Top Ten (+15) - The 1980s

The top ten lists from the 1980s included 243 bands and 595 albums. Now that I'm at the end, I know you've all been waiting for this, so without further ado, here are my top 25* albums from that decade. It's a pretty damn impressive list, with every album topping a 90 rating (without rounding up).

*Yes, there are indeed 26 albums listed here; there was a tie for 25th place.

Three bands -- Gillan, Iron Maiden, and Queensrÿche -- show up more than once. I was surprised that some of my favorite bands, including the Scorpions, Savatage, Black Sabbath, Metal Church, MSG and others only have one album listed here. But I wasn't surprised that 24 of the 26 albums were from 1980 - 1984. That was a special time in rock and metal history, and the strength of diversity of the music was evident.



Top 25 Albums:
96.37 -- Queensrÿche - Queensrÿche (EP) (1983)
94.86 -- Iron Maiden - Powerslave (1984)
93.73 -- Black Sabbath - Born Again (1983)
93.02 -- Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime (1988)
91.90 -- Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind (1983)
91.79 -- Michael Schenker Group - Assault Attack (1982)
91.78 -- Krokus - Headhunter (1983)
91.76 -- Metal Church - Blessing In Disguise (1989)
91.64 -- Savatage - The Dungeons are Calling (1984)
91.46 -- Fastway - Fastway (1983)
91.40 -- Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (1982)
91.22 -- Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry (1984)
91.11 -- Gillan - Glory Road (1980)
90.86 -- Metallica - Ride the Lightning (1984)
90.73 -- Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 2 (1988)
90.64 -- Gillan - Future Shock (1981)
90.57 -- Gillan - Double Trouble (1981)
90.54 -- Scorpions - Love at First Sting (1984)
90.51 -- Anvil - Metal On Metal (1982)
90.48 -- Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations (1981)
90.45 -- Saxon - Power and the Glory (1983)
90.36 -- Riot - Restless Breed (1982)
90.33 -- Kix - Kix (1981)
90.27 -- More - Blood & Thunder (1982)
90.22 -- Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman (1981)
90.22 -- Def Leppard - On Through the Night (1980)
89.96 -- Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell (1980)

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

Rock Island - Chapter Five

You're walking on the far side of the island with Cinnamon when you spot (or think you spot) two men off in the distance. One has gray hair and reminds you of that "rich Corinthian leather" guy. He seems fairly tall, but that could be misleading as the other man is short; maybe even a little person. You think you hear the words "ze plane," but then Cinnamon is talking to you and turn your attention to her, the vision (or was it real?) already forgotten.

"So tell me some of the songs you have with you," Cinnamon says. This is music to your ears. You scroll through your MP3 player, reading heavy metal song titles aloud:

• Angel Dust - Follow Me, Pt. 2; Surrender
• Anvil - Bedroom Game; Metal On Metal
• Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Set Your Controls
• Axel Rudi Pell - Casbah; Live for the King
• Blood Ceremony - Master of Confusion
• Brainstorm - Hollow Hideaway; Trinity of Lust: Shiva's Tears; Worlds are Comin' Through
• Bruce Dickinson - Tears of A Dragon; Accident of Birth
• Butthole Surfers - Who Was in My Room Last Night?
• Candlebox - You
• Cans - The Key
• Circle II Circle - Out of Reach
• Cornerstone - Welcome to Forever; Once Upon Our Yesterdays
• Dark Moor - Nevermore
• Def Leppard - Rock Brigade; Wasted
• Dio - Holy Diver
• Dogface - Not Wanted
• Domine - The Ride of the Valkyries; Dawn of a New Day - A Celtic Requiem
• Dream Theater - Pull Me Under; Take the Time; Caught in a Web; Scene Four: Beyond This Life; Glass Prison; Great Debate
• Edguy - Out of Control; Piper Never Dies
• Elixir - Born Loser
• Fastway - Another Day; Say What You Will
• Feinstein - Rebelution; Streaming Star; Inferno
• Force of Evil - Dawn on Dominion/Hell on Earth
• Galactic Cowboys - I'm Not Amused
• Gamma Ray - Heading for Tomorrow; Rebellion in Dreamland; Heart of the Unicorn; New World Order; My Temple; Spiritual Dictator
• Great White - Desert Moon

With power dwindling, you stop, but unfortunately (or is it fortunately?) there will be another opportunity to finish the list.

Top Ten (+ 15) - Albums by British Bands

Almost 1/3 of the albums I've rated are by British bands. Because of that (the total is 611, by the way), I'm going to post my top 25 British albums. There are only 13 different bands listed here, a result of a few bands being listed more than once. Black Sabbath leads everyone with four albums, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple and Gillan are next with three each, and Saxon, Sweet and Uriah Heep all have two albums in the Top 25. Also interesting is that most albums were recorded in the 70s and 80s, while only 4 were recorded in 1990 or later.

Top 25 Albums:
98.14 -- Deep Purple - In Rock (1970)
97.98 -- Rainbow - Rising (1976)
95.70 -- Deep Purple - Machine Head (1972)
94.86 -- Iron Maiden - Powerslave (1984)
94.24 -- Sweet - Give Us A Wink (1976)
93.73 -- Black Sabbath - Born Again (1983)
91.90 -- Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind (1983)
91.47 -- Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)
91.46 -- Fastway - Fastway (1983)
91.45 -- Uriah Heep - Wake the Sleeper (2008)
91.40 -- Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (1982)
91.11 -- Gillan - Glory Road (1980)
91.00 -- Sweet - Desolation Boulevard (US version) (1974)
90.86 -- Jethro Tull - Aqualung (1971)
90.85 -- Black Sabbath - Tyr (1990)
90.82 -- Elixir - The Idol (2003)
90.71 -- Deep Purple - Fireball (US) (1971)
90.64 -- Gillan - Future Shock (1981)
90.57 -- Gillan - Double Trouble (1981)
90.55 -- Saxon - Metalhead (1999)
90.52 -- Black Sabbath - Master of Reality (1971)
90.48 -- Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations (1981)
90.45 -- Saxon - Power and the Glory (1973)
90.39 -- Uriah Heep - Salisbury (1971)
90.27 -- More - Blood & Thunder (1982)