So, because I was turning 40 this past year, I started a bit of a project where I listen to a bunch of albums that are as old as I am. I thought it would be fun to go through the year of 1984 and listen to the albums as they came out 40 years ago. Basically, in chronological order. I did a monthly report of the albums to a music server I’m on and then later decided I should collect my thoughts in a document. Many of the albums are ones I've heard before, but I also threw in some ones that were new to me, spicing things up. I tried to include each album's released date when I could, but some just had a month without a date (at least as best I as could tell). Given my current listening tastes, a vast majority of this article is going to feature hard rock and heavy metal (though there are a few oddballs thrown in.) This is going to be a long one, so settle in!
January
Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith - January 4 1984
The year starts with classic heavy metal titans following up on their big album from 1982, which featured their huge it "You've Got Another Thing Coming." While this album doesn't have any real iconic songs like their earlier ones, it's definitely a great collection of metal tunes, with solid production.
Van Halen - 1984 - January 9 1984
I'm sure it's hard to imagine the 80s without Van Halen. This is their big one with hits like "Jump," "Panama," and "I'll Wait." While the big hits are still fun, the rest of the album is just okay.
Bon Jovi - Bon Jovi - January 21 1984
[First Time] While Bon Jovi would go big later in the decade, this debut album is pretty bog-standard 80s rock. Not terrible, but not really anything you haven't heard done better elsewhere.
Loudness - Disillusion ~ 撃剣霊化- January 21 1984
[First Time] This Japanese band seems to be somewhere between Van Halen, Dokken, with maybe a bit Rush. They even have a few songs in English, making it clear they were looking to go beyond Japan. It's decent, but nothing particularly amazing. Later in the year, they release this same album, but in full English, which I got to in July, as that's when it came out.
Anthrax - Fistful of Metal - January 28 1984
[No cover art as it's a bit graphic.] While this band is among the thrash metal legends, their debut album is a little strange. It has a few good songs, but they don't have their iconic sound yet, and they wouldn't stick with this vocalist, so it's a bit of a clunky listen, going back to it.
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Whitesnake - Slide It In - January 30 1984
Suggestive lyrics aside, this is some pretty solid 80s rock. Great riffs and catchy hooks all the way through, and David Coverdale has always been a good singer.
February
Exciter - Violence & Force - February 1984 [No date]
Largely 80s speed metal, it's alright listen, but nothing really amazing. It's very similar to a lot of other bands as this time that weren't really glam, but not really extreme, either.
Saint Vitus - Saint Vitus - February 1984 [No date]
Doom metal is a style that's inspired by classic Black Sabbath, where they play more slowly on purpose to create a dark, moody atmosphere. In the 80s, there were a handful of bands that developed this style, and Saint Vitus a major one. This is their debut album, and while it has some very muddy production, it excels at that atmosphere I was talking about, bringing in a lot of Sabbath-y riffs and horror-based lyrics.
Alan Parsons Project - Ammonia Avenue - February 7 1984
This band is pure nostalgia for me, as I grew up hearing this group. My favorites on this album are the opener "Prime Time," and the title track. While it carries on the soft rock sound they established with Eye in the Sky, these guys never really had a bad album.
Ratt - Out of the Cellar - February 17 1984
One of the things I love about getting into some of these earlier glam metal albums is that they haven't picked up the glossy production yet, making them sound pretty heavy and crunchy. While "Round and Round" was the big hit from the album, the rest of the songs are just as solid. One of the better glam metal albums of the year.
Lee Aaron - Metal Queen - February 24 1984
[First Time] While Lee Aaron is a solid female rock singer, the music is pretty generic. Fun while it's on, but very little sticks once it's done.
Europe - Wings of Tomorrow - February 24 1984
Another underrated pop metal gem. While the band would go on to greater heights with "The Final Countdown," this album is a solid precursor, with great songs like "Stormwind" and the title track "Wings of Tomorrow."
Weird Al Yankovic - In 3-D - February 28 1984
Very fun stuff, featuring his first Michael Jackson parody that would propel him to superstardom (of a kind). I also enjoy the deeper cuts like "Midnight Star" and "That Boy Could Dance," ones that don't parody a specific song, but are great nonetheless. This is probably his best album of the 80s.
March
Spinal Tap - This Is Spinal Tap - March 2 1984
[First Time] While this is a very goofy album (and yes, the album cover really is just solid black), it's hard to recommend if you haven't seen the movie. Some of the raunchy humor comes over from the film, and some of the songs are just okay, but it's certainly worth a listen if you enjoyed the film at all.
David Gilmour - About Face - March 5 1984
[First Time] While his first solo album carries a lot of the same style as Pink Floyd, his second solo album has him really exploring different genres, going from funk to arena rock to reggae to 80s movie soundtrack stuff. It's not as good as what he would do next (Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse of Reason), but if you're fan of the guitarist, there are some interesting ideas and fun songs here.
Helstar - Burning Star - March 6 1984
[First Time] Despite how many good things I've heard about this band, their debut album is very mediocre and average metal. This one really went in one ear and out the other.
Trouble - Trouble (aka Psalm 9) - March 10 1984
More classic doom metal, though they have their own take on it. The production can be rough, but if you don't mind that (and some mild profanity), there's some very solid 80s metal here. I actually think this is a better doom album than Saint Vitus's.
Marillion - Fugazi - March 12 1984
[First Time] Good production, solid songwriting, but the lyrics really bring this album down. Under all the flowery prose feels like some guy who doesn't want to admit that he is the cause of his own problems, and just whines a bunch. If you like Genesis but prefer it to be weirder, give it a shot, but otherwise, not much to recommend here.
Savatage - The Dungeons Are Calling - March 22 1984
More of an EP, but it's some solid, somewhat theatrical metal. Savatage has always been an interesting band, long before they started the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Criss Oliva was an underrated guitarist and riff writer, Jon Oliva is such an iconic singer, and this EP showcases all their talents pretty well.
Warlock - Burning the Witches - March 24 1984
[No cover art as it's a bit suggestive.] Typical German heavy metal, but with some decent production and the unique voice of Doro Pesch, one of the first female metal vocalists. Not bad for a debut, but otherwise nothing too exciting.
April
Steve Perry - Street Talk - April 1984 [No date]
[First Time] Unsurpringly, Steve Perry's first solo album sounds a lot like the softer side of Journey. It's a decent listen, as the songs are letting Steve do what he does best.
Holocaust - No Man's Land - April 1984 [No date]
Some pretty average Motorhead-flavored metal that suffers from some bad production. It sounds like a demo rather than a studio release. There's some decent energy, but otherwise it's pretty forgettable.
Rush - Grace Under Pressure - April 12 1984
Typical 80s Rush, which is generally pretty solid, new-wave-inspired rock. They definitely lean into their synths for this one, but they've always been interesting songwriters. I don't think this is as strong as their earlier albums, but it's still a good listen.
Saxon - Crusader - April 16 1984
While the title track stands out, the rest of the album betrays the title and is mostly about typical 80s rock tropes. It has some good songs, but this album suffers in being too long, with a lot of songs kinda blending together.
May
Clannad - Legend (OST) - May 1984 [No date]
[First Time] Composed for a British show about Robin Hood, this feels like a blend of Enya and Vangelis. The keyboards are pure 80s cheese, but with the folky instrumentation and compositions, it makes for a pleasant listen.
Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry - May 10 1984
[First Time] While the two big hits of "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" are still good, the rest of the album is decent 80s rock. Some of the songs don't feel quite as polished, but they're delivered with gusto, and sometimes that's enough.
June
Isao Tomita - Dawn Chorus - June 1984 [No date]
[First Time] As is tradition, Tomita takes pieces of classical music and rearranges them with his banks of synthesizers into lush, ambient, melodic, spacey tunes. Certainly recommended if you haven't heard him before, but otherwise, it's par for the course for him.
The Art of Noise - Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise? - June 19 1984
[First Time] A strange album that feels like the missing link between musique concrète and industrial music, filtered through 80s pop production. (And it features a few connections to Yes I didn't know about.) I had actually heard "Moments In Love" before (largely as a consequence of theater classes in high school), so it was nice to hear that again. That being said, this is not an album of songs so much as they are sonic experiments set to a dance beat. Definitely a weird listen.
July
Manowar - Hail to England - July 1984 [No date]
First of two albums from this band for this year, and I think this is the weaker of the two. The title track and "Army of the Immortals" are the ones worth listening to here, but otherwise, it’s just okay. And if you've never heard Manowar, they sound just like the way you think based on the album cover art (for better or worse).
Metal Church - Metal Church - July 1984 [No date]
On the melodic side of thrash, this is the excellent debut of one of the more underrated bands in metal, and probably one of the best debut albums of all time. If you don't mind some metal from the rough side of town, this is some excellent stuff.
Loudness - Disillusion - English Version - July 1 1984
[First Time] Pretty much the exact same album but entirely in English instead of partially. The English lyrics are clunky and don’t make the album better, but they don’t make it worse either. The Japanese one definitely has better cover art, though.
Cirith Ungol - King of the Dead - July 2 1984
Tim Baker's voice is definitely an acquired taste, but the band really comes together for their unique blend of heavy metal and doom metal on this album. Sets a great atmosphere and rocks the old-school metal pretty well.
Dio - The Last in Line - July 2 1984
Dio had become a house hold name the year previous with with their debut Holy Diver, but the follow up is a pretty consistent album of classic metal as well.
Helix - Walkin' the Razor's Edge - July 7 1984
[First Time] A short album full of glam metal rockers, they’re basically Canada's answer to Ratt or Motley Crue. Nothing original, but it’s well produced and fun.
Metallica - Ride the Lightning - July 27 1984
My favorite Metallica album and one of the best metal albums ever. The final two tracks "Creeping Death" and "The Call of Ctulu" are incredible from start to finish. If you haven't listened to Metallica and don't mind some dated production, this is the one to listen to.
Quiet Riot - Condition Critical - July 27 1984
[First Time] While Metal Health was iconic, their follow up is underwhelming. It has a few decent songs, but otherwise, it’s pretty cheesy and shallow. There were plenty of better albums in the glam metal style this year.
August
Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction - August 1984 [No Date]
Kind of a weird blend of early Bay Area Thrash (like Metallica) and Iron Maiden. It’s a bit sloppy at times, as the band isn't quite as in sync with each other as I'd like, but there’s some neat moments here and there.
Voivod - War and Pain - August 10 1984
[First Time] Sloppy speed/thrash metal that gets by with energy and aggression rather than talent or songwriting (and the weak production isn’t helping). A few proggy and doomy twists keep things interesting, and foreshadow their future weird prog metal style, but there’s not much on this album that’s particularly amazing.
Hexx - No Escape - August 26 1984
[First Time] Another band that sounds like a hybrid, this time combining a rougher metal style with more poppy stuff like Ratt. However, the performances are tight and the songs are solid, if on the short side. The singer sounds a bit like Joey Tempest from Europe, which I like. This is probably the biggest hidden gem I discovered this year.
September
Miami Sound Machine - Eyes of Innocence - September 1984 [No date]
[First Time] Well, this is different to everything else I’ve been reviewing. I’ve always been a fan of Gloria Estefan, but I’ve only heard two of her albums (and one of them is a Greatest Hits album). Anyways, this album is not their first, but it is their first attempt at a wider market by having lyrics in English. The result is some very 80s pop with dashes of Latin elements. Some of it is pretty cheesy, but otherwise, it’s fun dance music.
Iron Maiden - Powerslave - September 3 1984
Iron Maiden is one of the classic metal bands of the 80s, and this album is often touted as their best (and I’m inclined to agree)! This is Maiden doing what they do well: epic melodic metal! I will admit the middle songs do drag a little, but it starts and ends great, and with all those incredible riffs and solos, it’s a guitarist’s dream!
Keats - Keats - September 7 1984
This album has a bit of a strange history, as this group is made up of sessions musicians who worked on the Alan Parsons Project albums, but were encouraged to write their own album without Alan Parsons or Eric Woolfson. (Parsons still produced it, though, so it sounds great!) The band is actually named after a local restaurant that Eric liked, not after the famous British poet.
As for the music itself, it’s some pretty solid mid-80s soft rock with a lot of synths, very much like APP. However, I do think the songwriting feels a little generic at times compared to APP’s more theatrical elements. Of course, I’ve listened to those APP albums so many times, so maybe if I give this another dozen listens, it could click with me just like those.
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Fates Warning - Night on Bröcken - September 9 1984
[First Time] Before being prog pioneers, they wrote a pretty bog-standard metal album. The dark fantasy lyrics are cheesy, but the performances are fine, with plenty of decent guitar work. Probably not vital, even for metal fans, but a decent listen.
Dokken - Tooth and Nail - September 13 1984
Dokken was one of the bigger names in the 80s, with this solid collection of pop metal songs. It’s not anything you haven’t heard before, but it’s executed pretty well. One of the better albums of the year for this style, in my opinion.
Autograph - Sign In Please - September 27 1984
However, this is probably my favorite album of the glam/pop metal style of any year (though Def Leppard’s Hysteria is tough competition). It’s not smart or sophisticated, but it’s a lot of fun, with plenty of catchy hooks and memorable choruses. I will admit I did grow up with this one, but it’s held up pretty dang well!
October
Pretty Maids - Red, Hot and Heavy - October 1984 [No date]
[No cover art as it's a bit suggestive.] [First Time] A weird one. The album drifts between the three points of (1) speed metal, (2) 80s fun-time glam metal, (3) and AOR with synthesizers (like Asia). It’s all well done with solid production, but the songwriting is so all over the place. It’s like the entire decade of rock merged together on this album. I liked a lot of it, but it’s definitely a bit strange.
U2 - The Unforgettable Fire - October 1 1984
[First Time] I haven’t really done a dive into any of U2’s albums, only being familiar with the big hits. So going back to an older album after knowing their overall sound is kind of weird. Apparently, this album was a big shift for the band away from their new wave/post-rock sensibilities (though I do hear some of them in spots, like on “Wire”) into their better known, arena-filling sound. But as I listen to it retroactively, it honestly feels like pretty standard stuff for U2. I’ve never disliked the band, but never thought they were great either, and this album, even with its interesting ambient ideas, doesn’t really change things.
Armored Saint - March of the Saint - October 9 1984
[First Time] Another chunk of decent metal; sort of a blend of glam/pop like Ratt with the heavier metal sound that a lot bands were doing. The singer does a lot of metal wails, but that was common at the time. The rest of the band is tight, but the production is maybe a little too clean for what the band was going for.
AC/DC - '74 Jailbreak - October 15 1984
[First Time] Basically, a handful of tracks from the 70s that were left off of international versions of their early albums. As a consequence, these songs have their blues-rock style rather than the anthemic one they would develop for the 80s. I’m a fan of the band, so I dig this stuff, but if you’re not, don’t expect this EP to change your mind.
Manowar - Sign of the Hammer - October 15 1984
This is the other Manowar album for the year. When I listened to this again, it was better than I had remembered. Songs like "Sign of the Hammer" and "The Oath" really showcase their brand of epic metal. It’s not perfect, but it’s solid, chunky metal as only Manowar can deliver.
Grave Digger - Heavy Metal Breakdown - October 20 1984
“A metal album released on my exact birthdate? I have to check that out!” That was the excitement I felt when I discovered this album years ago. However, each time I listen to it, I’m reminded that it really is pretty average. The production is better than some of the others I’ve heard for this project, but the songwriting is pretty basic, and as a German band the singer’s English is pretty rough. A middle of the pack kind of album.
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Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers - October 29 1984
Despite this being the reunion of their classic Mark II lineup that had big hits in the 70s like "Smoke on the Water" and "Highway Star," this album doesn't really do much for me, sounding like pretty standard melodic rock. It’s not bad, but it does feel a very lackluster compared to their classic material.
November
Omen - Battle Cry - November 1984 [No Date]
[First Time] This is very similar to other heavier metal bands like Armored Saint and Jag Panzer, with a stronger focus on medieval fantasy. While it’s not the most original material, the Maiden-like guitars are solid, and it’s well produced, making for a decent listen, in my opinion.
Planet P Project - Pink World - November 1984 [No Date]
[First Time, sorta] Right, so Planet P is this weird sci-fi rock/pop project by Tony Carey, and when he decided to follow up his somewhat successful first album from 1983, he did so with a rather strange, story-driven double album about a post-apocalyptic society controlled by a boy with psychic powers. My dad used to play this when I was kid, but then moved on to other things, so I hadn’t heard this album in a very long time.
Listening to it again, none of it is familiar except for the weird “You drank the water. There’s nothing you can do. There’s no one you call” section with the voice effects. I was surprised by how much it sounds like Pink Floyd’s The Wall, if it was drenched in 80s synthesizers. It’s not bad, but it doesn't have the inventive nature or rock energy of the Project’s first album, making for a bit of a drowsy listen. Still, if anyone is curious, it is a pretty unique album for the year, as prog rock like this just wasn't made at this time.
Jean Michel Jarre - Zoolook - November 1984 [No Date]
Pulling voice samples from 25 different languages, it’s definitely a strange album. Shifting from ambient to funky to downright bloopy, it’s certainly on the experimental side of Jarre. The album has some nice moments, but otherwise, it’s not one I go back to very often.
Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force - November 1984 [No Date]
Shred metal albums are a bit of a strange listen, as the songs are often just backdrops for the guitarist to solo over. Still, Malmsteen is as iconic as ever, even on his first solo album, going from high speed shredding to melodic solos over classically inspired chord progressions. It’s a decent album, but very little sticks with me after I listen to it.
December
Foreigner - Agent Provocateur - December 14 1984
[First Time] While I was aware of their big hit ballad “I Want to Know What Love Is,” the rest of the album is actually some surprisingly decent melodic hard rock. I suppose that this point, the band members were pretty experienced songwriters, but I ended up enjoying more of this than I expected.
Running Wild - Gates to Purgatory - December 26 1984
[First Time] Before they became pirate metal pioneers, they were just like any other heavy metal outfit of the mid 80s, eager to play fast and sing campy lyrics about Satan. Questionable content aside, they go back-and-forth between speed metal and more traditional heavy metal, which was common at the time. The music is decently played and well-recorded, and if it weren’t for the terrible lyrics, I’d consider recommending this one to folks. (Fun Fact: the guitarist was in this band as part of his theology degree for college, and he left shortly after this album to become a vicar.)
Well, if you got down here, thanks for reading over 50 mini-reviews for these albums (or at least skimming through the covers for nostalgic reasons). If you enjoy this sort of stuff, be sure to check out The Rock Champion, where I review melodic rock and metal on a fairly regular basis. Maybe in the future I'll do this again some time with 1984, focusing less on the rock and metal.
As a project, it was pretty fun, digging into a lot of bands I had heard before but never really checked out (and some that were completely new to me). While I haven't taken the time through and rank them all, I did put together a Top 10 for the year, though almost all of it is stuff I had heard before I started:
1. Metallica - Ride the Lighting
2. Alan Parsons Project - Ammonia Avenue
3. Autograph - Sign In Please
4. Iron Maiden - Powerslave
5. Metal Church - Metal Church
6. Ratt - Out of the Cellar
7. Weird Al Yankovic - In 3-D
8. Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith
9. Dio - The Last In Line
10. Foreigner - Agent Provocateur [First Time]
In any case, I think this wraps up everything I had done for 2024, and I'm now ready to push ahead for what I have planned for 2025. I don't know how soon I'll be able to talk about these goals, as they're going to take up quite a bit of time, but at the very least, it should put more stuff on this website for you all to enjoy.
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