Lowdz' Top 50 albums- No time to rest yet, I will hold this one on high

[wolfking]

That Dio album is perfect and is often underrated due to Holy Diver, but I think I might prefer Last in Line to Holy Diver.

I think the Danger Danger debut is miles better than Screw It, but that's because the debut is more melodic rock vs Screw It being more hair infused.  Andy Timmons is such a beast.

I think that's the only Marty Friedman album I don't have bar the recent ones, I'll have to check it out, the rest of his stuff is amazing.

I agree with everything you said except about the debut being better. 
D2 are always excellent live too.
Never enjoyed any of Ted Poley's solo stuff- he and the albums always sounded flat to me. He comes alive in D2 though.

Yeah, not too big on Poley's solo stuff either from what I've heard.  Although the album Smile had some really cool melodic rock tracks.

Revolve is still my fav D2 album, it's incredible.

[TAC]

Last In Line is incredible. Amazing..
But Eat Your Heart Out? Really?

"You've been a bad bad boy"

[jjrock88]

Love everything about Holy Diver and Last in Line. Perfect metal albums.

[Prog Snob]

You better get your shit together...      

I Still Think About You and Find Your Way Back Home are two of the awesomest cock rock power ballads ever.

[BlobVanDam]

Dio!

Not one of my favourite Dio albums, but it has some cool songs, like "I Speed At Night" and "We Rock".

[Lowdz]

Last In Line is incredible. Amazing..
But Eat Your Heart Out? Really?

"You've been a bad bad boy"

Yeah, I like that song. There isn't a bad track on it whereas HD has a couple of tracks that didn't hit the mark. As I said , those first 4 albums are all classics for me. Sacred Heart is probably the weakest but still a good album.

[wolfking]

Sacred Heart is actually my fav Dio album, for me, it's perfect.

[Cedar redaC]

I need to get into Dio. All my record store has is compilations, which is good, but I'd rather have the full albums.

[Lowdz]

14 Yngwie Odyssey (1988)



As a big Rainbow fan, seeing Yngwie team up with Joe Lynn Turner was something I was looking forward to, and I wasn't disappointed. This was Yngwie concentrating on the songs for probably the first time. The outside producer helped too. But the biggest thing with this album was that Yngwie's guitar playing, after his accident, wasn't so perfect. His lead playing sounds sloppy; not me sloppy, but certainly Yngwie sloppy. His rhythm sound is finally more 80s than 70s and we get to hear some Yngwie wahwah. The songs though are his best. JLT is as good as any Rainbow fan would expect, even on the heavier material. I was struggling to choose between this and Trilogy (the first cd I ever bought) but the better songs won. The guitar playing on Trilogy is better. Now if the accident hadn't happened and we got these songs with Yngwie's usual prowess? If only.


Best songs- Rising Force, Hold On, Riot In The Dungeons, Crystal Ball, Now Is The Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZSCt9w8DEc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8xByVA5VPw


13 Vinnie Vincent- Invasion (1986)




Vinnie saved KISS at the start of the 80s after the commercially disastrous “disco” period and The Elder (both of which I love btw). Creatures Of The Night and Lick It Up were excellent albums and when Vinnie was let go I had high hopes for his solo album. This is a shred album: Vinnie is all over it- he just lets rip. Are his solos sped up? I think it's likely, but it's so over the top I love it. I love his unrestrained tone, and he knows a good riff when he writes one. Ex-Journey vocalist Robert Fleishman is an acquired taste. He's up there with Geddy Lee and the guy from Triumph in the stratosphere, but it goes well with the over the top guitar. The songs are melodic hard rock and cover similar ground to his KISS work- just more OTT. Drums are provided by Berklee Trained  Bobby Rock, who's pretty good, but focus is on the guitar and vocals. And the incredibly shit lyrics (cliché glam-sado-masochism crap). This is not a subtle album!

Best tracks- Boyz Are Gonna Rock, Do You Wanna Make Love, Back On The Streets, Twisted, Baby-O

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOHxRMNd99g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nhk-cx9WPc

[Prog Snob]

Great Yngwie CD.  That's the one that got me into Yngwie in the first place. 

[TAC]

Twisted was a staple on my radio show in college.

you're right about the Yngwie image thing. The promo pics caused me to totally skip that album.

[Lowdz]

Twisted was a staple on my radio show in college.

you're right about the Yngwie image thing. The promo pics caused me to totally skip that album.

Not sure if serious. I was referring to VV's image  Hopefully you were too!

[jjrock88]

The promo pics for VVI are hellacious, but the song back on the streets is really catchy. Great Yngwie album.

[TAC]

Twisted was a staple on my radio show in college.

you're right about the Yngwie image thing. The promo pics caused me to totally skip that album.

Not sure if serious. I was referring to VV's image  Hopefully you were too!

No, I am serious. The Yngwie/JLT pics made them look like women!

[jjrock88]

Didn't Vinnie Vincent get kicked out of his own band which turned into Slaughter?

[wolfking]

Never got into Vinnie Vincent. 

That Yngwie album is top 3, incredible songs all the way through.

[Lowdz]

Didn't Vinnie Vincent get kicked out of his own band which turned into Slaughter?

Pretty much, yeah. He appears to be a total fuck up. He can write a song though.

[wolfking]

Twisted was a staple on my radio show in college.

you're right about the Yngwie image thing. The promo pics caused me to totally skip that album.

Not sure if serious. I was referring to VV's image  Hopefully you were too!

No, I am serious. The Yngwie/JLT pics made them look like women!

You think JLT looked like a women back then??

[Scorpion]

Eh, I'd hit that.

[Lowdz]

That is a nasty syrup!
Great voice though.

[wolfking]

 

[Prog Snob]

Twisted was a staple on my radio show in college.

you're right about the Yngwie image thing. The promo pics caused me to totally skip that album.

Not sure if serious. I was referring to VV's image  Hopefully you were too!

No, I am serious. The Yngwie/JLT pics made them look like women!

You think JLT looked like a women back then??

Looks like one of the Mob Wives

[TAC]

He looks embalmed!

[King Postwhore]

Oh poor, poor Joe Lynn.

The first singer for Vinny, Robert Fleischman, made me not like that album.  His voice sucked.  I liked Mark Slaughter much more.

[DebraKadabra]

He looks embalmed!

No shit.

[MoraWintersoul]

He looks embalmed!

No shit.

He sings like a beast though.

[Lowdz]

Oh poor, poor Joe Lynn.

The first singer for Vinny, Robert Fleischman, made me not like that album.  His voice sucked.  I liked Mark Slaughter much more.

We'll have to disagree on that. MS' voice was a  bit like nails on a blackboard to me.

[Lowdz]

12 Vinnie Moore- Mind's Eye (1986)



Loved this album from the moment I heard it. We're talking Neo-Classical instrumental metal here. Vinnie shreds with more melody than anyone I've heard. Even when he's flat out there is a tune to what he's playing. His picking is clean and he is a master of the arpeggio. Tony Macalpine plays keyboards and there's even a drum solo from Tommy Aldridge in the middle of Saved By A Miracle, though this does disrupt the flow a bit. I would love to be able to play guitar like Vinnie Moore. Unfortunately I play more like Vinnie Gambini. This album is in the vein of T-Mac's first two albums but just better. The 2nd solo in Lifeforce is one of my favourites ever.

Best tracks- In Control, Daydream, Lifeforce, The Journey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8EC_bwC6Xc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3whvrJcX9U


11 Strangers In The Night (1979)



UFO with Chapman was the first band I saw live, and Lonely Heart the first single I bought (along with Rainbow's I Surrender), so UFO were an early favourite. Again they never really sounded the same on album as they did live. This is a greatest hits in all but name, with the definitive versions of all these songs. Schenker of course is phenomenal, but Mogg is better than on the albums. As good a live album as there is. I always get the urge to play guitar when I listen to this album and that's usually a good sign. Doctor Doctor was the 2nd song I figured out for myself on guitar. One thing I will say, unlike the Priest live album, get the original version rather than the extended remaster. They fucked up the running order and ruined the flow. This album has to start with Natural Thing, to do otherwise is sacrilege. The only crap thoing about this album is the cover.

Best tracks- Out In The Street, Only You Can rock Me, Doctor Doctor, Love To Love, Shoot Shoot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypYkkDwJBxw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xAn_MZfCTI

[jjrock88]

Two more great picks

[wolfking]

Two absolute schorchers right there.  Strangers in the Night is one of the greatest live albums, it's killer.

Mind's Eye is an underrated guitar masterpiece.  As Paul said, there is just so much melody all the way through the songs, it's incredible.  Killer lineup and definitely one of the greatest shred albums of all time.  I also want to mention the solo to Daydream and the intro solo to Hero Without Honor, absolute perfection.

[Lowdz]

Two absolute schorchers right there. Strangers in the Night is one of the greatest live albums, it's killer.

Mind's Eye is an underrated guitar masterpiece.  As Paul said, there is just so much melody all the way through the songs, it's incredible.  Killer lineup and definitely one of the greatest shred albums of all time.  I also want to mention the solo to Daydream and the intro solo to Hero Without Honor, absolute perfection.

There are no more live albums on the list so it must be the greatest 
Schenker 

[Prog Snob]

Oh poor, poor Joe Lynn.

The first singer for Vinny, Robert Fleischman, made me not like that album.  His voice sucked.  I liked Mark Slaughter much more.

We'll have to disagree on that. MS' voice was a  bit like nails on a blackboard to me.

If you could even call that singing!

[BlobVanDam]

To go back a bit, I just got Europe - Prisoners In Paradise, and I like it. I think this will definitely grow on me.
I don't know what it is, but albums from 1991/92 by '80s bands always seem to reeeeeally hit the spot with me.

[Lowdz]

To go back a bit, I just got Europe - Prisoners In Paradise, and I like it. I think this will definitely grow on me.
I don't know what it is, but albums from 1991/92 by '80s bands always seem to reeeeeally hit the spot with me.

Yeah, I think they were maturing at that point maybe? Then most started to jump onto the grunge bandwagon and lost me.

[Lowdz]

10 Bon Jovi- New Jersey (1988)



I first heard Bon Jovi with the first single, Runaway, and was a fan from then on until they started to lose me after this album. Slippery was obviously huge but this follow up was better in every way. There is a confidence on this album they hadn't had up until then, the confidence that comes with selling a shitload of albums and touring to millions. Most of my favourite BJ songs are on this album. For anyone with a love for melodic rock, this album is essential, whether you think you like Bon Jovi or not. Richie Sambora's backing vocals are a big part of the sound, although I was never much of a fan of his guitar playing. The lyrics are usually good too, usually telling a story. Strangely, as JBJ took lessons and got better at songwriting, his songwriting got worse. The only BJ album I've loved since this one is Have A Nice Day. This was a great time to be a teenager and this album was the soundtrack to much of it. Embarrassing confession time- I had a JBJ dodgy perm in the late 80s 

Best tracks- Lay Your Hands On Me, Bad Medicine, Born To Be My Baby, Living In Sin, Blood On Blood, I'll Be There For You, 99 In The Shade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4USk4DiMKGo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ18qLBz3L4


9 Pink Cream 69- Thunderdome (2004)



This album came as a surprise really. I'd seen the band open for Yngwie in the early 90s and wasn't impressed at all. I gave them another try years later when David Readman had replaced Andi Derris with the Sonic Dynamite album and enjoyed it but wasn't blown away, but this album was an instant favourite. Heavy and melodic, full of great riffs and melodies, a great ballad, great production, a good cover (My Sharona- a song I'd never heard), and the great vocals of the aforementioned Mr Readman makes this essential for fans of Euro Metal. I can't recommend this album enough.

Best tracks- Gods Come Together, Here I Am, That Was Yesterday, As Deep As I Am, Another Wrong Makes Right

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZetxbZ8SPs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eBWgXkFZq0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS2syG4TNyI&feature=relmfu