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:
3,210
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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'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:
1,601
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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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]
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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]
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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]
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ProgM
Great [First added to this chart: 04/16/2022]
Great [First added to this chart: 04/16/2022]
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Good/Great
[First added to this chart: 10/01/2021]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
472
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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[First added to this chart: 05/02/2022]
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[First added to this chart: 04/30/2022]
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[First added to this chart: 10/02/2021]
Total albums: 18. Page 1 of 2
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1983: Metal composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Satan (UK) | 1 | 2% | |
| Virgin Steele | 1 | 2% | |
| Heavy Load | 1 | 2% | |
| Helix | 1 | 2% | |
| Slayer | 1 | 2% | |
| Jaguar (UK) | 1 | 2% | |
| Exciter | 1 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
23 | 40% | |
| |
18 | 31% | |
 |
3 | 5% | |
 |
3 | 5% | |
 |
2 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 3% | |
 |
1 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
1983: Metal chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 13 from 35th to 22ndAll For One by Raven (UK) |
| Up 1 from 59th to 58thLettin Loose by Heavy Pettin |
| Up 1 from 58th to 57thNo Rest For The Wicked by Helix |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 2 from 26th to 28thDirty Rotten LP by D.R.I. |
| Down 1 from 22nd to 23rdPower & The Glory by Saxon |
| Down 1 from 23rd to 24thLoose '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 |  mrblond | 1983 year chart | 2021 |  |
| Top 27 Music Albums of 1983 |  ~SMiLE~ | 1983 year chart | 2013 | |
| NWOBHM (1979-1984) | Repo | Custom chart | 2023 | |
| Top 49 Music Albums of 1983 | Chambord | 1983 year chart | 2022 | |
| Top 40 Music Albums of 1983 |  badseed | 1983 year chart | 2015 | |
| Top 50 Music Albums of 1983 | conallmalone | 1983 year chart | 2022 |  |
| Top 36 Music Albums of 1983 |  RasmV | 1983 year chart | 2023 | |
| Top 20 Music Albums of 1983 |  Kaiser | 1983 year chart | 2015 |  |
| Top 40 Greatest Music Albums | Aris1914 | Overall chart | 2022 |  |
1983: Metal similarity to your chart(s)
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Other custom charts by Repo
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991: Even More Gems | Repo | Custom chart | 2025 | |
| 1992: Even More Gems | Repo | Custom chart | 2025 | |
| Pitchfork Music Fest 2018 | Repo | Custom chart | 2018 | |
1983: Metal ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
N.B. The average rating for this chart will not be reliable as it has been rated very few times.
Showing all 1 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/06/2023 16:45 |  Graeme2 | 213 | 94/100 |
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