 | Blog author: Alex Stojanovic Time for another 30th anniversary list. This time, we're going all the way back to 1988. This year is mostly known for the formations of Cannibal Corpse, Gamma Ray, Eyehategod, Nine Inch Nails and Paradise Lost to name a few, but also the release of some more classic albums! One thing you will notice about this list is that it's mostly thrash albums because I'm a big thrash guy and this was during the time |
where thrash was at its peak and there were so many amazing albums released around this time. As I mentioned in my 1987 albums list, I wasn't alive in the 80s, but that doesn't matter. What really matters is the music. Let's get to the list.
10. DEATH ANGEL - Frolic Through The Park
"I'M BORED!" After arriving on the scene with The Ultra-Violence in 1987, Death Angel wasted no time and wrote the follow-up, which would be Frolic Through The Park while on tour and released it in 1988. The record is known for containing "Bored", which many people loved and still love today. The other most notable track from the album is "3rd Floor", but how can you forget about the underrated gems like "Confused", "Mind Rape", "Guilty Of Innocence" and "Road Mutants"? These days, Frolic Through The Park and Act III seem to be the albums the band focuses a lot less on when it comes to playing the old material live. Matter of fact, I find that they focus more on the current material than the first three albums, and rightfully so, because the stuff they're putting out now with the current lineup is incredible. However, I'm sure a majority of fans from the early days would love to hear a bit more old material from the first three albums, but The Ultra-Violence seems to be the primary focus of the old material, with some from Frolic and Act III cuts sprinkled in from time to time, but I digress. Going back to Frolic, it serves as the perfect middle ground between the blazing thrash influence from The Ultra-Violence and the more diverse direction on Act III.
"I'M BORED!" After arriving on the scene with The Ultra-Violence in 1987, Death Angel wasted no time and wrote the follow-up, which would be Frolic Through The Park while on tour and released it in 1988. The record is known for containing "Bored", which many people loved and still love today. The other most notable track from the album is "3rd Floor", but how can you forget about the underrated gems like "Confused", "Mind Rape", "Guilty Of Innocence" and "Road Mutants"? These days, Frolic Through The Park and Act III seem to be the albums the band focuses a lot less on when it comes to playing the old material live. Matter of fact, I find that they focus more on the current material than the first three albums, and rightfully so, because the stuff they're putting out now with the current lineup is incredible. However, I'm sure a majority of fans from the early days would love to hear a bit more old material from the first three albums, but The Ultra-Violence seems to be the primary focus of the old material, with some from Frolic and Act III cuts sprinkled in from time to time, but I digress. Going back to Frolic, it serves as the perfect middle ground between the blazing thrash influence from The Ultra-Violence and the more diverse direction on Act III.
09. FORBIDDEN - Forbidden Evil
"WELCOME TO THE CHURCH OF LIES!" If you're a die-hard thrasher, you should know who Forbidden are. The band's first album Forbidden Evil often gets overlooked when talking about thrash albums, but when you listen to tracks like "March Into Fire", "Chalice Of Blood", "Forbidden Evil" and "Off The Edge", it makes you wonder why it gets overlooked so much. Forbidden was also Paul Bostaph's first band, for those that don't know. He played on Forbidden Evil, as well as the follow-up Twisted Into Form. This album would be the band's most known album, with Twisted Into Form being second. Aside from the adrenaline-inducing riffs from Craig Locicero and Glen Alvelais, Russ Anderson has some serious pipes. The high notes he unleashes on this record are just insane.
"WELCOME TO THE CHURCH OF LIES!" If you're a die-hard thrasher, you should know who Forbidden are. The band's first album Forbidden Evil often gets overlooked when talking about thrash albums, but when you listen to tracks like "March Into Fire", "Chalice Of Blood", "Forbidden Evil" and "Off The Edge", it makes you wonder why it gets overlooked so much. Forbidden was also Paul Bostaph's first band, for those that don't know. He played on Forbidden Evil, as well as the follow-up Twisted Into Form. This album would be the band's most known album, with Twisted Into Form being second. Aside from the adrenaline-inducing riffs from Craig Locicero and Glen Alvelais, Russ Anderson has some serious pipes. The high notes he unleashes on this record are just insane.
08. DEATH - Leprosy
After blessing the world with the blueprint for extreme metal with Scream Bloody Gore in 1987, Death followed it up with another masterpiece with Leprosy the following year. You could hear Chuck Schuldiner starting to evolve as a songwriter on this album, especially on tracks like "Leprosy", "Open Casket", "Pull The Plug", Left To Die" and "Primitive Ways", while still hanging on to the extreme element from Scream Bloody Gore. However, except for a couple of tracks, all the songs were co-written by fellow guitarist Rick Rozz. Many bands have covered songs from this record over the years. Akercocke covered "Leprosy" on their Antichrist album, "Pull The Plug" has been covered by Callenish Circle, Zyklon and Revocation. Finnish thrashers Mokoma covered "Open Casket" in Finnish on their Viides Vuodenaika EP and called the song "Avoin Hauta".
After blessing the world with the blueprint for extreme metal with Scream Bloody Gore in 1987, Death followed it up with another masterpiece with Leprosy the following year. You could hear Chuck Schuldiner starting to evolve as a songwriter on this album, especially on tracks like "Leprosy", "Open Casket", "Pull The Plug", Left To Die" and "Primitive Ways", while still hanging on to the extreme element from Scream Bloody Gore. However, except for a couple of tracks, all the songs were co-written by fellow guitarist Rick Rozz. Many bands have covered songs from this record over the years. Akercocke covered "Leprosy" on their Antichrist album, "Pull The Plug" has been covered by Callenish Circle, Zyklon and Revocation. Finnish thrashers Mokoma covered "Open Casket" in Finnish on their Viides Vuodenaika EP and called the song "Avoin Hauta".
07. ANTHRAX - State Of Euphoria
The guys in Anthrax have gone on record to say that State Of Euphoria is their least favourite album due to the fact that it was rushed. They had a tour with Iron Maiden coming up at the time, so it was a rush to finish the record before the tour started. The song from this record that has become a prominent staple in the live set is their cover of "Antisocial", but they'll also pull out "Be All, End All" from time to time. However, this record is not as celebrated as Spreading The Disease and Among The Living, but the record did mange to go gold. I wouldn't put State Of Euphoria as one of my top favourite Anthrax records, but it's still an enjoyable listen. The other songs, besides the two aforementioned songs, that I enjoy from the record include "Who Cares Wins", "Schism", "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind" and "Misery Loves Company". The tour for the album saw the band open for Iron Maiden on the Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son tour, Ozzy on the No Rest For The Wicked tour, and Metallica on the And Justice For All tour.
The guys in Anthrax have gone on record to say that State Of Euphoria is their least favourite album due to the fact that it was rushed. They had a tour with Iron Maiden coming up at the time, so it was a rush to finish the record before the tour started. The song from this record that has become a prominent staple in the live set is their cover of "Antisocial", but they'll also pull out "Be All, End All" from time to time. However, this record is not as celebrated as Spreading The Disease and Among The Living, but the record did mange to go gold. I wouldn't put State Of Euphoria as one of my top favourite Anthrax records, but it's still an enjoyable listen. The other songs, besides the two aforementioned songs, that I enjoy from the record include "Who Cares Wins", "Schism", "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind" and "Misery Loves Company". The tour for the album saw the band open for Iron Maiden on the Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son tour, Ozzy on the No Rest For The Wicked tour, and Metallica on the And Justice For All tour.
06. VIO-LENCE - Eternal Nightmare
This past January saw the original Vio-Lence lineup (minus Sean Killian) on stage for the first time in many years at the Killian On Command benefit show for frontman Sean Killian. He is unfortunately battling liver cirrhosis and we definitely hope he pulls through. However, we are here to talk about their classic debut album Eternal Nightmare, which is one brutal masterpiece, and one of the best metal albums of 1988. The entire record is just a buffet of crazed riffs and pummeling energy. Sean Killian's high register vocals compliment the rampaging riffs from Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel really well. These songs are simply built for mosh pits, without a doubt. Quick question. Wouldn't it be awesome if all of a sudden, just by surprise, Machine Head did a Vio-Lence medley at a show? I think it would be awesome if they did, but I do not see that happening unfortunately.
This past January saw the original Vio-Lence lineup (minus Sean Killian) on stage for the first time in many years at the Killian On Command benefit show for frontman Sean Killian. He is unfortunately battling liver cirrhosis and we definitely hope he pulls through. However, we are here to talk about their classic debut album Eternal Nightmare, which is one brutal masterpiece, and one of the best metal albums of 1988. The entire record is just a buffet of crazed riffs and pummeling energy. Sean Killian's high register vocals compliment the rampaging riffs from Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel really well. These songs are simply built for mosh pits, without a doubt. Quick question. Wouldn't it be awesome if all of a sudden, just by surprise, Machine Head did a Vio-Lence medley at a show? I think it would be awesome if they did, but I do not see that happening unfortunately.
05. IRON MAIDEN - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
Somewhere In Time was the first Iron Maiden album to feature synthesizers, but it was Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son was the album where the synths became more prominent. I'm obviously a bigger fan of the earlier stuff like Killers, Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind and Powerslave, but Seventh Son contains a healthy amount of strong tracks like "Moonchild", "The Evil That Men Do", "Only The Good Die Young", "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" and probably my favourite track: "The Clairvoyant". The harmonized lead in that track always gives me goosebumps. Many people felt that "Can I Play With Madness" was a Bon Jovi moment for Maiden, but it's a big moment in the live set when it's played. It would also be the last album to feature Adrian Smith until his return on Brave New World.
Somewhere In Time was the first Iron Maiden album to feature synthesizers, but it was Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son was the album where the synths became more prominent. I'm obviously a bigger fan of the earlier stuff like Killers, Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind and Powerslave, but Seventh Son contains a healthy amount of strong tracks like "Moonchild", "The Evil That Men Do", "Only The Good Die Young", "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" and probably my favourite track: "The Clairvoyant". The harmonized lead in that track always gives me goosebumps. Many people felt that "Can I Play With Madness" was a Bon Jovi moment for Maiden, but it's a big moment in the live set when it's played. It would also be the last album to feature Adrian Smith until his return on Brave New World.
04. SLAYER - South Of Heaven
"Before you see the light, you must DIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!" Ahh, who doesn't want to just join in and scream that line every time? It's obviously no Reign In Blood, but South Of Heaven contains one of Slayer's biggest anthems, which is the title track. After pushing their speed capabilities to the limit on Reign In Blood, they pulled things back a bit with a decrease in tempo on this record. There's slower and more mid-tempo tunes like "Mandatory Suicide", "Read Between The Lies", "Live Undead" and "Spill The Blood", but there's still the thrashers like "Silent Scream", "Cleanse The Soul" and "Ghosts Of War". This would also be the first album to feature a lot more lyrical contributions from Tom Araya.
"Before you see the light, you must DIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!" Ahh, who doesn't want to just join in and scream that line every time? It's obviously no Reign In Blood, but South Of Heaven contains one of Slayer's biggest anthems, which is the title track. After pushing their speed capabilities to the limit on Reign In Blood, they pulled things back a bit with a decrease in tempo on this record. There's slower and more mid-tempo tunes like "Mandatory Suicide", "Read Between The Lies", "Live Undead" and "Spill The Blood", but there's still the thrashers like "Silent Scream", "Cleanse The Soul" and "Ghosts Of War". This would also be the first album to feature a lot more lyrical contributions from Tom Araya.
03. MEGADETH - So Far, So Good...So What?
Dave Mustaine has mentioned that So Far, So Good...So What? is his least favourite of the first five Megadeth records. It's the only record to feature Chuck Behler on drums and Jeff Young on guitar. So Far is probably the more under-appreciated Megadeth album of the first five. Obviously, it's not as amazing as Peace Sells before it and Rust In Peace after it, but it's got some great songs on it like "Into The Lungs Of Hell", "Set The World Afire", "Mary Jane", "Hook In Mouth", "Liar", and of course the biggest track on the album: "In My Darkest Hour". The latter is still a frequent track in the live set. "Set The World Afire" and "Hook In Mouth" are the only other tracks from the album that have made appearances in the set over the last 30 years, but I wish they would appear more often, as well as some of the other tracks that I mentioned above.
Dave Mustaine has mentioned that So Far, So Good...So What? is his least favourite of the first five Megadeth records. It's the only record to feature Chuck Behler on drums and Jeff Young on guitar. So Far is probably the more under-appreciated Megadeth album of the first five. Obviously, it's not as amazing as Peace Sells before it and Rust In Peace after it, but it's got some great songs on it like "Into The Lungs Of Hell", "Set The World Afire", "Mary Jane", "Hook In Mouth", "Liar", and of course the biggest track on the album: "In My Darkest Hour". The latter is still a frequent track in the live set. "Set The World Afire" and "Hook In Mouth" are the only other tracks from the album that have made appearances in the set over the last 30 years, but I wish they would appear more often, as well as some of the other tracks that I mentioned above.
02. TESTAMENT - The New Order
When you compare the songwriting on Testament's The Legacy and The New Order, you could hear the band starting to mature more as writers, even though The New Order came out only a year after The Legacy. A lot can change in a person in a year. This album gave birth to some of the band's signature songs like "The New Order", "Into The Pit", "The Preacher", "Trial By Fire" and "Disciples Of The Watch". You will never see a Testament show where they will not play "Into The Pit". I only got to hear the band play songs like "Eerie Inhabitants" and "A Day Of Reckoning" once. I really hope they bring out these songs a little more often into the live set. My only issue with this album is that when the thrash beat is played, Louie Clemente's snare sounds extremely fuzzy, compared to The Legacy or any of the albums that followed. It was also a little fuzzy on The Legacy, but it was more pronounced. However, The New Order is an all-time classic and will always be held in high regard among metalheads.
When you compare the songwriting on Testament's The Legacy and The New Order, you could hear the band starting to mature more as writers, even though The New Order came out only a year after The Legacy. A lot can change in a person in a year. This album gave birth to some of the band's signature songs like "The New Order", "Into The Pit", "The Preacher", "Trial By Fire" and "Disciples Of The Watch". You will never see a Testament show where they will not play "Into The Pit". I only got to hear the band play songs like "Eerie Inhabitants" and "A Day Of Reckoning" once. I really hope they bring out these songs a little more often into the live set. My only issue with this album is that when the thrash beat is played, Louie Clemente's snare sounds extremely fuzzy, compared to The Legacy or any of the albums that followed. It was also a little fuzzy on The Legacy, but it was more pronounced. However, The New Order is an all-time classic and will always be held in high regard among metalheads.
01. METALLICA - And Justice For All
I don't think this should be a shocker. And Justice For All is not only one of the biggest selling metal albums of 1988, if not the biggest, but without a doubt, the best. Obviously the production will always be a subject of discussion for the rest of life to come due to the lack of bass, and I know that the album's mixer Steve Thompson has gone on record to say that Lars was the culprit behind the lack of bass because he asked him to turn it down so that it was barely audible. Part of my brain wants to think that that was also part of the hazing the band were putting Jason Newsted through because as any Metallica fan knows, when Jason joined the band, they busted his balls pretty damn good. However, there's And Justice For Jason, where the bass is present in the songs. Back then, the biggest eye-opener was that "One" was Metallica's first-ever music video. After holding back from that on the first three records because they didn't want to "sell out", they conformed and it alienated a lot of their core fans. Aside from that, it garnered them many more fans, and the song has become a permanent feature in the live setlist for the past 30 years, with "Blackened", "Harvester Of Sorrow", "And Justice For All" and "The Shortest Straw" making appearances from time to time. I think it would be amazing if they would bring "Dyers Eve" back into the set sometime. This would also be the last Metallica thrash album until Death Magnetic when they returned to their thrash roots. It's sad that And Justice For All isn't as celebrated as the three previous records and the Black Album because this record is fantastic. Although there isn't any bass, the songwriting is stellar and the performances are top-notch.
I don't think this should be a shocker. And Justice For All is not only one of the biggest selling metal albums of 1988, if not the biggest, but without a doubt, the best. Obviously the production will always be a subject of discussion for the rest of life to come due to the lack of bass, and I know that the album's mixer Steve Thompson has gone on record to say that Lars was the culprit behind the lack of bass because he asked him to turn it down so that it was barely audible. Part of my brain wants to think that that was also part of the hazing the band were putting Jason Newsted through because as any Metallica fan knows, when Jason joined the band, they busted his balls pretty damn good. However, there's And Justice For Jason, where the bass is present in the songs. Back then, the biggest eye-opener was that "One" was Metallica's first-ever music video. After holding back from that on the first three records because they didn't want to "sell out", they conformed and it alienated a lot of their core fans. Aside from that, it garnered them many more fans, and the song has become a permanent feature in the live setlist for the past 30 years, with "Blackened", "Harvester Of Sorrow", "And Justice For All" and "The Shortest Straw" making appearances from time to time. I think it would be amazing if they would bring "Dyers Eve" back into the set sometime. This would also be the last Metallica thrash album until Death Magnetic when they returned to their thrash roots. It's sad that And Justice For All isn't as celebrated as the three previous records and the Black Album because this record is fantastic. Although there isn't any bass, the songwriting is stellar and the performances are top-notch.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS (No Order)
| Overkill Under The Influence  | Ratt Reach For The Sky  | Blind Guardian Battalions Of Fear  |
| Sanctuary Refuge Denied  | King Diamond Them  | Poison Open Up & Say...Ahh!  |
I know some of you are wondering where are albums like Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime and Helloween's Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II. Those records just didn't have much of an impact on me.
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen! My top 10 albums turning the dirty thirty this year! What were/are some of YOUR favourite albums of 1988? Post your lists down in the comments!
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen! My top 10 albums turning the dirty thirty this year! What were/are some of YOUR favourite albums of 1988? Post your lists down in the comments!
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