Rock songs reached a wide audience. Truly, this was Peak Hair Metal. The 90s alt-rock revolution arrived two years early in the shape of this loping, shamanic anthem from drug-sozzled LA radicals Jane’s Addiction. Baleful, PMRC-baiting blues-metal from former Misfits singer Glenn Danzig, here reborn as a be-quiffed, Beelzebubian Evil Elvis. All rights reserved. By Toto never had much praise to go along with its '80s success, but Steve Lukather's tasteful electric guitar licks epitomize soft rock's full potential. The overarching romantic sentiment of the lyrics would turn to silly sticky putty in the hands of lesser artists, but Henley makes it all work in this exemplary pop/rock classic. Iron Maiden - Can I Play With Madness The mark of genuine soft rock has always been an emphasis on memorable, distinctive melodies and a fierce devotion to songcraft, and this song and its flawless execution define those characteristics. We recommend you to check other playlists or our favorite music charts. Master!’. Pentagram - Sign Of The Wolf (Pentagram) This 1986 Top 10 hit stands as one of the finest singles of the '80s. The Power of Love (From "Back to the Future"), (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction [From "He's My Girl"], Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (From "Fandango"), It's In the Way That You Use It (From "The Color of Money"), Like a Rolling Stone (From "New York Stories"), Hazy Shade of Winter (From "Less Than Zero"), The Heat Is On (From "Beverly Hills Cop"), On the Dark Side (From "Eddie & the Cruisers"), Down on the Corner (From "One Crazy Summer"), St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion) [From "St Elmo's Fire"], We Are the Champions (From "Revenge of the Nerds"), White Room (From "The Pursuit of D.B. In which the hottest rap group of the year saved a bunch of washed-up 70s rockers by retooling one of their old hits for a new generation, scoring a massive hit and inventing the entire rap-rock genre in the process. Even beyond this song's pitch-perfect use of one of soft rock's most ill-treated and overexposed instruments - the saxophone - it deserves ample credit for taking the concept of melodic and lovelorn pop to entirely new heights in 1982. Including classic rock hits and popular jams, the list of '80s rock songs features some of the greatest bands ever, like The Police, U2, Van Halen, and Pink Floyd. As a featured track on Browne's popular Lawyers in Love release, this song features the forceful lead guitar of Browne's usual collaborator Danny Kortchmar, which helps it nimbly straddle the blurry zone between pop and rock. Raise your horns to Odin! The Yanks didn’t have the monopoly on 80s doom. This track came at the very tail end of the form's early-'80s run, but it represents the best aspects of the softer side of rock and would have done so no matter its era. Find the latest in 80s rock music at Last.fm. Fiery high-pitched vocals became the focal point of hair bands and glam metal bands during this decade of "lipstick and leather." They could barely have pushed the speed limit any further post-Reign In Blood. Megadeath - Mechanix Teenage malcontents from San Francisco, Possessed buried thrash metal alive then exhumed it a few days later. What emerged was malevolence incarnate. But this jagged thrasher, inspired by the US government’s shameful ill-treatment of the Native American population, showed they could play serious when they wanted. Dave Everley However, whereas the version of America that defined the '70s specialized in a folky, earthy sort of soft rock, the '80s version as demonstrated on this track truly hit the jackpot by combining the synthesizer sounds of the new decade with an electric guitar. This track from landmark debut album World Downfall was an IED in musical form, its clouds of brutality blotting out the sun. 490 million Spotify streams surely can’t be wrong. More than 30 years on, Deathcrush, from the EP of the same name, still sounds like a riot in Hades. (Metal Hammer) 10 February 2020, In honour of metal's greatest decade, we've compiled ten landmark tracks from every single year of the 1980s to create the ultimate era-defining playlist. Jackbooted hardcore/thrash mash-up from the button-pushing Anthrax side-project who spearheaded the short-lived ‘crossover’ movement. Parent album Bleach was a fine debut, but no one could have seen what would come next. Find 80s rock tracks, artists, and albums. You will receive a verification email shortly. Growling and snarling, Death Metal, from their Seven Churches album, was the sound of a genre coming to (un)life. With its skin-flaying guitars and grunted ‘Oohs’, this was the moment where extreme metal took a turn for the avant-garde. One of Browne's best summative lines regarding romantic relationships ("You win, I win, we lose") leads into a Kortchmar solo that transcends.