W.A.S.P - Live In The Raw (1987)

I don't know why, but the cover just had something dark and horrific about it, and when you're 14-year old that was certainly a good sign for a metal record. 'Live In The Raw' is one of my favourite heavy metal live albums, blessed with a typical theatrical sleeve bathed in red light and parading some of the bands grisly props from skulls, to buzz saw blades to raw meat, this is true W.A.S.P., recorded live in Long Beach Arena and the California Theatre, U.S.A.
The opening screams from the gagging crowd, and the introductory speech making way for the ominous riffs of 'Inside The Electric Circus', Chris Holmes on fire with his axe, fireworks exploding, sparks exploding from Blackie's crotch of leather, pure rock 'n' roll theatre and mayhem, a parade of pyrotechnics and fake blood, bursting through the bands fiery classics, 'L.O.V.E. Machine' standing out with its robust chorus, 'Sleeping (In The Fire)' swaying in the night breeze and 'The Manimal' growling at the rafters.
This is a pure heavy metal experience, how metal gigs should be, sweaty, bloody and drenched in drama and showy effects. Forget the remastered cd, get the vinyl, spin it when the lights are low and wade in the juices of one of the genres most over the top bands. For me, this is W.A.S.P.'s peak performance.
8.5/10

Ozzy Ozbourne - Diary Of A Madman (1981)

Ozzy becomes the dark lord of metal with his second opus, cloaked in a mystical sleeve of black magic, sorcery and dungeon-like prowess, this is one of his finest works, showing that he truly was the creative force behind Black Sabbath, and a master of metal.
In Randy Rhoads we have a guitar wizard at work and on 'Over The Mountain', 'Flying High Again' and the title cut, are some of the finest guitar works you're likely to hear on any metal record. Ozzy is his usual mystical self, but no longer does he mournfully wail like the Sabbath god he was, but instead his solo outing sees a more mature messenger and general fighting for the metal armies, but also once again showing his sensitive side with some fine slower numbers such as 'Tonight' and the superb intro verse to 'You Can't Kill Rock n Roll' with its brilliant chorus which all true metallers at the time would have related to whilst punching the air with defiance!
The title cut is a classic, but then again, most of the tracks on offer here are solid tunes, yet many have become understated gems, such as 'Believer' and 'S.A.T.O', but you can't go wrong here, as 'Diary...' is probably Ozzy's finest record.
9/10

Death - Leprosy (1988)

Death return with a slightly more polished effort than their gore-ridden debut, and the first of many line-up changes which Chuck Schuldiner would administer throughout the bands career.
'Leprosy' is another old school masterclass, where the listener is bombarded by speed, precision, blastbeats, slower grind, and Chuck's impressive guitar work backed up by Rick Rozz.
Death never failed to impressive with their quality of musicianship, and that's what made Death stand head and shoulders above the rest, and spawned so many acts to form what was to become the Florida death metal scene.
Opener 'Leprosy' is a heavyweight slab of searing death metal, there's plenty of melody too, a theme which Chuck never failed to show on every release however technical or brutal the band were. The drumming here is relentless, the grooves ranging from full throttle juggernaut to mid-paced battery.
Death matured so rapidly from the splattery of 'Scream Bloody Gore', and although the theme here is still horror/disease based, there is such a sensibility to it all instead of merely attempting to gurgle some indecipherable sick garbage.
If you call yourself a true death metaller than the first three Death albums are essential purchases...the albums afterwards are pure wizardry but of a different formula from a band regarded, alongside Slayer, as the kings of their extreme field.
8/10

Guns n' Roses - Appettie For Destruction (1987)

This was one of the albums during the '80s which propelled metal to new heights. Guns 'n' Roses hit the scene big time with their blend of good time rock n' roll injected with a huge dose of LA sleaze, but in Axl Rose there was more than just attitude, put a fair set of lungs to match. Hordes of bands imitated, and for several years the cowboy boots, Jack Daniels swiggers, bandanna's and sleazy anthems ruled the roost, pushing the more satanic metal brigade to the back and the corny edge of metal gradually Bean to fade.
'Appetite...' was certainly a metal milestone, and to this day remains a classic record, but beneath the hype was a record that although rocked the Heaven's, wasn't a patch on the cooler yet far less successful bands such as Love/Hate.
Of course, tracks such as 'Welcome To The Jungle', 'Sweet Child O Mine', and the thumping 'Paradise City' have become huge household hits, timeless rock tunes with Axl's sneer, the amazing guitar work of Slash, and this is without mentioning the rest of the record which is pretty faultless, with no filler tracks, and 100% ballsy rock n' roll all the way to the bank.
Whether there is any substance behind the hits is a question that remains unanswered, because after the reasonable 'Lies' album, the band went rapidly down hill, recording the overblown 'Use Your Illusion' doubles and then, at the time of writing, nothing, just Axl all alone without a leg to stand on and those he ousted making careers for themselves in various rock pursuits.
Personal faves on 'Appetite...' are the swaggering 'Mr Brownstone' and hip-shaking ' My Michelle' but each track is top-notch party rock, with the familiar themes of LA rock being women, drugs, street life and strip joints.
Whilst I strongly recommend this album to every fan of hard rock music, I'd also check out a host of other cooler bands who were bereft of the soap opera image that came with Gn'R.
8.5/10

Led Zeppelin - IV (1971)

A mystical Zeppelin album, mainly in its title which appears as four rune-like symbols, which some, at the time connected to the dark arts, but above all the myths, this could well be the bands magnum opus, with its main ingredient and pivotal point being the epic 'Stairway To Heaven' which remains a true rock classic in every sense of the word. For one, it's a magical story, and two, the complete rock 'n' roll number, in parts overblown, in other elements self-indulgent, but above all, it's rock history. Put this alongside a mixture of straight blues, 'When The Levee Breaks', acoustic groove in 'The Battle Of Evermore' and pure riff heaven in 'Black Dog' and the stuttering majesty of 'Rock n Roll'.
Time and time again the band take the breath away, striking a fine balance between down right sexual groove and soulful shakedown. Only Sabbath remain on the same plateau, a place where legends haunt, but are few and far between.
8.5/10

Ozzy Ozbourne - Blizzard Of Ozz (1980)

So, with Ozzy tossed from the fiery pit, Sabbath continued with Ronnie James Dio, and recorded a couple of decent records, although for most Sabbath fans, without Ozzy there was no Sabbath.
With ease, Ozzy cruised into his debut opus, 'Blizzard Of Ozz', assembling an impressive bunch of musicians in Daisley (bass), Kerslake (drums) and most notably Randy Rhoads, a young, attractive and impish guitar wizard whose life would be cut tragically short.
'Blizzard...' doesn't offer the doomy atmospherics of Sabbath's mammoth catalogue, but instead has a more upbeat rock 'n' roll feel, and for a debut album it remains a classic to this day.
'I Don't Know' is a solid rocker, but it's 'Crazy Train' that sets the mood, a solid riff from Rhoads and Ozzy bleating the infamous words, "All aboaaaard!". It's a track Ozzy rarely excluded from his set-list after decades of touring.
'Goodbye To Romance' is a subtle and unexpected number, Ozzy showing his sentimental side with this track that starts where 'Changes' left off.
Rhoads then gets his few minutes to shine with 'Dee' which adds as a perfect into to 'Suicide Solution', a superb heavy metal track that caused controversy in the '80s after fans of the band and the song committed suicide after allegedly listening to it. Despite the misinterpretations, 'Suicide...' is one of the finest rock tracks, and Side Two's opener, 'Mr Crowley' is another, bathed in satanic overtones, which surely at the time caused offence despite the fact it's a simple tale of the real-life black magician Aleister Crowley.
After the exceptional tracks previous, the last three on the album are very good, but lack that magical wonder of the rest of the album, but even so, 'No Bone Movies', 'Revelation (Mother Earth)' and 'Steal Away (The Night)', are not just filler material, making 'Blizzard...' one of Ozzy's finest records. 9/10

Bathory - The Return (1985)

Gloomier than a cess-pit in a witches cavern, this is blacker than black, with the production values of a bathtub, yet somehow remains one of the most evil sounding records of all time. It's Bathory at their most hideous, from the eerie cover of a glowing moon being caressed by brooding clouds, the album opens with a crackling tundra effect which melts into a boggy riff and a drum sound that hardly rises above a tinny echo, but it works. It's bleak, grim and definitely from the colder parts of Europe.
There are grim metal anthems a plenty here to be played in the murky hue of many a black candle waiting for the dark lord himself to appear in the centre of a pentagram. 'Total Destruction' sees Quorthon sneering, gurgling and choking (probably on chicken blood), whilst 'Born For Burning' sweeps into the night sky like embers from a flickering fire, and there are no-holds barred lyrics aplenty on here, especially on the distorted mayhem of 'Bestial Lust' and 'Sadist'.
This was the beginning of evil, the dawn of a new era where bands, in order to create their very own Hell on record opted for a minimalist cover art, minimalist production, and a concept from the dark recesses of the mind.
Of course, a majority of bands failed to succeed in shocking the holy community because they tried to be sinister. In the case of Bathory however, the true sons of the damned.
8.5/10