Gems
Artist: Aerosmith
Community Score: 7.55

With 1987's Permanent Vacation successfully restoring Aerosmith's reputation as one of hard rock's finest, Columbia Records (their first record company) decided the time was right to issue a follow-up of sorts to their 1980 compilation, Greatest Hits. The result, 1988's Gems, features almost all the tracks that were missing from the first... Read More

My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama
Artist: Dweezil Zappa
Community Score: 9.20
Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich
Artist: Warrant
Community Score: 9.48

Other bands were bigger, other bands were better, but no other group embodied the spirit of late-'80s hair metal as much as Warrant. They were slick and tuneful, cheerfully shallow and gussied up to look prettier than they actually are. It was the era in a nutshell -- proud to be all surface and no depth. That aesthetic is what drives their... Read More

The Best of the Rest
Artist: UFO

The title of this compilation may as well have been "No Schenker," as it collects the best (or least worst, as it were) moments of UFO's mostly lackluster career sans the mad axe-man. Sad but true, for try as he might, vocalist Phil Mogg never quite duplicated the volatile but thrilling chemistry he enjoyed with Schenker with any other guitarist... Read More

Hurricane Eyes
Artist: Loudness
Community Score: 8.00

Heavy metal Japanese style, "Hurricane Eyes" was their best effort. Earlier albums were slightly tacky, while later efforts lost the chances of Loudness becoming a household name. The album was good and it didn't sound typically Japanese, American or European. ~ John Book, All Music Guide Read More

Vivid
Artist: Living Colour
Community Score: 8.12

In 1988, few heavy metal bands were comprised of all black members, and fewer had the talent or know-how to inject different musical forms into their hard rock sound (funk, punk, alternative, jazz, soul, rap) -- but N.Y.C.'s Living Colour proved to be an exception. Unlike nearly all of the era's metal bands, the group's music has held up over... Read More

L.A. Guns
Artist: L.A. Guns
Community Score: 8.00

Even amidst the already seedy underbelly of the late-'80s L.A. glam metal scene, L.A. Guns were the undisputed bottom-feeders. A ragged collection of outcasts from various other bands (guitarist Tracii Guns was the original "guns" in Guns n' Roses, drummer Steven Riley had recently vacated the stool with shock-kings W.A.S.P., and British... Read More

Kingdom Come
Artist: Kingdom Come
Community Score: 5.00

It contains the hit single "Get It On." ~ Dan Heilman, All Music Guide Read More

Junkyard
Artist: Junkyard
Community Score: 10.00

Comprised of ex-Dag Nasty/Minor Threat and future Bad Religion guitarist Brian Baker, Junkyard's 1989 debut is a rollicking, good time, if somewhat disjointed, affair. Produced by veteran classic rock knobster Tom Werman, the band's self-titled debut puts a different spin on the late-'80s hair rock mantra. Dirtier and certainly blusier than most... Read More

Howe 2: High Gear
Artist: Greg Howe
Community Score: 10.00

After Easton, PA, native Greg Howe established himself as a promising new guitar virtuoso in the hard rock underground with his instrumental, self-titled debut in 1988, he immediately returned in 1989 with a band effort called Howe 2. Collecting the local talents of brother Al Howe (lead vocals), Vern Parsons (bass), and Joe Nevolo (drums), Greg... Read More

Once Bitten...
Artist: Great White
Community Score: 7.80

With their third album, Once Bitten..., Great White finally perfected their blend of bluesy Aerosmith grind and Van Halen hard rock flamboyance. It all comes to a head on "Rock Me," a minor hit single that brought them to a broader audience, but there are a couple of other moments -- such as the sleazy "Lady Red Light" or "Save Your Love" --... Read More

Last of the Runaways
Artist: Giant
Community Score: 6.17
Perfect Symmetry
Artist: Fates Warning
Community Score: 8.75

This was the recording that established Fates Warning as a progressive band. Their metal influences still dominate the group's overall sound; however, Mark Zonder's unique approach to drumming adds another level of depth and credibility to the music. His double bass, odd-time introduction to "Part of the Machine" is the session's defining... Read More

Dangerous Toys
Artist: Dangerous Toys
Community Score: 9.00

With their self-titled debut album, Dangerous Toys found themselves in regular rotation on MTV. At the time their Southern rock-influenced metal was noticeably different from the hair metal dominating MTV's Headbangers Ball. The album contains such memorable, and somewhat laughable tracks as "Take Me Drunk," "Feels Like a Hammer," "Sportin' a... Read More

The Disregard of Timekeeping
Artist: Bonham
The Collection
Artist: Uriah Heep

Over an hour of most of the better tracks -- and certainly most of the best known tracks -- by Uriah Heep, with a strong emphasis on their early-70s repertory, when they could scarcely make a wrong move. The sound is excellent and the order of the material is ideal, starting with their most successful rockers ("Love Machine," "Easy Livin'" etc.)... Read More