The Top 20 Metal Albums of 1980
01. Angel Witch (UK) - Angel Witch
02. Diamond Head (UK) - Lightning to the Nations
03. Motörhead (UK) - Ace of Spades
04. Judas Priest (UK) - British Steel
05. Ozzy Osbourne (UK) - Blizzard of Ozz
06. Saxon (UK) - Wheels of Steel
07. Black Sabbath (UK) - Heaven and Hell
08. Iron Maiden (UK) - Iron Maiden
09. Quartz (UK) - Stand Up and Fight
10. Beowulf (USA) - Slice of Life
11. Samson (UK) - Head On
12. Girlschool (UK) - Demolition
13. Witchfynde (UK) - Give 'Em Hell
14. Tygers of Pan Tang (UK) - Wild Cat
15. Fist (UK) - Turn the Hell On
16. Saxon (UK) - Strong Arm of the Law
17. Def Leppard (UK) - On Through the Night
18. Scorpions (Germany) - Animal Magnetism
19. Manilla Road (USA) - Invasion
20. Accept (Germany) - I'm a Rebel
While I won't rule out the possibility of drafting up some 70s lists later on, I decided to start these at the year 1980, during which I turned six years old. I had already had a small handful of records, mostly KISS, Van Halen, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, and so forth passed on to me for a few years, but of course I was blissfully ignorant of the whole metal culture which itself was still in its infancy. At any rate, I'm sure you'll understand that a lot of what's on this 1980 list was picked up years later. Not surprisingly, these are almost all British bands, there wasn't a hell of a lot else out there. Angel Witch is my clear favorite of the batch, so highly melodic and catchy on every track, I've only grown fonder of it as the years have drifted on. A few relative unknowns here like Quartz, Fist and Beowulf, albums I've gotten into in more recent times. In general, this is not an incredibly strong selection, since metal itself was still picking up speed, but a few of these have become undisputed classics and influential on thrash/speed metal.
UPDATED FOR 2020
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