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Top 11 Favourite Metal Albums Of 1988


Plus my top three favourite tracks from each release. \m/

Honourable mentions:
Crimson Glory - Transcendence (Power/Prog)
Megadeth - So Far, So Good... So What? (Thrash)
Pestilence - Malleus Maleficarum (Death/Thrash)
Manowar - Kings Of Metal (Power)
Exodus - Fabulous Disaster (Thrash)
Saint Vitus - Mournful Cries (Doom)
Destruction - Release From Agony (Thrash)
Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II (Power)

Non-Metal mentions:
Fields Of The Nephilim - The Nephilim (Goth)
Skinny Puppy - VIVIsectVI (Industrial)
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (Rap)
Christian Death - Sex And Drugs And Jesus Christ (Goth)

Created by: blackwreath13 | 17.08.2021



1. Death - Leprosy
1988 (Death) Leprosy, Pull the Plug, Born Dead
2. Slayer - South Of Heaven
1988 (Thrash) Ghosts of War, Mandatory Suicide, South of Heaven
3. Metallica - ...And Justice For All
1988 (Thrash) Harvester of Sorrow, One, Blackened
4. Bathory - Blood Fire Death
1988 (Black) A Fine Day To Die, Dies Irae, For All Those Who Died
5. Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
1988 (NWOBHM) Moonchild, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, The Evil That Men Do
6. Nuclear Assault - Survive
1988 (Thrash) Rise From the Ashes, Brainwashed, Wired
7. Candlemass - Ancient Dreams
1988 (Doom) Mirror Mirror, Bearer of Pain, The Bells Of Acheron
8. Forbidden - Forbidden Evil
1988 (Thrash) Chalice of Blood, Follow Me, Through Eyes of Glass
9. Testament - The New Order
1988 (Thrash) Into the Pit, Disciples of the Watch, The Preacher
10. Napalm Death - From Enslavement To Obliteration
1988 (Grindcore) Unchallenged Hate, Think For A Minute, Evolved As One
11. Judas Priest - Ram It Down
1988 (Heavy) Blood Red Skies, Hard As Iron, Ram It Down



Disclaimer: All top lists are unofficial and do not represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
[ More lists by blackwreath13 ]



Comments

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Comments: 12   Visited by: 59 users
17.08.2021 - 17:52
F3ynman
Nocturnal Bro
Contributor
Wow, what a year! Fantastic list!
My favorites: Leprosy, And Justice for All, Seventh Son. South of Heaven and Blood Fire Death are also good
Cool to see Ram It Down too - a lot of people find it weak.
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17.08.2021 - 19:08
blackwreath13
Written by F3ynman on 17.08.2021 at 17:52

Wow, what a year! Fantastic list!
My favorites: Leprosy, And Justice for All, Seventh Son. South of Heaven and Blood Fire Death are also good
Cool to see Ram It Down too - a lot of people find it weak.

Yeah I was really spoiled for choice, probably went a bit overboard with the mentions
I guess because it's sandwiched between a much lighter album and a much heavier album, so it's kind of seen as this awkward transition phase for the band but other than the cover song I don't find it weak and even though I admit it's not their best it made the list just over Transcendence because I know I'll listen to Ram It Down again much more in the future.

(I actually sought out Transcendence specifically for this list and I admit that I found it to be very good, it's just that Prog Power isn't really my preferred style so if I have to choose between it and Priest, sorry I'm always gonna pick the Gods )
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17.08.2021 - 19:20
John doe
Crimson Glory, Helloween and Testament get honorable mentions?! I like them more than most albums of the main list.
----
I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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17.08.2021 - 20:23
blackwreath13
Written by John doe on 17.08.2021 at 19:20

Crimson Glory, Helloween and Testament get honorable mentions?! I like them more than most albums of the main list.

Crimson Glory was in until my inner Priest fanboy nudged it out and Helloween have this tendency to follow up a song I like with one so happy it makes me nauseous (I personally prefer my Metal miserable).

As for Testament, you're right I don't know what I was thinking. Probably because Testament is likely to show up a lot of these and I wanted to spread the love more but honestly I'd put New Order on well before I ever listen to Malleus again, no disrespect to Pestilence. I'll change that.
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17.08.2021 - 21:57
F3ynman
Nocturnal Bro
Contributor
Written by blackwreath13 on 17.08.2021 at 19:08

if I have to choose between it and Priest, sorry I'm always gonna pick the Gods )

Awesome to see love for the Priest
Sometimes I see that lacking on MS. I guess because they're well known - but I don't find them overrated (as other top bands can be). They are consistently good but also diverse in their styles to stay interesting
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18.08.2021 - 10:50
blackwreath13
Written by F3ynman on 17.08.2021 at 21:57

Written by blackwreath13 on 17.08.2021 at 19:08

if I have to choose between it and Priest, sorry I'm always gonna pick the Gods )

Awesome to see love for the Priest
Sometimes I see that lacking on MS. I guess because they're well known - but I don't find them overrated (as other top bands can be). They are consistently good but also diverse in their styles to stay interesting

Well I don't wanna blame Maiden fans but I blame Maiden fans.
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18.08.2021 - 12:06
F3ynman
Nocturnal Bro
Contributor
Written by blackwreath13 on 18.08.2021 at 10:50

Well I don't wanna blame Maiden fans but I blame Maiden fans.

Really? Is there so much animosity between Priest and Maiden? I had no idea
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18.08.2021 - 12:38
blackwreath13
Written by F3ynman on 18.08.2021 at 12:06

Written by blackwreath13 on 18.08.2021 at 10:50

Well I don't wanna blame Maiden fans but I blame Maiden fans.

Really? Is there so much animosity between Priest and Maiden? I had no idea

Supposedly, the bands seem more like friends than rivals to me but I get topics on Quora comparing them all the time and 90% of the time it's partisan Maiden fans fuelling it. I never hear Priest fans start talking about the subject of Maiden with "personally I prefer Priest..." but I hear the opposite all the time. It's like a war only one side cares about.
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18.08.2021 - 13:06
John doe
Written by blackwreath13 on 18.08.2021 at 12:38

Written by F3ynman on 18.08.2021 at 12:06

Written by blackwreath13 on 18.08.2021 at 10:50

Well I don't wanna blame Maiden fans but I blame Maiden fans.

Really? Is there so much animosity between Priest and Maiden? I had no idea

Supposedly, the bands seem more like friends than rivals to me but I get topics on Quora comparing them all the time and 90% of the time it's partisan Maiden fans fuelling it. I never hear Priest fans start talking about the subject of Maiden with "personally I prefer Priest..." but I hear the opposite all the time. It's like a war only one side cares about.

there is no rivalry, but there are people who have that mentality of X vs Y, you either follow one or the other. I knew someone like that, for him it was Priest vs Maiden, you could enjoy only one, never both.
----
I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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18.08.2021 - 21:23
F3ynman
Nocturnal Bro
Contributor
Written by John doe on 18.08.2021 at 13:06

Written by blackwreath13 on 18.08.2021 at 12:38

Written by F3ynman on 18.08.2021 at 00:00

there is no rivalry, but there are people who have that metality of X vs Y, you either follow one or the other. I knew someone like that, for him it was Priest vs Maiden, you could enjoy only one, never both.

Well, I for one can enjoy both. I'm pretty sure I've said this somewhere, but I'll say it again:
I sometimes view good bands on a spectrum with "fun" on one side and "epic" on the other. Of course, a band can produce both epic and fun things, but I think some bands tend to produce one of these options. For example, Iron Maiden and Metallica make more "epic" music, while Judas Priest and Megadeth make more "fun" music. Both I find enjoyable, but - depending on my mood - I sometimes just want something to headbang to ("fun") and other times I want something thought-provoking ("epic").
What do you think?
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23.07.2022 - 19:01
Roman Doez
Hallucigenia
Not as good as '87 but still some more than decent stuff this year:

1. Bathory - Blood Fire Death
2. Megadeth - So Far, So Good... So What!
3. Mekong Delta - The Music of Erich Zann
4. Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
5. Sieges Even - Life Cycle
6. Death - Leprosy
7. Aporea - Na rekakh Vavilonskikh (Christian Liturgical Music)
8. Parabellum - Mutacion por radiacion
9. Slab! - People Pie
10. Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
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23.07.2022 - 23:38
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Contributor
Another great year, metal during the late 80's and early 90's could do little wrong at producing top quality albums in my eyes.

Here's my list:

1. Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
2. Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
3. Crimson Glory - Transcendence
4. Riot - ThunderSteel
5. Bathory - Blood Fire Death
6. Death - Leprosy
7. Metallica - ...And Justice For All
8. Slayer - South Of Heaven
9. Running Wild - Port Royal
10. King Diamond - "Them"
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