White Wizzard’s Top 5 Obscure ’80s Metal Albums, Part I

By Joseph Michael (White Wizzard)
5. Savatage’s Edge of Thorns (1993)
This is one of my favorite albums to listen to on LSD. Great vocals, guitars, and songs. RIP Criss Oliva. The solo on “Edge of Thorns” is worth the price of the album alone.

4. Marty Friedman’s Dragon’s Kiss (1988)
This is the guitar bible. Period. “Thunder March” should be the national anthem.

3. King Diamond’s The Eye (1990)
When I mention this album, I get blank stares, but this has some of the best songs—plus amazing theatrical pieces like “Two Little Girls” and “The Trial.”

2. Steelheart’s Steelheart (1990)
This is some of the most bad-ass butt rock out there. Like Winger, but on steroids… The vocalist is hitting four octaves with power.

1. Phantom Blue’s Phantom Blue (1989)
Hot metal chicks in tight spandex playing harmonized, sweep-picked arpeggios. I actually fell asleep next to one of the sisters on a couch at a party in Hollywood when I was 19.

** White Wizzard’s new album, The Devil’s Cut, is out now on Century Media/Earache Records. It’s available HERE. Or, you can drop some serious cash on Marq Torien’s smooth-up-in-ya pants by clicking HERE.