It's taken me a while to get to a point where I feel I've got 1983 covered - I must've listened to 40+ albums this week to either refresh my memory or try albums that others regard as classics (low strike rate there
). Living in 1983 for the best part of the last week has been a bit of an eye opener. Not that I was really "music aware" at the time aside from KISS , but even so I'd never properly appreciated what a pivotal year it was. I would find it hard to argue with someone who suggested that it's the most important year in metal ever.
Aside from the big event of KISS "de-masking" we had (amongst others) the following bands forming: Testament, Stryper, Poison,Megadeth,Lizzy Borden, Helloween, Bon Jovi, Alcatrazz,Death
and debut albums from : Metallica, Queensryche (EP),Slayer,Mercyful fate, Ratt (EP), Pantera, Lita Ford, Savatage, Suicidal Tendencies,Dio , Europe, Dokken, Fastway,Waysted, Shy, Pretty Maids(EP).............the list goes on.
We also saw the final album from Lynott lead Thin Lizzy and the debut of Jake E Lee (a big fave of mine) in Ozzy's band.
I decided to keep the rating cutoff for an honourable mention at 75% because if I had made it 80% (which I will in 1984) then I would've excluded some well loved classics and we would've needed water cannons and tear gas to protect me from the rioters. I shocked myself by including Iron Maiden in the Top 10 again based on my new ratings - seems my tastes are changing a little. If it's not clear by now I'm doing these lists based mostly on how I view albums now , not based on how I rated them years ago.
TOP TEN ALBUMS FOR 19831. Def Leppard: Pyromania
2. Ozzy Osbourne: Bark At The Moon
3. Queensryche: Queensryche (EP)
4. Blackfoot: Siogo
5. Gary Moore: Victims Of The Future
6. KISS : Lick It Up
7. Krokus: Headhunter
8. Motley Crue: Shout At The Devil
9. Iron Maiden : Piece Of Mind
10: Dokken : Breaking The Chains (TIE)
10: Rainbow: Bent Out Of Shape(TIE)MADE THE SQUAD BUT NOT THE TEAM I didn't want a six way tie for 10th so these missed by a bee's dick :
Thin Lizzy: Thunder And Lightning
Savatage: Sirens
Europe: Europe
Heavy Pettin' : Lettin' Loose
and the rest in no particular order..........
Accept: Balls To The Wall
Alcatrazz: No parole From Rock n Roll
Dio : Holy Diver
Helix: No Rest For The Wicked
Twisted Sister: You Can't Stop Rock n Roll
Y&T: Mean Streak
Zebra: Zebra
Vandenberg: Heading For A Storm
Shy: Once Bitten........Twice Shy
Ratt: Ratt (EP)
Warlord: Deliver Us (EP)
Demon: The Plague
Triumph: Never Surrender
UFO: Making Contact
I'm sure that Holy Diver being out of the Top 10 will bewilder a few but for me it's a typical Dio album.......IMHO it contains 2 killer/classic songs, 4 very good ones and 3 fillers which , up against stiff competition , makes it hard for me to rate it high enough to make the Top 10 even though the best songs are
.
Another extremely good year next....... meanwhile I'm going to take a break from the 80's for 24 hours