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Not unlike the aforementioned Def Leppard, Diamond Head’s debut set the stage for the NWOBHM with its raw performances and riff-centric rockers. Diamond Head – Lightning to the Nations (aka the White Album)
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Interestingly enough, because of that, the band generally pretends it doesn’t exist, yet we have sonic proof. It remains Def Leppard’s most metal album, and its most raw. On Through the Night was packed with headbanging and memorable rockers such as “Wasted,” “Rock Brigade,” “Hello America,” “Rocks Off,” and “Answer to the Master.” The album was packed with unbridled youthful enthusiasm and energy. Def Leppard was on its way to becoming one of the biggest selling bands of all time. We begin our list with one of 1980’s best debuts by a band that started its career as one of the NWOBHM’s Big 3 and ended the decade significantly more “light alloy” than metal. It was such a monster year that breakout albums from the Michael Schenker Group, Krokus, Van Halen, Cirith Ungol, and Angel Witch did not even make the cut. 1980 marked the formation of iconic bands such as Manowar, Queensryche, Overkill, Grave Digger, Metal Church, and more. That said, there have been many modern metal bands that have created albums that have and will endure, but for my money (remember when we bought albums?), no year was stronger overall. Moreover, they all stand the test of time which many of today’s metal albums cannot compete with. One look over our list and it is eye-opening just how much metal has expanded and morphed over the last four decades, as some of the bands below are hardly considered “metal” anymore given the extremes of the genre today, but they were and are game changers. 2020 marks the 40 th anniversary of that seminal year for our beloved genre, and to celebrate, we’re going to look back at 1980’s best and most enduring offerings. 1980 was the breakout year for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) which helped light the fuse on the American hair metal scene. While Black Sabbath and band’s like Judas Priest had already put metal on the map, 1980 was the year where it began to take over the world. However, it can be said that most of the thrash metal bands preserved their commercial success for many years even though grunge became the most popular genre during the ’80s and ’90s.Was there ever a better, potentially more important year for heavy metal than 1980? I don’t think so. People wanted it a certain way or no way at all, I guess.” Then grunge came out, and bands like Pantera exploded. It was more like, ‘Hell, Metallica has just become the biggest metal band of all time, it’s gonna open the doors for everybody.’
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Gary Holt defined those times as very strange for metal music since people ‘wanted it a certain way or no way at all.’
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However, the guitarist realized that he was wrong about his prediction after grunge bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden gained international fame, which surprisingly also increased Pantera’s popularity. Therefore, Holt thought that Metallica’s worldwide popularity would open the doors for the other new-generation bands that wanted to create heavy metal works. Metallica sold millions of albums worldwide and started gaining more and more popularity among metalheads. Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer became the Big Four of thrash metal with their iconic records. Thrash metal, which is a heavy metal music subgenre, emerged during the early ’80s, and it attracted great attention with its aggressive sound and fast tempo. During his recent conversation with Metal Hammer, Exodus guitarist Gary Holt reflected his views on Metallica’s success and the thrash metal genre’s popularity by comparing it to grunge.