By Ian Murphy (Who else would it be by?)

I am known in certain circles for having pretty varied tastes in music. This is absolutely true, but I must admit, I always seem to go back to the heavy stuff. I was in a metal band in college and I can’t stay away from it for too long. For every article I write about the songwriting merits of George Harrison or the Velveeta-rich croon of Winglebert Bembledack, the magnetic pull of metal always lurks in the shadows. The energy, power and sheer brutality just calls to me like Walter Hudson (RIP fatman) to a garbage bag full of popcorn, and later stuck in the figurative doorway of musical obsession.

I tried to make the list as balanced as possible, highlighting as many different eras and subgenres of Hard Rock/Metal as possible. There could easily be separate Thrash Metal, Progressive, Hardcore, and Hair Metal lists and one could nitpick and say that Motorhead and Guns N’ Roses don’t belong on the same compilation. I say the sound might differ a bit, but the attitude sure doesn’t. What matters is the evolution of the genre and the unique offshoots it gave birth to. For instance, even though there is a clear divergence in approach from the early 1980s to the latter part of the decade, but you can also see a clear line of descent from Rob Halford to Bruce Dickinson to Geoff Tate. That is one of the best parts about this genre. All the cross-pollination and influence consistently promotes creativity and evolution.

As far as the selection and ranking goes, this isn’t a “most popular” or “best selling” list. It is mine, and as I always say, I know best. I have not included “hair metal” songs not because they suck (although some do), but because they don’t have the attitude, swag and frankly, balls that my selections do. Who has more raw badassery than LEMMY? Who still writes great songs AND is crushingly heavy like Metallica? Who has a better or more versatile voice than Geoff Tate? Some selections are obvious, some not as much. Other times I picked songs that aren’t as popular, but are actually just as good, if not better. Now that my point has been made, and attempts at refuting my argument have been firmly established as futile, feast your eyes on the best list of 80s Hard Rock/Metal tunes…

10. Queensryche: “Eyes of a Stranger” (1988). Just a total beast of a song. Tate’s vocals are STUNNING. A great example of a hard rock/pop tune tastefully accented with elements of progressive musicianship. Very few do it as well as Queensryche in that regard and (to me, at least) “Eyes Of A Stranger” has perhaps the best vocal performance of the decade. That is saying a lot with the bar being so high vocally during this time period. Hats off to Chris DeGarmo also for writing amazing song.

9. Guns N’ Roses: “Welcome to the Jungle” (1987). The opening song on an all-time classic album, “Welcome to the Jungle” gave Rock and Roll its swag back when this tune came out. The emasculating scent of aquanet was still lingering, but rock with teeth was back. This track combines that Sunset Strip sleaze with punk sensibility. Throw in some killer guitar and you have a winner.

8. Ozzy Osbourne: “Bark At the Moon” (1983). Yes, yes, I didn’t put “Crazy Train” on this list. In fact, if I could have, I would have put “No More Tears” on it, but that song came out in 1991. “Bark At The Moon” is classic Ozzy: catchy vocal hook, awesome riff, and a MONSTER solo by Jake E. Lee, who unfairly gets the middle child/redheaded stepchild treatment for being after Randy and before Zakk. Unfair to say the least.

7. AC/DC: “Hells Bells” (1980). Ominous. Foreboding. Menacing. If anyone had any doubt about the continuing success of AC/DC after Bon Scott’s death, songs like “Hells Bells” quickly put that to rest. Brian Johnson must have gotten kicked in the nuts by Bas Rutten to get his voice that high, but damn does he do a great job. Killer track off of one of Rock’s most enduring and successful albums. If you don’t know what album “Hells Bells” is on, please educate yourself. You won’t be sorry.

6. Iron Maiden: “The Trooper” (1983). There could easily be an entire list dedicated to Iron Maiden. That being said, perhaps no other song encapsulates the essence of Maiden quite like “The Trooper”. From its incredible intro to its famed galloping rhythm to Bruce Dickinson’s amazing performance, this song hits it on every level. I mean, how many guitar players jam out to this one?

5. Judas Priest: “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming (1982). Shout out to B.B, who insisted this song be included. Priest was a great balance between the polish of more mainstream acts, and the raw nastiness of the heavier stuff. “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” is both well written and well performed. This tune may just be 80s hard rock in microcosm. All the elements are there: killer vocals, crunchy guitars, wild solo. Halford rocks hard on this one.

4. Motley Crue: “Shout At the Devil” (1983). While their first album (Too Fast For Love) kicked serious ass, and had tons of ‘tude, the psychos from LA hit it out of the park with their follow up. This title track to that album is dripping with sleaze, testosterone and “krell” (see the album’s liner notes if you know not what “krell” is…). All filth aside, “Shout At the Devil” is actually a killer song with great hooks, and catchy melodies. Nikki Sixx is starting to perfect his craft.

3. Metallica: “One” (1988). Lots of other Metallica tunes could be on this list (“Frayed Ends of Sanity” and “Battery” are two of my favorites) but few had the eye-opening effect that “One” did at the time of its release. Bands like Metallica just didn’t “make it” compared to more mainstream acts like Whitesnake or Poison. This track blew the doors off of the music industry, proving that “extreme” acts like Metallica needed to be taken seriously. Anyone fancy a top ten devoted solely to Metallica?

2. Van Halen: “Hot For Teacher” (1984). The madmen from Pasadena at their absolute peak. A rollicking monster from jump street, “Hot For Teacher” is just insane in its precision and musical variance. Prior to this one, we all knew VH could play, but the upped the ante with “Hot For Teacher”. All members of VH are firing on all cylinders: Roth is amazing, Alex is on fire, Michael is spot on, and Eddie is just brilliant. This tune gets the nomination for best intro of all-time.

1. Motorhead: “Ace of Spades” (1980). This song was truly the first of its kind. It wasn’t metal, punk, or anything in particular, but it kicked serious ass. In the words of frontman IAN “Lemmy” Kilmister (had to emphasize that the mole man and meself have the same name!), Motorhead set out to “concentrate on very basic music: loud, fast, city, raucous, arrogant, paranoid, speedfreak rock n roll … it will be so loud that if we move in next door to you, your lawn will die”. Only Lemmy.

HONORABLE MENTIONS (either for comedic effect or true greatness):

Dio: “Holy Diver” (1982). Still don’t know what a Holy Diver is, but if you get a chance to play this tune in the Loud Lounge at Guitar Center, do it. I did, and the staff laughed their asses off.

KISS: “Lick It Up” (1983). KISS unmasked for this one (now we knew why), and the video alone is worth a watch. Gene Simmons ugging it up for the camera is just amazing. Good tune, though.

Metallica: “Battery” (1986). Just the best ever in my opinion, but “One” was a bigger and more influential song, so it got scrapped last minute. This is equal parts precision and overwhelming brutality.

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