Entertainment Weekly and the 1980s

Entertainment Weekly recently published a copy of their popular magazine that revealed their choices for the “new classics”. The top 100 movies, albums, TV programs, and books in the last 25 years were ranked.

The choice for their number one classic album in the last quarter of a century was Prince’s Purple Rain. After some reflection, this was a decent selection. Prince is not normally of my personal taste, but I do respect the man’s musical ability. Purple Rain was also a strong album, a rockin’ album, and I admit to having owned the cassette. It is the only Prince album I have ever purchased.

However I write this entry to take exception to the lack of true 80’s hard rock on the list. For a time hard rock and hair bands reigned supreme and if you are going to pay tribute to the last 25 years, you should acknowledge all of the fads and phases. The only album I can find in the top 100 from this genre is Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction coming in at number 30. Definitely should be on this list, perhaps even higher.

I can understand this is a list of 100 albums from all musical genres over the last 25 years and must have been difficult to put together. But I thought a few more from the “hair band generation” should have been presented. What about Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet or one of the biggest selling albums of the time, Def Leppard’s Hysteria? The only heavy metal album I can find there is Metallica’s self titled 1991 release. What about an Iron Maiden or a Judas Priest entry? They were, and continue to be, highly influential metal acts. The complete list of Entertainment Weekly’s choices can be found here.

Without our further ado, here are my top 10 hard rock/heavy metal albums released in the 80’s. My list is different than Entertainment Weekly’s, in that it covers the 80’s only and it is strictly a personal top 10 list of favorites from that time.

10. Slippery When Wet, Bon Jovi. Being a teenager at the time it was hard not to get into this. Still the most fun record they’re ever put out.
9. Open Up and Say Ahhh, Poison. This band doesn’t have a lot of strong albums, but this one plays start to finish as a great party record. And I partied to it often.
8. Permanent Vacation, Aerosmith. Successfully launched the band’s comeback and another great party album. One of the band’s strongest efforts too.
7. Appetite for Destruction, Guns N’ Roses. Gun’s N’ Roses exploded onto the scene while supporting this release. This is a fantastic hard rock album. For me, it was the only strong release the band ever put out, I did not embrace another G N’R record after this debut.
6. And Justice for All, Metallica. This is the one that turned me onto metal. I heard this and was immediately addicted. From here I went back and started listening to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and have been in love with metal ever since.
5. Road Apples, The Tragically Hip. No other band has a complete body of work that I thoroughly enjoy as much as the Hip’s (with the exception of Iron Maiden). Road Apples was the first for me and is still one of my favorites.
4. Pyromania, Def Leppard. If you’ve read some of my other posts you’ll know of my affection for Def Leppard. This is the one that got me hooked on the band and hard guitar driven rock.
3. Turbo, Judas Priest. They are Masters of Metal. After Metallica got me into the genre this album, as well as others by Priest, soon followed.
2. Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden. One of my all time favorite bands. Once I started listening to this album I wanted all the rest of their material. Like the Hip, this band also has a huge collection of work, all that I enjoy thoroughly.
1. Hysteria Def Leppard. The long wait between Pyromania and this record did not disappoint. The album did represent the transition from a hard rock band to more of a pop/rock sound. However, it was the CD of my youth and the one disc I have listened from start to finish more than any other.

I’ve just decided lists are hard to do, so I can appreciate Entertainment Weekly’s efforts even more. I am looking at my list above and I can’t believe that Motley Crue’s Shout at the Devil and Van Halen’s 1984 are not there. Difficult, but still fun, what are your favorites from that time?