1984

In 1984 the Macintosh arrived in January, Challenger's astronauts took the first untethered space walk, and tens of thousands of British miners downed tools in March in a strike that would run for a year. Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood spent the summer proving that a BBC ban is the best publicity money can't buy.

Metal was busy breeding. Metallica's Ride the Lightning came out in July, and Anthrax's Fistful of Metal had appeared in January, so thrash was clearly more than a passing fancy. Slayer's Live Undead and Haunting the Chapel kept the pace up. Iron Maiden delivered Powerslave in September and a Christmas EP in December, while Ozzy Osbourne's Prince of Darkness and Motörhead's No Remorse landed within weeks of each other. Queensrÿche released The Warning, Queen went danceable with The Works, and a glam-minded Pantera put out Projects in the Jungle. The year's new bands read like a roll-call of the future: Sepultura, Celtic Frost, Candlemass, Helloween, Soundgarden, Mayhem, Obituary and Blind Guardian, then still calling itself Lucifer's Heritage. Deep Purple reformed too.

The mood was not all celebration. In June, the murder of Gary Lauwers in New York fed the Satanic panic's idea that heavy metal and devil worship were bedfellows. That same month, Judas Priest fans tore the seat cushions out at Madison Square Garden, and the band were banned from the venue for life. Elsewhere, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford rejoined Aerosmith, while Alice Cooper left Warner Bros. and began plotting a comeback.