Episode
#359 1989 Metal and Thrash Albums
- Podcast
- Metal Nerdery Podcast
- Published
- Jul 9, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3476
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://metalnerdery.podbean.com/e/359-class-of-1989-metal/
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Summary
“No sink or nothing, right? You’re just gonna go free ball it…” 1989 was the very first year EVER that The Recording Academy recognized hard rock and metal music with the “Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental”. And other than the completely insulting “slap in the face” by The Recording Academy to Metallica (think Will Smith & Chris Rock, but even more childish, petty, and completely unnecessary), there were no other Big Four albums or happenings in 1989. (SIDEBAR: Y’know, maybe it’s just speculation, conspiracy theory, or just good old-fashioned karma in action, but the way Metallica “lost” that Grammy, it’s like they were literally “deleted from the mix” of nominees, so to speak. Not unlike a certain bass player from a certain mix on a certain album. Moving on…) “Just gonna raw dog it…” As we are all aware, metal (especially thrash) is far more than just The Big Four, and 1989 was actually quite an excellent year for metal. As thrash was nearing the zenith of its popularity, Wrathchild America’s debut album, Climbin’ The Walls, hit the record store shelves, Exodus, Testament, and Sepultura each released legendary 3rd albums, and Nuclear Assault released the first, the best, and arguably one of the most revolutionary lyric videos in the history of music for Critical Mass, featuring a one-eyed smiley face saying, “Follow me!” and a “Required Nasty Bit”, courtesy of Jessica Hahn. “What is YOUR favorite album of 1989?” Prepare yourself for a bit of obscure Metal Nerdery 1989-centric trivia, embrace what it means to receive your “first JOB”, and find out what you should definitely NOT do in your landlord’s pool when you JOIN US as we fire up the time machine and go check out THE CLASS OF 1989. Visit www.metalnerdery.com/podcast for mo…