"Iron Maiden debut it's slightly punky sounding" just make sure Steve Harris doesn't hear you said that XD.

1980 was indeed a great year for metal

Of course "Heaven and Hell" deserves infinity skulls.

Don't forget 'Barry' by Barry Manilow was another solid effort.

Heaven and Hell is #1 for 1980, many great albums but the first BS with Dio is just legendary

Rush-Moving Pictures wats 1981. Permanent Waves was 1980.

"Iron Maiden" is without question among my absolute top 10 most IMPORTANT debuts ever recorded. Irrefutably. Raw, unpolished, utterly buzzsaw...total necessity to better understand metal's evolution!

Permanent Waves was released on January 1, 1980, Moving Pictures one year later. Also love the R30 T-shirt, I have a similar one myself. Great job guys!

Rush's Moving Pictures came out in 1981. Permanent Waves was their 1980 release.

good that Angel Witch got a nod

You also could have mentioned a very underrated album in Shark Sandwich.

Steeler and rapid fire are great songs

Also surprised Van Halen women and children first wasn’t on the honorable mentions

Thank God for Diamond Head, Tygers of Pantang, Iron Maiden, Motorhead etc. The first Ozzy album was great but Diary was better IMO.

Thank you for choosing "Die Young" which most certainly establishes and cements Ronnie's legacy into the heavy metal neverland \m/

Oh geez, in '80 I was just starting highschool, partying really hard, chasing girls really hard, stealing cars to "joy ride" in, plus other assorted mayhem. Rocking out on Priest, Maiden, Rush, Nugent, Budgie, April Wine, Sabbath, AC/DC, The Cure, Tubes, Rainbow, Ozzy etc, etc. Little did I know that, a couple of years later after expanding my Metal catalog, Kill em All, Peace Sells, Fistful of Metal, and everything put out by Overkill would totally change my life. Lol, wouldn't change a thing. Being fifteen years old in 1980 when the stars aligned just right, was when the world went haywire.

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell Def Leppard - On Through the Night Judas Priest - British Steel Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz Scorpions - Animal Magnetism

Always love Martin's picks! More albums to add to the Must Purchase list.

I agree that UFO's "No Place to Run" is brilliant...Phil Mogg became a stronger singer when Chapman was in the band...however, I think that their former guitarist's debut LP from the same year, the Michael Schenker Group, holds up a bit better... With all due to respect to the illustrious Martin Popoff, it is hilarious that he is wearing a Rush t-shirt and yet mistakenly names Rush's 1981 album as an honorable mention for the best metal releases of 1980 (even funnier is that it may have received a lot of votes!)...LOL...be that as it may, I've always much preferred 1980's "Permanent Waves" anyway... This was a really fun, nostalgic contest with a typically cool performance by the knowledgeable and entertaining Martin Popoff!!! And "Chinatown" is a killer too!

Love this vid. Going to be listening to these albums all week.

Crazy Train sounded "disco-e" to you? What were you smoking in 1980?

I love these videos. I don't agree with the list most of the time but it's pretty entertaining to watch.

The first Iron Maiden album is easily the best from their catalog, the most variety in their song style and the raw production fits them well. Dennis Stratton is a VERY underrated guitarist on this album and I honestly wish he stayed over Adrian. That said, all the albums on this list and the mentions are great albums as well, should've mentioned the great Def Leppard "On Through The Night" as well, a NWOBHM classic to me

Just discovered this channel very recently. I have no idea why I haven't noticed it before but it suddenly became Christmas again :-) I gotta say I love these Rewind videos - it sure does bring back some good memories of albums I'd forgotten about and used to love or simply just needed to listen to again. Excellent channel and an obvious subscription.

I think you'll find Bob Daisley is Australian...

1. Angel Witch 2. Heaven And Hell 3. Iron Maiden 4. Give 'Em Hell 5. Lightning to the Nations

There should be a top 5 best hard rock albums of 1980, as well. AC/DC, Van Halen, Def Leppard, etc.

Everything Martin said about British Steel was spot on... I prefer Bomber to Ace Of Spades... Iron Maiden's self-titled debut was one of the best albums of the decade, and my favorite Maiden studio album... Heaven and Hell--Sabbath's best album since Technical Ecstasy.

Big fan of Popoff, great installment

Haven't even watched yet but I'm going to say Maiden's debut, Ace of Spades, British Steel, Heaven and Hell, and Blizzard of Oz

Great List !

I love iron maidens early punk sound

Does he still not know you can have half stars?

This was a great video. Good top 5 picks and plenty of good honorable mentions. Only one major thing missing: The Michael Schenker Group! Top 5 album of the year for me.

Where is Animal Magnetism it should have been number 1 it's one of the best albums in 1980 super riffs in every song and very well written The Zoo song is my favorite from the album as well as Make it Real

Kind of surprised Ace of Spades isn't number 1, that's my favorite other than the first Iron Maiden. Still all of these are fucking solid and this is a great vid as usual!!!!

Since hard rock has snuck into the conversation here, an album that should be added into the mix here is What's Next by Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush. Some of the best heavy guitar work ever put down on tape. Listen to "Something's Coming Our Way" and get your head blown off!

Budgie- Power Supply was a great album that year too

Great to see Martin give mention to Thin Lizzy’s Chinatown album. Currently reading my signed copies of Martin’s trilogy of books on the mighty Lizzy- great job Martin.

And on top of all these goodies, there was: Tygers of Pan Tang - Wild Cat MSG - MSG Girlschool - Demolition Krokus - Metal Rendez-vous Saxon - Strong arm of the law (!!!) Trust - Répression And so on and so forth What a year indeed.

Agree about your assessment on Heaven and Hell, but great shout out for Gamma!

I totally agree on Angelwitch's first album being the best NWOBHM album of 1980.

5. Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Oz 4. Van Halen - Women and Children First 3. Motorhead - Ace of Spades 2. AC/DC - Back in Black 1. Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

1980 till 1986 was some awesome metal bands

I always like these videos, Martin does a great job. Always honest in his opinions: Rapid Fire and Steeler 'Not great songs' No way! Coincidently I listened to British Steel earlier this week and realised what a great song Steeler is.

No Cultosaurus Erectus? You can't be serious.

#1. Heaven and Hell

let me skip this to Poppofs personal list 14:10 - people voting on the BAND not the ALBUM kills this list

A little surprised to see Def Leppard's On Through The Night missing from the honorable mentions list, but maybe I'm just a big fan of that record, because it was them at their heaviest, before they hooked up with Mutt Lange and began moving toward a more commercial sound.

Please do 1984, 1986 and 1990 sometime soon. A common theme for some of these years is that the 5 albums everyone knows end up making it. I feel like those years would have some serious competition going on.

Blizzard of Oz has Crazy Train and Mr. Crowly on it, I don't think I dont know is the 2nd most famous song on that album, its not even on his compilation album.

Fist- Turn The Hell On and Rail-Arrival are some hidden gems from that year.

Ace Of Spades by a long mile.😍

Gillan's "Glory Road" was a classic album from the year (with the late, great Bernie Torme on guitar). They never did anything in the U.S. but were quite big in the UK and Europe and the period brought Ian Gillan back home to his hard rock roots.

Quartz....THANK YOU \m/

1. Heaven and Hell 2. British Steel 3. Back in Black 4. Iron Maiden 5. Blizzard of Oz There, I fixed it for ya.

I waited so long and it's finally here! Loved this and I think it's great all the various comments... That's really what makes metal so great is how vastly different the styles of metal are. Other genres of music are not this rich. I voted Blizzard and yes it is very ballad oriented but ballads will become an essential part of metal after this so Blizzard is a landmark. The eighties wasn't my favorite decade of metal, I liked turning the corner into the nineties and beyond. I liked Heaven and He'll a lot but I really liked Born Again better which came a few years later. I was surprised not one soul mentioned Scream Dream, but I can already hear the Ted Nugent is not metal backlash. Anyway this was really cool and I think it's great that so many people are as interested in this music as we were in 1980. Thanks...

Thanks for mentioning to "Chinatown!! I voted for "Iron Maiden", but I love Thin Lizzy and really wanted to vote for it.... Thanks!

I basically had to google to see what albums were released that year. And an album caught my attention: Angel Witch. My God!!! What an awesome album, full of fantasy imagery and pure fun metal. This was an album I really enjoyed!! Especially the doomy soongs, which in IMO really stand out. Keep up the good work, love what you're doing!!!

Great year for Metal & a whole new chapter, 1980 was the Year Bands Got Heavy. I like the list Im just not wild about the first Iron Maiden album, I didn't start listening to Metal until 84 - 1985

1980 was a great year for metal, but that Angel Witch debut was light years ahead of the rest ... almost bordering on the thrash scene just a few years ahead. Good to see it on the honorable mention list.

iron maiden album 5 skulls its ground breaking and vastly underrated.. translvania ,prowler,phantom of opera,strange world,remember tomorrow the album is a classic blows everything of 1980 out of water

Where's KISS "Unmasked"? lol, good job Martin!!

Man, Permanent Waves is such an underrated album that I guess it just doesn’t exist. I love these videos but that’s a “Come on, man” moment.

Please do the year 1989 next :)

1. Heaven and Hell 2. Permanent Waves 3. Animal magnetism 4. Back in Black 5. Chinatown There’s a top 5 I can believe in.

I don't think I would rank "I don't Know" as the 2nd most famous song from "Blizzard of Oz". I think that spot belongs to either "Mr. Crowley" or "Suicide Solution".

I was 17 in 1980 ... and VERY impressed with Iron Maiden at the time ... so wheras -- for this nostalgic reason -- I don't much mind the #1 pick, I think Diamond Head has survived the test of time best. Like Martin, I'm also surprised that AC/DC didn't make the list, but okay. As for Motorhead, I was absolutely awestruck by the Overkill album ... but Ace of Spades was really just "more of the same" (however good that was) ... as you can pretty much say about every Motorhead album ever since, so they didn't come with the same surprise value as they had the year before. Ozzy? Didn't like that album. At the time, I was into the punk/metal crossover thing ... so I was kind of "whatever" in my attitude towards it, as I also was with Black Sabbath Mark II, with Dio ... I suppose we saw them as "those old guys" at the time ... and thought they had their best work behind them. (Oh well. You live, you learn.) British Steel was disappointing too ... although I feel more warmly towards it nowadays ... and I still think the four best JP albums were released in the 70s. Then there were about a hundred "lesser" bands ... half of which I've forgotten (but boy would I sit on a treasure chest if I'd kept every album I ever bought!!!).

Chinatown was my first Thin Lizzy purchase. Still a fave today

Yes POM is my fav Maiden also

"On Through the Night" Def Leppard should be an honorable mention.

Surprised that there's no mention of Cultösaurus Erectus. It's an uneven record surely but Black Blade, Monsters and Unknown Tongue are amongst my favourite BÖC tracks. Especially Monsters, which has a real proggy vibe.

1994-1995 was my sophomore year of high school. While all my peers were listening to Soundgarden and STP I was cranking up BS-Heaven and Hell.

A bit tight on the skulls! British Steel, Ace Of Spades & Blizzard are all 5/5 - perfect albums...

Wow!!! What a great year for metal.

Martin, any idea why they haven’t remastered or reissued “Heaven & Hell” by Black Sabbath on vinyl? I may already know but I’ve never heard or read the reason why, could you answer this for us! 🎧\m/

Bizarre Heaven & Hell is my all time favorite, and I was just out of high school when it came out ... I've never heard one song off Iron Maiden, Iron Maiden... but loved Peace of Mind and Powerslave. How'd that happen?

Best year in metal imho. Just turned 18, NWOBHM had such a big impact on me. Very pleased with all the albums mentioned, not just the top 5. Have all of them on original vinyl! I would have loved to see 2 more: Give ‘em hell by Witchfynde and Def Leppard’s debut : On through the night. Both are undeniable masterpieces, each in their own unique way.

I love the lists....but not even a mention of "Women and Children First"?

🤘i love video gems from start n' end🤘

1. Moving Pictures came out in 81. 2. When Martin is talking about Angel Witch it still says Saxon - Wheels Of Steel on the side. 3. Wheels Of Steel has got to be no1!!!

Always good

Bravo!!! 5 out of 5 for Heaven and Hell. The title song is a metal hymn masterpiece. Bravo!!!

Some very controversial things being said in this video: 1. Heaven and Hell is Black Sabbath's greatest album of all time, hence better than Sabbath's first 3 albums. Sorry Martin, as much as I love Heaven and Heaven, it is not Sabbath's greatest album of all time. 2. Rapid Fire not a good song. I don't agree. It was thrash before thrash was a thing. 3. Black Sabbath started in 1970. No. They started in 1968 Martin, not 1970. In fact, their first album was recorded in 1969. 4. Crazy Train is kind of disco sounding. I don't think so. 5. Rush Moving Pictures being released in 1980. No. It was released in 1981. Permanent Waves was released in 1980.

don't put Van Halen anywhere near Maiden. Thanks Martin, keep 'em coming.

Imo no LP can displace Paranoid not only as the fav Black Sabbath LP but in general as the most important LP in rock history.Still after so many decades the subjects of the songs are still around.Wars,drugs,nuclear war fear

In 1980, On the Black Sabbath album cover the cigarette smoking middle angel keeps her I-Phone on her leg above her knee

Gamma 2! I love that record! It feels like no one ever heard of Gamma.

@ Martin Popoff Are u gonna update your 2002 top 500 book???

Witchfynde’s Give em Hell is a good album from that year. Or was that 81?

I completely agree on this Martin! Angel Witch-Angel Witch is the best NWOBHM album!

I'm shooketh that Lightning to the Nations wasn't even an honorable mention. "Am I Evil?" Yes, yes you all are! For me, my list is 1) Iron Maiden 2) Heaven and Hell 3) Ace of Spades 4) Lightning to the Nations 5) British Steel

I remember Robb Flynn doing a accoustic version of Die Young at the Mitch Lucker Memorial show

I agree with every single band mentioned here I think the only problem I might have would be your summation of British Steel, and Blizzard of Oz, Maybe it's because I was 16 when these records came out, Martin you may have some years on me, and perhaps more seasoned, but I was personally blown away by BOTH records, although there were some tracks I liked less than others, other than that in my opinion this list is spot on...and I loved Van Halen's women and children first but glad its not on here as its a hard rock record and not metal, same with Rush's permanent waves.

Great riff by Motorhead.

By the way, I don't really like "covers," but Udo's version of "Metal Gods" on the Priest tribute LP is just off the chain. Udo really nails the crap out of it. Don't think anybody could have done it better.

Seems a great year for heavy metal!

Van Halen - Women And Children First Blackfoot - Tomcattin‘ AC/DC - Back in black Saxon - Strong arm of the law UFO - No Place to run

No 1 is Heaven And Hell for me....all outstanding strong songs and performance with god on vocals....there!!

Happy with Judas Priest and Iron Maiden but also surprised that Back In Black didn’t make the list.