Balls to the Wall
Artist: Accept
Community Score: 7.81

Accept's most notorious album, Balls to the Wall was also their biggest commercial success. Following hot upon the heels of their creative breakthrough, Restless and Wild, you'd also be hard pressed to find a more sexually charged record in any musical genre. Its hysterically nonsensical lyrics notwithstanding, the legendary title track remains... Read More

Seasons in the Abyss
Artist: Slayer
Community Score: 7.83

After staking out new territory with the underrated South of Heaven, Slayer brought back some of the pounding speed of Reign in Blood for their third major-label album, Seasons in the Abyss. Essentially, Seasons fuses its two predecessors, periodically kicking up the mid-tempo grooves of South of Heaven with manic bursts of aggression. "War... Read More

The Best of the Scorpions, Vol. 2
Artist: Scorpions

The Best of the Scorpions, Vol. 2 contains ten songs from the Scorpions' late-'70s and early-'80s records, prior to their crossover hits "No One Like You" and "Rock You Like a Hurricane." As a result, there's not much here that the average metalhead will be intimately familiar with, but it does capture some of the highlights from those records,... Read More

Speak English or Die
Artist: Stormtroopers of Death
Community Score: 9.70

S.O.D.'s Speak English or Die was an important record in the fusion of hardcore punk with thrash and speed metal, making even more explicit the connections that Anthrax's music implied. The tone of the music is crushingly loud, fast, and aggressive, but not at all serious -- the record is filled with goofy, macho humor, some of which holds up... Read More

Street Lethal
Artist: Racer X

Racer X's 1986 debut is essentially a showcase for then teenaged guitar prodigy Paul Gilbert. The opening instrumental, "Frenzy," pretty much lays the cards on the table; a mostly unaccompanied survey of Gilbert's jaw-dropping fretboard tricks, it summarizes Street Lethal's modus operandi right at the outset. Gilbert himself described Racer X as... Read More

No Remorse
Artist: Motörhead
Community Score: 9.12

There have been dozens and dozens of Motörhead compilations released over the decades, but the first one remains definitive, even if it's not perfect. Released in 1984 as a gap-filler -- for Motörhead were regrouping in the wake of the bandmember shuffling that followed the odd Another Perfect Day album -- No Remorse compiled two-dozen songs... Read More

Two Steps from the Move
Artist: Hanoi Rocks
Community Score: 9.60

Had Razzle not died so tragically, there's every reason to believe that Hanoi Rocks could easily have taken things to the next level of hard rock glory. As it is, Two Steps From the Move will have to remain a testimony to what might have been instead of a further springboard. "Up Around the Bend" may have been little more than an easy way of... Read More

Doomsday for the Deceiver
Artist: Flotsam & Jetsam
Community Score: 10.00

Though a little rough in the production department, Flotsam and Jetsam's first album, Doomsday for the Deceiver, attempts both short bursts of thrashing intensity ("Desecrator," "Iron Tears") as well as extended, multi-part epics ("Metalshock" and the title track). Bassist and lyricist Jason Newsted occasionally attempts to squeeze too many... Read More

Darkness Descends
Artist: Dark Angel
Community Score: 10.00

It took the arrival of drummer Gene Hoglan to elevate Dark Angel above the uncultivated noise fests captured on their amateurish first album, We Have Arrived; and in many ways, their follow-up 1986 release, Darkness Descends, represents the group's true debut. From the very first crushing riff of the title track, it becomes obvious that the... Read More

Animosity
Artist: Corrosion of Conformity
Community Score: 8.80

Released in 1985, this second full-length Corrosion of Conformity offering features Mike Dean (bass and vocals,) Reed Mullin (drums), and Woody Weatherman on guitar. Just as the N.C. group's lineup constantly shifted, so did their music. While still plenty hyper, Animosity has a bit more metal mixed in with the hardcore punk of the band's debut,... Read More

The Decomposition of Violets: Live in Hollywood
Artist: Christian Death

Originally released back in 1985, Christian Death's classic Live in Hollywood had finally been made available on CD (it was only previously available on cassette). It's disheartening that the year it's finally been re-issued, Christian Death singer Rozz Williams committed suicide. The band was one of the first goth/death/rock bands out there,... Read More

Louder Than God: The Best of Blue Cheer
Artist: Blue Cheer

Released in 1986 on Rhino records, Louder Than God is an adequate "best of" collection for those interested in a brief but complete assortment of Blue Cheer's greatest proto-metal hits. Rhino wisely chose studio wiz Bill Inglot to remaster the 13 tracks on this offering, making it one of, if not the best, post-'70s repackaging of Blue Cheer... Read More

Attack of the Killer B's
Artist: Anthrax
Community Score: 6.14

Not just for devoted fans, this collection of B-sides, covers, rarities, and obscurities actually presents a surprisingly solid overview of the range and diversity of Anthrax's material in an engaging, entertaining manner. Listeners wanting to hear more of the band's sense of humor will be pleased with the bizarre "Milk (Ode to Billy)" (one of... Read More

Persistence of Time
Artist: Anthrax
Community Score: 8.12

Persistence of Time rivals Among the Living as Anthrax's best album and might even be a clear-cut favorite if some of the songs had been trimmed a bit. The more cartoonish side of the band is missing here, trimmed in favor of a dark, uncompromising examination of society's dirty underbelly -- nearly every song rails against hatred and prejudice,... Read More

Metal Heart
Artist: Accept
Community Score: 7.62

With 1985's Metal Heart, German metal institution Accept attempted to add catchier choruses and melodies to their high-octane guitar riffing in a clear ploy to crack the American market. Not that this move in any way upset the balance of their thus-far smooth-running metal machine, which had been gaining momentum with every release since the... Read More

Black Sabbath Greatest Hits
Artist: Black Sabbath
Community Score: 9.00