10 Best Hard Rock Bands Of The 1980s
4. Metallica
On the other side of hair metal, another genre of heavy rock was emerging from California known as thrash. Each group possessed a manic energy borrowed from punk rock and the intense shredding and heaviness of bands like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest.
While bands like Slayer and Anthrax were more indicative of the thrash sound, Metallica was the band that helped bring this heavy music to the masses. Starting with their 1983 debut Kill Em All, Metallica molded songs that were pure shots of adrenaline from start to finish. As they progressed, the band began to incorporate more styles into their sound on more slow tempo tracks like "Fade to Black" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)." Even their most poorly produced record from this decade, And Justice For All , stills stands on its own as an essential piece of metal gold.
Even after their fantastic run in the 80's, Metallica were not content to be pigeonholed into a single style. The band used their 80's material as warmups for their mainstream breakthrough with 1991's The Black Album. Given all the quality metal present in the 80's, Metallica is one of the few bands whose records are mandatory listening for anyone who considers themselves a metalhead.