10 Most Important Hard Rock Bands Of The 80s

Around the same time that hair metal was becoming the biggest thing in the world, there were a certain subsection of metal fans who felt like they were getting ripped off. As much as people like Motley Crue may have shown an affection for heavy metal, this was the kind of hard rock that was meant for the teenyboppers rather than the seasoned veterans. We needed something that was a little more gritty, and Metallica gave us a battering ram right out of the gate.

For all of the flak that the band get for selling out in the '90s with the Black Album, the original '80s iteration of Metallica is still looked at as some of the most classic metal music ever conceived. Fitting somewhere between the harsh sounds of punk rock and pure metal, this became the go to sound for thrash later down the line, with songs that have the roots of acts like Motorhead flowing through their veins.

With time comes experience though, and Metallica made one stride after another to create some of the most concentrated metal of the time, like the delves into the more melodic side of things on ballads like Fade to Black and the prog metal stylings of what would become And Justice For All. Though Cliff Burton might not have been around to see the end of the decade, this is the kind of music that metalheads will still be passing down to their descendants for years to come.