Ten things I think about hard rock/metal in 1988.
Hard to believe that 1988 is twenty years ago. Here are some thoughts I had in thinking back to that year.
1)I think this was the year that major labels really starting signing a number bands without a good idea of how to use or promote them.
2)I think that for the second time a David Lee Roth album was better than the Van Halen album released the same year.
3)I think that Megadeth should have taken more time in doing their album "So far, so good, so what".
4)I think that overall 1988 was one of the weaker years in the 1980's for metal and hard rock.
5)I think Slayer's "South of heaven" was a good album, but unfortunately it was bound to be compared to "Reign in blood".
6)I still can't believe the sound and image change that Celtic Frost attempted in support of their "Cold Lake" album.
7)I think that Queensryche's "Operation Mindcrime" is overrated.
8)I think that Iron Maiden's "Seventh son of a seventh son" is underrated to some extent.
9)I think AC/DC hit the lowest point of their career in 1988.
10)I am not big on Metallica's "And justice for all", but I do think that it's popularity very much helped metal stay in favor.
1)I think this was the year that major labels really starting signing a number bands without a good idea of how to use or promote them.
2)I think that for the second time a David Lee Roth album was better than the Van Halen album released the same year.
3)I think that Megadeth should have taken more time in doing their album "So far, so good, so what".
4)I think that overall 1988 was one of the weaker years in the 1980's for metal and hard rock.
5)I think Slayer's "South of heaven" was a good album, but unfortunately it was bound to be compared to "Reign in blood".
6)I still can't believe the sound and image change that Celtic Frost attempted in support of their "Cold Lake" album.
7)I think that Queensryche's "Operation Mindcrime" is overrated.
8)I think that Iron Maiden's "Seventh son of a seventh son" is underrated to some extent.
9)I think AC/DC hit the lowest point of their career in 1988.
10)I am not big on Metallica's "And justice for all", but I do think that it's popularity very much helped metal stay in favor.
posted by Metal Mark at
11:48 AM
9 Comments:
I really tried to like "Operation Mindcrime" and even bought it, but I just couldn't get into it.
I love "...And Justice for All" but it is too polished and lacks the thrashy rawness of their earlier work.
I agree with all these thoughts. But for two reasons alone, I happen to like 1988 a little more:
1) I was still enjoying many great albums released in 1987 (Appetite for Destruction, Among the Living, Electric, Fighting the World, Sepultura's Schizophrenia, Abigail, etc.)
2) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.
My comments on your thoughts:
1) Absolutely! The labels jumped all over the Thrash movement and signed anyone that was fast and they dove into the Hard Rock/Glam/Sunset Strip scene to get the next Poison and/or Crue. Ever notice those hair bands that got signed from '88-'90 had 2 guys with dark hair and 2 guys with blond?
2) I'd call it a tie. OU812 vs. Skyscraper.....neither satisfied but I could be influenced to the Roth side of things.
3) I always forget about SO FAR, SO GOOD, SO WHAT.
4) Definitely a weak year: Saxon released DESTINY; Bon Jovi released NEW JERSEY; GnR did LIES; poison had OPEN UP AND SAY AHH!; Judas Priest released RAM IT DOWN; Vixen, Winger, Britny Fox, Kingdom Come, & Bulletboys all debuted.
There were some good releases: King Diamond - THEM, Helloween - Keeper... Pt.2, Cinderella - Long Cold Winter, Maiden - 7th Son..., Queensryche - Mindcrime, & Fates Warning - No Exit.
5) Reign In Blood set the standard but South Of Heaven was still good.
6) Never got into Celtic Frost too much but I've heard the material, it's a switch.
7) Mindcrime is hit or miss for many people. I always liked it but I don't reach for it that often anymore.
8) Seventh Son was better than Somewhere In Time but I think it gets shadowed by Powerslave. Seventh Son is a great record.
9) 3 years to follow up Fly On the Wall and they released a turd. 'Heatseeker' was OK but that's about it.
10) Neither am I. 'One' ruined that record for me because it was, and still is, overplayed. The tour was good though.
Steve
Heavy Metal Addiction
dpth-I like Operation Mindcrime to an extent, but it's far from a masterpiece. I think it got a lot of hype because it was a concept album and not many metal bands besides King Diamond were going concept albums then.
Luiz-I was still into metal just as much as any other year. I think the underground speed metal scene was good in 1988.
Steve-I think a lot of bands got lost in the shuffle between 1988 and 1991 because there was so many of them popping up. Fans only had so much money to buy albums with so of course some of these young bands quickly fell between the cracks.
I'm on the disagreement wagon about Mindcrime; I'll always love it be intrigued by it and that's all I have to say on that. Seventh Son is a weakER album compared to those before it, but it's still one I love; I used to play it every damn night on a carry tape player when I was a janitor after school....got me through some drudgery, that's for sure
1988 is definitely a lot of what you say industry-wise, yup, but it was the year we graduated and we had a frickin' ball at The Monsters of Rock, didn't we? Remember that old biker who was so fucked up his companions were pushing him around before he flat on his face before Kingdom Come ever started? Then there was the ocean after all the other kids had left. A great summer.
Ray-Are you sure that guy didn't just fall asleep due to Kingdom Come's music?
I agree with you about So Far, So Good, So what. It's kind of half-baked. Too much filler with the instrumental and the cover song. Hook in Mouth saves it.
Fred-Hook in mouth is a killer.
I agree with almost everything. My comments on a couple of your points:
I'm the odd man out, I know, but I have always found "South of Heaven" more listenable and often more enjoyable than "Reign in Blood."
Queensryche's "Operation Mindcrime" may be overrated, although I'm with Ray in supporting most of the high ratings. Regardless, I can understand why it may be overrated--because of all the mindless cock rock that started to come out exponentially more in '88-'91.
"Seventh son of a seventh son" is underrated, as are most Maiden albums after "Number of the Beast."
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