Daniel's Top Ten Crossover Thrash Releases of 1987
Earlier in 2020 I posted my top ten early crossover thrash releases list in the Metal Academy Lists section with the intention of guiding new players to the important releases as I see them. Well I've now followed that up with a Top Ten Crossover Thrash Releases Of 1987 list. The subgenre had really started to motor by that stage so there was easily enough noteworthy material to complete a single-year list. It has some controversial inclusions/exclusions which may raise some healthy discussion points too. Please see the link & list below & feel free to post your own versions here too.
https://metal.academy/lists/single/70
01. Agnostic Front - "Liberty & Justice For..."
02. Excel - "Split Image"
03. D.R.I. - "Crossover"
04. Ratos de Porão - "Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo"
05. M.O.D. - "U.S.A. For M.O.D."
06. Wehrmacht - "Shark Attack"
07. Aggression - "The Full Treatment"
08. Prong - "Primitive Origins"
09. Carnivore - "Retaliation"
10. The Accüsed - "More Fun Than An Open Casket Funeral"
Here's a few high profile omissions that I frankly don't have much time for:
Suicidal Tendencies - "Join The Army"
Cryptic Slaughter - "Money Talks"
Corrosion Of Conformity - "Technocracy" E.P.
In truth I don't have much time for number 9 & 10 in my list either. They're really just filling in the numbers with the top 8 being the real meat of the list for me. It's also interesting that my top pick for the year is the lowest rated of the bunch on RYM which just goes to show how much better our ratings system is. The reason that Agnostic Front's thrashier materal is so heavily down-rated is because the punks have a problem with them stepped out from under the hardcore punk banner so it completely skews to voting. It's clearly not a reflection of the overall quality of the album.
Weirdly, despite being a massive fan of both thrash and punk, I've never really listened to that much crossover thrash. I guess if I want thrash I listen to thrash and if I want punk then I listen to punk. I do like Agnostic Front's punk material though, so maybe I'll give their album a listen. The problem I've had with crossover is that it always sounds less aggressive than my punk yardstick band, the mighty Discharge, so what's the point? By the way, Suicidal Tendencies hardcore debut destroys their thrashier albums in my opinion. Still I'm gonna spin some of your top 8 and see where we go!