Top Ten - 1981

After his initial foray into jazz rock, Ian Gillan renamed his band to Gillan and returned to a hard rock sound. 1981 was a high point as he took the top two spots with the excellent Future Shock and Double Trouble albums. NWOBHM bands also started coming on strong, placing four bands placed in the top ten. I rated 67 albums from that year.



Top Ten - 1981
90.64 -- Gillan - Future Shock
90.57 -- Gillan - Double Trouble
90.48 -- Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations
90.33 -- Kix - Kix
90.22 -- Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman
89.60 -- Killer - Wall of Sound
88.46 -- More - Warhead
88.37 -- Gaskin - End of the World
86.00 -- Riot - Fire Down Under
85.84 -- Y&T - Earthshaker

Other 1981 releases:
85.32 -- Anvil - Hard'n'Heavy
85.30 -- Triumph - Allied Forces
85.28 -- Holocaust - The Nightcomers
84.66 -- Iron Maiden - Killers
84.23 -- April Wine - The Nature of the Beast
83.54 -- Tygers of Pan Tang - Spellbound
83.37 -- Rush - Moving Pictures
82.66 -- Rainbow - Difficult to Cure
82.62 -- Danny Joe Brown - Danny Joe Brown and the Danny Joe Brown Band
82.42 -- Robin Trower - B.L.T.
82.18 -- The Rods - The Rods
81.75 -- Mötley Crüe - Too Fast for Love
81.74 -- Peter Frampton - Breaking All the Rules
81.56 -- Saxon - Denim and Leather
81.31 -- Fist - Back with A Vengeance
80.60 -- Grand Funk - Grand Funk Lives!
80.52 -- Demon - Night of the Demon
80.43 -- Warning - Warning
80.29 -- Michael Schenker Group - MSG
80.05 -- Krokus - Hardware
79.25 -- Budgie - Nightflight
79.15 -- Lucifer's Friend - Mean Machine
79.05 -- Blackfoot - Marauder
78.59 -- Def Leppard - High 'n' Dry
78.30 -- Billy Squier - Don't Say No
77.95 -- Vardis - The World's Insane
77.89 -- Raven - Rock Until You Drop
77.63 -- Cirith Ungol - Frost and Fire
77.34 -- Venom - Welcome to Hell
77.12 -- UFO - The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent
77.09 -- Heavy Load - Metal Conquest
76.27 -- Molly Hatchet - Take No Prisoners
76.17 -- Neil Young - Re-ac-tor
76.17 -- Styx - Paradise Theater
75.47 -- Manilla Road - Mark of the Beast
75.34 -- Whitesnake - Come an' Get It
74.60 -- Pat Travers Band - Radio Active
74.34 -- Hawkwind - Sonic Attack
74.25 -- Graham Bonnet - Line Up
73.97 -- The Who - Face Dances
72.14 -- Praying Mantis - Time Tells No Lies
71.88 -- Samson - Shock Tactics
71.58 -- Blue Öyster Cult - Fire of Unknown Origin
71.30 -- Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
71.02 -- Van Halen - Fair Warning
69.74 -- ZZ Top - El Loco
69.53 -- Accept - Breaker
69.20 -- Judas Priest - Point of Entry
68.02 -- Cozy Powell - Tilt
67.29 -- Thin Lizzy - Renegade
65.20 -- Kiss - Music from "The Elder"
64.64 -- Foghat - Girls to Chat & Boys to Bounce
64.58 -- Moody Blues - Long Distance Voyager
64.20 -- Foreigner - 4
63.81 -- Bow Wow - Hard Dog
62.40 -- AC/DC - For Those About to Rock
56.07 -- Alice Cooper - Special Forces

Top Ten - 1982

1982 was a strong year in rock. The 67 albums below are a good mix of top acts and lesser known bands, of heavy metal and classic rock, of bands on their way in and bands on their way out. Oh, and while the top two albums are great, don't ignore the four behind them.



Top Ten - 1982
91.79 -- Michael Schenker Group - Assault Attack
91.40 -- Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
90.51 -- Anvil - Metal On Metal
90.36 -- Riot - Restless Breed
90.27 -- More - Blood & Thunder
88.44 -- Winterhawk - Revival
87.33 -- Triumph - Never Surrender
86.39 -- Baron Rojo - Volumen Brutal (english version)
86.27 -- Rainbow - Straight Between the Eyes
86.17 -- Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance

Other 1982 releases:
85.47 -- Diamond Head - Borrowed Time
85.12 -- Vandenberg - Vandenberg
84.83 -- Scorpions - Blackout
84.21 -- Picture - Diamond Dreamer
83.95 -- Demon - The Unexpected Guest
83.48 -- The Rods - Wild Dogs
83.28 -- E.F. Band - Deep Cut
83.26 -- Manowar - Battle Hymns
82.95 -- Pat Travers Band - Black Pearl
82.80 -- Raven - Wiped Out
82.79 -- Gary Moore - Cooridors of Power
82.78 -- Gillan - Magic
81.76 -- Uriah Heep - Abominog
81.47 -- Asia - Asia
80.18 -- Plasmatics - Coup d'Etat
79.47 -- Motörhead - Iron Fist
79.41 -- Y&T - Black Tiger
78.91 -- Whitesnake - Saints & Sinners
78.84 -- Bow Wow - Warning from Stardust
78.62 -- Axe - Offering
78.46 -- Rush - Signals
78.41 -- Nightwing - Black Summer
77.86 -- Aerosmith - Rock in a Hard Place
77.78 -- Bow Wow - Asian Volcano
76.12 -- Viva - Dealers of the Night
75.75 -- Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Somewhere in Afrika
75.72 -- Santers - Racing Time
75.66 -- Kiss - Creatures of the Night
75.62 -- Night Ranger - Dawn Patrol
74.91 -- Riff Raff - Robot Stud
74.80 -- Gaskin - No Way Out
74.22 -- Ted Nugent - Nugent
74.18 -- Heavy Load - Death Or Glory
73.80 -- Kim Mitchell - Kim Mitchell
72.32 -- UFO - Mechanix
72.31 -- Witchfinder General - Death Penalty
72.17 -- Billy Squier - Emotions in Motion
71.31 -- Jethro Tull - The Broadsword and the Beast
71.08 -- Talas - Sink Your Teeth into That
70.75 -- The Who - It's Hard
70.51 -- Manilla Road - Metal
70.46 -- Sweet - Identity Crisis
70.09 -- Robin Trower - Truce
69.63 -- Samson - Before the Storm
69.54 -- Hawkwind - Choose Your Masques
69.23 -- Budgie - Deliver Us from Evil
68.51 -- Golden Earring - Cut
65.33 -- Krokus - One Vice At A Time
65.00 -- Twisted Sister - Under the Blade
64.06 -- Tygers of Pan Tang - Crazy Nights
62.80 -- Hawkwind - Church of Hawkwind
62.50 -- Van Halen - Diver Down
61.10 -- Venom - Black Metal
59.50 -- Pete Townshend - All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
55.66 -- Alice Cooper - Zipper Catches Skin
52.96 -- Foghat - In the Mood for Something Rude
50.14 -- Queen - Hot Space

With a Little Help from My Friends...

I have a bit of a problem here. Take a look at the numbers below and see if you can figure it out:
1960s - 170
1970s - 604
1980s - 586
1990s - 387
2000s - 534

The left column is a decade in music. The right column is the number of albums I've reviewed/rated from that decade. I expected the 1960s to be on the low side, and I'm working on them, but I don't ever think the numbers will rival those of the other decades.

The 1990s, on the other hand, are unexpectedly low. I believe this is due to the popularity of certain musical genres prevalent during the decade, such as grunge, alternative metal, nu metal, and alternative rock. As I've explained, I generally don't like these genres and have few, if any albums by those bands. Just to be perfectly clear, don't expect to see much of the following bands rated here:

Alice in Chains, Bush, Hole, L7, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Biohazard, Godsmack, Kid Rock, Korn, Limp Bizkit, P.O.D., Rage Against the Machine, Sepultura, Slipknot, Soulfly, Staind, System of a Down, Therapy?, Tool, Type O Negative, White Zombie, Candlebox, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Incubus, Live, Nine Inch Nails, Offspring, Primus, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer

This is where you come in. I'd like to find new (to me) bands and albums from the 90s that fall into my musical comfort zone; that is hard rock, traditional heavy metal, and prog and power metal. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, post a comment here or in the chat box.

Living In the Past...

As posts are added, we get further and further from the raison d'être (look at me, getting all fancy!) for this blog, which was explained in the first post, From the Beginning....

For those of you who missed it, which as far as I can tell is everyone, I want to provide a brief summary of what I'm doing here, and also invite you to check out the full-blown (but not long-winded -- does that sound odd to you too?) original post. 

I started this because I don't believe standard rating systems (1 - 10, 10 - 100, etc.) are very accurate, or that a perfect score is possible. I've never found an album that I love from beginning to end. Even my favorite albums have fillers or maybe part of a song that isn't fantastic, like a weak intro, bad solo, etc.

So I came up with something a little different. I not only rate each song on an abum, but I also take into account song length*. As a result, my ratings don't reflect how much I like the album; instead, they reflect how much of the album I like.

*I explain the importance of considering song length, as well as provide an example, in the From the Beginning... post.

For now, I'm limiting my ratings to studio albums only. Also, although I like a lot of styles of genres of rock and metal, there are some I don't care for (such as Grunge, Nu Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal and others) and will not generally collect. Therefore, it wouldn't be fair to rate these types of albums as they would most likely receive low ratings.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, thoughts, suggestions, requests, etc., post a comment here or in the chatbox.

Rainbow Discography

In 1974, Ritchie Blackmore, frustrated with the funk/soul direction of Deep Purple's Stormbringer, as well as the band's rejection of his desire to record a cover tune, decided to record the song as a solo single track. He brought in the band Elf (minus their guitarist), who had supported Deep Purple on previous tours, as his backing musicians. However, Blackmore and singer Ronnie James Dio quickly discovered a musical chemistry, which prompted Blackmore to leave Deep Purple and form Rainbow.

From 1975 - 1984, and again from 1994 - 1997, the band included a staggering 24 musicians (featuring seven bassists, six drummers, six keyboardists, four singers, and one very tempermental guitarist). The early recordings with Dio are fan favorites, and were influential in the development of many of today's progressive and power metal bands.

Rising (1976) - 97.98
Well, it doesn't get much better than this. This is actually my second-highest rated album, and needless to say, there's not a bad song to be found. Side two of the original LP may be the best album side in rock and metal history, with two tracks (Stargazer and A Light In the Black) totalling almost 17 minutes of sheer musical bliss. Recommendation: Buy immediately!

Favorite tracks: Stargazer, A Light In the Black, Tarot Woman, Starstruck

Stranger In Us All (1995) - 88.10
Ritchie Blackmore reforms Rainbow after a tumultuous 10 year stint with the reformed Deep Purple. The album features an all-new lineup (including future wife and Blackmore's Night founding partner Candice Night as songwriter and off-stage background singer) and is an excellent conclusion to the Rainbow studio discography. Recommendation: Worth buying.

Favorite tracks: Ariel, Hall of the Mountain King

Straight Between the Eyes (1982) - 86.27
Rainbow finally achieve commercial success (not a bad thing, by the way) with power ballad Stone Cold leading the way. The album title allegedly came from Jeff Beck, who used the phrase when describing Jimi Hendrix to Blackmore. Blackmore tucked it away for years, finally deciding this was the time to use it. It's hard to disagree. Recommendation: Worth buying.

Favorite tracks: Death Alley Driver, Stone Cold, Eyes of Fire

Down to Earth (1979) - 86.00
Graham Bonnett replaces Dio on vocals, and not surprisingly, the band starts to pull away from the fantasy motif of the previous albums. Rainbow finally hit the radio airwaves (and MTV!) with All Night Long and Since You Been Gone, but Eyes of the World and Lost In Hollywood are the real gems on this album. Recommendation: Worth buying.

Favorite tracks: All Night Long, Eyes of the World, Lost In Hollywood

Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978) - 84.44
Rock anthems, speed metal, fantasy themes, ballads... this album has it all. Unfortunately, the lengthy mediocre ballad Rainbow Eyes had a rather large impact on the rating. Were it just a little better, the album rating would have been almost five points higher. Recommendation: Worth buying.

Favorite tracks: Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, Gates of Babylon, Kill the King

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975) - 84.01
The first Rainbow album is a mix of great and not-so-great songs, but standout tracks Man on the Silver Mountain and Sixteenth Century Greensleeves hint at future excellence. Plus, there's a cool instrumental cover of The Yardbird's Still I'm Sad. Recommendation: Worth buying.

Favorite tracks: Man on the Silver Mountain, Sixteenth Century Greensleeves, Still I'm Sad

Difficult to Cure (1981) - 82.66
Joe Lynn Turner takes over vocal duties. The band, turning ever more commercial, continues producing radio- and MTV-friendly tunes. Mostly good stuff here, but ironically, the non-radio-friendly self-titled instrumental is the only standout track. Recommendation: Worth buying.

Favorite track: Difficult to Cure (Beethoven's Ninth)

Bent Out of Shape (1983) - 79.91
Their most radio-friendly album was also their weakest. This is not a condemnation of the album; after all, it still received an 80 rating (if you round up). It's just that there are no "holy shit" moments. On the other hand, there are no "vomit-a-little-in-your-mouth" moments either. There is something to be said for consistency, even if only reaches the level of very good. Recommendation: Worth buying.

Favorite tracks: none

Caught In A Web...

I designed this blog on Internet Explorer, and through that browser everything looks fine. But I recently discovered that Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Safari don't display the blog the same way as IE. Originally, I thought I'd need to resize the album cover graphics, but in fact all I needed to do was make small edit to the layout template and delete some HTML code in the posts that contain album covers. It took less time than I thought, and now everything displays as intended on all browsers.

Top Ten - 1983

Here we go... the best year in rock and roll! Nine of the top ten albums topped a 90.00 rating (rounding up, of course), and 36 of the 68 albums listed topped an 80.00 rating. And just look at the top six: each and every one a classic metal album! It was good to be a metalhead in '83.



Top Ten - 1983
96.37 -- Queensrÿche - Queensrÿche (EP)
93.73 -- Black Sabbath - Born Again
91.90 -- Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind
91.78 -- Krokus - Headhunter
91.46 -- Fastway - Fastway
90.45 -- Saxon - Power and the Glory
89.81 -- Acid - Maniac
89.71 -- Jaguar - Power Games
89.64 -- Anvil - Forged In Fire
89.28 -- Silver Mountain - Shakin' Brains

Other 1983 releases:
88.91 -- Motörhead - Another Perfect Day
87.21 -- Savatage - Sirens
86.95 -- Metallica - Kill 'Em All
86.60 -- Oz - Fire in the Brain
86.55 -- Pretty Maids - Pretty Maids
85.90 -- Robin Trower - Back It Up
85.55 -- Savage - Loose 'n' Lethal
85.54 -- Blackfoot - Siogo
85.22 -- Zebra - Zebra
84.41 -- Killer Dwarfs - The Killer Dwarfs
84.29 -- Accept - Restless and Wild
83.86 -- Mercyful Fate - Melissa
83.43 -- Manilla Road - Crystal Logic
83.41 -- Kiss - Lick It Up
83.38 -- The Rods - In the Raw
83.30 -- Y&T - Mean Streak
83.28 -- Thin Lizzy - Thunder and Lightning
82.25 -- Mötley Crüe - Shout at the Devil
82.10 -- Chateaux - Chained and Desperate
82.00 -- Dio - Holy Diver
81.47 -- ZZ Top - Eliminator
80.49 -- Twisted Sister - You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
80.09 -- Molly Hatchet - No Guts No Glory
79.91 -- Rainbow - Bent Out of Shape
79.84 -- Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon
78.85 -- Quiet Riot - Metal Health
78.41 -- UFO - Making Contact
77.92 -- Michael Schenker Group - Built to Destroy
77.22 -- Manowar - Into Glory Ride
77.02 -- Witchfinder General - Friends of Hell
76.81 -- Axe - Nemesis
75.93 -- Highway Chile - Storybook Heroes
75.66 -- Raven - All for One
73.94 -- Waysted - Vices
73.37 -- Dokken - Breaking the Chains
73.12 -- Def Leppard - Pyromania
73.05 -- Alcatrazz - No Parole From Rock 'N Roll
72.84 -- Demon - The Plague
72.35 -- Vandenberg - Heading for a Storm
72.04 -- Torch - Torch
71.93 -- Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
71.13 -- Quartz - Against All Odds
70.75 -- Axewitch - The Lord of Flies
69.00 -- Alice Cooper - Dada
67.53 -- Styx - Kilroy Was Here
67.45 -- Cozy Powell - Octopuss
67.42 -- AC/DC - Flick of the Switch
66.16 -- Diamond Head - Canterbury
65.58 -- Grand Funk - What's Funk?
63.62 -- Moody Blues - The Present
63.40 -- Uriah Heep - Head First
62.91 -- Heavy Load - Stronger than Evil
62.78 -- Blue Öyster Cult - The Revolution by Night
58.10 -- Kix - Cool Kids
55.98 -- Atomic Rooster - Headline News
51.57 -- Venom - At War with Satan
47.06 -- Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
45.39 -- Foghat - Zig-Zag Walk

To Cry You A Song - Animals

I was originally going to do this with song titles, and actually found many animals mentioned (including some odd ones like a sealion, dolphin, monkey, and bee). But then I looked at band names and was surprised at how many were named after animals. I figured I could put together a better list of songs when choosing from an artist's entire catalogue, and in fact, it turned out better than I expected. This particular list includes 15 very good to excellent songs, with 10 being Desert Island songs (marked with an *).

You may notice some notable names are missing from this compilation. Obviously, The Beatles fit the category, but because this turned into a more hard rock/heavy metal compilation, I decided to leave them off. Also, there's no Whitesnake, because technically the name's not about an animal. The same is true for W.A.S.P. Also missing are bands with intentionally misspelled names, such as Ratt and Jackyl, and bands with an adjective or qualifier before the name, such as Iron Butterfly, Fuzzy Duck, White Lion, etc.

Animal Tracks: (wow, another unintentional bad pun)

1. Budgie - Zoom Club (9:56)*

2. Buffalo - Intro: Pound Of Flesh / Shylock (10:33)*

3. Bull Angus - Run Don't Stop (4:27)*

4. Buzzard - Save Me (3:51)*

5. Chinchilla - Father Forgive Me (5:10)

6. Great White - Desert Moon (4:32)*

7. Jaguar - Eighties (3:49)*

8. The Lizards - Hungry World (4:41)

9. Praying Mantis - Panic in the Streets (3:43)

10. Raven - Ballad of Marshall Stack (5:38)*

11. Scorpions - Lovedrive (4:52)*

12. Viper - Knights of Destruction (3:13)

13. Wild Turkey - Butterfly (4:55)

14. Wolf - Genocide (3:41)*

15. Zebra - Arabian Nights (5:19)*

Disc length - 78:20

Albums:

Budgie - In for the Kill (1974)

Buffalo - Volcanic Rock (1973)

Bull Angus - Bull Angus (1971)

Buzzard - Gambler (1984)

Chinchilla - The Last Millenium (2002)

Great White - Hooked (1991)

Jaguar - Run Ragged (2003)

The Lizards - The Lizards Rule (2003)

Praying Mantis - Time Tells No Lies (1981)

Raven - All for One (1983)

Scorpions - Lovedrive (1979)

Viper - Soldiers of Sunrise (1987)

Wild Turkey - Battle Hymn (1971)

Wolf - Black Wings (2002)

Zebra - Zebra IV (2003)

Good Times Bad Times...

In recent Top Ten posts, I postulated that 1985 may be the weakest year in rock and roll. I was wrong, but not by much.

I calculated the average of each year's top ten albums, and there are actually 10 years worse than 1985, including three I've posted so far: 1993, 1994, and 1996. I had written about 1993 and 1994 being down years, but didn't realize just how bad they really were.

I also posted that I thought 1984 was the strongest year so far, and I was right about that. But, it's not the best year in rock and roll. I won't give that away just yet, but trust me, you'll know soon enough which year it is. And as I get a bit closer to the end of the top ten posts for each year, I'll also post the averages. It's an interesting list, and the third best year was a big surprise to me.

Top Ten - 1984

Unlike 1985, 1984 was a huge year in rock and metal. Major players populate the list literally from top to bottom. And I believe this is the strongest top ten so far, with eight albums above a 90 rating (rounding up, of course), and a ninth just barely missing the cut. Even more impressive is that out of the 70 albums I rated, 40 top an 80 rating.



Top Ten - 1984
94.86 -- Iron Maiden - Powerslave
91.64 -- Savatage - The Dungeons are Calling
91.22 -- Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry
90.86 -- Metallica - Ride the Lightning
90.54 -- Scorpions - Love at First Sting
89.72 -- Sortilège - Métamorphose
89.60 -- Buzzard - Gambler
89.52 -- Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith
89.45 -- Dokken - Tooth and Nail
88.51 -- Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers

Other 1984 releases:
88.21 -- Fates Warning - Night on Bröcken
87.17 -- Metal Church - Metal Church
86.49 -- Saxon - Crusader
86.42 -- W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P.
86.09 -- Cutty Sark - Die Tonight
86.04 -- Rush - Grace Under Pressure
85.94 -- Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath
85.93 -- Riot - Born in America
85.56 -- Killer - Shock Waves
85.07 -- Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force
83.67 -- Gravestone - Victim of Chains
83.55 -- Accept - Balls to the Wall
82.73 -- Manowar - Hail to England
82.69 -- Box of Frogs - Box of Frogs
82.08 -- Grim Reaper - See You In Hell
81.88 -- The Rods - Let them Eat Metal
81.85 -- Bow Wow - Beat of Metal Motion
81.71 -- Pat Travers Band - Hot Shot
81.57 -- Brocas Helm - Into Battle
81.48 -- Exciter - Violence & Force
81.39 -- Ostrogoth - Ecstasy and Danger
80.86 -- Krokus - The Blitz
80.68 -- Whitesnake - Slide It In
80.59 -- Triumph - Thunder Seven
80.48 -- Hexx - No Escape
80.28 -- Armored Saint - March of the Saint
80.27 -- Trouble - Psalm 9
80.13 -- Silver Mountain - Universe
79.79 -- Queensrÿche - The Warning
79.63 -- Warlock - Burning the Witches
79.08 -- Ratt - Out of the Cellar
78.47 -- Dio - Last In Line
77.90 -- Helix - Walkin' the Razor's Edge
77.88 -- Van Halen - 1984
77.82 -- Heavy Pettin' - Lettin' Loose
77.69 -- Fastway - All Fired Up
77.56 -- Grave Digger - Heavy Metal Breakdown
77.10 -- Great White - Great White
76.87 -- Zebra - No Tellin' Lies
76.35 -- Pretty Maids - Red, Hot And Heavy
74.53 -- Bon Jovi - Bon Jovi
73.74 -- Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand the Weather
72.53 -- Stone Fury - Burns Like A Star
72.25 -- Torch - Electrikiss
71.87 -- Cirith Ungol - King of the Dead
71.33 -- Kiss - Animalize
70.80 -- Y&T - In Rock We Trust
70.14 -- Billy Squier - Signs of Life
67.89 -- Blackfoot - Vertical Smiles
67.79 -- Ted Nugent - Penetrator
65.01 -- Kim Mitchell - Akimbo Alogo
64.01 -- Tyran' Pace - Eye to Eye
61.76 -- Running Wild - Gates to Purgatory
61.46 -- Lee Aaron - Metal Queen
57.76 -- Manowar - Sign of the Hammer
55.48 -- Molly Hatchet - The Deed is Done
55.31 -- Queen - The Works
51.03 -- Golden Earring - N.E.W.S.
50.27 -- Samson - Don't Get Mad, Get Even
30.90 -- Jethro Tull - Under Wraps

Top Ten - 1985

Of the 54 albums I rated in 1985, only about 1/3 were by popular bands. This is reflected in the top ten as well, as only Saxon, Mötley Crüe, and Megadeth are the big names there. Not surprisingly, the lack of top talent meant lower ratings, with most bands scoring below 80. 1985 may just be the weakest year in rock and roll.



Top Ten - 1985
89.56 -- Fates Warning - The Spectre Within
87.89 -- Aria - Megalomania
86.42 -- Saxon - Innocence is No Excuse
86.20 -- Manilla Road - Open the Gates
85.90 -- Mötley Crüe - Theatre of Pain
84.93 -- Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone - Fighting Back
84.91 -- Blackmayne - Blackmayne
84.39 -- Overkill - Feel the Fire
84.05 -- Anthem - Anthem
83.91 -- Megadeth - Killing is My Business...and Business is Good!

Other 1985 releases:
83.11 -- Savatage - Power of the Night
82.03 -- Attacker - Battle at Helm's Deep
81.91 -- Ratt - Invasion of Your Privacy
81.86 -- Piledriver - Metal Inquisition
80.79 -- Dio - Sacred Heart
80.69 -- Aerosmith - Done with Mirrors
80.64 -- Rough Cutt - Rough Cutt
80.63 -- Nasty Savage - Nasty Savage
79.89 -- Avenger - Prayers of Steel
77.93 -- Exodus - Bonded by Blood
77.12 -- W.A.S.P. - The Last Command
76.49 -- 220 Volt - Mind Over Muscle
76.05 -- Blitzkrieg - A Time of Changes
75.99 -- Rottweiller - Screams of the Innocent
75.47 -- Ostrogoth - Too Hot
74.42 -- Kix - Midnight Dynamite
74.10 -- Armored Saint - Delirious Nomad
73.12 -- Nightmare - Power of the Universe
73.06 -- Stevie Ray Vaughan - Soul to Soul
72.01 -- Helloïse - Cosmogony
71.62 -- ZZ Top - Afterburner
70.90 -- Dokken - Under Lock and Key
70.77 -- Hawkwind - The Chronicle of the Black Sword
70.43 -- Y&T - Down for the Count
70.38 -- Malice - In the Beginning...
69.82 -- Thor - Only the Strong
69.66 -- Twisted Sister - Come Out and Play
69.51 -- Kiss - Asylum
68.69 -- Running Wild - Branded and Exiled
68.68 -- Bon Jovi - 7800° Fahrenheit
68.42 -- Bow Wow - Cyclone
68.12 -- Krokus - Change of Address
67.79 -- Triumph - The Sport of Kings
66.07 -- AC/DC - Fly On the Wall
65.93 -- Grim Reaper - Fear No Evil
64.30 -- Gravestone - Back to Attack
62.54 -- UFO - Misdemeanor
62.01 -- Rush - Power Windows
61.60 -- Vandenberg - Alibi
61.25 -- Uriah Heep - Equator
59.10 -- Alcatrazz - Disturbing the Peace
58.33 -- Icon - Night of the Crime
58.12 -- Demon - British Standard Approved
52.71 -- Demon - Heart of Our Time

To Cry You A Song - Numbers

With so many songs to choose from, the themes for these posts are limited only to my imagination (and I have a great imagination)! For this compilation, I gathered songs with numbers in their titles and began listing them consecutively, intending to stop when I couldn't find a number. I honestly expected to compile a single CD ending around the number 14, but instead I found songs that included numbers up to 22*. Rather than ignoring anything that wouldn't find on a single disc, I included all 22 songs on two CDs.

*If anyone knows of a song with the number 23 in it, please let me know and I'll add it to the list. I already have songs with "24" and "25" in their titles, so I can take this a bit further if possible.

As before, this is actually a good collection of songs wrapped around a theme. I really like all but one song, and even included a few Desert Island songs (marked with an *).

Number Tracks:
Disc 1
1. Fates Warning - One (4:27)
2. Doors - Love Me Two Times (3:16)
3. Three Man Army - Three Man Army (5:23)
4. Aphrodite's Child - Four Horsemen (5:53)*
5. Megadeth - Five Magics (5:39)
6. Silent Force - Six Past the Hour (4:44)*
7. Helloween - The Bells of the Seven Hells (5:22)*
8. The Beatles - Eight Days a Week (2:46)
9. Aerosmith - Nine Lives (4:1)
10. Mötley Crüe - Ten Seconds to Love (4:17)
11. Yngwie Malmsteen - Eleventh Hour (8:03)
Disc length - 54:51

Disc 2
12. Goddo - Twelve Days (3:24)
13. Anvil - This is Thirteen (6:40)
14. Guns 'n' Roses - 14 Years (4:17)
15. Highway Robbery - Fifteen (2:58)
16. Kiss - Christine Sixteen (3:14)
17. Kingdom Come - 17 (5:26)
18. Alice Cooper - I'm Eighteen (3:0)
19. Angel Witch - Flight Nineteen (5:55)
20. BillyLee Janey - 20 Miles Bad Road (3:27)
21. Annihilator - 21 (4:25)
22. Iron Maiden - 22 Acacia Avenue (6:37)
Disc length - 49:23

Albums:
Fates Warning - Disconnected (2000)
Doors - Strange Days (1967)
Three Man Army - A Third of A Lifetime (1971)
Aphrodite's Child - 666 (1972)
Megadeth - Rust In Peace (1990)
Silent Force - The Empire of Future (2000)
Helloween - Gambling with the Devil (2007)
The Beatles - Beatles for Sale (U.K.) (1964)
Aerosmith - Nine Lives (1997)
Mötley Crüe - Shout at the Devil (1983)
Yngwie Malmsteen - Perpetual Flame (2008)
Goddo - Goddo (1977)
Anvil - This is Thirteen (2007)
Guns 'n' Roses - Use Your Illusion II (1991)
Highway Robbery - For Love or Money (1972)
Kiss - Love Gun (1977)
Kingdom Come - Kingdom Come (1988)
Alice Cooper - Love It to Death (1971)
Angel Witch - Angel Witch (1980)
BillyLee Janey - Soul Driver (2008)
Annihilator - King of the Kill (1994)
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (1982)

Stranger In A Strange Land...

Very few rock and metal bands maintain a single member line-up throughout their history. More often, members come and go. And sometimes, there is an unlikely pairing of an artist's past with his present; for example, Robert Plant touring with (bluegrass country singer and fiddler) Alison Krauss.

There are 20 such pairings listed below. Can you name the band member who was in both groups? Some may be (should be) easy, but I'm guessing there are some you never knew. I will give you one hint: in some cases, the artist was a touring member of the band but did not record an album with the band.

Post your answers in the comments or the chat box. Good luck!

1. Black Oak Arkansas & Ozzy Osbourne
2. Vanilla Fudge & Blue Murder
3. The Cult & The Doors
4. Cream & Masters of Reality
5. Jethro Tull & Yngwie Malmsteen
6. Dust & Ramones
7. Electric Light Orchestra & Black Sabbath
8. Heart & Whitesnake
9. Jefferson Starship & UFO
10. Trapeze & Judas Priest
11. Hawkwind & Motorhead
12. Strawberry Alarm Clock & Lynyrd Skynyrd
13. Billy Squier & Kiss
14. Meatloaf & Ted Nugent
15. Jeff Beck Group & Rainbow
16. Savoy Brown & Michael Schenker Group
17. Billy Idol & Dream Theater
18. Humble Pie & Fastway
19. Manfred Mann's Earth Band & AC/DC
20. Journey & Axel Rudi Pell

Top Ten - 1986

I rated 51 albums from 1986, which saw releases from Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, W.A.S.P., AC/DC, and many other top acts. It's unfortunate that these bands overshadowed some other great, but less well-known, albums released that year. That only Iron Maiden made the top ten (and Metallica came in at number 11), should give you an idea of the quality of some of these other releases.



Top Ten - 1986
88.47 -- Sword - Metalized
87.64 -- The Rods - Heavier than Thou
87.46 -- Helloween - Walls of Judas
87.29 -- Cinderella - Night Songs
86.48 -- Elixir - The Son of Odin
86.41 -- Desolation Angels - Desolation Angels
86.17 -- Vanadium - Born to Fight
84.58 -- Crimson Glory - Crimson Glory
84.30 -- Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time
84.05 -- Anthem - Tightrope

Other 1987 releases:
83.34 -- Metallica - Master of Puppets
82.24 -- Queensrÿche - Rage for Order
81.94 -- Manilla Road - The Deluge
81.74 -- Hexx - Under the Spell
81.55 -- Obsession - Scarred for Life
80.62 -- Waysted - Save Your Prayers
80.04 -- Great White - Shot In the Dark
79.87 -- Black Sabbath - Seventh Star
79.71 -- Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin
77.88 -- Ted Nugent - Little Miss Dangerous
77.78 -- AC/DC - Who Made Who
77.59 -- Samurai - Weapon Master
77.39 -- Accept - Russian Roulette
77.25 -- Fates Warning - Awaken the Guardian
77.10 -- Omen - The Curse
76.55 -- Savatage - Fight for the Rock
75.87 -- Blue Öyster Cult - Club Ninja
75.35 -- Tension - Breaking Point
74.51 -- Megadeth - Peace Sells...but Who's Buying?
73.78 -- W.A.S.P. - Inside the Electric Circus
73.72 -- Saxon - Rock the Nations
73.38 -- Steeler - Strike Back
73.35 -- Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
73.14 -- Cirith Ungol - One Foot in Hell
70.98 -- Aria - Whom Are You With
70.97 -- Angel Dust - Into the Dark Past
70.69 -- Alice Cooper - Constrictor
70.51 -- Motörhead - Orgasmatron
68.65 -- Van Halen - 5150
68.63 -- Ratt - Dancing Undercover
67.57 -- Queen - A Kind of Magic
66.74 -- Bow Wow - III
66.18 -- Judas Priest - Turbo
64.85 -- Zebra - 3.V
62.66 -- Gravestone - Creating A Monster
62.23 -- Poison - Look What the Cat Dragged In
61.68 -- Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Criminal Tango
60.20 -- Rage - Reign of Fear
55.98 -- Box of Frogs - Strange Land
47.33 -- Forgotten Child - Forgotten Child
34.68 -- Piledriver - Stay Ugly

Spotlight On: Road

Road was an American power trio formed in Los Angeles, California. Band members included Rod Richards (guitar, vocals), Leslie Sampson (drums, vocals, percussion), and former Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding (bass, vocals).

Road formed in 1970 following the break up of Redding and Sampson's band Fat Mattress. The pair joined with Richards, who had recently left Rare Earth. They released their self-titled album in 1972 and disbanded shortly thereafter.

After the demise of Road, Redding and Sampson formed The Noel Redding Band while Richards went on to a solo career.

Album Review:

Great 70s hard rock, featuring plenty of wah-wah guitar, thundering bass, and even a drum solo (which I believe was a requirement for early 70s hard rock bands). Opening track I'm Trying alternates between slow and fast, with the wah wah really kicking in during the fast parts. I'm Going Down to the Country, a slow song with country-flavored twangy guitar, is the album's weakest track. The hard-rocking Mushroom Man is next, with Redding's bass up front and heavy as hell. Man Dressed in Red is a mid-paced rocker that features Richards' soloing throughout the song. Spaceship Earth is the standout track, full of heavy riffs and wah wah guitar goodness. Friends starts and ends heavy, with the aforementioned drum solo in the middle of the song. Closing track Road has a Black Sabbath-style heavy riff, lots more wah wah guitar, and a pretty good bass solo (I guess Redding didn't want to feel left out). Needless to say, this album is highly recommended for anyone who loves early 70s hard rock.

Overall and individual song ratings:

Road (87.89)

1. I'm Trying - 4

2. I'm Going Down to the Country - 2

3. Mushroom Man - 4

4. Man Dressed in Red - 3

5. Spaceship Earth - 6

6. Friends - 4

7. Road - 5

Ratings Key:

0 - Hate It

1 - Dislike It

2 - It's Ok

3 - Like It

4 - Like It A Lot

5 - Love It

6 - Desert Island Song

Long Way To Go...

So here we are, 71 posts into my blog, and I've only covered 992 ratings. Why so few, you may wonder? Am I lazy? (well, yeah, but not about this.) Do I procrastinate? (Let me get back to you on that.) Do I have a short atten... ooohh... shiny............

Sorry about that. Now where was I? Oh yeah. Do I have a short attention span? (Sometimes.) Actually, I'm anxious to display my results. I enjoy writing about them and sharing them. I even see some people are reading them (and hopefully enjoying them).

And that's what this is all about. I'm trying to do something both informative and fun. Sprinkled between the album ratings are some on-going posts that I like to write:

• Top Ten lists cover a range of topics such as ratings by year, country of band origin, genre, etc. I'll often include more than just the Top Ten albums in the list, and in the ratings by year posts, I actually list all the albums from that year (which means I'll eventually post all 2,200+ ratings.) So far, I posted album ratings from 2008 to 1987. I'll continue back to 1967, then probably write a single post for 1963 - 1966. The 2009 ratings will be posted soon after the year ends. I'll handle 2010 posts differently, probably as a single post with periodic updates.
• Discographies are self-explanatory. I've rated many band's complete studio discographies, and plan to post them all. The posts include the albums sorted by rating (highest to lowest), the year they were released, brief comments, trivia, or other interesting or noteworthy tidbits, and my favorite tracks.
• To Cry You A Song posts are compilation (audio) CDs based on a theme, band, year, genre, etc. This may already be an outdated concept given the proliferation of high-capacity MP3 players, but it's more fun (and more challenging) to limit myself to 80 minutes of music.
• Spotlight On features obscure (or less well-known) bands I like. I delve into the band's history and also list the albums and individual song ratings. Some of the albums are definitely worth owning if you're into that genre or style of music.

Additionally, I posted commentaries, thoughts, updates, a multi-part story, and even some word games. These posts all have one thing in common: the name of the post is always a song title. (Including this one... or did you notice that already?) I'll continue posting these at random.

As always, if there's anything you'd like to see, I take requests.

Top Ten - 1987

I rated 50 albums from 1987, and there was a major upset at the top spot as relative unknown Angus bests one of my personal favorites, Savatage. But hey, a great album is a great album, and finding them is part of what this three-year effort has been all about.



Top Ten - 1987
88.82 -- Angus - Warrior of the World
87.39 -- Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King
86.39 -- Malice - License to Kill
86.22 -- Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 1
86.21 -- Testament - The Legacy
85.80 -- Alice Cooper - Raise Your Fist and Yell
85.25 -- Guns 'n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
85.20 -- Grim Reaper - Rock You to Hell
85.10 -- Dark Quarterer - Dark Quarterer
84.90 -- Ostrogoth - Feelings of Fury

Other 1987 releases:
84.52 -- Krokus - Heart Attack
83.52 -- Anthem - Bound to Break
83.24 -- Black Sabbath - Eternal Idol
81.58 -- Dokken - Back for the Attack
81.48 -- Matakapos - Coming Out Ahead
81.26 -- Aria - Hero of Asphalt
81.24 -- Dio - Dream Evil
81.22 -- Great White - Once Bitten…
81.10 -- Manilla Road - Mystification
80.39 -- Deep Purple - The House of Blue Light
79.07 -- Metal Church - The Dark
79.05 -- Viper - Soldiers of Sunrise
78.78 -- Warlock - Triumph & Agony
78.16 -- Rage - Execution Guaranteed
78.12 -- Overkill - Taking Over
78.10 -- Anvil - Strength of Steel
76.40 -- Sanctuary - Refuge Denied
76.10 -- Whitesnake - Whitesnake
75.86 -- Twisted Sister - Love Is for Suckers
75.11 -- Motörhead - Rock 'n' Roll
74.70 -- Manowar - Fighting the World
72.82 -- Armored Saint - Raising Fear
72.73 -- Stormwitch - The Beauty and the Beast
72.22 -- Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation
72.12 -- Pretty Maids - Future World
71.88 -- Def Leppard - Hysteria
71.70 -- Jethro Tull - Crest of A Knave
70.34 -- Running Wild - Under Jolly Roger
69.68 -- Demon - Breakout
68.72 -- Bow Wow - Vow Wow V
68.52 -- Girl - Killing Time
67.71 -- Kiss - Crazy Nights
66.82 -- Toxik - World Circus
66.08 -- Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason
65.52 -- Mötley Crüe - Girls, Girls, Girls
65.28 -- Fastway - Trick or Treat
64.83 -- McAuley Schenker Group - Perfect Timing
58.35 -- Leviticus - Setting Fire to the Earth
54.68 -- Blackfoot - Rick Medlocke and Blackfoot
52.60 -- Picture - Marathon