In honor of season #3, we introduce The Heavy Metal Yearbook: 1980’s Edition pt. 2, wherein Eric, of the Heavy Metal 101 podcast (https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/heavymetal101podcast ), explores every nook and cranny of heavy metal history from 1985-89 so that you can just sit back and enjoy the highlights:
1987 was an absolutely fascinating year in heavy metal. First off, the table was set for much extraordinary music to come: Death (who would eventually develop into arguably the greatest metal band of all) released their debut, "Scream Bloody Gore", which established the basic template for death metal, while two of the most influential early black metal albums, Bathory's magnificent "Under the Sign of the Black Mark" and Sarcófago's grimy but great "I.N.R.I." would go on to influence a whole bunch of crazy Norwegian dudes who would alter the course and story of metal forever in a few short years. Additionally, the genre-bending eclecticism of much 90's metal was telegraphed by excellent, idiosyncratic releases by Faith No More ("Introduce Yourself") and the ever-weirder Celtic Frost ("Into the Pandemonium").
Of course, there were also essential albums firmly grounded in the then and there of 1987: In thrash, Anthrax added its own belated “Big 4” masterpiece to the ever-growing collection, with their innovative, seminal, and wildly entertaining “Among the Living”. Also, Testament’s “The Legacy” was one of the most accomplished thrash debuts yet, even if it was stylistically rather indebted to Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer.
Lastly, it’s probably worth mentioning that a couple of the finest metal classics of all time were also released in 1987: Guns N’ Roses’ “Appetite for Destruction” (to my mind, the most universally accessible of all the metal classics, perfectly situated between not-TOO-heavy for casual fans and not-TOO-soft for serious metalheads), as well as my sometimes own personal vote for THE greatest classic metal album of all time, King Diamond’s mighty “Abigail”.
Great stuff all, but there can be only one King. Long live the King!
For more fun-filled heavy metal chat, please do check out the Heavy Metal 101 podcast, available everywhere you like to listen!https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/heavymetal101podcast