Top 20 Essential 80's Hard Rock Albums. (10 to 1)

10. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (1986)

The band that became the benchmark for Hair bands in the 1980s, whether they like it or not these days, that's how it was back in 1987 when "Slippery" topped the charts. And with good reason, this album is a near perfect example of melodic rock, some of the biggest anthems of the 80's in "You Give Love A Bad Name" and "Livin' On A Prayer" as well as the cowboy tinged classic "Wanted Dead Or Alive", coupled with the AOR glory of "I'd Die For You" and "Without Love". If Jon Bon Jovi had decided to put the B-side, "Edge Of A Broken Heart" on the album instead of the naff album filler "Social Disease", this little review would be at the pointy end of this list. As it stands though "Slippery When Wet" is an amazing and essential album that Bon Jovi would/will never even come close to matching in song quality ever again.

9. Giuffria - Giuffria (1984)

The debut album from Ex Angel keyboard player Greg Giuffria's new band, an incredible blend of Symphonic Pomp Rock with Hard Rock and the result is spectacular! Walls of Keyboards, excellent Vocals and  great songs performed by exceptional players, one of the best examples of arena style AOR you will ever here. With songs like "Line Of Fire", "Lonely In Love" and "Don't Tear Me Down", every home should have one.

8. Dokken - Under Lock & Key (1985)

Dokken were an absolute pillar in my musical world as a teen, melodic vocals over exceptional guitar work, entwined in melodic anthems. This format pretty much summed up all I looked for in a band and album. The thing with Dokken's first two albums, "Breaking The Chains" and "Tooth And Nail" was they were inconsistant, and had some album filler for sure, as well as some dire lyrics such as "You've got a heartless heart, you've got a heart of stone"....oh dear. Then along came their third album "Under Lock and Key", an absolute gem in the hair band era, An album filled with song after song of Don Dokken's AOR style lyrics and melodies, laid over the top of hard rock crunching riffs and brilliant fretwork from George Lynch. All time!!

7. Lion - Dangerous Attraction (1987)

When I was about 14, my younger brother and I were watching a Sci-Fi/Action movie called "The Wraith" starring Charlie Sheen, during one of it's action sequences, the soundtrack fires up with a song called "Never Surrender" that just blew me and my brother away! As soon as the film finished we scoured the credits for the song details to find the band was called LION, from there i went to my local Metal import record store and made them look up any releases by a band called "Lion" and they ordered in the only title available to them at that time, this turned out to be the "Dangerous Attraction" album and it featured the song from "The Wrath" soundtrack! I was elated! Not only that, the album was incredible, like a mix of Dokken and 80's Whitesnake, with a little Keel thrown in. Superb vocals from Kal Swan (Ex-Tytan) and some excellent shredding from a young Doug Aldrich, who of course would go on to play with House Of Lords, Hurricane, Dio and eventually Whitesnake! An amazing record from a great band. 

6. Survivor - When Seconds Count (1986)

Most known for their smash number one song "Eye Of The Tiger", Survivor continued and had a handful of top 40 US chart hits. In 86 they released their 6th album "When Seconds Count". I cam across this album in 87 at a suburban flea market and thought I'd give it a shot. While far more AOR than I had expected, with huge keyboards that dominated the whole record, the vocals and songs were stunning. Songs heaped with emotion, anchored to Jim Peterik's (keyboards) amazing song writing skills. From huge AOR anthems such as "How Much Love" to the emotion soaked mid pace melodic bliss of "Is This Love", "When Seconds Count" is one of the greatest AOR albums of all time.

5. White Sister - White Sister (1984)

In 1986 I bought a copy of Hit Parader Magazine with Bon Jovi on the cover, inside it featured an article called "White Hot" or something equally as cheesy. It was a feature about bands in the hard rock/metal scene using "White" in their title; White Wolf, White Tiger, Whitesnake, White Lion, Great White and a band called White Sister. Being unfamiliar with White Sister i was intrigued, so on my regular weekend visit to the Metal Record store i dived in and bought the White Sister debut without hearing a single song. Why you ask? well when I flipped t over to look at the back I noticed it was produced by Greg Giuffria (Giuffria/House Of Lords) so for me, that was as good a sign on as I needed! I was happily rewarded with a more bombastic band than Giuffria, heavier in it's hard rock approach, but with huge upfront stabs of keyboards and some enormous choruses. This album has become a classic in the genre, and rightly so. I had the pleasure of seeing them reunited twice live and they were simply excellent. I couldn't recommend it highly enough. 80's Melodic Rock perfection.

4. Icon - Night Of The Crime (1985)

I actually picked up this album around 1987, a couple of years after it's initial release. I already had the self titled debut from 84, which is a very good album but is more hard edged and less melodic than it's 1985 predecessor. "Night Of The Crime" is truly an album for those that love mid 80's Melodic Hard Rock, and that's what this is, Hard Rock, not AOR. Great songs, great performances and some excellent guitar work from Dan Whexler. While some of the 80's metal community and press was unimpressed by the more melodic direction Icon took with "Night Of The Crime", myself and years later I would realise, many others thought the album was far superior to the debut. Featuring a crisp production from Bob Halligan Jnr , this album is filled with some absolute amazing songs such as "Danger Calling", Take Another Shot" and "Missing". This is a must have for any hard rock fan!

3. Black N Blue - In Heat (1988)

A band that was heralded as America’s answer to Def Leppard, launched at the same time as Ratt, Great White, Wasp and many others, Black N Blue came out of the gate great, but seemed to run out of stamina. Their self titled debut was a well received punchy collection of pop metal, this was followed by the more melodic and radio friendly follow up “Without Love” a great album in itself, but quite a step away from the sound of the debut. In 1986 Gene Simmons (Kiss) entered the fold as producer and mentor and took the band back to a tougher sound for their third album “Nasty Nasty” , while it had some great songs, it also had a few not so great songs. Simmons stayed on as producer for the bands forth and  last major label album “In Heat” released in 1988. The album is a very well crafted collection of mature sounding melodic hard rock songs that blend 80’s era Kiss with Pyromania era Def Leppard. Without a doubt the best Black N Blue album and one of the best and criminally overlooked  Hard Rock albums of the 80’s.

2. Keel - Keel (1987)

Keel had a minor MTV and radio hit with the title track to their 1985 album  “The Right To Rock”, produced by Kiss’s Gene Simmons, this was followed by another Simmons produced album in 1986 “The Final Frontier”, both excellent albums in their own right but it’s on 1987’s self titled “Keel” album that the band hit their full stride. Absolute huge arena style hard rock anthems in abundance. Songs such as “United Nations”  and “It’s a Jungle Out There” and shows Keel at their arena rocking best, while “Somebody’s Waiting” and  the superb “Don’t Say You Love Me” lean the band more towards Melodic Rock territory in the best possible way. An excellent production from Michael Wagner (White Lion, Dokken) brings a huge production adding to the enormous sound these songs have. Exceptional.

1.     Ratt – Out Of The Cellar (1984)

And the winner is...Ratt, with their 1984 debut album “Out Of The Cellar. I was on board from the beginning with Ratt, from the 6 track EP I bought on Cassette in 1983 as a kid. There was a huge hype in the magazines at the time surrounding these guys in the lead up to the release of “Out Of The Cellar” that they had created with their EP. Thankfully for Ratt and their fans, they delivered an absolute ace, the album went on to outsell Motley Crue’s “Shout At The Devil” for the year and stayed in the US Billboard top 40 for over a year. The album spawned a string of chart topping songs including “Wanted Man”, “Round and Round” and “Back For More”. This is in my opinion the most essential Hard Rock album of the 1980’s, it defines the era and sound. An album full of pop metal masterpieces, excellent guitar work from Warren Di Martini and Robbin Crosby (RIP) and huge hooks from vocalist Stephen Pearcy with his melodic raspy tone. No home should be without this one! 

Top 20 Essential 80's Hard Rock Albums. (20 to 11)

There's so many great albums and music that came out of the 80's and as a kid at the time I loved how much of it there was, I never had enough money to buy the amount of albums I wanted to, and I bought more than most it seems. These days I have them all on Vinyl, CD and on my ipod for quick access , but nothing will beat the anticipation of the train ride home from the record store waiting to play the vinyl for the first time!

So here's my list of what I consider to be essential "Hard Rock" albums from the 80's, this includes some Melodic Metal and some AOR.

20. Night Ranger - Midnight Madness (1983)

The first album I'd ever heard from Night Ranger way back in the mid 80's and still my favorite to this day, filled with great edgy melodic and catchy songs that typifies American 80's Hard Rock like"Rumours In The Air, "Passion Play" and the awesome "When You Close Your Eyes" !!

19. FM - Indiscreet (1985)

The very smooth UK Aorsters FM first came to my attention through a high school friends older brother, they seemed more interesting to me than anything my friend was listening to at the time (probably Motley Crue or Poison). A really great album with a great mid 80's teen-movie soundtrack type vibe, sadly under appreciatated outside of the UK.

18. Dio - Sacred Heart (1985)

R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio, in my opinion, the greatest singer of all time. I love all the 80's Dio albums, but this is an underrated champion in my eyes, probably the most melodic and commercial with songs like "Rock & Roll Children" and "Hungry For Heaven" and as a result not a favorite of fans of Dio's heavier work, but highly recommended for those wanting to hear the great man's voice on some more 80's style melodic rockers!

17. Quiet Riot - QRIII (1986)

I remember buying this one the week it came out back in 86, the backlash on this record was harsh! They had gone from Super stardom with 80's Metal anthems "Metal Health' and "Mama we're All Crazy Now" to a sound saturated in Synths and Keyboards, clearly chasing the formula that had made Van Halen huge with their smash hit "Jump" in 84. While everyone around me was offended by QR's change in style, I was elated!!! I couldn't believe my ears, this was AOR /Melodic Rock glory!! and from Quiet Riot of all bands!
I liked Quiet riots previous two albums that had established them, but found they only had a handful of songs across both albums that I enjoyed, where as QRIII was giving me a whole album for the most part that I loved. A special note should be given to vocalist Kevin Dubrow (R.I.P.) as his vocals on this record truly show his ability and allow him to sing in far more styles than what the previous albums allowed. Great Album!

16. Warrant - Dirty, Rotten, Filthy, Stinking, Rich (1989)

Warrant were pretty much the Sunset Strip band that had it all, they looked great, had catchy songs, a great singer and frontman and were signed to Columbia Records , the biggest label in the world at the time. So it's not really a surprise they rose to super stardom at the time. The great thing about this debut is there's not a bad song on here, while some shine more than others, there's no duds. This is pretty much a perfect "Hair Metal" album. Sadly this is the third album in the Top 20 with a singer that has passed away. RIP Jani lane, an exceptional singer, songwriter and frontman.

15. Treat - Organized Crime (1989)

I found Swedish band Treat's debut album "Scratch & Bite" (85) at a K-Mart in the record department when I was 12 years old, they looked cool on the cover and so I bought it with my paper round money (such would be the situation for many albums), I really liked the album, but I didnt love it. I followed the band through their next two albums "Pleasure Principle" and "Dreamhunter" which showed a massive improvement, in fact I loved "Dreamhunter" so much it was a close call as to which Treat album would make the top 20! However it's with "Organised Crime" that I think Treat is at their finest, an album of brilliant melodic "Scandi" hard rock, truly essential.

14. Lizzy Borden - Love You To Pieces (1985)

Lizzy Borden are the best live band I've ever seen, and I've seen every band on this list except for 3.
Amazing vocals, great songs and what to me, is the epitome of 80's "American Metal", alongside bands like Queensryche, Crimson Glory, Leatherwolf, Fifth Angel and Armoured Saint. In this style Lizzy Borden are at the top of the heap, Lizzy's vocal's on the title track are incredible and the excellent "Save Me" reminds me of what I love about this music in the first place! Just awesome.

13. House Of Lords - House Of Lords (1988)

After two great, but not chart topping albums, Keyboard Maestro Greg Giuffria decide to modify his line up and at the persuasion of Gene Simmons (Kiss) changed the name of his band from Giuffria to House Of Lords and signed a new record deal with Simmons Records. Much in teh style of the two Giuffria albums, House Of Lords followed the same Pomp Rock/AOR path of over the top keyboards and brilliant harmonies and melodies, but with new voclilst James Christian, who in my opinion is no better or worse than Giuffria's orginal singer David Glen Eisley, they are different from each other , but both suit the music.
The debut by House Of Lords in my opinion would be their best album, and while not quite as great as Giuffria's debut album, it's a very great album in it's own right. The production is excellent and better than either of the Giuffria albums and this album features some incredible songs with "Edge Of Your Life" and "Jealous Heart" being AOR masterpieces.

12. Rick Springfield - Living In Oz (1983)

Criminally labeled in his native Australia as a "one hit wonder" for his song "Jesse's Girl", Rick Springfield enjoyed years of continued Platinum album success in the USA well after his first smash hit song. One of those albums was his 1983 opus "Living In Oz", a slick blend of commercial rock and AOR anthems, tracks such as "Souls", "Motel Eyes" and "Affair Of The Heart" are some of the best melodic rock you will ever hear. To die for.

11. Aviator - Aviator (1985)

The one and only album from New Jersey's Aviator is considered by many to be an "AOR Classic" or Melodic Rock Masterpiece", and I have to agree with those sweeping statements, this album is just one of those albums that takes you away in a time machine in the best possible way. Great production from Neil Kernon, fantastic songs in the style of Bon Jovi's debut and second album 7800. An absolute must have.

Part Two (10 - 1) in the following Blog :)

The Sword & The Sorcerer (1982)

I recently re-watched this again after having not seen it since the mid-eighties on video.
I went in expecting it to be pretty terrible, however it held up far better than i had anticipated.
While it's full of flaws, it does have a unique charm to it and can be a bit of fun if you let it.

One of the oddest things is the lack of "the Sword", which is an awesome looking triple bladed sword that can fire off the two outside blades individually.The Sword is featured in the first few scenes and then doesn't emerge again until the end of the film. This is much the same for "the Sorcerer" who is an ancient demon  resurrected by the always awesome villain actor Richard Lynch (RIP) who plays the evil tyrant king, however the "Sorcerer" much like the "Sword" is only in the film at the beginning and the end, still though he's a cool character and looks awesome when he first appears in the early part of the film. Not a film I could watch again and again, but certainly an entertaining medieval romp worth checking out if you enjoyed films like Beastmaster and Conan The Destroyer!