Siddharth
Long Distance Trooper
If you ask me, it is of course the year 1990. Some of my absolute favourite albums were released during the time. Actually the entire time period from 1989-90 is my favourite which saw the the culmination of 80s Metal. Pantera made an insane comback with Cowboys From Hell which in my opinion has been a MAJOR influence on modern Metal. Bands like Megadeth (Rust In Peace), Judas Priest (Painkiller), Death (Spiritual Healing) took drastic shifts in their sound and released some really iconic albums. Some even took a step back like, Maiden's No Prayer For The Dying, Queensryche continuing with their new found polished sound in Empire which has each song capable to be a hit, Testament's Souls Of Black and Seasons In The Abyss by Slayer also comes to mind. Some great sophomore records which were a step ahead of the artists's previous work like Twisted Into Form (Forbidden), Never, Neverland (Annihilator), Extreme II: Pornograffitti (Extreme). Thrash metal being at its technical most: Sanity Obscure (Believer), By Inheritance (Artillery), Into The Mirror Black (Sanctuary), hell even Anthrax released their musically more matured Persistence Of Time. Glam metal would reach it's peak with Ratt's Detonator album along with self-titled debuts by FireHouse, Spread Eagle. Talking about debut albums, Facelift by Alice In Chains is possibly the best from the said year. Also to mention The Eye by King Diamond which is considered a favourite among many fans. You get the idea, it had pretty much everything good about Metal all into one.