songs on the first side need some editing. They needed to be tightened up just a bit. Not surprising. It's a demo. Second, the second side doesn't come close to measuring up to the first. It's a front loaded album. Again, it's a demo so that's not so surprising. On a demo you're going to lead with your best tracks, and those first four tracks are inarguably four of the most important thrash songs of all time. And that is NOT hyperbole!!! I think half of Kill 'Em All comes from the first four tracks!
Beaten out for the top ten by its slightly younger Irish brother -SAOTL- by a ball's hair. Both are NWOBHM classics!
To Be Continued... (can anyone figure out the last two? Any guesses?)
I'm not sure if you will pick this one but I would certainly go for Back In Black: the first album after the death of Bon Scott in which the band tried to revive itself and not as good as the old band but still a very good album.
And then the self-titled MSG, a bit in the same style but different: a guitar hero trying to revive himself in a new band after previous stardom in The Scorpions and UFO but not completely successfull in that but the album is not bad. Certainly to be preferred over the first UFO album after Schenker left, No Place To Run.
My personal top five of the year is Ace Of Spades, Strong Arm Of The Law, Back In Black, Iron Maiden and Wheels Of Steel.
It's one of those big lock horn questions of The Metal Geekdom. Amongst us metalheads who love to make lists and check them twice. We all know that Judas Priest is LEGEND! Duh! No one in their right mind argues that. BUT, what is divisive is they two two distinct periods. there is their Classical Period (Stained Glass, Sin After Sin, etc) and than their NWOBHM period (Killing Machine, British Steel, Screaming For Vengeance). (And then they tightened down the bolts of their NWOBHM era and made Painkiller.)
Whereas Killing Machine served as the transition been these two albums, British Steel is the new birth. The album that essentially became the blueprint for the Speed Metal boom in the 80s with bands such as Anvil, Exciter, and Running Wild (I haven't forgot, Mercury! 😉 ).
Like a lot of metalheads turned hipsters in their twenties, I've massively underrated British Steel over the last couple of decades. It became a bit of a divisive album since it's the turning point from their Classical period, which a lot of scenesters consider their best stuff. And they're not wrong! But their 80s stuff is killer too! And they should be given tons of props for changing directions so aggressively and successfully. They are one of the creators of the whole NWOBHM movement with this album and its precursor Killing Machine. Such a monstrous, important, and most of all GREAT album for 1980.
Very few bands could survive the loss of, not one, but TWO guitar gods (Uli Jon Roth & Michael Schenker...In TWO years to beat all!... and still survive. But, this is actually (far) BETTER than Schenker’s album from 1979 – Love Drive – with the band which was sort of a mixed bag. Animal Magnetism goes heads-to-head with Blizzard of Ozz for the best AOR Metal album of 1980. In some respects it’s even better as there are no duds whatsoever. ( I'm looking right at you "No Bone Movies"!) Just banger after banger. This album deserves far more attention than its gets. Easily, The Scorpions' best album after the Uli Jon Roth years!
I'm not sure if you will pick this one but I would certainly go for Back In Black: the first album after the death of Bon Scott in which the band tried to revive itself and not as good as the old band but still a very good album.
And then the self-titled MSG, a bit in the same style but different: a guitar hero trying to revive himself in a new band after previous stardom in The Scorpions and UFO but not completely successfull in that but the album is not bad. Certainly to be preferred over the first UFO album after Schenker left, No Place To Run.
My personal top five of the year is Ace Of Spades, Strong Arm Of The Law, Back In Black, Iron Maiden and Wheels Of Steel.
Great top five!!! Like Zep's, I can"t argue with it at all! 1980 was just full of metal riches!
AC/DC's Back In Black is a stone cold classic. THE album to begin and end all parties with back in 1980! And 1981. 1982. '83, etc. (You get the picture.) I've just heard it way too much to listen to it anymore. It was just everywhere in the 1980s, far more so than any of the albums on my list even Ozzy's.
Last edited by Repo on 11/18/2021 04:25; edited 2 times in total
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
First off I went ahead and listened to the debut, 2nd and 3rd Metal Church LPs… here is my simplified thought package: I expected a thrash band and there is some of that and I loved the riffs and the style there on the speedy thrash side. But I didn’t research and I had forgotten they also had some power metal and more traditional metal sounds as well, and I didn’t like that. Didn’t like the vocals and the whole old school metal theatrics. So my experience was middle positive. Liked the debut the most.
As for your write up on British Steel, excellent write up. Agreed as far as I recall. Will be listening to it again soon. For some reason Screaming for Vengeance is all time 5/5, 😈😈😈😈😈 album… but British steel sticks in my craw from recollection. Surely there shouldn’t be such a wide gap in my mind with regards those two. So yeah British steel needs a new relisten.
———
Final note: I am working on a BIG overhaul of my 1980s chart and man, 1986-1989 is way way way WAAAAY more interesting to me in terms of metal. So if you ever start talking about that era and IN PARTICULAR 1988-1989, I will be excited. Those were the years of Death and Grind and early Black metal taking the stage along with some of the most cutting edge and heavy thrash. Way more my wheel house. Also some sick industrial sludge shit appearing in the late 80s. _________________ -Ryan
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