GMD Poll: Top Ten Albums Of 1988

[Satanstoenail]

no deep purple though

 

[CiG]

Nah, lets just not do the 1970's at all, maybe 1979 might work, but there really just isn't enough metal.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

1979 would be a good year to do.

Everything before that would be 50% Sabbath and 50% Priest.

 

[no country for old wainds]

You had to start this again, CIG...

ummm i started it with the deep purple post, credit where credit's due.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

SSoaSS is filler-free, perhaps the only Maiden album to be so.

You spelled Killers and Powerslave wrong.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

their debut > Killers. Both are better than SSoaSS though.

 

[CiG]

I hope we get 1989 next.

 

[Vilden]

My list. Two thrash albums in my top 10, has to be a record!
Not sure about #9 and #10 at all though, a few of the runner ups could easily change place with them.

Surprised/disappointed by the lack of Trancendence btw, even in runner ups

1. Bathory - Blood Fire Death
2. Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
3. Adramelch - Irae Melanox
4. Crimson Glory - Trancendence
5. Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
6. Fates Warning - No Exit
7. Realm - Endless War
8. Helstar - A Distant Thunder
9. Coroner - Punishment for Decadence
10. Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II

Some runner ups:
Candlemass - Ancient Dreams
Scanner - Hypertrace
Vicious Rumors - Digital Dictator
Blind Guardian - Battalions of Fear
Liege Lord - Master Control
King Diamond - Them

 

[crimsonfloyd]

You spelled Killers and Powerslave wrong.

Killers? Easily the weakest 80s Maiden release. Doesn't even belong in the discussion. Powerslave matches the highs of SSoaSS, but has a very bloated and underwhelming mid-section.

 

[The Ozzman]

Killers? More like Fillers, amirite?!

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Powerslave matches the highs of SSoaSS

I disagree that they're equal in highs - nowhere on SSOASS is there a song as tight and aggressive, or with as iconic a set of riffs, as "Aces High".

SSOASS has some great material for sure, but overall I find it lacking the punchy energy and sense of adventure which define Maiden for me.

 

[Burkhard]

i've seen that znowhite cover art so often but i've never listened to it. maybe it's time...

The cover artwortk is somewhat weird, but the music is first class Thrash Metal. I really like Nicole Lee's aggressive vocals, though she sounds more moderate than Dawn Crosby (R.I.P.) on Détente's "Recognize No Authority". My favourite songs on "Act of God" are "To the Last Breath", "Rest in Peace", "A Soldier's Creed" and the final epic "Something Wicked (This Way Comes)".

good info about toxik. i'm still leaning toward '87 unless we have more evidence to the contrary. if it said the only '87 release was in germany then maybe it'd be enough, but i'm not sure a german magazine failing to pick it up 'til 88 automatically means it couldn't have been released in holland, brazil and the US already, as discogs suggests.

Further research on my part unfortunately didn't bring more clarification. The German metal magazine Rock Hard, which was already the second most important metal magazine in Germany (IMO) after Metal Hammer way back then (and more underground than the latter) had a review of "World Circus" in their May/June issue of 1988 which came out on April 22nd. And this review starts with the words "World Circus ranks without a doubt among the best releases of this month." This does, of course, not prove that the album wasn't released elsewhere already in 1987. Unfortunately, I don't have any Dutch, Brazilian or US metal magazines which I could consult for confirmation in one direction or the other. I can only say the UK metal magazine Metal Forces had a review of "World Circus" in issue no. 27 which came out in 1988 (don't know the exact date though).

If you do search on the net, you get contradictory results. E.g. German wikipedia says 1988, whereas English and Dutch wikipedia both say 1987. Since you don't know what the original sources are, it's impossible to verify who is right. I do admit that the sentence "The release of the album saw one of the first introductions to the, "progressive thrash metal" genre, charting on College Music Journal's "Best New Metal Album of the Year" for 1987" in the English wikipedia article suggests a release in 1987 at least in the United States. Thus if you should say that based on this evidence, "World Circus" is to be regarded as a 1987 release, I will accept this and - possibly - include it in my list for the poll of 1987.

However, as far as Drifter's "Reality Turns to Dust" is concerned which I mentioned in my first post on page one, RYM is definitely wrong. It's a 1988-release. Both the ©- and the ℗-symbol are followed by 1988 (whereas on my copy of Toxik's European release of "World Circus" both symbols are followed by 1987).

 

[crimsonfloyd]

I disagree that they're equal in highs - nowhere on SSOASS is there a song as tight and aggressive, or with as iconic a set of riffs, as "Aces High".

SSOASS has some great material for sure, but overall I find it lacking the punchy energy and sense of adventure which define Maiden for me.

Aces High is very good, but it's nowhere near being on par with the best cuts from SSoaSS.

I'm trying to see where you're coming from the "lacking energy and adventure" angle, but I find it to have more than enough of the former and perhaps more of the later than any Maiden album.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

There's no adventure on SSOASS. The dynamics are poor and the rhythms never change significantly to suit the song. Where something like Flash of the Blade (one of the supposed fillers) has a unique and tense riff in the Iron Maiden discography, then building to the intricate instrumental section to perfectly convey the climax of a duel, The Evil That Men Do and Only the Good Die Young just gallop endlessly with hardly any dynamics. Infinite Dreams is one of the most ambitious songs on its album but even it fails to maintain a consistent level of mystique when it suddenly goes full arena rock with the fifth and sixth verses. The title track's middle section attempts to replicate the ambiance of the NOTB intro together with the interlude of Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and fails to live up to either.

The entire album is basically a collection of excellent harmonies and guitar solos scattered across a barren wasteland of half-songs, all unified under a banner of repeating derivations on the word "seven" a thousand times.

 

[Sirjack]

i've seen that znowhite cover art so often but i've never listened to it. maybe it's time...

good info about toxik. i'm still leaning toward '87 unless we have more evidence to the contrary. if it said the only '87 release was in germany then maybe it'd be enough, but i'm not sure a german magazine failing to pick it up 'til 88 automatically means it couldn't have been released in holland, brazil and the US already, as discogs suggests.

Defo 1987...as my copy states

 

[Sirjack]

1 Sadus - Illusions
2 Forbidden - Forbidden Evil
3 Vicious Rumours - Digital Dictator
4 Slayer - South of Heaven
5 Cacophony - Go Off!
6 Coroner - Punishment for Decadence
7 Metallica - ...And Justice For All
8 Death - Leprosy
9 Sabbat - History of a Time to Come
10 Overkill - Under the Influence

 

[The Ozzman]

1 Sadus - Illusions
2 Forbidden - Forbidden Evil
3 Vicious Rumours - Digital Dictator
4 Slayer - South of Heaven
5 Cacophony - Go Off!
6 Coroner - Punishment for Decadence
7 Metallica - ...And Justice For All
8 Death - Leprosy
9 Bolt Thrower - In Battle There is no Law
10 Overkill - Under the Influence

Interesting list. That Vicious Rumours album is underrated.

 

[Sirjack]

yeah it is
l wanted to include more shred but really, my fav albums from that year are probably seen as typical now,,,

 

[Bloopy]

1. Metallica - ...And Justice for All
2. Candlemass - Ancient Dreams
3. Danzig - Danzig
4. Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today
5. Tankard - The Morning After
6. The Accüsed - Martha Splatterhead's Maddest Stories Ever Told
7. Flotsam and Jetsam - No Place for Disgrace
8. Megadeth - So Far, So Good... So What!
9. Manowar - Kings of Metal
10. The Nod - The Nod

edit: Missed ST. HM to Ozzy who gets dropped out. Too bad since No Rest for the Wicked could be his only solo album that I don't tire of after about 1.5 songs.

Defo 1987...as my copy states

You're looking at the year the label was printed. It's not necessarily the year it was released, especially for records pressed in December. That's the main reason why there's so much disagreement and confusion amongst music databases.

 

[ClichéUserName]

1. Rigor Mortis - Rigor Mortis
2. Napalm Death - From Enslavement to Obliteration
3. Num Skull - Ritually Abused
4. Voivod - Dimension Hatröss
5. Bathory - Blood Fire Death
6. Holy Terror - Mind Wars
7. O.L.D. - Old Lady Drivers
8. Lethal Aggression - Life is Hard... But That's No Excuse at All!
9. Sadus - Illusions
10.Sudden Impact - Split Personality



Runner-ups
D.R.I. - 4 of a kind
Bulldozer - IX
Bulldozer Neurodeliri
Slayer - South of Heaven
Saint Vitus - Mournful Cries