Best Heavy Metal Albums Of 1987

Axl Rose and company exploded upon the scene with a heavy and diverse album. It had radio friendly ballads like "Sweet Child 'O Mine," hit singles like "Welcome The Jungle" and "Paradise City" along with harder edged songs like "Night Train." Slash and Izzy Stradlin's bluesy guitar work was outstanding, and the entire album had an air of danger and edginess that metal really needed at the time. Guns 'N Roses eventually imploded, but for a brief time they were at the top of the heap.

Anthrax is a group I've come to appreciate more and more as the years go by, and Among The Living was their best album. The songs had a message and were catchy yet still very intense and aggressive. "Caught In A Mosh" is the highlight of this album, along with other great songs such as "Indians," "I Am The Law" and the title track. Anthrax have always been a band with a sense of humor that is also willing to address serious subjects, which is a great combination.

His second full-length solo album was also King Diamond's tour de force. His vocal performance on Abigail is outstanding as he sings with great power and range. The harmonies are also excellent. The storyline of the album is also very riveting and compelling and gives the listener an emotional connection with the material. Even though it is a solo album, the contributions of guitarist Andy LaRoque and drummer Mikkey Dee help take the album to an even higher level.

This is Helloween's best album. It finds the German power metal band in top form. It also was the first album with vocalist Michael Kiske. It has the usual epic themes and soaring vocals that fans of the group have come to know and love, but Helloween came up with their best songs and musical performances on this album, which puts it a step above the rest of their catalog.

Testament is a Bay Area thrash band whose debut album came a few years after groups like Metallica and Megadeth were already dominating the scene. They were well known to thrash fans, but never made that leap to popular success like some of their contemporaries. The Legacy followed the thrash metal blueprint, but Testament infused it with their own style and personality that made it unique. Testament has released several good albums over the years, but their debut remains their best.

Celtic Frost's third album continued their streak of appearances in my annual top 10 list. After To Mega Therion the band faced high expectations, and with Into The Pandemonium they met and sometimes exceeded those expectations. In an unusual choice the album kicked off with a cover of Wall Of Voodoo's new wave song "Mexican Radio" and the band showed a lot of diversity in styles, ranging from dreamy female vocals to the dark metal style of their previous work.

Voivod's third album continued their development. Although they would reach even higher levels of complexity and songwriting skill, Killing Technology showed that they were well on their way. It blends the more intense sounds of their earlier albums with increasingly more complicated arrangements and longer songs. Probably the best track on this album is "Ravenous Medicine," which holds up as one of Voivod's finest songs.

Napalm Death are one of the originators of grindcore, and their debut album brought extremity to a new level. The band packed 28 tracks of chaos onto Scum, with many songs clocking in at under a minute. The music was played at breakneck speed with screaming, unintelligible vocals from Lee Dorrian. This is a powerful and intense album packed with bone crushing riffs and lightning fast guitar and drums.

Candlemass' debut album was a groundbreaking one for doom metal, but with Nightfall took it even further. It marked the debut of vocalist Messiah Marcolin, one of the best singers in metal. His powerful voice and new lyrical perspective along with the slow doomy music of Candlemass made for a powerful combination.

This is a pioneering CD in the death metal genre. Even though it isn't as good as some of their later work, Death helped pave the way for a lot of extreme bands. Scream Bloody Gore is raw and brutal with all the trappings of what would become death metal. If you're a fan of death metal, you need to own this album to hear what it sounded like at the beginning.