1988 in heavy metal music

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This is an article about the events of heavy metal in the year 1988.

Newly formed bands

• Amon Amarth (known as Scum till 1992)
• Cadaver
• Cannibal Corpse
• Carnage
• Dismember
• Eyehategod
• Gamma Ray
• Mr. Big
• Nine Inch Nails
• Paradise Lost
• Pungent Stench

Albums

• AC/DC - Blow Up Your Video
• Anthrax - State of Euphoria
• Armored Saint - Saints Will Conquer
• Atrophy - Socialized Hate
• Bathory - Blood Fire Death
• Beowülf - Lost My Head... But I'm Back on the Right Track
• Blind Guardian - Battalions of Fear
• Blind Illusion - The Sane Asylum
• Bolt Thrower - In Battle There Is No Law
• Bon Jovi - New Jersey
• Britny Fox - Britny Fox
• Brocas Helm - Black Death
• BulletBoys - BulletBoys
• Cacophony - Go Off!
• Carcass - Reek of Putrefaction
• Celtic Frost - Cold Lake
• Cinderella - Long Cold Winter
• Cloven Hoof - Dominator
• Crimson Glory - Transcendence
• Cryptic Slaughter - Stream of Consciousness
• D.R.I. - 4 of a Kind
• Danzig - Danzig
• Death - Leprosy
• Death Angel - Frolic through the Park
• Dokken - Beast from the East
• Europe - Out of This World
• Fates Warning - No Exit
• Frehley's Comet - Live+1
• Frehley's Comet - Second Sighting
• Forbidden - Forbidden Evil
• Girlschool - Take a Bite
• Guns N' Roses - GN'R Lies
• Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 2
• Helstar - A Distant Thunder
• Hobbs' Angel of Death - Hobbs' Angel of Death
• Hydra Vein - Rather Death Than False Of Faith
• Impellitteri - Stand in Line
• Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
• Jason Becker - Perpetual Burn
• Judas Priest - Ram It Down
• Killer Dwarfs- Big Deal
• King Diamond - Them
• King Kobra - King Kobra III
• Kingdom Come - Kingdom Come
• King's X - Out of the Silent Planet
• Kiss - Smashes, Thrashes & Hits
• KIX - Blow My Fuse
• L.A. Guns - L.A. Guns
• Lillian Axe - Lillian Axe
• Living Colour - Vivid
• Manilla Road - Out of the Abyss
• Manowar - Kings of Metal
• Marty Friedman - Dragon's Kiss
• Megadeth - So Far, So Good... So What!
• Mekong Delta - The Music of Erich Zann
• Metallica - ...And Justice for All
• Ministry - The Land of Rape and Honey
• Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death
• Motörhead - No Sleep at All (live)
• MX Machine - Manic Panic
• Napalm Death - From Enslavement to Obliteration
• Nuclear Assault - Survive
• OLD - Old Lady Drivers
• Overkill - Under the Influence
• Ozzy Osbourne - No Rest for the Wicked
• Pantera - Power Metal
• Pestilence - Malleus Maleficarum
• Poison - Open Up And Say... Ahh!
• Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
• Quiet Riot - Quiet Riot
• Rage - Perfect Man
• Ratt - Reach for the Sky
• Raven - Nothing Exceeds Like Excess
• Razor - Violent Restitution
• Rigor Mortis - Rigor Mortis
• Riot - Thundersteel
• Running Wild - Port Royal
• Running Wild - Ready for Boarding
• Sadus - Illusions
• Saint Vitus - Mournful Cries
• Sanctuary - Refuge Denied
• Saxon - Destiny
• Scanner - Hypertrace
• Scorpions - Savage Amusement
• Sieges Even - Life Cycle
• Slayer - South of Heaven
• Sodom - Mortal Way Of Live
• Soundgarden - Fopp, Ultramega OK
• Stone - Stone
• Stryper - In God We Trust
• Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today
• Sword - Sweet dreams
• Tankard - The Morning After
• Testament - The New Order
• Tormentor - Anno Domini
• Toxik - World Circus
• Uncle Slam - Say Uncle
• Van Halen - OU812
• Vengeance Rising - Human Sacrifice
• Vicious Rumors - Digital Dictator
• Vinnie Vincent Invasion - All Systems Go
• Vio-lence - Eternal Nightmare
• Virgin Steele - Age of Consent
• Voivod - Dimension Hatröss
• Warrant - Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich
• Winger - Winger
• Wrathchild - The Biz Suxx
• X Japan - Vanishing Vision
• Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Odyssey
• Znöwhite - Act Of God

Events

• Living Colour's debut album Vivid peaks at #6 on the Billboard 200, due to the success of the Top 20 single "Cult of Personality". The album is certified platinum twice.
• The Monsters of Rock tour plays across the U.S. featuring Metallica, Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken, and Kingdom Come.
• Kai Hansen leaves Helloween due to conflicts with the bands and troubles with the record company and later forms the band Gamma Ray.
• The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years is released.
• Mötley Crüe enter rehab.
• Billy Sheehan leaves David Lee Roth's solo band and forms Mr. Big, along with Racer X guitarist Paul Gilbert, vocalist Eric Martin and drummer Pat Torpey.
• Suicidal Tendencies sign to Epic Records and release their highly successful third album How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today, featuring one of their famous songs "Trip at the Brain", which earned airplay on radio stations and MTV.
• Glacier release their four-song EP on cassette, featuring guest vocalist, Tim Lachman of fellow Portland band, Gargoyle. His younger brother, Pat Lachman, later played guitar in Halford and was lead vocalist for Damage Plan with Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul, both formerly of Pantera.