Moving right along with these Anniversary articles it's time for 1987! To be honest, this year is pretty dominated by glam metal, but that's not a bad thing, as it hadn't quite worn out its welcome yet. Sure, there were rumblings in the underground, with more extreme metal and college rock getting momentum, but those are outside the scope of this blog. For now, let's focus on the melodic rock and metal of the year!
Like I said, it was a big year for glam metal. Whitesnake released their massive self-titled album, featuring a re-recording of "Here I Go Again" and the big ballad "Is This Love?" Mötley Crüe took things to the "Wild Side" with Girls, Girls, Girls, Great White put out Once Bitten, with the big hit "Rock Me," Dokken came Back for the Attack, and Guns 'n' Roses had their historic debut album. Would classic rock be the same without "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Sweet Child o' Mine"?However, in my opinion, the biggest album in the pop metal world is Def Leppard's Hysteria. After having such a rough hiatus, with their drummer losing an arm, they came back with a titanic record that featured seven hit singles, and even some of the deeper tracks like "Run Riot" and "Excitable" are solid. The story goes that the album wasn't as big at first, but when "Pour Some Sugar On Me" hit the radio waves, it became one of the best selling albums of the decade, and when I listen to it, I can't deny that it deserves it. Just massive stadium-ready hooks from front-to-back.
Of course, the decade wasn't all metal. Rock still had a presence here and there. The Alan Parsons Project would release their last album, Gaudi, early in this year. One would expect a concept album about a Spanish architect, but it's a solid release. Other former prog rockers would put out some decent melodic rock as well. Rush had the synth-heavy Hold Your Fire, Yes tried for, but largely failed to get big success with Big Generator, and Pink Floyd had their peculiar comeback with A Momentary Lapse of Reason, which as become one of my favorites of theirs in recent years. Marillion also had a decent year with Clutching at Straws, a concept album about a man who missed out on success and brags about it while drinking in a bar.
Speaking of progressive music, Savatage would finally ditch any attempt at MTV success and rediscover themselves with Hall of the Mountain King, which saw them teaming up with Paul O'Neill and starting their shift into the symphonic, concept-driven metal that would take them to Trans-Siberian Orchestra in the 90s. Other notable metal release include Manowar's Fighting the World, Dio's Dream Evil, doom metal legends Candlemass's Nightfall, and Running Wild finally finding success with the piratey Under Jolly Roger.
Finally, I want to bring up Helloween's massive Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I. While the band had released an album before this one, I feel like Keeper is when they finally found their sound, and as a consequence, established the sound of power metal for many bands to follow. Between the upbeat "I'm Alive" and the epic "Halloween," it was really the first time melodic leads and aggressive riffing really came together, establishing the genre that wouldn't quite take off until a decade later.
That wraps up this year, clearly one for throwing up fists for some great rock and metal. As always, my playlist is below with even more great tracks, and if you think I've missed something, let me know in the comments. I hope you're enjoying these articles as much as I enjoy making them! Until then, rock on! \m/
No comments:
Post a Comment