I decided to put together a list of my favorite ten metal records of each year for every year between 1980-1995. Well, I tried anyway. It was easier said than done, but I managed and I think it turned out somewhat accurately presentable. I simply chose the years 1980-1995 because those are the years from which most of my music has come from.
To do an extended list beyond 1995 would be a rather difficult task as I found the 2000's in particular to provide little metal of interest, with Chimaira, Lamb of God and DevilDriver a few worthy of mention. Even for the 1970's it would be quite hard to find ten albums for each year, because I simply never really fell
that much in love with the 70's sound, and it would only be the obvious bands like AC/DC, Sabbath, Priest, and so on.
Anyway, here is my list of my favorite 10 records of each year between the years 1980 to 1995. It will be an overall collection of metal - heavy, NWoBHM, thrash, death, black, etc. Anything that I simply love and regard as something extraordinary from those individual years will be listed by their release years down below.
I hope you enjoy my personal favorites-list, even if some of the choices are nothing unique or surprising, though I hope you'll find
some surprises at least and perhaps even introduce some new bands to y'all.
Later //J.
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This list is presented in a
somewhat correct order. The top-listed records for each year is my favorite album of that year, but after that there's not necessarily a certain order. To be honest - it's way too hard to actually rank them in a certain order.
1980:
Black Sabbath –
Heaven And Hell
Saxon – Wheels Of
Steel
Motörhead – Ace of
Spades
Ozzy Osbourne –
Blizzard of Ozz
Iron Maiden – S/T
Diamond Head –
Lightning To The Nations
Judas Priest –
British Steel
AC/DC – Back In Black
Angel Witch – S/T
Tygers Of Pan Tang –
Wild Cat
Comment: The start of the almighty 80's. Musically this was a very important year for music (overall), but especially for us metal fans - it was gonna change and expand the metal scene forever. However, apart from a few albums on this list that I will forever regard as some of the very best metal records of all time, the best was yet to come in later years.
1981:
Ozzy Osbourne – Diary
Of A Madman
Black Sabbath – Mob
Rules
Tygers Of Pan Tang –
Spellbound
Iron Maiden – Killers
Mötley Crüe – Too
Fast For Love
Accept – Breaker
Venom – Welcome To
Hell
Van Halen – Fair
Warning
Def Leppard – High
‘n’ Dry
Thin Lizzy – Renegade
Comment: An improvement from the previous year, which still was a damn good one. Ozzy makes his best album ever (imo), Sab release their best one with Dio, and Tygers release their best album as well. I'll let this top-10 speak for itself.
1982:
Judas Priest –
Screaming For Vengeance
Accept – Restless And
Wild
Plasmatics – Coup
d’Etat
Iron Maiden – The
Number Of The Beast
Diamond Head –
Borrowed Time
Venom – Black Metal
Scorpions – Blackout
Motörhead – Iron Fist
MSG – Assault Attack
Kiss – Creatures Of
The Night
Comment: Not much change here, around the same quality as '81. Some bands (Motörhead) do, however, release some less-good albums than before. Overall this year maybe wasn't as strong as the previous two anyway. This list kind of marks the finest moments of the year, and I think that was pretty much "it". NWoBHM was already on a downfall and American heavy metal was slowly starting to arise.
1983:
Accept – Balls To The
Wall
Dio – Holy Diver
Def Leppard –
Pyromania
Mercyful Fate –
Melissa
Ozzy Osbourne – Bark
At The Moon
Thin Lizzy – Thunder
And Lightning
Mötley Crüe – Shout
At The Devil
Slayer – Show No
Mercy
Iron Maiden – Peace
Of Mind
Exciter – Heavy Metal
Maniac
Comment: Wow! This was quite a year! A very rich year musically. Many bands release their finest albums this year (Accept, Mötley Crüe, Dio...) while there are a lot of interesting newcomers (Exciter, Slayer, Mercyful Fate...). A good year, a very good year indeed.
1984:
Mercyful Fate – Don’t
Break The Oath
W.A.S.P. – S/T
Judas Priest –
Defenders Of The Faith
Dio – The Last In
Line
Madison – Diamond
Mistress
Warlock – Burning The
Witches
Metallica – Ride The
Lightning
Queensrÿche – The
Warning
Iron Maiden –
Powerslave
Ratt – Out Of The
Cellar
Comment: Wow!, pt. 2. Not much changes quality-wise from the previous year. Bands like Dio, Priest and Maiden continue to put out really strong records, while newcomers W.A.S.P., Warlock, Queensrÿche and Ratt releases great debut (full-length) albums. Metallica keeps on changing the metal industry and Mercyful Fate releases their very best record, as well as one of the most sinister metal records of all time.
1985:
Saxon – Innocence Is
No Excuse
Anthrax – Spreading
The Disease
Slayer – Hell Awaits
Twisted Sister – Come
Out And Play
Dio – Sacred Heart
Fate – S/T
Treat – Scratch And
Bite
Ratt – Invasion Of
Your Privacy
Celtic Frost – To
Mega Therion
Warlock - Hellbound
Comment: After the excellent '83 and '84, or simply after a great half-decade of metal bands/records, I always felt that 1985 was kind of a "sabbatical year" for metal. Yes, the quality dropped quite a bit I have to admit, with some bands (Dio, Ratt, Warlock...) releasing not-as-strong albums as previously. But the biggest thing is that it just felt like a like a poor year, if counting actual records released during the year. I guess most bands just were getting really big and toured throughout, or that they needed their first lengthier break in many years. Not a bad year, but perhaps the weakest year of the decade.
1986:
Iron Maiden –
Somewhere In Time
Dark Angel – Darkness
Descends
Ozzy Osbourne – The
Ultimate Sin
Crimson Glory – S/T
Metallica – Master Of
Puppets
Megadeth – Peace
Sells…But Who’s Buying?
Queensrÿche – Rage
For Order
Cinderella – Night
Songs
Onslaught – The Force
Kreator – Pleasure To
Kill
Comment: Wow!, pt. 3. After the kind of "pause" year of '85, the musical quality returned this year with a lot of awesome records. Not only just that either, but now the latter half of the 80's will be a change from the previous half. Almost gone is the NWoBHM scene, at least as far as any releases worth of mention go (only Maiden pretty much continue to be relevant or good/appreciated). Thrash metal makes an official entry and this also marks the strongest year in thrash metal records. Opposite thrash we now also start to see an increase of glam metal bands, with only a few like Cinderella that are of any greater (musical) interest to me personally.
1987:
King Diamond –
Abigail
Dio – Dream Evil
Testament – The
Legacy
Guns N’ Roses –
Appetite For Destruction
Bathory – Under The
Sign Of The Black Mark
Coroner – R.I.P.
Overkill – Taking
Over
Savatage – Hall Of
The Mountain King
Anthrax – Among The
Living
Death Angel – The
Ultra-Violence
Comment: Another really strong and interesting year, although not quite as strong as '86. The thrash vs. glam battle is still a bit on the rise, although it's already quite big. You know, it's just metalheads in a fucking nutshell - you can't like everything, like I do, but you must choose sides. If not, then you're either a poser (glam) or a fucking hobo (thrash). Fuck that. I rage and fight to thrash, and I fuck and party to glam.
1988:
Ozzy Osbourne – No
Rest For The Wicked
Danzig – S/T
Testament – The New
Order
Bathory – Blood Fire
Death
Vicious Rumors –
Digital Dictator
Jane’s Addiction –
Nothing’s Shocking
Metallica - …And
Justice For All
Overkill – Under The
Influence
Anthrax – State Of
Euphoria
Crimson Glory –
Transcendence
Comment: For many years I thought of this year to be somewhat of an "odd" year, I couldn't quite wrap my mind around what I thought of it. I guess I did in fact not like the music released this year that much, but in latter years I've really discovered or rethought my feelings of what was actually released in '88. These days I really think it was a good year in metal music, although not the best year of the decade. Some new favorite bands of mine like Danzig and Jane's Addiciton really came through this year, and Bathory semi-started a new era.
1989:
W.A.S.P. – The
Headless Children
Faith No More – The
Real Thing
Cro-Mags – Best
Wishes
Coroner – No More
Color
Sepultura – Beneath
The Remains
Overkill – The Years
Of Decay
The Almighty – Blood,
Fire & Love
Babylon A.D. – S/T
Black Sabbath –
Headless Cross
Blue Murder – S/T
Comment: Last year of the great 80's. Not the decade's strongest year, but an improvement from the previous year, perhaps over '87 as well. The thrash vs. glam battle is at its largest at this point and I would probably think that few was expecting what was lying around the corner, waiting... Anyway, while there were simply too many bands in (particularly) the thrash and glam scenes to count, some of the more unnoticed bands (The Almighty, Babylon A.D., Coroner...) of both sub-genres released some of the best albums of the year. Bands like Faith No More, W.A.S.P. and Sepultura release their strongest works (imo), while Black Sabbath makes their best record in many years.
1990:
Alice in Chains –
Facelift
Spread Eagle – S/T
Danzig – II: Lucifuge
Anthrax – Persistence
Of Time
Entombed – Left Hand
Path
Nocturnus – The Key
Sleeze Beez – Screwed
Blued & Tattooed
Warrior Soul – Last Decade
Dead Century
Jane’s Addiction –
Ritual De Lo Habitual
Pantera – Cowboys
From Hell
Comment: With the 80's officially over and the 90's started, I figure many people were expecting some huge changes to all kinds of media. In metal, there were some larger changes indeed, but I would say that they had already been developed in the last years of the 80's, and just kind of broke out of the underground during this year. Of course I'm talkin' about death metal. Thrash metal is pretty much a thing of the passed 80's now, and death metal is its successor - freshly so. I would also argue, I think, that this year was the best year in death metal? Anyway, death metal and alternative music (Faith No More, Jane's Addiciton, etc.) are at large as the 90's kick off, but soon there will be another uprising as we all know.
1991:
Dismember – Like An
Ever Flowing Stream
Mordred – In This
Life
Entombed –
Clandestine
Overkill –
Horrorscope
Type O Negative –
Slow, Deep & Hard
Skid Row – Slave To
The Grind
Ozzy Osbourne – No
More Tears
Coroner – Mental
Vortex
Mr. Bungle – S/T
Sepultura - Arise
Comment: Grunge. Well, fuck that. I never were a big fan of grunge. It just felt like a shittier style of...everything. You know, the grunge bands just never appealed to me (apart from the heavy and awesome Alice in Chains...and earlier Soundgarden). Grunge just exploded in '91 thanks to fucking Nirvana. While it actually was a strong year in the metal music department, all that was pretty much overshadowed by Nirvana, Soundgarden and some others. They were like shittier versions of punk bands, of rock bands, of metal bands. Just fucking...shit.
This year was like the final nail in the coffin for most glam and thrash bands still lurking around, and death metal was largely held back because of this musical change as well, and don't even get me started on fucking Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and what they did to the scene during this year.
1992:
Faith No More – Angel
Dust
Danzig – III: How The
Gods Kill
Alice in Chains –
Dirt
Cro-Mags – Alpha
Omega
Fear Factory – Soul
Of A New Machine
W.A.S.P. – The
Crimson Idol
Saigon Kick – The
Lizard
Malevolent Creation - Retribution
Pantera – Vulgar
Display Of Power
Rage Against The
Machine – S/T
Comment: Grunge is still at large, unfortunately. Most of the last few (notable) traces of glam and thrash bands are to be found in this year - many of them released their final albums (at the time) and broke-up. If not, they changed to adapt to the style that Metallica had made famous the previous year (Testament, Megadeth, etc.). Fortunately for me, a few bands managed to actually held back grunge a bit and showed 'em how it's done. Faith No More and newcomers RATM and Fear Factory were all modern, but were not grunge bands but instead mixes of several other styles that would prove to be very, if not more so than grunge, influential to future bands of the 90's.
1993:
Life of Agony – River
Runs Red
Carcass – Heartwork
Dismember – Indecent
& Obscene
Coroner – Grin
Benediction –
Transcend The Rubicon
Dio – Strange
Highways
Dissection – The
Somberlain
Saigon Kick – Water
Death – Individual
Thought Patterns
Type O Negative –
Bloody Kisses
Comment: While grunge was still the biggest thing at this point, together with Metallica and RHCP of course, there actually were opportunities for other styles to shine again. Many of the greatest death metal records were released in this year, many of which were rather successful. Some other bands such as the crossover-groovy Life of Agony and the gothic Type O Negative really came on and put in new influences for future groove and alternative bands respectively. Not an exceptional year, but a very good one nonetheless. Oh, and fuck grunge.
1994:
Septic Flesh – Mystic
Places Of Dawn
Machine Head – Burn
My Eyes
Megadeth –
Youthanasia
Danzig – 4p
Bolt Thrower - …For
Victory
Running Wild – Black
Hand Inn
Testament – Low
Darkthrone – Transilvanian Hunger
Pantera – Far Beyond Driven
Body Count – Born Dead
Comment: R.I.P. Kurt Cobain, and pretty much the whole grunge scene with you. While I never were a big fan of Nirvana, or most other grunge bands, I did not have anything against people like Kurt Cobain personally. But with his tragic death, so went grunge with him, kind of. I guess that is just the sad reality of people - they fanboy/girl one person rather than the actual legacy of his/her. I really do believe so was the case with Kurt as well. I mean, what are the odds? He died - grunge died. There were lots of better grunge bands than Nirvana, but he was like the God of it, and when he was gone, so was the whole musical genre basically.
Besides grunge's last breaths, death metal was not really prevailing this year either. Instead the year was rather filled with new styles such as rap/nu metal, groove metal and some more underground black metal stuff that was slowly rising up.
1995:
Face Down - Mindfield
Fear Factory –
Demanufacture
Dissection – Storm Of
The Light’s Bain
The Gathering -
Mandylion
Death – Symbolic
Hate Squad – I.Q.
Zero
Dismember – Massive
Killing Capacity
White Zombie –
Astro-Creep 2000
Grip Inc. – Power Of
Inner Strength
Suffocation - Pierced From Within
Comment: The last awesome year of the 90's, to me. After this year, I honestly have a rather hard time finding more than ten albums a year that appealed to me, at least until 2003. I know I could find it for 1996 and 1997 as well, but it's just, literally, scraping the good out of the pile of shit.
1995 showed us as well as set the bars for what the remainder of the 90's would pretty much come to be like. We get more groove metal as well as industrial metal, which at this point had become a popular (and rather commercial) style of metal. Death metal is pretty much over, at least as far as records worthy of listening to goes. Death, the band that pretty much started the whole sub-genre, are the last to be really good at it, so at least that was a fitting touch.
Otherwise there not really overly much of interest during this year in my opinion. I really do like the massively overlooked bands like Face Down, Hate Squad and Grip Inc. - all of who played groove/post-thrash metal. The Gathering's "Mandylion" was also a rather simplistic but just wonderful and beautiful album that expanded the goth scene.
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I hope you enjoyed my lists and thoughts about the years. Check out my new list that covers the years 2003-2015, if you did enjoy this one. Peace!
