'80s Metal History (June 16th)

June 16, 2010: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax played together for the first time as the "Big Four" of American thrash metal at the Sonisphere Festival in Warsaw, Poland.

June 1987: Megadeth entered the studio in L.A. to record the follow up to "Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?'... "We're gonna be using a lot of stuff from our old demos like 'Hook In Mouth', which was originally an instrumental on the demo tape but we've now put lyrics to it, dealing with censorship in the States." -Dave Mustaine (as told to Kerrang!)

June 16, 1984: Scorpions ninth studio album "Love At First Sting" peaked at No. 6 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. The band's most successful LP, it also went Top 10 in Germany, France and Switzerland and Top 20 in the UK and Canada.

June 16, 2008: Judas Priest released their 16th studio album "Nostradamus" in Europe (one day later in North America) their first concept LP and last to feature the Painkiller-era lineup with guitarist and co-founder K.K. Downing retiring in 2011. Release date source: Blabbermouth.net - June 15, 2008.

June 16, 2005: Motörhead's most consistent lineup (Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee) celebrated the band's 30th anniversary with a show in London, released two years later as "Better Motörhead Than Dead: Live At Hammersmith".

Before he joined Metallica, bassist Cliff Burton was in the band Trauma. He didn't play on the album, but in 1984 Trauma released their debut and only LP until 2015, "Scratch And Scream".

June 16, 1992: Danzig released their third studio album "Danzig III: How The Gods Kill" in North America (July 13th in the UK) featuring single "Dirty Black Summer". The cover art is the work of celebrated Swiss artist HR Geiger, best known for his "Alien" film creations as well as LP sleeves for Celtic Frost. Release date source: [US] The Hard Report radio trade publication ad - June 19, 1992; [UK] Kerrang! - July 18, 1992.

June 16, 1992: Doom metal pioneers Trouble released their fifth studio album "Manic Frustration" in North America (September '92 in the UK), marking a change in style toward a faster-paced, psychedelic sound; as opposed to the slower, doom metal style on their previous albums. Release date source: [US] The Hard Report radio trade publication - April 17, 1992; [UK] Kerrang! ad - September 19, 1992.

Happy Birthday to former Megadeth guitarist Kiko Loureiro (June 16, 1972).

June 16, 1984: Two months after the release their self-titled debut album, Phoenix rockers ICON found themselves on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart at No. 190. Not a bad start for the former schoolmates (originally known as The Schoolboys), who formed the band three years earlier.

June 1989: Led by former Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider and featuring former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, along with guitarist Bernie Tormé, Desperado signed a major recording deal with Elektra. Pre-production had been completed and the band recorded their debut album that summer, but problems with the record label and the then emerging grunge trend, shelved the release. We wouldn't get to hear "Bloodied, But Unbowed" until 1996.