1986 is on it's way

No, the title is a not a misprint. Remember this is the time machine so my days of talking about metal in 1985 are numbered. I still owe a review for December so I need to get that out next week and then starting in January I will begin to write reviews of 1986 hard rock/ metal albums at a pace of one per month. So to set the mood, I want to journey back and just briefly mention about what was going on in metal as 1985 ended and 1986 was on the horizon. In late 85, there was a lot of talk about the big releases due out in early 1986. Van Halen had just hired Sammy Hagar a few months earlier, but their new album was due out in 1986 and everyone was wondering was their life after Dave? Ozzy's new album was originally going to be called Killer of Giants and was to be released as early as fall of 85. However it had been delayed and received a name change and now it was going to be The Ultimate Sin and it was due out in early 86. Judas Priest were due to have their first album out in two years and it was highly anticipated. Metallica had released their first major label release a year earlier and the follow-up was on it's way. They finally started to get mentioned in magazines like Hit Parader and Circus. With Metallica and Metal Church signed to major labels, could other bands be on the way? I think Slayer were in negotiations with labels at this time and rumor was Megadeth might soon get a major label deal as well. That's just a few of the things that were going on as 1986 was about to start. I once thought that I would map out my 12 reviews for the year before the year started, but instead I think that I will just choose albums as the month rolls around. My hope is to pick not just albums I like, but to pick a combination of ones I like, ones I don't like and even ones that I don't remember too well because I have not heard them in so long. My goal is to write down what I thought of them when I first heard then listen to it now and write what I think of it now. I do know that my January review will be Van Halen's 5150. I would also like to go ahead and say Merry Christmas to anyone reading. Figured that I better do this now because I very well may not get to post tomorrow so enjoy the holiday and I will definitely have my last 1985 album review out next week.