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

The Singles Collection 1966-1973
Artist: Status Quo

Like the dog that titled Status Quo's fourth album, The Singles Collection 1966-1973 is very much a beast of two heads, the first (representing the band's output between 1966 and 1969) shifting its gaze between Kinks-ish beat and British psych and the second (wrapping up the band's releases and re-releases at the end of that span) sinking its... Read More

In Rock We Trust
Artist: Y&T
Community Score: 8.00
Stages
Artist: Triumph
Community Score: 10.00
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

Not of This Earth
Artist: Joe Satriani
Community Score: 8.00

Not of This Earth was the first studio release from guitar wizard Joe Satriani (not counting the hard-to-find Joe Satriani EP). This all-instrumental album was making ripples in the guitar-playing community not long after it was released, and it's easy to see why: superior compositions, a signature style, a unique tone, and playing that's out of... 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

We Want Moore!
Artist: Gary Moore

This album is a jaw-dropping affair for anyone who believes that Eddie Van Halen is the ultimate guitar-shredding experience. Gary Moore's classic live album We Want Moore! is about as good as it gets. Drawing mainly from the Irish guitarist's previous two studio albums, every cut gets a shot in the arm from Moore's extended soloing, most... Read More

The Best of Kansas
Artist: Kansas
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

The Final Countdown
Artist: Europe
Community Score: 7.22

One of the most glorious launches in history, the title track for the thrice-platinum The Final Countdown is so bombastically brilliant, such glorious garbage, that this nuclear hair assault could only spew from the vacuous '80s. But full-tilt follow-up "Rock the Night" rules also: "You know it ain't easy/Running out of thrills." "Carrie" comes... Read More

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