The press and critics also attacked heavy metal.
The 1984 mockumentary filmThis Is Spin ̈al Tap
spoofed heavy metal musicians. More serious, in
1985, Los Angeles police caught Richard Ramirez,
the so-called Night Stalker serial killer. He had alleg-
edly left an AC/DC hat at one of his crime scenes,
and newspapers quickly reported that the heavy
metal group might have inspired the murders.
During the mid-1980’s, both Judas Priest and Ozzy
Osbourne faced accusations that their songs con-
tained subliminal messages that had led to the sui-
cides of several troubled teenagers. In both instances,
the musicians were cleared. In 1989, the National
Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences created a
Grammy Award category for heavy metal, but the in-
augural award in that category went to British rock
group Jethro Tull instead of favored first-time Amer-
ican nominee Metallica.
The excesses of the heavy metal musicians them-
selves were just as damaging to the genre’s repu-
tation. Music that celebrated drug and alcohol use,
violence, and sexual promiscuity often was mirrored
in the offstage self-destructive behavior by band
members. An overabundance of heavy metal bands
also led to parity and decreased album sales for each
such band. By the end of the decade, heavy metal
had receded from the highwater mark of its main-
stream popularity. The arrival of grunge music a few
years later forced many groups back into the under-
ground music scene.The Eighties in America Heavy metal 457
Year Title Performer
1986 Turbo Judas Priest
Somewhere in Time Iron Maiden
Master of Puppets Metallica
5150 Van Halen
QR III Quiet Riot
Look What the Cat Dragged In Poison
Reign in Blood Slayer
Who Made Who AC/DC
The Ultimate Sin Ozzy Osbourne
1987 Orgasmatron; Rock ’n’ Roll Motörhead
Hysteria Def Leppard
Girls, Girls, Girls Mötley Crüe
The House of Blue Light Deep Purple
Appetite for Destruction Guns n’ Roses
1988 Ram It Down Judas Priest
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son Iron Maiden... And Justice for All Metallica
OU812 Van Halen
Quiet Riot Quiet Riot
Open up and Say... Ahh! Poison
Nobody’s Perfect Deep Purple
South of Heaven Slayer
Blow up Your Video AC/DC
No Rest for the Wicked Ozzy Osbourne
1989 Dr. Feelgood Mötley Crüe
G n’ R Lies Guns n’ Roses