Ah, 1984 was without a doubt the best year for hard rock and metal. Metal was bigger than ever and a lot of bands released albums in 84. Van Halen, the Scorpions, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest all soared to new heights of popularity. We also saw debut lp's from Ratt, Queensryche, WASP, Anthrax, Black-n-Blue, Keel and many others. Bands I am not normally big on like Dokken and Whitesnake had very good albums. Even Great White and Lita Ford's releases in 84 were decent. It was hard to make a top ten for 1984 because I did have to eliminate albums that would have easily made my top ten if they had been released in another year. Ratt's Out of the cellar, Whitesnake's Slide it in and even Anthrax's Fistful of metal were the top albums that I had to eliminate from the top ten. I also had to do a bit of a cop out and have a tie for number ten just because I could not see either of these albums not making it to my top ten. Either one of them may have made the top five in other years during the 80's. Just goes to show how good of a year this was.
Top ten albums
1)Metallica- Ride the lightning
Metallica went through a huge growth in songwriting skills in between Kill 'em all and this album. The album still stands up as a great fusion of solid metal and early speed/power metal.
2)Iron Maiden- Powerslave
Iron Maiden show a confidence in their sound here that few bands could show.
3)Van Halen- 1984
Van Halen bounce back from Diver Down to deliver a great one.
4)Judas Preist- Defenders of the faith
Similiar in style to the previous album, but just a little weaker.
5)Scorpions - Love at first sting
A number of different kinds of songs and all of them are solid.
6)Dio- The last in line
Probably Dio's second best album next to his debut.
7)Wasp-s/t
One of the best debuts of the mid-80's.
8)Mercyful Fate- Don't break the oath
Mercyful Fate are even stronger here than on Melissa. Unfortunately their last until they reformed in the early 90's.
9)Twisted Sister- Stay Hungry
Another example of their ability to ride on enthusiasm and energy.
10)Tie
Dokken- Tooth and nail
Deep Purple-Perfect Strangers
Dokken's best album by far delivers all that a good commercial hard rock album should.
Deep Purple's reunion album brings far more energy than most people thought they had. A decent mix of their 70's sound and what was going on in the mid 1980's.
Golden Turd
Seriously I cannot think of an album from 84 that deserves this award. Kiss, Quiet Riot and Ted Nugent all put out albums that weren't that good, but they weren't all that bad either. So I think an album at least needs to be bad to win this award and I could not think of an album from this year that was that bad or disappointing. If you think of one then let me know.
Top album covers
1)Van Halen- 1984
2)Iron Maiden- Powerslave
3)Scorpions- Love at first sting
4)Ratt- Out of the cellar
5)Grim reaper- See you in hell
Worst Album cover
Accept- Balls to the wall
Well, now I am all caught up and to the year I am working on. My top ten for 1985 will be out at the end of the year.
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