That's the year it all started for me and I haven't been the same since! My parents bought me a "ghetto blaster" for my birthday. That weekend I had $ and needed a tape to play so my brother told me to get VH's 1984. From there I was buying Hit Parader and discovering stuff I had to hear. I remember 1984 and some of the first albums I ever bought:

VH-1984
Sammy Hagar-VOA
KISS-Animalize
Twisted Sister-Stay Hungry
AC/DC-'74 Jailbreak


My favorite memory from that year was sitting in class(3rd grade) looking at Hit Parader and these were the days of WASP covered in blood holding skulls,Motley Crue in the Shout At The Devil pentagrams, covered in blood and all that glory,etc. and my teacher taking it from me, looking at all this, and saying do your parents know you have this? To which I reply Yeah they bought it for me! I think she just wrote me off after that day. Over the years that teacher would occasionaly run into my mother and always asked about my brother but never about me. I was probably a lost cause to her and just forgotten about.

It was metal from the start for me and I've never looked back or taken any interest in pop music, culture,etc. I've never had interest in the radio either as I always had my own music to listen to and that stuff don't get airplay.

This year was indeed a very fine year. I still have most, if not all records mentioned, on vinyl downstairs. I also graduated high school in 1984.

We're getting old indeed . Heavy metal is really wonderful. All these old albums are still spinning!!! This is what makes metal so unique. No other musical genre can last that much.

There were many great albums that year!

One album I didn't see mentioned in this thread, though, is Fates Warning - Night on Bröcken. Very underrated album.

Unfortunately, all of these albums by-passed me in 1984. I had to play catch-up few years later. But judging from those releases, it was indeed a good year for the genre.

"Chemical Warfare" was a life-changing experience...

Motorhead - No Remorse.

Of course this is partially a compilation album, but it's also the debut of the 2 guitar lineup and introduced such killer tracks as "Killed By Death", "Steal Your Face" & "Snaggletooth" into the Motorhead lexicon.

Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers

The big reunion of 1984. Knocking At Your Back Door was in constant rotation on the radio...those were the days.

You could pick just about any year between 1973 and 1989 and ya couldnt go wrong. IMO the golden age of metal.

Awesome year indeed!!! Ironically, as I read through this thread, I am listening to "Wasted Years" from a Maiden tribute I picked up (Dee Snider singing and George Lynch on Lead Guitar) and I am feeling a tad nostalgic. Let's all raise our bottles to 1984.

Yep I bought the whole list mentioned above as new releases too with the exception of Stryper. Didn't like them then still don't but the rest of are still played around my house regularly. 1980- 1988 was a great time for metal music, lots of great concerts during those years too

I think that was the year that early Scandinavian and Euro metal really took off. Not only Yngwie's Rising Force, but lots of others like Oz and Overdrive and maybe Sortilege(?). Lots of others too.

Lots of good pop/rock that year too.

I can't believe you guys left out Nena...


And Survivor...


Even poor Rockwell...

King Crimson - Three Of A Perfect Pair (1984)

It would be 11 years before their next studio album.

here is another one

1984 - Double Plus Good!!!!!

1984 like any other year has quality music, some of my faves from '84........

Replacements - Let It Be
Hanoi Rocks - Two Steps From The Move
Beasts Of Bourbon - Axeman's Jazz
Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream Of Trains
Gun Club - Las Vegas Story
Only Ones - Remains
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - From Her To Eternity
Jacobites - S/T
Lords Of The New Church - Method To Our Madness
Dogs D'Amour - The State We're In
Smack - On You
Hoodoo Gurus - Stoneage Romeos
The Pogues - Red Roses For Me
Psychedelic Furs - Mirror Moves
Waterboys - A Pagan Place
Prince - Purple Rain
Fuzztones - Lysergic Emanations
Go-Betweens - Spring Hill Fair
Long Ryders - Native Sons
Bangles - All Over The Place..................

I personally think that the period from 83-85 were the best years in metal.......86 was good too.

83-85 you have.......
Fates Warning: The Specter Within-My favorite Fate's album and Night On Brocken-a classic Metal album

Possessed: Seven Churches-The best Death Metal album of all time

Slayer: Show No Mercy, Haunting The Chapel, Hell Awaits-one of the best Speed Metal albums, one of the best EPs and the best Thrash album

Metallica: Kill Em All, Ride The Lightning-the defining moments for this band

Exodus: Bonded By Blood-a classic Thrash album

Sacrifice: Torment In Fire-another classic Thrash album

Accept: Restless And Wild-A classic, Accept's best

Helloween S/T: one of the best Eps

Sepultura: Bestial Devastation-THE best EP

Destruction: Sentence Of Death-another classic EP

Sodom: In The Sign Of Evil-yet another classic EP

Bathory: S/T and the Return-two defining moments for extreme Metal

Celtic Frost: Morbid Tales and To Mega Therion-no need to explain these

Other mentions Hallows Eve "Tales Of Terror", Stormwitch "Tales Of Terror", Anvil "Forged In Fire", Anthrax "Fistful Of Metal", Megadeth "Killing Is My Buisness", Motley Crue "Shout At The Devil", Savatage "Sirens", "The Dungeons Are Calling" and "Power Of The Night", Dark Angel, Kreator, Hellhammer....the list goes on.

86 was also good, with "Reign In Blood", "The Force", "Under The Sign Of The Black Mark", "Darkness Descends", "Pleasure To Kill", etc. etc.