Kai vs RYM metal charts: 1981

    Two weeks in a row!  Last week we took on the RateYourMusic metal charts for 1980, this week we're doing 1981!  I should add that when making the chart, there was the option of having "Genre," "Influence," or "Either." I did the 1980 with only "Genre." I re-did the 1980 chart with "Either," mainly to see if AC/DC's Back In Black would show up, it did not.  But for the sake of consistency, we're going to stick with "Genre" going forward.  So with that, let's get to it with 1981.....

1. Iron Maiden- Killers

    I mean, yeah.  Goes without saying.  It's funny how this album gets all the top marks for 1981, yet everyone (including the band themselves) seem to think of it as subpar, or that it being the top means 1981 wasn't a great year for metal.  I mean, 1981 was a step down from 1980, but that certainly doesn't mean everything was subpar.  And it certainly doesn't mean this was a mediocre record by any stretch.  Were the songs here as good as the songs on Iron Maiden?  Well, the unwritten rule is when you get signed, use all the best songs first and save the rest for the follow up (typically why a sophomore slump happens).  Those songs were so good they survived thin production.  These songs I don't think could hold up with Will Malone's thin production, but Martin Birch's excellent production can make just about anything sound god-tier.  Many Iron Maiden fans think this is the best album with now-deceased ex-vocalist Paul Di'Anno, and some still think this is Iron Maiden's best album full stop.  It's not hard to see why.  The whole package, including that legendary album cover, this thing is almost as Cannibal Corpse as one could get in 1981.  This is a stone cold metal classic, and anyone who doesn't love it is very sus (that includes you too, Bruce Dickinson fanboys).

Should this be in a top 10: Absofuckinlutely.

Would it be in my top 10: Absofuckinlutely.

2. Riot- Fire Down Under

    An album with music equally as good as the album cover is bad.  It's certainly arguable that Eddie, Iron Maiden's mascot, was a big factor in how they got so massive.  And yet this stupid thing cursing Riot's covers are a big reason why Riot didn't become massive.  I mean what the fuck is this stupid thing?  This looks like the sort of thing Eddie would prey on!  Well, given that Fire Down Under is #2, the music clearly holds its own, and for good reason.  Essential 80's classic heavy metal.  You could be forgiven for thinking this band is British, as vocalist Guy Sperenza has a voice that is sounds typical NWOBHM (boggles my mind how so many metal bands thought such a thin sounding vocalist was acceptable).  I do defend Guy however as a vocalist that has the wimpy issues of NWOBHM tweaked out of it, and honestly, he's still Riot's best vocalist.  We'll discuss this further when we get to 1988.  But everything here is just about perfect: the aged, yet still gnarly guitar tone, great songs like the title track, Outlaw and Swords & Tequila, the riff so ripped off if it got all the royalties it's owed it would be as rich as Robert Plant! Ignore the cover, get the album anyway.

Should this be in a top 10: Absofuckinlutely.

Would it be in my top 10: Absofuckinlutely.

3. Ozzy Osbourne- Diary Of A Madman

One of my minority metal opinions is I don't love this album.  It barely makes my Ozzy solo top 5.  I think people only like it because it's the last album Randy made before his death.  It's astounding how dying young frees people from humanity's conversation bullshit.  It's well documented if Randy had not gotten on that plane, he would have left Ozzy's band and would be as persona-non-grata to the Osbournes has every other guitar player he's worked with sans Zakk Wylde.  People also love it because the songs haven't been overplayed in the Ozzy solo setlist.  Well, aside from things like "Over The Mountain" these songs weren't touched for a reason, they ain't that great. Matter of fact, as I get older, I find the title track to be rather tedious. Still though, it is an 80s Ozzy solo record, and by definition better than anything Deftones ever made.  It does have great production, arguably Randy's best guitar tone, and who the hell doesn't love that album cover?  Still given the lack of quantity during the first decade and a half of metal's existence, it does belong in a top 10 for 1981.

Should this be in a top 10: Yes.

Would it be in my top 10: #6 or lower.

4. Black Sabbath- The Mob Rules

As I said for 1980, this is not only better than Heaven & Hell, it's better than Diary of A Madman!  At the very least I would certainly have this higher on a list than the latter.  One simple reason, THAT GUITAR TONE!  Arguably Tony Iommi's best guitar sound, it is a little surprising that it took Martin Birch two albums to get Tony's tone out of that weird, light, cloudy haze it was stuck in for a few albums in the late 70s.  With the barely functioning Bill Ward gone and Vinnie Appice brought in, The Mob Rules presents Black Sabbath as a band seemed ready to reclaim themselves as kings of metal for the 80s as well as the 70s, but band infighting and live album wackiness stopped that.  Ozzy punks fuck off, this is essential.

Should this be in a top 10: Yes.

Would it be in my top 10: Squarely at #3.

5. Venom- Welcome To Hell

From a cultural impact, influence and legacy perspective, not only is Venom's Welcome To Hell unquestionably the most important metal album of 1981, it could be argued this is the most important metal album after Paranoid and Stained Class.  This album invented extreme metal.  Period.  End of discussion.  Thrash, speed, death, black, grind, it all comes from this, and it's followup Black Metal.  With that being said, methods will be improved upon, certainly over 40+ years.  Anyone coming into this from Slayer, let alone Lorna Shore or Knocked Loose, will probably be underwhelmed by this.  Honestly to modern ears this just sounds like a NWOBHM album, just with less singing and musical ability.  A LOT less musical ability. But as we all know, musical ability doesn't really matter.  Songs do, and songs like One Thousand Days of Sodom, the title track, and the transformative Witching Hour are just as much a part of the great heavy metal song book as Angel Of Death or Battery. I confess it took me a fair amount of time to accept Welcome To Hell and enjoy it.  My recommendation is to have a bit of patience with this one.

Should this be in a top 10: Yes.

Would it be in my top 10: Yes.

6. Saxon- Denim & Leather

7. Tygers Of Pan Tang- Spellbound

8. Cirith Ungol- Frost & Fire

9. Y&T- Earthshaker

Here's where things get kind of awkward and I tell on myself a little bit.  I have never heard any of these albums in full.  Truth be told an issue I have with a lot of NWOBHM (which is NOT to be confused with the main genre of heavy metal as a whole) is it just sounds so dated.  I think it's accept as a law of physics that any song Metallica covered from 1983 to 1991 is going to easily make it's original irrelevant. Saxon are legends but I've never been hit with a complete beginning to end banger of an album that grabbed me by the throat and convinced me I needed more.  I will say that any album with a song as killer as Denim & Leather probably should be on a top 10 somewhere.  As for the rest of these, I'm not going to pass judgement on early 1981 albums I haven't heard, but I'm also not going to pretend that Van Halen's Fair Warning (their heaviest and most beloved album by metalheads), Def Leppard's High & Dry, Motley Crue's Too Fast For Love, and even Rush's Moving Pictures shouldn't take priority on a top 10 metal list over Tygers of Pan Tang.  Lemmy bless you lot, thank you for help paving the way, and in particular thank you TOTP for giving us John Sykes (R.I.P.), but if you were truly essential Metallica would have covered one of your songs your albums would have Manilla Road, Angel Witch or Satan hype.  and you don't.

Should these be in a top 10: Nah.

Would they be in my top 10: Nah.

10. Accept- Breaker

Third time is the charm?  Scorpions' younger, less handsome, but more scrappy young brother Accept managed to put together something coherent for the first time. Breaker is for all attempts and purposes, a German NWOBHM record, that just happens to smoke 90% of NWOBHM. Although be forewarned, Udo Dirkschnider's voice has quite the entry fee to it.  While it definitely has all the great qualities of a "metal" voice, he's also a big reason why Accept were never as big as the Scorpions (that and America only likes one of every nationality or novelty at the top, and being a German/European band, Scorpions and Accept are considered novelties).  You also won't be prepared for bassist Peter Baltes taking lead vocals to sing a power ballad near the end.  This is a very solid record though.  And these characteristics (along with Wolf Hoffman and Jorg Fischer's nasty guitar tones) were what made Accept have their own identity in the metal world.

Should this be in a top 10: Yes.

Would this be in my top 10: No.

Something that I didn't do last time out of humility but changed my mind on is not revealing my own top 10 list.  In order to maintain some illusion of humility However, I'm not going to put it in exact order.  I will merely list it alphabetically and let you, dear reader draw your own conclusion.

Black Sabbath- The Mob Rules

Def Leppard- High & Dry

Iron Maiden- Killers

Ozzy Osbourne- Diary of A Madman

Motley Crue- Too Fast For Love

Riot- Fire Down Under

Rush- Moving Pictures

Thin Lizzy- Renegade

Van Halen- Fair Warning

Venom- Welcome To Hell

There's my take on 1981.  Next time, a year that seems watershed, but isn't, just that the two or three greatest of all time just happen to put out their most important records.