1983: Metal by
Repo 
- Chart updated: 05/20/2024 13:15
- (Created: 09/15/2021 16:21).
- Chart size: 58 albums.
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'83:10 Anno Domini
If Motorhead were John the Baptist then Metallica were Jesus. Full on prophets saving metal from the Pharisees. There are only a handful of other albums like this in any genre. Albums that changed EVERYTHING. Where there was a before, and then an after. A line in time had been drawn. As I discussed just las week, this cost bands like Accept their careers. No kid wanted Metal Heart after being converted by Kill ‘Em All. Trust me. I was one of those brats back in 1983.
Kill 'Em All had it all! Yes, it fast & raw. But, it was also creative & catchy. You could mosh to it jumping up & down on your Star Wars matressed bed like a maniac over & over again. It was like an eight year old discovering rollercoasters for the very first time - “Again, again, Daddy! Let’s go again!"
Some of us got into hardcore punk like Black Flag because of this album. “I want more of that”, I said to some surly, snotty record store clerk on Thayer St. in Providence. It felt revolutionary because it was revolutionary. It was dangerous & unpredictable, and I needed MORE!
Black Sabbath’s self titled debut, and Kill 'Em All. That's it, pretty much it. That's the level we're talking. Hell, I’d throw Nevermind in there too, but some would argue that that shit ain’t metal enough. Whatever. I ain’t dying on that field that’s for sure. [First added to this chart: 10/01/2021]
If Motorhead were John the Baptist then Metallica were Jesus. Full on prophets saving metal from the Pharisees. There are only a handful of other albums like this in any genre. Albums that changed EVERYTHING. Where there was a before, and then an after. A line in time had been drawn. As I discussed just las week, this cost bands like Accept their careers. No kid wanted Metal Heart after being converted by Kill ‘Em All. Trust me. I was one of those brats back in 1983.
Kill 'Em All had it all! Yes, it fast & raw. But, it was also creative & catchy. You could mosh to it jumping up & down on your Star Wars matressed bed like a maniac over & over again. It was like an eight year old discovering rollercoasters for the very first time - “Again, again, Daddy! Let’s go again!"
Some of us got into hardcore punk like Black Flag because of this album. “I want more of that”, I said to some surly, snotty record store clerk on Thayer St. in Providence. It felt revolutionary because it was revolutionary. It was dangerous & unpredictable, and I needed MORE!
Black Sabbath’s self titled debut, and Kill 'Em All. That's it, pretty much it. That's the level we're talking. Hell, I’d throw Nevermind in there too, but some would argue that that shit ain’t metal enough. Whatever. I ain’t dying on that field that’s for sure. [First added to this chart: 10/01/2021]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,323
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
'83:7 Egypt
It didn’t have to be specifically Egypt. Not exactly. It didn’t even need to be a real place. But… it needed to be FAR away. An alien AND mystical place. Not some kind of alien that killed everybody. Nothing like that. No. These aliens were smarter than all that. After all, I didn’t want to die. I just wanted to be understood.
Like the Lord of The Rings and Dune books, Piece of Mind was pure heavenly escape for a D&D dweeb like me back in 7th grade. If I ever needed a break from the junior high bullying that I endured as a walked down locker alley, I could just slip on my oversized foam head phones, hit the oversized play button on my trusty Walkman, and I. was. gone. Catapulted to a place I belonged. Where the scenery made sense. At least for a few seconds at any rate until some dickwad mouth breather tried to knock my books out of my hand.
The Verdict: This is it. The moment Iron Maiden outgrew their NWOBHM denim & leather roots and simply grabbed the garments right off the dude from the dust jacket of some Michael Moorcock fantasy book. The fabric of the blues (and even 70s rock really) has been shorn away, and we are left with just droplets of molten, metallic liquid. Like a Salvador Dali painting taken to the airwaves. Because of my love for rough & raw punk, Maiden’s first two albums will always be my faves (#teamdi’anno), but even I just have to admit that Peace Of Mind is unequivocally Maiden’s masterwork. And exotic and mystical escape rich with enough transportive storytelling magic that it rivals even the great sci fi & fantasy masters that clearly influence it.
Only one album from 1983 surpasses it.
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil [First added to this chart: 10/03/2021]
It didn’t have to be specifically Egypt. Not exactly. It didn’t even need to be a real place. But… it needed to be FAR away. An alien AND mystical place. Not some kind of alien that killed everybody. Nothing like that. No. These aliens were smarter than all that. After all, I didn’t want to die. I just wanted to be understood.
Like the Lord of The Rings and Dune books, Piece of Mind was pure heavenly escape for a D&D dweeb like me back in 7th grade. If I ever needed a break from the junior high bullying that I endured as a walked down locker alley, I could just slip on my oversized foam head phones, hit the oversized play button on my trusty Walkman, and I. was. gone. Catapulted to a place I belonged. Where the scenery made sense. At least for a few seconds at any rate until some dickwad mouth breather tried to knock my books out of my hand.
The Verdict: This is it. The moment Iron Maiden outgrew their NWOBHM denim & leather roots and simply grabbed the garments right off the dude from the dust jacket of some Michael Moorcock fantasy book. The fabric of the blues (and even 70s rock really) has been shorn away, and we are left with just droplets of molten, metallic liquid. Like a Salvador Dali painting taken to the airwaves. Because of my love for rough & raw punk, Maiden’s first two albums will always be my faves (#teamdi’anno), but even I just have to admit that Peace Of Mind is unequivocally Maiden’s masterwork. And exotic and mystical escape rich with enough transportive storytelling magic that it rivals even the great sci fi & fantasy masters that clearly influence it.
Only one album from 1983 surpasses it.
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil [First added to this chart: 10/03/2021]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,777
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
'83:a Changing Our Religion
Aka Bark At the Moon vs. Holy Diver (to the ears of a bunch of twelve year olds! )
To us real life Stranger Things dweebs, Ozzy’s first two solo albums were like books from the Old Testament. Let’s just call them The Books of Ezra & Nehemiah. Mostly because I just love how Old Testament those names are. Back in the early 80s, me and my geek squad would read the lyric sheets of Blizzard & Diary as if they were scripture. Truths from the beyond. We were all pretty much "good" Catholic boys (and girls!) in my neighborhood. Hell, I was even an altar boy. So we grew up in reverence of the supernatural aspects of our religion – resurrections, crosses, and, of course, Satan. And Ozzy’s albums seemed like a window into this world. If what the Priests we teaching us in Sunday school was the real world , than Ozzy and Sabbath was communicating from the Upside-Down. Equally valid. Just a different dimension. Stuff that Priests & our parents didn’t want us to know about. Nerd Catnip in other words!
So you can imagine my disappointment back then when I cued up Bark At The Moon and got … Burt Bacharach?! At least that’s what the track “So Tired” with all its syrupy strings and saccharine sentiment sounded like to me. It sounded like something my Dad might like! Ewwww!
So we needed a new book from that Old Testament. Once again we turned to Black Sabbath whose black arts had just so happened to offer us up a new book …The Book of Dio. Coincidence?! Hell no!
BUT, the coolest factoid I found about the Ozzy-Dio connection is that they even shared a lead guitarist in 1983 - Jake E. Lee. Jake was initially hired to be Dio’s guitartist before getting fired and summarily snatched up by the Ozzman. As Jake tells it …
"I think that [Ronnie Dio] was looking for more of a European sort of sound. 'Cause back then, and maybe to this day — I don't know — heavy metal, you had the American version and you had the European version. And the American version relied a lot on VAN HALEN; that was kind of the American metal sound. And I am more of that school — of Eddie Van Halen, Southern California. There was a bunch of us. And I was more of that."
Enter this track (and riff!) recorded by the barely known NWOBHM band Sweet Savage…
And how could Dio resist it, as it was a reflection of himself!
But, more than anything, it was Vivian’s & Dio musical alchemy that took them to that sacred, fall-down-on-your-knees-&-pray level.
Vivian’s ability to generate riffs such as "" and of Dio and his merry mates to turn it into "Caught In The Middle" ...
And after drinking a glass , me & my geek squad (and the millions of those just like us in suburban basements everywhere) made Holy Diver the TRUE sequel to Diary of a Madman in 1983!
=======================Three Things =====================
1. Dio self-produced this albums! I guess he actually belonged at the mixing board! (See the story about how Dio was kicked out of Black sabbath for twiddling with the mixing board on Sabbath's Live Evil!)
2. More than Jake E Lee, was Vivian Campbell theoo true successor to the guitar hero throne after the too early passing of Randy Rhodes? [First added to this chart: 10/03/2021]
Aka Bark At the Moon vs. Holy Diver (to the ears of a bunch of twelve year olds! )
To us real life Stranger Things dweebs, Ozzy’s first two solo albums were like books from the Old Testament. Let’s just call them The Books of Ezra & Nehemiah. Mostly because I just love how Old Testament those names are. Back in the early 80s, me and my geek squad would read the lyric sheets of Blizzard & Diary as if they were scripture. Truths from the beyond. We were all pretty much "good" Catholic boys (and girls!) in my neighborhood. Hell, I was even an altar boy. So we grew up in reverence of the supernatural aspects of our religion – resurrections, crosses, and, of course, Satan. And Ozzy’s albums seemed like a window into this world. If what the Priests we teaching us in Sunday school was the real world , than Ozzy and Sabbath was communicating from the Upside-Down. Equally valid. Just a different dimension. Stuff that Priests & our parents didn’t want us to know about. Nerd Catnip in other words!
So you can imagine my disappointment back then when I cued up Bark At The Moon and got … Burt Bacharach?! At least that’s what the track “So Tired” with all its syrupy strings and saccharine sentiment sounded like to me. It sounded like something my Dad might like! Ewwww!
So we needed a new book from that Old Testament. Once again we turned to Black Sabbath whose black arts had just so happened to offer us up a new book …The Book of Dio. Coincidence?! Hell no!
BUT, the coolest factoid I found about the Ozzy-Dio connection is that they even shared a lead guitarist in 1983 - Jake E. Lee. Jake was initially hired to be Dio’s guitartist before getting fired and summarily snatched up by the Ozzman. As Jake tells it …
"I think that [Ronnie Dio] was looking for more of a European sort of sound. 'Cause back then, and maybe to this day — I don't know — heavy metal, you had the American version and you had the European version. And the American version relied a lot on VAN HALEN; that was kind of the American metal sound. And I am more of that school — of Eddie Van Halen, Southern California. There was a bunch of us. And I was more of that."
Enter this track (and riff!) recorded by the barely known NWOBHM band Sweet Savage…
And how could Dio resist it, as it was a reflection of himself!
But, more than anything, it was Vivian’s & Dio musical alchemy that took them to that sacred, fall-down-on-your-knees-&-pray level.
Vivian’s ability to generate riffs such as "" and of Dio and his merry mates to turn it into "Caught In The Middle" ...
And after drinking a glass , me & my geek squad (and the millions of those just like us in suburban basements everywhere) made Holy Diver the TRUE sequel to Diary of a Madman in 1983!
=======================Three Things =====================
1. Dio self-produced this albums! I guess he actually belonged at the mixing board! (See the story about how Dio was kicked out of Black sabbath for twiddling with the mixing board on Sabbath's Live Evil!)
2. More than Jake E Lee, was Vivian Campbell theoo true successor to the guitar hero throne after the too early passing of Randy Rhodes? [First added to this chart: 10/03/2021]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,628
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Back Of The Bus
And here we finally are. The most important band in the entire history of extreme metal. Bar none. In the mid to late 80s pretty much every extreme band wanted to be Slayer. They were the muse. The inspiration. What everyone reached for. And it all started here with Show No Mercy.
I’ll never forget the first time I heard it. We were riding to a jv basketball game at the very back of the bus. Me & Paul Garfinkle were sharing headphones. He had a headphone splitter so we could both listen. Paul was in a metal band with his older brother Art. I used to go watch them at Battle Of The Bands shows at a nearby high school. No one in school knew metal like Paul. Anyways, He hit play and it was instant love. Killers-era Iron Maiden on speed (check out “Crionics” to see this transformative, critical piece highlighted) with a dose of Venom and hardcore. I did NOT take out my cassette copy of Bark At The Moon to show Paul. No way. Ozzy had been relegated to the jv squad.
Show No Mercy is a unique entry in Slayer’s catalog. It was something completely new and yet something that Slayer would immediately progress from with the Haunting The Chapel EP and then of course Hell Awaits. Its closest facsimile is Metallica’s Kill 'Em All. Nowadays, it would be called Speed Metal(which I will touch on soon enough). Those two albums changed everything in 1983 – dwarfing everything else released that year. Especially Bark At The Moon (which is actually good commercial metal! So don't hate me Ozzy!). [First added to this chart: 10/01/2021]
And here we finally are. The most important band in the entire history of extreme metal. Bar none. In the mid to late 80s pretty much every extreme band wanted to be Slayer. They were the muse. The inspiration. What everyone reached for. And it all started here with Show No Mercy.
I’ll never forget the first time I heard it. We were riding to a jv basketball game at the very back of the bus. Me & Paul Garfinkle were sharing headphones. He had a headphone splitter so we could both listen. Paul was in a metal band with his older brother Art. I used to go watch them at Battle Of The Bands shows at a nearby high school. No one in school knew metal like Paul. Anyways, He hit play and it was instant love. Killers-era Iron Maiden on speed (check out “Crionics” to see this transformative, critical piece highlighted) with a dose of Venom and hardcore. I did NOT take out my cassette copy of Bark At The Moon to show Paul. No way. Ozzy had been relegated to the jv squad.
Show No Mercy is a unique entry in Slayer’s catalog. It was something completely new and yet something that Slayer would immediately progress from with the Haunting The Chapel EP and then of course Hell Awaits. Its closest facsimile is Metallica’s Kill 'Em All. Nowadays, it would be called Speed Metal(which I will touch on soon enough). Those two albums changed everything in 1983 – dwarfing everything else released that year. Especially Bark At The Moon (which is actually good commercial metal! So don't hate me Ozzy!). [First added to this chart: 10/01/2021]
'83:b Time Changes
Aka The Puritanical Satanists
“We were rehearsing like 6, 7 times a week. We wanted to make the music more difficult so no one could cover it.” – Timi Hansen (Bass)
“Sometimes when I couldn’t sleep, I’d get up in the middle of the night, grab the guitar and just keep adding ideas to the song.” – Hank Shermann (Guitar)
“I speak for the Dead.” – King Diamond (Skull)
They were obsessed. Committed. In a wicked good way. Puritanical satanists with a work ethic that would make even Iron Maiden blush. Completely committed to their craft. Of bending the metal world to their will. When they showed up at the BBC in ’81 to record, they positively floored everyone. You see, it’s not that they weren’t NWOBHM , it’s just that they completely outclassed, outworked, and yes, out-Sataned their competition from Britain (besides Maiden!). They had a practice regimen that could only compare to the almighty Black Flag. And if anyone knows the Parable of the Talents , let’s just say Mercyful Fate were making music in the early 80s that would have even made Jesus proud!
The Verdict: Another First Wave Of Black Metal classic. So now we have 3! Venom's 1) Welcome to Hell (1981) & 2) Black Metal (1982). 3) Melissa (1983)
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil [First added to this chart: 10/01/2021]
Aka The Puritanical Satanists
“We were rehearsing like 6, 7 times a week. We wanted to make the music more difficult so no one could cover it.” – Timi Hansen (Bass)
“Sometimes when I couldn’t sleep, I’d get up in the middle of the night, grab the guitar and just keep adding ideas to the song.” – Hank Shermann (Guitar)
“I speak for the Dead.” – King Diamond (Skull)
They were obsessed. Committed. In a wicked good way. Puritanical satanists with a work ethic that would make even Iron Maiden blush. Completely committed to their craft. Of bending the metal world to their will. When they showed up at the BBC in ’81 to record, they positively floored everyone. You see, it’s not that they weren’t NWOBHM , it’s just that they completely outclassed, outworked, and yes, out-Sataned their competition from Britain (besides Maiden!). They had a practice regimen that could only compare to the almighty Black Flag. And if anyone knows the Parable of the Talents , let’s just say Mercyful Fate were making music in the early 80s that would have even made Jesus proud!
The Verdict: Another First Wave Of Black Metal classic. So now we have 3! Venom's 1) Welcome to Hell (1981) & 2) Black Metal (1982). 3) Melissa (1983)
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil [First added to this chart: 10/01/2021]
6. Left Hand Path
Aka The Barrel-chested Warriors of Power Metal
“… everything was going against us. So we just had to summon up every bit of power we could possibly find. We had no money, no record company; we did everything on our own. And it was a triumph to have made that record and tho have released it. And that’s why we chose to sign in blood. Because we were showing the industry and all the critics, ‘Fuck You! You Can’t stop us!’ – Joey DeMaio on Into Glory Ride
They were lifers already. Before they even met on Black Sabbath's Heaven & Hell tour back in 1980 while sharing beers & stories with Ronnie James Dio backstage. Joey DeMaio was Sabbath's pyrotechnician. Ross The Boss, who started NYC punk legends The Dictators, was playing guitar for some opening band that you've never heard of. They knew only one path – rock ‘n’ roll. But their path would have be different. They were already long in tooth. A misfit and a freak. Left-handed. So they essentially invented Power Metal. They took everything they loved about 70s American Hard Rock bands such as Ted Nugent & Kiss and cranked it Mountain-sized. Dio took them under his dark wing and gifted them his own secret weapon - John "Dawk The Destroyer” Stillwell who would become their special sauce. You see Dawk The Destroyer was a modern day blacksmith. Turning musical instruments into weapons.
And thus outfitted & hooked up with the epic bellowing pipes of Joey's boyhood friend Eric Adams, they made themselves into metal cartoons. Something from Conan The Barbarian. A Molly Hatchet album cover that jumps to life Ringu-style.
And yes. You read that right in the quote above. They even signed their record contract in blood. And if you had ever spent some time in the Lower East Side of New York back in the 70s, you would know that this wasn’t just some publicity stunt. . No siree. These guys were crazy enough, freak enough to think that they were the living walking embodiments of metal. Cave Man metal. Conan metal. Did they sound like self-parody? Maybe a bit. But that was part of the fun. If Saxon were lunkheads, these knuckle draggers were LUNKHEADS IN ALL CAPS!!! And that’s what makes manowar… MANOWAR!!! [First added to this chart: 10/02/2021]
Aka The Barrel-chested Warriors of Power Metal
“… everything was going against us. So we just had to summon up every bit of power we could possibly find. We had no money, no record company; we did everything on our own. And it was a triumph to have made that record and tho have released it. And that’s why we chose to sign in blood. Because we were showing the industry and all the critics, ‘Fuck You! You Can’t stop us!’ – Joey DeMaio on Into Glory Ride
They were lifers already. Before they even met on Black Sabbath's Heaven & Hell tour back in 1980 while sharing beers & stories with Ronnie James Dio backstage. Joey DeMaio was Sabbath's pyrotechnician. Ross The Boss, who started NYC punk legends The Dictators, was playing guitar for some opening band that you've never heard of. They knew only one path – rock ‘n’ roll. But their path would have be different. They were already long in tooth. A misfit and a freak. Left-handed. So they essentially invented Power Metal. They took everything they loved about 70s American Hard Rock bands such as Ted Nugent & Kiss and cranked it Mountain-sized. Dio took them under his dark wing and gifted them his own secret weapon - John "Dawk The Destroyer” Stillwell who would become their special sauce. You see Dawk The Destroyer was a modern day blacksmith. Turning musical instruments into weapons.
And thus outfitted & hooked up with the epic bellowing pipes of Joey's boyhood friend Eric Adams, they made themselves into metal cartoons. Something from Conan The Barbarian. A Molly Hatchet album cover that jumps to life Ringu-style.
And yes. You read that right in the quote above. They even signed their record contract in blood. And if you had ever spent some time in the Lower East Side of New York back in the 70s, you would know that this wasn’t just some publicity stunt. . No siree. These guys were crazy enough, freak enough to think that they were the living walking embodiments of metal. Cave Man metal. Conan metal. Did they sound like self-parody? Maybe a bit. But that was part of the fun. If Saxon were lunkheads, these knuckle draggers were LUNKHEADS IN ALL CAPS!!! And that’s what makes manowar… MANOWAR!!! [First added to this chart: 10/02/2021]
Pop Metal
As Joe elliot will be all to happpy to tell you, the NWOBHM was never going to be enough for Def Leppard. One land could not hold them. Nope. Like Maiden with Piece Of Mind, Def Leppard were talented and ambitious to be NWOBHM realm global back seats of cars and keggers.
Just an album chock full of radio-friendly bangers!!! Got my kids hooked on this baby just this past week. So cute hearing them sing all the words in the back seat! [First added to this chart: 04/16/2022]
As Joe elliot will be all to happpy to tell you, the NWOBHM was never going to be enough for Def Leppard. One land could not hold them. Nope. Like Maiden with Piece Of Mind, Def Leppard were talented and ambitious to be NWOBHM realm global back seats of cars and keggers.
Just an album chock full of radio-friendly bangers!!! Got my kids hooked on this baby just this past week. So cute hearing them sing all the words in the back seat! [First added to this chart: 04/16/2022]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,741
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
PUNK METAL
To think it was a demo. A mere cassette tape. But once it was put to tape there was no stopping it. MORE punk than Motorhead ( which is saying something right there! Motorhead were punk as fuck!) and MORE extreme than Venom. An odd mutant cross between Black Metal-era Venom and The Side 2s of the mighty Black Flag. I'm of course talking about the epochal second sides of both Damaged and My War(which hadn't even come out yet!) They were sludgy and doomy. Blackened and primitive. I picture Tom G Warrior as some kind of metal blacksmith. Hammering & welding in some primitive castle basement with sparks flying all over the place. Back bent. Arms flailing over the anvil. Hammering and hammering some rare earth into this twisted, gnarled nugget . This is extreme metal incarnate. And despite its massive influence, it remains deeply underground for some reason that surpasses me. For this is primitive, raw, hardcore music at its best.
Note: This is my runner up (ru) for best proto-death album of 1983. Just too good and too important not to mention! [First added to this chart: 10/03/2021]
To think it was a demo. A mere cassette tape. But once it was put to tape there was no stopping it. MORE punk than Motorhead ( which is saying something right there! Motorhead were punk as fuck!) and MORE extreme than Venom. An odd mutant cross between Black Metal-era Venom and The Side 2s of the mighty Black Flag. I'm of course talking about the epochal second sides of both Damaged and My War(which hadn't even come out yet!) They were sludgy and doomy. Blackened and primitive. I picture Tom G Warrior as some kind of metal blacksmith. Hammering & welding in some primitive castle basement with sparks flying all over the place. Back bent. Arms flailing over the anvil. Hammering and hammering some rare earth into this twisted, gnarled nugget . This is extreme metal incarnate. And despite its massive influence, it remains deeply underground for some reason that surpasses me. For this is primitive, raw, hardcore music at its best.
Note: This is my runner up (ru) for best proto-death album of 1983. Just too good and too important not to mention! [First added to this chart: 10/03/2021]
Victim Of Changes
I could talk about how awesome Accept were in 1983. How they were one of the most important bands in all of early 80s metal. Just a level down from Maiden & Priest, really. BUT, where would be the fun in that. I already did that with Breaker & Restless & Wild which both made my top tens for 1981 & 1982 respectively.
So instead let’s just cut to the chase - Balls To The Wall absolutely, positively NEEDS to be in my top ten for '83 metal. In fact, any '83 Metal chart bereft of Accepts’ BEST album you better believe is getting da old stink eye from yours truly. Ok. So now that we got the obvious out and in the open, let's fast-forward just a tiny bit...
... to the late 80s. Where we now find Accept already picking up the empties to a party that should have just been getting started. Let’s get into their shell shocked skulls when they find out they were unfashionable. They knew how good they were and yet here they were has-beens just as things should have been getting started. Considered commercial just because they were not underground. Or obscenely fast. Or Maiden. Dumped. Cast aside by the cool kids for Thrash. Metal was evolving just too quickly at the time for early 80s metal bands such as Accept, Anvil, & Saxon to keep up. They were expiration dated!
So they were desperate. How else to explain what they would do? Go Hair Metal . And we all know that UDO, the very VOICE & SOUL of the band, cannot sing Hair metal. So they did the unthinkable. They said "goodbye!" to UDO! Perhaps the single most important ingredient at making Accept... well, Accept!!! And thus sadly ended one of the greatest runs of any 80s Metal band.
The Verdict: A Classic! And Accept's BEST record. That's right! Even better than Restless & Wild! l. Just don’t sleep on the two records that followed it - Metal Heart (which contains my absolute favorite Accept song - " Teach Us To Survive". Just picture Mr. Bungle taking the Dead Kennedys in the long grass and you got it!) and Russian Roulette! And sadly, stay away rom 1989's Eat The Heat. Unless you want to see what desperation and dashed dreams can do to even the best of us! Crying or Very sad
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil [First added to this chart: 10/02/2021]
I could talk about how awesome Accept were in 1983. How they were one of the most important bands in all of early 80s metal. Just a level down from Maiden & Priest, really. BUT, where would be the fun in that. I already did that with Breaker & Restless & Wild which both made my top tens for 1981 & 1982 respectively.
So instead let’s just cut to the chase - Balls To The Wall absolutely, positively NEEDS to be in my top ten for '83 metal. In fact, any '83 Metal chart bereft of Accepts’ BEST album you better believe is getting da old stink eye from yours truly. Ok. So now that we got the obvious out and in the open, let's fast-forward just a tiny bit...
... to the late 80s. Where we now find Accept already picking up the empties to a party that should have just been getting started. Let’s get into their shell shocked skulls when they find out they were unfashionable. They knew how good they were and yet here they were has-beens just as things should have been getting started. Considered commercial just because they were not underground. Or obscenely fast. Or Maiden. Dumped. Cast aside by the cool kids for Thrash. Metal was evolving just too quickly at the time for early 80s metal bands such as Accept, Anvil, & Saxon to keep up. They were expiration dated!
So they were desperate. How else to explain what they would do? Go Hair Metal . And we all know that UDO, the very VOICE & SOUL of the band, cannot sing Hair metal. So they did the unthinkable. They said "goodbye!" to UDO! Perhaps the single most important ingredient at making Accept... well, Accept!!! And thus sadly ended one of the greatest runs of any 80s Metal band.
The Verdict: A Classic! And Accept's BEST record. That's right! Even better than Restless & Wild! l. Just don’t sleep on the two records that followed it - Metal Heart (which contains my absolute favorite Accept song - " Teach Us To Survive". Just picture Mr. Bungle taking the Dead Kennedys in the long grass and you got it!) and Russian Roulette! And sadly, stay away rom 1989's Eat The Heat. Unless you want to see what desperation and dashed dreams can do to even the best of us! Crying or Very sad
The Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil [First added to this chart: 10/02/2021]
Heavy Metal, Nuggets Style Just... SOUTH OF THE DIAL
In the late 60s, countless bands in america aped the sound of The British Invasion. They did it in their garages. They did it with more passion than talent most of the time and that was part of the charm. Fast forward a decade and the same thing was happening. This time the invasion from England was called the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and tons of American high schoolers once again took to their garages and made something slightly different than their inspiration. A little rawer, a little weirder, and way more primitive. And once again that was the charm. Of these countless regional oddities, Manilla Road are rightly considered one of the best along with other faves of mine, Armored Saint and Cirith Ungol.
These bands were metal to the core but still melodic & catchy. The kind of bands that made you dream of a better radio. Just South of the dial. [First added to this chart: 10/03/2021]
In the late 60s, countless bands in america aped the sound of The British Invasion. They did it in their garages. They did it with more passion than talent most of the time and that was part of the charm. Fast forward a decade and the same thing was happening. This time the invasion from England was called the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and tons of American high schoolers once again took to their garages and made something slightly different than their inspiration. A little rawer, a little weirder, and way more primitive. And once again that was the charm. Of these countless regional oddities, Manilla Road are rightly considered one of the best along with other faves of mine, Armored Saint and Cirith Ungol.
These bands were metal to the core but still melodic & catchy. The kind of bands that made you dream of a better radio. Just South of the dial. [First added to this chart: 10/03/2021]
Total albums: 58. Page 1 of 6
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1983: Metal composition
Year | Albums | % | |
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1980 | 0 | 0% | |
1981 | 1 | 2% | |
1982 | 0 | 0% | |
1983 | 57 | 98% | |
1984 | 0 | 0% | |
1985 | 0 | 0% | |
1986 | 0 | 0% | |
1987 | 0 | 0% | |
1988 | 0 | 0% | |
1989 | 0 | 0% |
Artist | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
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Anvil (CA) | 1 | 2% | |
Waysted | 1 | 2% | |
Amebix | 1 | 2% | |
Manowar | 1 | 2% | |
The Sisters Of Mercy | 1 | 2% | |
AC/DC | 1 | 2% | |
Diamond Head | 1 | 2% | |
Show all |
Country | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
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|
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23 | 40% | |
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18 | 31% | |
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3 | 5% | |
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3 | 5% | |
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2 | 3% | |
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2 | 3% | |
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1 | 2% | |
Show all |
1983: Metal chart changes
Biggest climbers |
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![]() All For One by Raven (UK) |
![]() Lettin Loose by Heavy Pettin |
![]() No Rest For The Wicked by Helix |
Biggest fallers |
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![]() Dirty Rotten LP by D.R.I. |
![]() Power & The Glory by Saxon |
![]() Loose 'N' Lethal by Savage (UK) |
1983: Metal similar charts
Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
Top 50 Music Albums of 1983 | NHGRANITE | 1983 year chart | 2021 | ![]() |
Top 40 Music Albums of 1983 | ![]() | 1983 year chart | 2021 | ![]() |
Top 27 Music Albums of 1983 | ![]() | 1983 year chart | 2013 | ![]() |
NWOBHM (1979-1984) | ![]() | Custom chart | 2023 | ![]() |
Top 40 Music Albums of 1983 | ![]() | 1983 year chart | 2015 | ![]() |
Top 49 Music Albums of 1983 | Chambord | 1983 year chart | 2022 | ![]() |
Top 50 Music Albums of 1983 | conallmalone | 1983 year chart | 2022 | ![]() |
Top 20 Music Albums of 1983 | ![]() | 1983 year chart | 2015 | ![]() |
Top 36 Music Albums of 1983 | ![]() | 1983 year chart | 2023 | ![]() |
Top 40 Greatest Music Albums | Aris1914 | Overall chart | 2022 | ![]() |
1983: Metal similarity to your chart(s)
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1983: Metal ratings
87/100 (from 1 vote)

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Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
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100/100 ![]() | 06/06/2023 16:45 | ![]() | ![]() | 94/100 |
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