1985 Heavy Metal UP THE WAZZU!

1985 was my first year of service in the Navy. I was stationed in San Diego, CA, and the Tower Records on Sports Arena Blvd was one of my best friends. Anyone know if it's still there? Anyway, I started buying cassettes instead of vinyl because, of course, they were more portable. I remember being slightly disappointed in the sophomore releases from W.A.S.P., Ratt, and Armored Saint. It's weird, but looking at Ult's more comprehensive list, I was let down by quite a few releaeses in '85. Maybe it was my situation. KISS Asylum was definintely my favorite album that year. Anyway, W.A.S.P. GETS MY VOTE.

It was not just your situation, I remember being disappointed by alot of albums released that year that I did not feel where as strong as the previous albums.

AC/DC. KISS, Twisted Sister, Dio, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister and even Venom did not release their strongest material IMO and I think this is when I started to drift off to heavier music and genres outside of metal, but I still remained a loyal fan to all the bands I mentioned.

Of the yearly polls, this is definitely the most balanced voting I've seen. I'm guessing that if we keep the thrash bands in one poll, and a mixture of power/glam/sleaze/etc... in the other poll, we'll probably see this same type of balance. I think the Megadeth/Metallica/Slayer/Anthrax's of the world will show their dominance in the thrash polls, but it's obvious that this poll is a greater reflection of the diversity in musical taste among the members of this site, which is not thrash related.

JBall_Z wrote:

the Tower Records on Sports Arena Blvd was one of my best friends. Anyone know if it's still there?

Since the entire Tower Records chain went belly up in 2006, I'd say "probably not."

I know how you feel though. The Tower Records in my home town (Paramus NJ) was my "home" for many years. I worked in the K-mart store a few doors down from it for a while so every day I'd spend my lunch break scrounging thru the CDs, magazines, and other cool junk. I spent so much time in there that people often mistook me for a Tower employee.

Fat Freddy wrote:

JBall_Z wrote:

the Tower Records on Sports Arena Blvd was one of my best friends. Anyone know if it's still there?

Since the entire Tower Records chain went belly up in 2006, I'd say "probably not."

I know how you feel though. The Tower Records in my home town (Paramus NJ) was my "home" for many years. I worked in the K-mart store a few doors down from it for a while so every day I'd spend my lunch break scrounging thru the CDs, magazines, and other cool junk. I spent so much time in there that people often mistook me for a Tower employee.

That is funny. But, wow, I didn't know Tower Records went out o' business. I was stationed in Japan until July '09 and Tower Records and HMV appeared to being doing well. I guess in the states they've been relegated to online retail only.

manny wrote:

It was not just your situation, I remember being disappointed by alot of albums released that year that I did not feel where as strong as the previous albums.

AC/DC. KISS, Twisted Sister, Dio, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister and even Venom did not release their strongest material IMO and I think this is when I started to drift off to heavier music and genres outside of metal, but I still remained a loyal fan to all the bands I mentioned.

Glad I'm not the only one. Your right, AC/DC, TS, Dio and Crue definitely dissappointed me. But I loved Asylum. I was dissappointed with Animalize and thought Asylum was spectacular. I knew then that Bruce was the man.

JBall_Z wrote:

That is funny. But, wow, I didn't know Tower Records went out o' business. I was stationed in Japan until July '09 and Tower Records and HMV appeared to being doing well. I guess in the states they've been relegated to online retail only.

Dunno about the international stores but they closed up all the U.S. locations in 2006. I remember the year cuz I was driving home from the Iron Maiden show at the Meadowlands in NJ in October of that year, went past the Tower store on the highway and saw the "STORE CLOSING - EVERYTHING MUST GO" signs in the windows. I was like "NOOOOOOOOOOO! "

Fat Freddy wrote:

JBall_Z wrote:

That is funny. But, wow, I didn't know Tower Records went out o' business. I was stationed in Japan until July '09 and Tower Records and HMV appeared to being doing well. I guess in the states they've been relegated to online retail only.

Dunno about the international stores but they closed up all the U.S. locations in 2006. I remember the year cuz I was driving home from the Iron Maiden show at the Meadowlands in NJ in October of that year, went past the Tower store on the highway and saw the "STORE CLOSING - EVERYTHING MUST GO" signs in the windows. I was like "NOOOOOOOOOOO! "

That's how I felt when I made my montly trip to Virgin Megastore and saw the same thing. Luckily I got there at the begginning of their liquidation sale and I got away with over $200 worth of CDs for $100.

Is it 86 time yet?

DOKKEN - UNDER LOCK AND KEY

Accept - Metal Heart ..... got my vote....

Stryper was good, but too many ballads and pop songs.... The heavy stuff was heavy but I was catching the heavier stuff....

Accept's "Metal Heart" for me. It was tough to choose between that album and "Fear No Evil" but "Midnight Mover" and "Bound to Fail" were enough to convince me to vote for Accept.

Is that you, Glower?

Well, I watched it. Good taste in music. And what a real nice collection of vinyl.

EDIT: I think I would also probably put Anthrax first. That, or Walls of Jericho. Depends. Or no, it's probably Anthrax. Such a great record.