The Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Albums of All Time
Reviewed. Rated. Ranked.
200 - 151
200. The Runaways - Waitin’ For The Night (1977)
Mark: Already on the cusp of spectacular implosion, it’s a miracle the band got this record out at all. Their punk roots are pretty much cast aside in favour of a clutch of rock and roll tunes that, whilst enjoyable, are not without their flaws.
Richard: Their first outing with Joan Jett on lead vocals is full of attitude. Varied, with some well structured and nicely crafted songs - rocky, boppy, punky and atmospheric. A couple of miss-hits, but Little Sister and the title track are superb
Steve: The Runaways rose above the snot and the snarl of 70s punk to spit out a fabulous array of catchy numbers. Even so, their third album merely signalled the start of the decline.
Top Rated Tracks: Fantasies, Waitin’ for the Night, Gotta Get Out Tonight
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.9667
199. Piledriver - Stay Ugly (1986)
Mark: The tragidramedy back story is way better than the clutch of hastily written songs that form this album. Front man and lead singer, the late Gord Kirchin is surely rock’s most accursed musician. Lots of fun when you’re in on the gag, but that’s about it
Richard:
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: The Executioner, The Fire God, Chaos
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.70476
198. Bang Tango - Psycho Cafe (1989)
Mark: There’s not enough in this to make the band distinctive enough in a period when the world was literally awash with this kind of hair metal sound. Despite a decent opening quartet of songs, the album is torpedoed by a lacklustre second side.
Richard:
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: Breaking Up a Heart of Stone, Someone Like You, Wrap My Wings
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.74333
197. Anvil - Forged In Fire (1983)
Mark: Everybody’s favourite underdogs’ third album is a somewhat patchy affair that contrives to dilute some hard rocking gold with moments of throwaway silliness. A shame, especially when 1982’s Metal On Metal had promised so much.
Richard: Nice and heavy throughout and a strong start, but this is an album that really fades quality-wise on side two.
Steve: Some seriously adorable heavy stuff on here but when they go off-message and try to get a bit clever, a bit different, they go tits-up in an hilarious way.
Top Rated Tracks: Shadow Zone, Free as the Wind, Forged in Fire
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.75667
196. Stone Temple Pilots - Core (1992)
Mark: It’s 1992 and Grunge has arrived with all its dirty production and pseudo-goth/emo introspection and self-pitying lamentation. A couple of decent tunes, but too bleak and too derivative for my ears.
Richard: At times too like Nirvana or Pearl Jam. At others channeling Led Zep, Priest and the 'Peppers. Core still has several great moments to justify its place as one of the essential albums of the genre.
Steve: The next big thing off the grunge conveyor belt, bringing angst and misery into the bedrooms of a desolate youth. Comparisons with other bands are everywhere as the melancholy eventually just grinds you down.
Top Rated Tracks: Plush, Naked Sunday, Crackerman
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.78000
195. .38 Special - Wild-Eyed Southern Boys (1980)
Mark: The highlight of the album is opener Hold On Loosely, meaning the rest of the ride through this cheese-laden drawl-fest is very much of the downhill variety, one or two other above average tracks notwithstanding.
Richard: Solid southern rock with a bit of AOR thrown in (courtesy of Survivor's songwriters). Mostly average, but a couple rise above, and Hold on Loosely is the pick of the bunch.
Steve: Decent Americana from a band who could be as cool as James Dean but also as confused as Katie Price. Sift through the mis-steps and there are some top tunes on here.
Top Rated Tracks: Hold On Loosely, Fantasy Girl, Bring It On
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.79259
194. The Angels - Beyond Salvation (1990)
Mark: There’s little doubting where the well of inspiration lay for this down-to-earth bunch of Aussie rockers, but it’s good for all that, with some no-nonsense, heads down rock and roll that’s a lot of fun if you like music of the straightforward variety.
Richard:
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: Bleeding with the Times, Let the Night Roll On, Back Street Pickup
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.83030
193. Chrome Molly - You Can’t Have It All … Or Can You? (1985)
Mark: Even at the time this felt like a band that didn’t quite know whether it was heavy metal or melodic rock, and manages to get lost in the gap despite a handful of good tunes. Not helped by the bewildering choice of near-unmarketable cover art.
Richard: The opener bodes well and Take It Or Leave It is good, but too much of the rest is unmemorable. They did have potential but didn't get the breaks that (perhaps) they deserved.
Steve: There's a little bit of punch and the odd slap of edge, but by and large there was precious lustre in Chrome Molly's opener.
Top Rated Tracks: Set Me Free, Take It or Leave It, Thanks for the Angst
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.84000
192. W.A.S.P. - Inside The Electric Circus (1986)
Mark: Blackie’s own least favourite W.A.S.P. release gets caught pants-down-cock-out in unashamed pursuit of commercial success. One or two howlers aside, it's still damn good fun.
Richard: Blackie was disappointed with this record but he had a big part to play in its quality. His voice dominates, the guitars are non-existent and the shock-rock vocals come at the expense of good songwriting.
Steve: Blackie looked unfavourably upon W.A.S.P.'s third album, but any man who can get a bloke in his mid-50s to sing along unashamedly to the smut-show that is Shoot From The Hip should have been knighted long ago.
Top Rated Tracks: Shoot from the Hip, Restless Gypsy, Inside the Electric Circus, 9-5-N.A.S.T.Y
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.86364
191. KISS - Revenge (1992)
Mark: A case of ‘You wanted more Gene, you got more Gene!’ Five years after Crazy Nights, KISS suffer an acute identity crisis. The answer? More Demon, said the fans. The result? A couple of highs that are hopelessly outgunned by too many lows.
Richard: This heavier Kiss album has its moments, but they have done much better. Simmons and Stanley not as joined-at-the-hip as they needed to be and a couple of lacklustre tracks. That said, Take it Off is classic KISS.
Steve: Few bands dish up cheese and class on the same platter quite as unapologetically as KISS and continue to get away with it. But they bit off more than any of us should have to chew with the unpalatable God Gave Rock n Roll To You II, on an album with more misses than hits.
Top Rated Tracks: Take it Off, Thou Shalt Not, Unholy
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.87222
190. Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny (1975)
Mark: A seismic shift in aggression and power, but burdened by experimentation. We get glimpses of what Priest would become, but mistakes of like the sub-Bo-Rhap soundalike Epitaph render it a curious milestone rather than full-on metamorphosis.
Richard: You can hear what Priest would become starting to come out on this album. A very important part of their history, even if a few tracks fall short.
Steve: The best of Priest was very obviously yet to come though listening to them going through a discovery phase is nothing if not interesting. Many aspects of Seventies rock are referenced while there are sufficient snippets of that famed Priest power to keep their post-British Steel apostles content.
Top Rated Tracks: Victim of Changes, Genocide, Tyrant
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.87778
189. White Sister - Fashion By Passion (1986)
Mark: A mixed bag of tracks that swing pendulously from the sublime to a truly awful cover of Ticket to Ride. The mercurial quality of what lies in between ultimately does for an album that has its fair share of highlights amid the indifference.
Richard: Proper, proper synth-driven 80s lite rock. The production spolis what is actually a quite varied and enjoyable pop-AOR-rock album.
Steve: A synth-soaked slab of mediocrity with the odd slice of class - Dancin' On Midnight - elevated by the efforts of Churchill-Dries, who sounds like a war-time launderette but is in fact a top vocalist.
Top Rated Tracks: April, Dancin’ on Midnight, A Place in the Heart
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.89630
188. Cinderella - Long Cold Winter (1988)
Mark: In which Cinderella never really makes it to the ball, never mind finds her prince. Devoid of the gritty, dirty blues of its glorious predecessor, this sees Cinderella freebasing on largely forgettable fluff in pursuit of high MTV rotation.
Richard: An album at least equal to their debut with more mature songwriting and musicianship. Tom Keifer's voice does grate sometimes but there are some superb tracks on this album. An important milestone in 80s Hair Metal.
Steve: Following up Night Songs was never going to be easy and they probably knew that - hence the shift in direction. Beefy chords remain but prepare for more ballads and prepare, ultimately, for an album that just doesn't quite hit the mark.
Top Rated Tracks: The Last Mile, Fallin’ Apart at the Seams, Gypsy Road
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.90000
187. Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell (1977)
Mark: 35 million sales make this the 4th best selling album of all time. The album’s back story and its cast of eccentric geniuses is arguably more interesting than most of the album itself, but its epic scale of ambition is hard to decry.
Richard: Classic rock and roll theatre. Overblown? Preposterous? At it's best - absolutely. But a couple of soppy ballads severely impact its score.
Steve: Never speak ill of the dead, but cruise line cabaret and West End kitsch is a recipe for the worst kind of end-of-year high school cobblers, which is what this is.
Top Rated Tracks: Bat Out of Hell, Paradise by the Dashboard Light, You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.92857
186. Atomic Rooster - In Hearing Of Atomic Rooster (1971)
Mark: Vincent Crane’s benign dictatorship hobbled these early Brit-proggers to the point of commercial suffocation. A total absence of bass guitar made life tricky. Lack of clear direction made success impossible. Very, very good in places. In others, not so much.
Richard: Recorded by a band that didn't exist! A strong start with great organ and bass work and multiple influences, but it does tail off a bit towards the end.
Steve: Preposterous fusion of '60s psychedelia and '70s prog with loads of funk thrown in for good measure. Hit and miss on the grandest scale and crying out for more guitars, both six and four-string.
Top Rated Tracks: Breakthrough, Break the Ice, Decision/Indecision
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.00000
185. Y&T - Contagious (1987)
Mark: A deal with an A-game label should have put Y&T at the top where they belonged. Instead, this hit and miss affair is part hair metal bubblegum interspersed with some seriously good tunes that can’t quite pull the whole thing out of the fire.
Richard: The move to Geffen should have distilled everything that was brilliant about Y&T. Instead it turned them into a hair metal covers band. Disappointing.
Steve: A band that inspired so many, condemned to the grubbier role of cheap dream chasers. Hell, there's some decent enough bits on here, but it's just not Y&T.
Top Rated Tracks: Rhythm Or Not, Fight For Your Life, L.A. Rocks
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.93667
184. FireHouse - FireHouse (1990)
Mark: There’s nothing inherently wrong here, though only a brace of tracks are sufficiently right to make a lasting impression and suggest that but for Grunge’s onslaught there may have been better to come from glam’s new poster boys.
Richard: At times confused by which band to imitate, but there are some good songs on here, with Overnight Sensation the pick of the bunch.
Steve: Never has averageness been so richly rewarded. Acclaim and adoration accompanied this tame imitation of all that was great about 80s cool. An assortment of average songs which I'd forgotten before I even played them.
Top Rated Tracks: Overnight Sensation, All She Wrote, Lovers Lane
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.98333
183. Monster Magnet - Dopes To Infinity (1995)
Mark: Too long at 78 minutes, and often guilty of the kind of self-indulgence that manifests in a bewilderingly awful 16-minute ‘hidden’ song. Even so, there are also plenty of moments where Dave Wyndorf’s undoubted talent shines through.
Richard: Dave Wyndorf said that Nirvana songs sounded like Boston to him. Experience this album and you will find out why.
Steve: Hawkwind descendants from another world, a world of noise, feedback, lashings of humour and no issue with letting songs run their course and beyond.
Top Rated Tracks: All Friends and Kingdom Come, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Look to Your Orb for the Warning, Dead Christmas
Enter Sadmen Rating: 6.98462
182. Fear Factory - Demanufacture (1995)
Mark: Techno-thrash puts me way outside my comfort zone, which perhaps makes me ill-placed to judge it. Moments of melody and introspective composition punctuated by glass-shattering noise. Not for the faint-eared.
Richard: Phew. Makes Megadeth feel like easy listening. Herrera's drumming is like nothing else on earth and drives incredible pace and aggression. Dog Day Sunrise is a brilliant oasis in the desert storm of the rest of the album.
Steve: Pioneers in the art of bringing tech into the thrash world, plus a drummer who plays at close to the speed of light. There's a fine line between a wall of noise and sophisticated industrial metal, and they get this spot on.
Top Rated Tracks: Self-Bias Resistor, Replica, Dog Day Sunrise
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.00000
181. Spinal Tap - Break Like The Wind (1992)
Mark: Arguably funnier than 1984’s Smell The Glove, and with more quotable lyrics than you can throw an overfilled ham sandwich at. But in the end, it’s a novelty record and there are only so many times you want to hear the same jokes.
Richard: Not only does this album bring a huge smile to your face it brings some great songs too. The Majesty of Rock is - well - truly Majestic.
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: The Majesty of Rock, Bitch School, The Sun Never Sweats
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.00714
180. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)
Mark: Essential listening? Certainly. Consistently excellent? Not so much. An eclectic, largely experimental, solid second outing that reinforces the growing influence of heavy rock but suffers from budget constraints and overly-hurried production.
Richard: Wonderfully varied and hugely influential. Could have been even bigger with better production and song selection. Everyone knows the title track, but for me Fairies Wear Boots and War Pigs are the immense tracks.
Steve: A track as bleak, as heavy, as moody, as downright badass as War Pigs deserved better back-up. But this was a band making waves so we’ll forgive them one or two serious errors of judgement.
Top Rated Tracks: Fairies Wear Boots, Hand of Doom, War Pigs
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.01667
179. Mother Love Bone - Apple (1990)
Mark: Lazily labeled a grunge band, MLB in fact successfully bridge the gap between that and Sonic Temple style hair/glam metal. Catchy-as-fuck tunes like This is Shangri-La bring the fun while the likes of Bone China dial up the introspection.
Richard:
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: Stardog Champion, This is Shangri-La, Bone China
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.02564
178. Savatage - Power Of The Night (1985)
Mark: Savatage find their feet with a set of tunes that arguably set the template for the future. With a nod to the epic, a hat tip to balladry and a bow to melody-rich power, its highlights outweigh its imperfections.
Richard: Good solid power metal from the Oliva brothers. Some great riffs, good grooves and lovely melodies - but a few mis-steps too. Definitely worth a listen for the title track and Fountain of Youth in particular which is brilliant.
Steve: Criminally underrated, Criss Oliva gives a six-string masterclass on an album which powers along at a brute of a lick, though they should have stopped before the puke-inducing In The Dream
Top Rated Tracks: Power of the Night, Warriors, Fountain of Youth
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.02667
177. Terraplane - Black And White (1985)
Mark: To be honest, it’s all a bit anodyne. Luckily the band would morph into something beefier and more assured, plying their trade with riffy melodies and catchy choruses. This all feels just a bit too earnest.
Richard: A solid pop-rock debut from Bowes and Morely in their first band. The push to be more poppy from the label is evident but there are some good all-out rock songs and I Can't Live Without Your Love is a classic.
Steve: The rock charts lay some way off when this band would metamorphose into Thunder, but they peppered the nursery slopes for that project with this fun-filled slice of pop rock which is ever so cute.
Top Rated Tracks: I Can’t Live Without Your Love, You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore, Right Between the Eyes
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.03030
176. The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion (1992)
Mark: There’s much to admire in the musical ambition of Robinson brothers-led Crowes’ second outing, but after an interesting first side, the well of creativity begins to dry up into frustrating pools of sameness.
Richard: Great songwriting, real attitude and brilliantly produced. Apart from the last track this is a really accomplished piece of work.
Steve: Latter day Skynyrds invoke the ghosts of idols past and try to add loads of we're-so-cool edginess, a cocktail that only works if the songs match up - and most don't.
Top Rated Tracks: Sting Me, Hotel Illness, Thorn in My Pride
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.03667
175. Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman (1981)
Mark: Randy Rhoads' legacy secures Ozzy's status as a solo artist with a clutch of gloriously riffy, punchy tracks. An impressive opening sprint runs out of puff at the halfway mark but is enough to elevate the album beyond the average.
Richard: A worthy follow up to Blizzard and an album that settles into a really good groove. Ozzy seems more relaxed, Rhoads’ playing is sublime.
Steve: Ozzy's knack of surrounding himself with quality musicians means Diary is both strong and consistent. Accompanied by the admirable Randy Rhoads on six-string duties even the bat-biter whines tolerably.
Top Rated Tracks: S.A.T.O., Diary of a Madman, You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll. Over the Mountain
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.05833
174. Poison - Open Up And Say … Ahhh! (1988)
Mark: Lacking the dirty charm of its predecessor, Poison conjure up some beefy tunes, hook lines that are catchier than syphilis and a guitar attack powered by hairspray. Sadly, they also conjure up a good dollop of meh to go with it.
Richard: More preferable to their debut. Despite Every Rose this second outing displays better songwriting and some nailed-on classics..
Steve: Less preferable to their debut. Poison keepin' it simple, keepin’ it catchy and keepin' pots of cash as a result. It's cheap, it's cheerful and you'll have forgotten you ever heard it after an hour or so.
Top Rated Tracks: Look But You Can’t Touch, Love on the Rocks, Fallen Angel
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.06333
173. Q5 - When The Mirror Cracks (1985)
Mark: Guitarist Floyd Rose takes the production helm and manages to mix himself out of the picture. Overpowering and overbearing keys obliterate a clutch of otherwise decent tunes.
Richard: A good dose of very melodic rock. Deserved to have better production and some better songs, as there are a few weak points. The title track and In the Rain are top drawer though.
Steve: Asia meets OMD meets late 80's Whitesnake meets a bloke selling synths in a job lot – you get the picture. This is rock-lite on a never-ending bed of keyboard, as likeable as it is forgettable.
Top Rated Tracks: Stand By Me, When the Mirror Cracks, Cold Heart
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.06667
172. Anthrax - Sound Of White Noise (1993)
Mark: Armored Saint’s John Bush replaces Joey Belladonna at the mic and the sound deliberately moves away from the familiar Eighties bounce towards the grungier tones of the early 90s. Get past that, and this is is more than decent and worth your time.
Richard:
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: Room for One More, Black Lodge, Only
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.06667
171. Exodus - Bonded By Blood (1985)
Mark: Kirk Hammett’s old mates turn in a more than decent debut that thunders along with the brute force and speed of a runaway truck. The late Paul Baloff is a fan favourite, but most would agree the album suffers badly for his vocal performance.
Richard:
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: Bonded by Blood, Deliver Us to Evil, Piranha
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.08148
170. Ted Nugent - Cat Scratch Fever (1977)
Mark: The self-titled solo debut proved there was life after the Amboy Dukes for this good ol’ Southern boy. And he follows up with a solid second effort, though one somewhat lacking in much more innovation than we’d already heard.
Richard: Put the opinions about Mr Nugent and his questionable beliefs to one side and enjoy this late 70s romp of a rock album and it's brilliant title track.
Steve: Proving that it is possible to be a complete knob and a rock god simultaneously, allow The Nuge to take you on a fun-packed rock journey in which he casts a spell with his six-string magic.
Top Rated Tracks: A Thousand Knives, Cat Scratch Fever, Wang Dang Sweet Poontang
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.08333
169. Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow … When I Can’t Even Smile Today (1988)
Mark: Surfer-punk thrash metal brandishing a winning and endlessly recycled riff. It’s good here and there, though not sufficiently so to elevate it beyond a fun-in-parts sideshow to the all-conquering hair metal fad of its day.
Richard: Punk meets thrash in an intriguing way and there are good (and not so good) results. Some great riffs and loads of energy throughout this album are diluted by not-so-good vocals and lazy arrangements.
Steve: Attitude and anger positively spit off the grooves of this cult gangland, metal gem. Very few missteps musically apart that is from Mike Muir, a man with the mane of a lion but the voice of a pussycat.
Top Rated Tracks: Trip at the Brain, Hearing Voices, The Felling’s Back
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.08667
168. Manowar - Kings Of Metal (1988)
Mark: Yes, it’s preposterous. Yes, it’s fuelled by unbridled machismo. And, yes, it is to nuance as Genghis Khan is to human rights. But it’s got monster riffs and the catchiest damn choruses this side of Valhalla. Put it on and put a smile on your face.
Richard: A damn good hard rock romp. Loads of fun and the title track is immense but a couple of weaker moments bring it down a notch or two.
Steve: Where to start? With tongue firmly in cheek presumably while trying to assess an album which veers from the anthemic to the atrocious seamlessly, which is a feat in itself.
Top Rated Tracks: Kings of Metal, Kingdom Come, Wheels of Fire
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.09583
167. Jackyl - Jackyl (1992)
Mark: Think Southern rock, think Skynyrd? Think again. Redneck hard-edged blues rock delivered with a spit and a snarl. Mostly. The final track demonstrates the thin line between success and failure. She may love your cock, lads - but I don’t.
Richard: Up-yours, in-your-face, AC/DC-inspired hard boogie-rock fronted by the chainsaw-wielding Jesse James Dupree. Another little-known gem that's worth adding to any collection. When WIll It Rain and I Stand Alone are cracking tracks.
Steve: Dixie rock crunches into G N’ R with the added extras of chainsaws and videos featuring lots of unfeasibly large-breasted girls. What's not to like?
Top Rated Tracks: When Will it Rain, I Stand Alone, Down on Me
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.10606
166. Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Part I (1987)
Mark: Widely regarded as one of the German outfit’s premier releases, this is a feast of largely catchy, riff-heavy power metal tunes that are mostly lots of fun, but demand richer production than this offers.
Richard: Lauded as the first power metal concept album, this is an enjoyable fantasy romp. Who knows if it chronicled the problems within the band as it contains some real gems.
Steve: A German power metalfest which deserves more listens than I gave it back in the day. Sod the concept, just feast on the riffs and be thoroughly entertained by a kind of Bad Steve (see above) on hormones.
Top Rated Tracks: A Little Time, Future World, I’m Alive
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.11111
165. Nazareth - Hair Of The Dog (1975)
Mark: A fighty piece of Scottish hard rock driven by Dan McCafferty’s glass-gargling vocals and Manny Charlton’s glorious riffing. If the infectious title track doesn’t get you, Beggar’s Day will.
Richard: Huge variety from an age where bands had complete creative freedom and Nazareth took that to the limit here, resulting in both some fantastic music and perplexing pieces. The brilliant title track is eclipsed by the awesome Beggars Day.
Steve: A classic 1970s cocktail of great musicianship, a range of instrument, an even bigger range of styles and a compulsion not to let tracks finish. That said, weird in places.
Top Rated Tracks: Hair of the Dog, Beggars Day, Miss Misery
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.11250
164. Scorpions - In Trance (1975)
Mark: An album about transition that consequently suffers something of an identity crisis. The point at which we first hear the Scorps’ definitive sound is also their final outing with Uli Jon Roth. The best is yet to come, but this is a vital waypoint.
Richard: The album where the Scoprions sound we all know and love was born. The foundations for Lovedrive, Animal Magnetism and Blackout were laid here. Meine's volcals throughout are a joy to listen to - unlike Roth's.
Steve: A stepping stone between two eras and therefore an essential listen if you value the Scorpions' story. Even if you don't, there's enough on here to keep you amused.
Top Rated Tracks: In Trance, Evening Wind, Robot Man
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.12667
163. Marillion - Holidays In Eden (1991)
Mark: Album #2 of Hogarth-era Marillion is the first that was written with the new kid. The result is an album that sounds nothing like the Marillion of old, opting for poppy wannabe chart fodder and just a glimpse of familiar depth here and there.
Richard:
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: Cover My Eyes, Splintering Heart, The Party
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.14074
162. Praying Mantis - Time Tells No Lies (1981)
Mark: Wrong time, wrong place. Landing slap bang in the kill or be killed riff frenzy of NWOBHM, the UK frat house of denim and leather had precious little time for Mantis’s cultured harmonies and clever song structures. Deserving of far more commercial success than they were afforded.
Richard: A real melodic surprise given the band name and album artwork. A wide range of influences combine to create a really interesting album that’s well worth a listen, although they fall into the "include a cover" trap like so many others.
Steve: NWOBHM makeweights who were far better than that, adding bags of melody. Opener, Cheated, is a cracker and Mantis happily do what many don't, by bringing this baby home with a pair of belters.
Top Rated Tracks: Lovers to the Grave, Children of the Earth, Flirting with Suicide
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.16667
161. Mountain - Climbing! (1970)
Mark: Officially the band’s debut album, there’s much to admire here, but side 2 never really fully recovers from a flaccid opening. Loads of experimentation, as was de rigeur back in the day, and when it misses, it misses big.
Richard: A desire to be the US answer to Cream perhaps took them down a wrong route. A few misses, but also a few really good songs including Never In My LIfe which is a corker plus of course the cowbell stomper Mississippi Queen.
Steve: Guitar god Leslie West's first big group assignment which kicks off with a classic in Mississippi Queen, the prelude for a mixed bag whch promises much but actually struggles to deliver.
Top Rated Tracks: Never in My Life, Mississippi Queen, Sittin’ on a Rainbow
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.17037
160. Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve - Through The Fire (1984)
Mark: Just as with Hardline, Neal Schon flexes his fretboard and crunches out some banging riffs. Add the superlative voice of Sammy Hagar, and we get a generally superior collection of upbeat, riffy, melodic rock tunes … and one horrific misstep.
Richard:
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: Top of the Rock, Missing You, Valley of the Kings
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.18750
159. W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol (1992)
Mark: Blackie’s attempt at a concept album is convoluted, hammy and arguably devoid of purpose. Thankfully, his knack for writing monster hooklines and infectious licks combines with a superior cast of musicians to deliver a welcome punch.
Richard: The story is better than the storytelling. Over-complicated and messy in parts and Lawless' voice starts to grate after a while.
Steve: Can't argue with the ambition, just the end result. Blackie sought to go a bit Bat Out Of Hell but ended up vanishing down a cul-de-sac (rue morgue?) of self-indulgence.
Top Rated Tracks: Arena of Pleasure, Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue), Invisible Boy
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.19000
158. Robert Plant - Manic Nirvana (1990)
Mark: Eclectic doesn’t even begin to cover it. Experimentation and sudden sorties into surprising territories is to be expected. The problem is that the quality of those voyages of discovery is too inconsistent with too much feeling at best average.
Richard:
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: Your Ma Said You Cried In Your Sleep Last Night, I Cried, Tie Dye on the Highway
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.19333
157. Vow Wow - Cyclone (1985)
Mark: Too little Japanese metal made it out of the Land of the Rising Sun in the 80s, but what did was always worth hearing. Same here as Vow Wow unleash a blunderbuss-load of riffs. Some hit and many don’t in what is still a riot of good fun.
Richard: Some good songwriting and Yamamoto’s guitar at times is breathtaking. But this borrowed too heavily from elsewhere and after a while Hitomi's vocals start to grate.
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: U.S.A., Hurricane, Rock Your Cradle
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.19630
156. Motörhead - Orgasmatron (1986)
Mark: New line-up, same crunching sound. A handful of tracks that stir echoes of the 4-album golden period of 1979-80, including the relentlessly brooding title track, all wrapped up in one of the coolest album covers of the decade.
Richard: Whilst not as good as the holy trinity this is still a bloody good Motörhead album at its core, but absolutely ruined by the production. Some tracks do still shine through including the monstrous title track.
Steve: Lemmy's best days were behind him, so too Motörhead's, and all this album makes you do is pine for something older and better.
Top Rated Tracks: Orgasmatron, Deaf Forever, Ain’t My Crime
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.20741
155. Lionheart - Hot Tonight (1984)
Mark: Dennis Stratton was fired from Maiden because his penchant for melodic rock was at odds with Steve Harris’ vision for the band. His bad luck is our good fortune. An infectious, if flawed, suite of catchy guitar-orientated tunes
Richard: Magnum meets Grand Prix meets Def Leppard. Some good songs - some less good but definitely no turkeys. An enjoyable is uninspiring collection.
Steve: Amidst the cheese, saccharine and shoulder pads, there is some seriously uplifting AOR in here, stapled together a treat by the tonsils of the quite excellent Chad Brown.
Top Rated Tracks: Hot Tonight, Another Crazy Dream, Die for Love
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.20741
154. Death Angel - The Ultra-Violence (1987)
Mark: A big slice of energetic and accomplished American thrash metal, delivered by a bunch of kids just out of high school (and in one case, still there). There’s lots of disorder here, but some absolute gems that more than save the day.
Richard: Absolutely mental but great fun. Amazingly fast and brilliant technique where these kids showed the old ones how it's done.
Steve: If you're good enough you're old enough as these teen tearaways proved with a hectic, breakneck and surprisingly accomplished slice of old-school thrash.
Top Rated Tracks: Final Death, Voracious Souls, Mistress of Pain
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.20833
153. Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind (1983)
Mark: Maiden's fourth album isn't their best (honest), but it may be their most important, setting the template for everything that followed. From the chart-friendly smash and grab of The Trooper to the sprawling To Tame A Land, it's a formula from which they have rarely deviated since.
Richard: Piece of Mind absolutely gallops along - literally - due chiefly to the arrival of Nicko McBrain. Enough literary influences and reference to write a PhD underpinned by thundering roffs and bass throughout. Classic, classic Maiden.
Steve:
Top Rated Tracks: To Tame a Land, The Trooper, Revelations, Still Life
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.23333
152. Twisted Sister - Under The Blade (1982)
Mark: Their passports may be American, but the soul of Dee and the gang’s debut is pure NWOBHM. With a decade of club shows under their belts, Under The Blade is a riot of super-tight and razor-sharp hit and run tunes.
Richard: The world was a richer place with Twisted Sister who had polished their craft well ahead of entering the studio to be brilliantly captured on this record by Pete Way.
Steve: Uber-theatrical glam/punk from a band the world may not have been ready for, but didn't have any choice in the matter!
Top Rated Tracks: Shoot ‘Em Down, What You Don’t Know (Sure Can Hurt You), Under the Blade
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.23333
151. Lynyrd Skynyrd - (Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd) (1973)
Mark: Skynyrd were never better than on this, their 1973 debut - and although it takes the odd misstep, there's plenty enough here to love.
Richard: Everyone knows Freebird and Simple Man but other tracks on this album shine through. I Ain't The One is a classic and the calling card for the rest of Skynyrd's career.
Steve: Southern rockers who were masters of their art and bookended their debut with a pair of corkers in I Ain’t The One and Freebird. I sense they had plenty of fun recording the rest, more than I had revisiting it.
Top Rated Tracks: I Ain’t the One, Freebird, Simple Man
Enter Sadmen Rating: 7.23333