TOP 20 METAL ALBUMS OF THE '80s

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20. Stay Hungry -- Twisted Sister (1984): Includes the band's two mainstream hits -- "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" -- and a forgotten but great power ballad "The Price."

19. Love at First Sting -- Scorpions (1984): A triple-platinum effort from the German rockers, featuring "Rock You Like A Hurricane" and "Still Loving You."

18. Heaven and Hell -- Black Sabbath (1980): No long featuring Ozzy, this was the first album with Ronnie James Dio on vocals. Includes "Neon Knights," "Heaven and Hell" and "Die Young."

17. Skid Row -- Skid Row (1989): Their first album went platinum five times over with hits like "18 and Life" and "I Remember You."

16. Balls to the Wall -- Accept (1983): The German band's only gold album in the U.S. had the hits "Balls to the Wall" and "Head Over Heels."

15. Mechanical Resonance -- Tesla (1986): The band's debut album featured "Little Suzi" and "Gettin' Better."

14. Among The Living -- Anthrax (1987): The band's current shows still are heavy with tunes from their third album, including tunes like the title track, "Caught in a Mosh" and "I Am The Law."

13. Vivid -- Living Colour (1988): Reportedly discovered by Mick Jagger, Living Colour's debut album featured "Cult of Personality" and "Memories Can't Wait."

12. Under Lock and Key -- Dokken (1985): The band's first top 40 album had "In My Dreams," "It's Not Love" and "Til the Living End."

11. Reign in Blood -- Slayer (1986): Welcome to the birth of death metal - for better or worse. Two songs to remember: "Raining Blood" and "Angel of Death."

10. Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? -- Megadeth (1986): Remastered and remixed more than a margarita at Jimmy Buffett's house. The bassline for "Peace Sells" for years was used as the theme music for MTV News.

9. Diary of a Madman -- Ozzy Osbourne (1981): The last album with Randy Rhoads. Features "Over The Mountain" and "Flying High Again."

8. Dr. Feelgood -- Motley Crue (1989): Look what rehab can do for a band! Tons of hits, including "Same Ol' Situation," "Dr. Feelgood" and "Kickstart My Heart."

7. Powerslave -- Iron Maiden (1984): So epic that the band is currently touring again with the original Egyptian stage and set list from their '84 tour.

6. Operation: Mindcrime -- Queensryche (1988): Ah, remember "concept albums?" Metal artists love them. "Eyes of a Stranger" would be the biggest single from the disc.

5. Ace of Spades -- Motorhead (1980): Like thrash metal? Chances are you own this album then (and have the lyrics to the title song tattooed across your skull).

4. Master of Puppets -- Metallica (1986): Pretty much a unanimous selection on anyone's list of top 100 albums of all time. Performed in its entirety on the band's 2006 tour.

3. British Steel -- Judas Priest (1980): Two songs everyone should know by heart reside here -- "Breaking the Law" and "Living After Midnight."

2. Appetite for Destruction -- Guns N' Roses (1987): More than 25-million copies sold worldwide and four hit singles. The best-selling debut album of the '80s.

1. The Number of the Beast -- Iron Maiden (1982): This album gets the nod over "Appetite for Destruction" mainly because it influenced scores of heavy metal bands that followed Iron Maiden, including Axl and the boys. "Run to the Hills" and "The Number of the Beast" stand out on an album that's been praised not only for its lyrics but also for its guitar work. A complete masterpiece.

Spooked

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August 1987 - Red Rum had recorded it's first song, "Conquerin Man". In October, I had solicited a coworker, Lynn, to finance our second recording. Mark wrote the music; and we used the lyrics I had written back in 1986. The song was called "Please Wait". I drew up a contract and gave it to Lynn to sign; Lynn in turn gave me a check to pay for the studio time and song recording. Lynn and her husband Brian came to the studio the day we recorded the song. They both seemed to like the song; and we gave them a copy of the recording.

Halloween is now approaching: On a Saturday night the band (Deniz (vocals), Mark (lead guitar), Rich (bass), Kenny (drummer) and me (Kenny Leibow) were going out to a Halloween festival near the University of Miami. Along with other friends, there were about 10 of us. We went in 3 cars. When we arrived, we parked on a big grass field which was full with hundreds of other cars. There were rides, games, haunted house etc; it was a lot of fun. We didn't hang out in one big group the whole time; some of us split up.

Around 11 pm I and a couple of friends headed back to where the cars were parked. About 15 minutes later everyone else arrived except for Kenny (drummer), not to confuse the story with me (Kenny Leibow) same first name. Deniz and I asked what happened to Kenny (drummer)? Someone said that Kenny (drummer) just went on his own and didn't hang out with anyone. Deniz and I suggested let's wait a little bit longer. The festival was closing and there were only a few cars left parked on the grass. I then proceeded to head back to my apartment with some friends; however Deniz and Rich decided to look for Kenny (drummer).

I remember Kenny (drummer) as a young, happy, witty guy who could really play the drums fast. Recently, at the time, he supposedly was in his car waiting in line at a bank drive-thru to make a deposit for work. While waiting in his car, he was held up at knife point and robbed. This experience traumatized him. ***** Back to the story - The next morning Deniz told me he saw Kenny (drummer) walking down the road about 2 miles away; at that point it was close to midnight. When they went to turn back around, they lost him. Deniz and Rich proceeded to Kenny's (drummer) house. He was there, which then turned into an unpleasant confrontation whereby Kenny (drummer) was clearly upset, angry and unstable. Kenny (drummer) exclaimed that we purposely left him at the festival; however this was completely untrue.

Sadly we were never able to reconcile with Kenny (drummer) and the band broke up. Deniz and Rich became part of the new group Mystix with Lawrence and Leo. We never heard from Kenny (drummer) again. Deniz later hated the song "Please Wait"; and became very critical of the recording. A couple weeks passed since the festival; late on a Friday, I had a motor cycle accident which left me seriously injured; and it ended with the death of a close friend as a consequence of the accident. A few years later Lynn's husband, who was at the recording session, died in a plane crash resulting from hitting the side of a mountain.

This blog entry is dedicated to those that had suffered from the tragedies mentioned above. They all had good spirits and will always be loved and missed. You can listen to the recording "Please Wait" on this blog.