I ran across this great article on Metallica's Master of Puppets album's 25th anniversary and it got me to thinking. First, 25 freakin' years? Seriously? I remember first hearing the album after seeing Metallica open for Ozzy Osbourne at the Mid South Coliseum in Memphis not long after it came out. It's hard to believe that was a quarter of a century ago. I don't want to be one of those "the old days were so much better" blah blah blah type of people, but damn the music scene was great for me in the 80s... especially 1986. I graduated high school in 1984 (shaddup you!) so I was in my prime beer drinking, rocking out, mullet-headed (oh precious hair, how I miss thee), bombing out of college stage by this point. Sammy Hagar was the new lead singer for Van Halen (which I was fine with really, David Lee Roth had gotten on my nerves a bit), wildman and Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee had married Heather Locklear and you couldn't turn on MTV without seeing A-Ha or Mr. Mister or maybe even Falco singing "Rock Me Amadeus". At least you could see videos back then, but that's a whole other post. The cool dudes had mullets and the cool chicks dressed like Madonna. But sadly, it was also the same year that Cliff Burton of Metallica was killed in a bus crash and Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy died of heart failure. R.I.P.
There were so many artists I was getting into then, mostly to do with "hair metal" or pop metal with hairspray. Most wasn't actually metal, but it was fun and harmless (except to maybe the ozone layer) with catchy hooks and sing along lyrics. The odd thing, or maybe not so odd really, is that I still listen to a whole lot of this stuff today. Metallica is probably still my favorite band. I never had a problem with the music Van Halen made with Sammy out front either. Sure it was a bit polished, but I found it fun. Poison took off the make-up and got hair plugs, but still draw skanky hos on reality TV so that's good. Right?
So just because I was thinking about this over the last few days, I give you a list of my top 25 favorite albums celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. These may not have been my favorite 25 at the time, for instance I didn't really get into Metallica until their next album, but looking back these are the 25 that were released that year that turned out the most important to me. My Top 25 Albums of 1986
25. Steve Earle - Guitar Town
24. Fastway - Trick or Treat
23. Ratt - Dancing Undercover
22. Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time
21. Motörhead - Orgasmatron
20. Billy Idol - Whiplash Smile
19. Queensrÿche - Rage for Order
18. Poison - Look What The Cat Dragged In
17. Huey Lewis & The News - Fore!
16. Boston - Third Stage
15. Dio - Intermission
14. Run D.M.C. - Raising Hell
13. David Lee Roth - Eat 'Em and Smile
12. Peter Gabriel - So
11. Judas Priest - Turbo
10. Journey - Raised on Radio
9. Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin
8. AC/DC - Who Made Who
7. Cinderella - Night Songs
6. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
5. Tesla - Mechanical Resonance
4. Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?
3. Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
2. Van Halen - 5150
1. Metallica - Master of Puppets
Sorry, no New Kids on the Block, but holy cow that is a lot of great music (to me anyway). My iPod is still packed with songs off all these albums today, and probably always will be. 1986 was one of the best years ever for my musical tastes.
