Of course, the 80's "hair metal" almost completely killed off the general public's appetite for metal. The terrible videos from Warrant, Winger, Metallica, Ratt, and Motley Crue made the entire genre supergay.

But after 3 decades, the tide is coming back, and metal is now up to 3% of all album sales!

Yesterday, everyone had their "best of 2018" lists, and AN was no exception. http://www.alternativenation.net/

15 Outer Heaven – Realms of Eternal Decay

They show that there can still be new ideas in metal, even after 50 years!

14 Sleep – The Sciences

Powerful comeback album

mobile users:

13 Judas Priest – Firepower

The grandpas of metal will be celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. They delivered a disc that was better than 90% of their old stuff, with Halford being almost 70 years old.

Mobile users:

12 Ilsa – Corpse Fortress

Unlike most metal, this disc sounds great cranked up loud. Doomy to the max.

11 Windhand – Eternal Return

If you need melody with your doom, these guys have a bunch of great albums.

10 Monstrosity – The Passage Of Existence

After a decade, Monstrosity came back so tight and surgical, you can't believe that arthritis has not ended their run.

If you miss the days of dual guitar solos, come on in.....

9 Gama Bomb – Speed Between The Lines

If you miss those supergay videos from the 80s, Gama Bomb will make you feel like you are in a time machine.

If you miss those **King Diamond** falsetto vocals, enjoy.

8 Hate Eternal – Upon Desolate Sands

No description necessary, you know what you are going to get with HE

7 Witch Ripper – Homestead

I had a feeling I would like this band, just by the name alone.

Never seen 'em, but their disc is great (let alone rockin' the Telecasters)

6 Slugdge – Esoteric Malacology

This disc is less sludgy than their name implies, but super fun

5 Omnium Gatherum – The Burning Cold

If you like your metal with synths, 3rds and uplifting chorus like the 80s, this album is for you.

4 Jungle Rot – Jungle Rot

Manly vocals and dueling guitars.

If you are ready to graduate up from Metallica gradeschool, this might be your next logical step. Not too hard, not too fast, probably just right...

2 Skeletal Remains – Devouring Mortality

1 Unleashed – The Hunt For White Christ

If you like Vikings, Odin and traveling through ice and snow, this was rated the #1 metal album of 2018.

Maybe they'll win a Grammy for Storm the Gates?

It was just OK, but got some pretty bad reviews....

https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/78619/Venom-Storm-The-Gates/

https://newnoisemagazine.com/review-venom-storm-the-gates/

http://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2018/12/21/venom-storm-the-gates/

https://puregrainaudio.com/reviews/venom-storm-the-gates-heavy-haiku-album-review

No, it's not my list, like it says in the first post, this is the AN yearly list for 2018.

My list would be a little different, but I understand their list is more balanced than mine would be.

....and they introduced me to Witch Ripper, a great new band.

This is Pinside, so you KNOW there will be a discussion and hopefully some other great "runner up" suggestions.

Rammstein was a decade latter, probably the mid 90s

And you are right, they had many award winning videos....

(NSFW) and crazy loud when the music starts!

https://www.redwap.me/videos/30528/rammstein-pussy-hd/

Thanks,

I added links for mobile users, the rest seem to play either way.

I blame the Circle Jerks for leading me to the harder stuff

American Heavy Metal Weekend

The Japanese are buying up our guitars
Invade our beaches, driving cars
Hondas, Toyotas, Insuzurus
Fight 'em beat 'em, we got a lot to loose
Fenders, Gibsons, stack 'em high
Stack 'em up against the sky
Speakers blasting, blasting in vans
Make them wish they didn't land

(Chorus
1, 2, 3
It's an American heavy metal weekend
It's an American heavy metal weekend

The English, sure we'll give 'em a break
With their Hiwatts and their Marshalls
It started here make no mistake
It's alway real and never fake
Platform boots and puffy hair
Gotta raise a scare
Metal merchants peddle their wares
Not U.S. made, buyer beware

(Chorus)

Ratt, Dokken
Quiet Riot, Mötley Crüe
Twisted Sister, dudes...

What I want, is what I need is
Made here in the U.S.A
Never ashamed, always proud
Always hard, always loud
Amplifiers vibrate across the globe
Send those rats back in their holes

Blue Öyster Cult, Van Halen
Kiss, Sammy Hagar
W.A.S.P., Y&T
Don't forget... The Nuge

Dudes

That's why we did not have a poll, lol

Pinsiders would simply vote for the band they listened to in high school, and then it would be over.

-

Same as the upcoming Grammys.

Old men will bltch: "I don't even watch the Grammys! It's a bunch of black guys I've never heard of! They never have any bands I like winning anything!"

Then you ask them "What artist had a release in 2018 that you felt was slighted by the Grammys?"

And they answer "2018?? I don't know, I mean, I just like the old stuff. Hell, I have not bought any new music in 20 years. Oh wait, I did get the Beatles box set.....but I guess that's not really new....."

Educate yourself, so you are not the old man at the coffee machine in your office:

12. Best Rock Performance
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative rock recordings.

FOUR OUT OF FIVE
Arctic Monkeys

WHEN BAD DOES GOOD
Chris Cornell

MADE AN AMERICA
THE FEVER 333

HIGHWAY TUNE
Greta Van Fleet

UNCOMFORTABLE
Halestorm

13. Best Metal Performance
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative metal recordings.

CONDEMNED TO THE GALLOWS
Between The Buried And Me

HONEYCOMB
Deafheaven

ELECTRIC MESSIAH
High On Fire

BETRAYER
Trivium

ON MY TEETH
Underoath

14. Best Rock Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Rock, Hard Rock and Metal songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.

BLACK SMOKE RISING
Jacob Thomas Kiszka, Joshua Michael Kiszka, Samuel Francis Kiszka & Daniel Robert Wagner, songwriters (Greta Van Fleet)

JUMPSUIT
Tyler Joseph, songwriter (Twenty One Pilots)

MANTRA
Jordan Fish, Matthew Kean, Lee Malia, Matthew Nicholls & Oliver Sykes, songwriters (Bring Me The Horizon)

MASSEDUCTION
Jack Antonoff & Annie Clark, songwriters (St. Vincent)

RATS
Tom Dalgety & A Ghoul Writer, songwriters (Ghost)

15. Best Rock Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new rock, hard rock or metal recordings.

RAINIER FOG
Alice In Chains

M A N I A
Fall Out Boy

PREQUELLE
Ghost

FROM THE FIRES
Greta Van Fleet

PACIFIC DAYDREAM
Weezer

The Grammy's are decided by 12,000 members, made up of musicians, producers, engineers, songwriters....you know, people in the business of making music.

Members are asked to only vote on genre that they are familiar with.

Firepower did not get outstanding reviews.

Metacritic average for all published reviews is only 77

Even the fans only voted it a 78 (usually fans are much more enthusiastic than the professionals, lol)

https://www.metacritic.com/music/firepower/judas-priest/critic-reviews

So it's understandable that it was not at the #1 spot for most review sites "Best Metal of 2018", but it did make a strong showing - not bad for a band that's been around since 1969!

Yep, no one would argue that he is a great guitarist.

But is his 2018 release on anyone's radar?

Even with Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet and Kirk Hammett is anyone buzzing about it?

The strongest track has 1,200 hits on Youtube after 7 months of it being posted.

If you are going to win a Grammy, you got to standout from the rest of that year's art.

Nirvana.

When an almost unknown band knocks Pedophile Jackson off the top of the charts and sells 30 million copies of their disc, the jig was up for hair metal.

That's true.

Lot's of oldie acts in the top 100 concert earners:

Top Concert Gross 2018
===============

1. Ed Sheeran - $429,491,502
2. Taylor Swift - $315,186,362
3. Beyoncé & Jay-Z - $253,514,983
4. Bruno Mars - $237,770,168
5. Pink - $180,402,074
6. Justin Timberlake - $149,277,272
7. U2 - $119,203,900
8. The Rolling Stones - $117,844,618
9. Kenny Chesney - $114,333,176
--->Then cherry picking just the rock acts:
12. Foo Fighters – $53.6 million
19. Metallica – $40.6 million
21. Bon Jovi – $38 million
22. Phil Collins – $38 million
35. Queen + Adam Lambert – $23.9 million
43. Journey / Def Leppard – $21.2 million
51. Rod Stewart – $18.2 million
52. Iron Maiden – $17.3 million
53. Kid Rock – $17.1 million
83. Avenged Sevenfold – $10.5 million
91. Scorpions – $10.1 million
94. Santana – $9.3 million

Music is a fickle biz. The cool kids don't want to listen to their grandfather's music.

Metal bands still toured after the kids turned to grunge.

Hair metal bands like Def Lep, Dokken and Crue all put out grunge albums to try and sound current.

C'mon, tell us something we don't all know.

Out of 12,000 music industry professionals, most obviously have heard of MSG

But he simply did not do anything outstanding in 2018 to get nominated for a Grammy.

He did not have a hit song, he did not play on any Ariana Grande tracks, he did not invent any new genre of music - honestly, he put out an album that sounded like it was recorded in 1981 and just released last year.

The HOF is simply a tourist attraction.

It's not an industry association that recognizes the greatest works from the previous year.

What are you talking about??????

Iron Maiden has been nominated for 4 Grammys, and won one in 2010

Judas Priest has been nominated for 5 Grammys, and won one in 2009.

-

Relax a little, if bands put out outstanding work, the industry takes notice.

576049055435a.image (resized).jpg

There is simply no pleasing you.

You want 2% of the music market, to get the headliner spot?

There are 80 categories, and only the most popular get their 5 minutes of airtime.

The kids today know Halford, because he sang with Babymetal:

The guys in Babymetal can play the heaviest metal songs without breaking a sweat. The lead guitar and drummer are total machines.

Quoted just for the laughs

Grammy nominee for 2018 Best Metal

CONDEMNED TO THE GALLOWS Between The Buried And Me

Grammy nominee for 2018 Best Metal

HONEYCOMB Deafheaven

Grammy nominee for 2018 Best Metal

ELECTRIC MESSIAH High On Fire

Grammy nominee for 2018 Best Metal

BETRAYER Trivium

Grammy nominee for 2018 Best Metal

ON MY TEETH Underoath

Grammy 2018 Best Metal, all the nominees are WAY harder than Judas Priest's Firepower.

Out of the group, Deafheaven has my vote; but I'm betting Trivium takes it, because they are the most conventional of the Nominees this year.