1979! Is Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Dead?

I'm going with Thin Lizzy- Black Rose. I only got that album maybe a year or two ago but when I listened to it, it blew me away. I love a lot of those albums that are listed and most of them (if not all) are heavier than Black Rose (or maybe anything Thin Lizzy ever recorded) but its just a great album over all.

it's a toss up between Priest & Motorhead. i flipped a coin & it went with Motorhead this time.

This one was really hard for me, because Hellbent For Leather is one of my favorites and one of the heaviest albums in the poll as well as Overkill and Bomber.
However, I have to go with THE SOUNDHOUSE TAPES here. A record that absolutely blew my mind when I first heard it, and changed my life to some degree, nothing else sounded like it.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

I'm going with Thin Lizzy- Black Rose. I only got that album maybe a year or two ago but when I listened to it, it blew me away. I love a lot of those albums that are listed and most of them (if not all) are heavier than Black Rose (or maybe anything Thin Lizzy ever recorded) but its just a great album over all.

I agree 100% it is my favorite Thin Lizzy album, not a bum track on it.

I'm really not surprised to see a split between Highway and Hell Bent for this one.

Both those albums were major players for me back in the day and still are. I voted Highway for "sentimental" reasons.

Thin Lizzy for me, absolutely brilliant band.

AC/DC - Highway to Hell




coulda been Priest as well..... but Before the Dawn isn't exactly a barn burner.....LOL ....

voted for ac/dc, but '79 was "disco" year for almost all bands. but we know what happend in 1980

Well, 1979 sure was the lame year for hard rock/heavy metal. That being said, I went with Motorhead and "Overkill". I wasn't listening to metal as an eight year old, but if I was, then it might have gone something like this:

1. Motorhead - "Overkill"
2. Scorpions - "Lovedrive"
3. AC/DC - "Highway to Hell"
4. Judas Priest - "Hell Bent for Leather"
5. Van Halen - "Van Halen II"

metalinmyveins wrote:

Well, 1979 sure was the lame year for hard rock/heavy metal. That being said, I went with Motorhead and "Overkill". I wasn't listening to metal as an eight year old, but if I was, then it might have gone something like this:

1. Motorhead - "Overkill"
2. Scorpions - "Lovedrive"
3. AC/DC - "Highway to Hell"
4. Judas Priest - "Hell Bent for Leather"
5. Van Halen - "Van Halen II"

Lame? How so?

1. Motorhead - "Overkill"
2. Scorpions - "Lovedrive"
3. AC/DC - "Highway to Hell"
4. Judas Priest - "Hell Bent for Leather"
5. Van Halen - "Van Halen II"

seems like a good year to me!

AC/DC - Highway to Hell

ultmetal wrote:

metalinmyveins wrote:

Well, 1979 sure was the lame year for hard rock/heavy metal. That being said, I went with Motorhead and "Overkill". I wasn't listening to metal as an eight year old, but if I was, then it might have gone something like this:

1. Motorhead - "Overkill"
2. Scorpions - "Lovedrive"
3. AC/DC - "Highway to Hell"
4. Judas Priest - "Hell Bent for Leather"
5. Van Halen - "Van Halen II"

Lame? How so?

1. Motorhead - "Overkill"
2. Scorpions - "Lovedrive"
3. AC/DC - "Highway to Hell"
4. Judas Priest - "Hell Bent for Leather"
5. Van Halen - "Van Halen II"

seems like a good year to me!

I think the albums you posted for 1979 are pretty damn good ULT, but I think when you compare them to 76-78, then '79 lacks. What you ought to do ULT, is take the top 3 from 76-79 and pit them against each other, to see where they rank percentage wise.

When you start on the 80's ULT, I understand that you only have so many albums you can list for the poll, so I would do a part one for that year, and then a part II (and maybe a part III). Needless to say, as the 80's progress, there will be a lot more albums to list.

76 - 79 best of. Good idea.

Way too tough but I went with the Scorps.... Lovedrive just simply rocks. (even though the title track kinda sounds like Lights Out from UFO)

Lovedrive was my first Scorpions album back in the day, and I love Van Halen II, but Hell Bent For Leather is a heavy metal masterpiece.

I am surprised that 'Soundhouse Tapes' was included since this was released independently so few people heard it at the time of its release, I know a huge impact overseas maybe the biggest reason NWOBHM kicked off, but I never saw it as an official release.

'Lovedrive' is an excellent album and it includes one of their best ballads.

I wasn't sure if I should include the Soundhouse Tapes or not. I certainly didn't now of it until years after I discovered Maiden. My introduction to the band was "Killers". Someone said to me, "Every heard of Iron Maiden, they are like Judas Priest and Thin Lizzy, only better than both of them." Of course I had to hear that, though I didn't agree that they were "better" than Priest and Lizzy.

My introduction to Iron Maiden was 'Piece of Mind' and I remember when I bought 'Iron Maiden' I was surprised to see they used to have another vocalist.

I did not hear the 'Soundhouse Tapes' for many years and I really wanted to grab the CD version that Iron Maiden was giving away or offering if you bought some additonal CD's or something like that, you had to send proof of purchase, man I do not remember the details.

Way back then, I would have said without any hesitation Van Halen - Van Halen II; do to the fact I was obsessed with them. But now 30 plus years on from then, I would chime in on AC/DC and then Maiden, Priest, and Motorhead.

Despite my love for Saxon, the s/t is such a different animal from what came later that I hold that if it did not have the name Saxon on it, I probably would not have listened to it as much as I have. Same goes for Accept.

Scorpions - Lovedrive was a great release, but I preferred Animal Magnetism way more.

Gamma was always a bit of a disappointment for me as Montrose just did not seem to be as into this project as his previous work.

Aerosmith's was o.k. BOC was meh. The Thin Lizzy was a little bit of a letdown after the live one. Never heard that Angel record. The Led Zep album was one of those omnipresent albums that all the kids owned and played that I never owned my own copy until a few weeks ago. After listening to it through, I was surprised at how well I knew it.

I voted for "Hell Bent For Leather" as heaviest and hardest rockin'.

But I like "Lovedrive" and Van Halen II just slightly more.

so many great albums that year, and alot of bands just beginning their run of greatness as well.

I have to agree with metalken those debuts by Saxon and Accept are such different animals then the albums that followed, and in case of both bands they had not found their classic sound yet

Just realized I left off an important album released in 1979, Riot - Narita.

Narita is an AMAZING album.



Overkill is without doubt the hardest/heaviest album of the entire 1970s.

Liked most of what was listed, and Motorhead might have been the heaviest, but I didn't discover them until much later.
I didn't discover most of these bands til much later,and as much as I love ANGEL, I can only say their first 2 LP's could be included in heavy metal/ prog metal (though the current generation who like re-writing history will re-label them as hard rock).
Highway To hell is so overplayed, I could live with never ever hearing that one album again!

picked
Aeromsith's Night in the Ruts.

Out of the 6 on there I know, I voted for Judas Priest-Hell Bent For Leather. On of my favorite JP albums.