'80s Metal History (August 18th)

The third week of August 1987, Lizzy Borden released their third studio album "Visual Lies" in North America (Early September in the UK) featuring singles "Outcast", "Eyes Of A Stranger" and "Me Against The World", the latter featured in the 1988 heavy metal horror film "Black Roses". Future David Lee Roth and Ozzy guitarist Joe Holmes plays on the LP.

Lizzy Borden "Visual Lies" release information: Several sources show different dates, but generally the same week in August '87... [US] FMQB radio trade publication - July 17, 1987; Ad from unknown source shows August 19, 1987 release date; The Hard Report radio trade publication - August 21, 1987; [UK] Kerrang! ad - September 3, 1987.

August 18, 1982: Metallica played L.A. for the first time opening for RATT at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. The flyer advertised "Metallica E.P. Available Sept. 1st" but that didn't work out and the session was issued as a demo tape instead.

August 18, 1983: The album would not be in stores for another three weeks, yet Black Sabbath launched the "Born Again" Tour in Oslo, their first show with former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan. Pretty Maids opened.

August 18, 1984: AC/DC, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Y&T, Accept and Mötley Crüe played the "Monsters Of Rock" Festival at Castle Donington. Many fans regard this Monsters show as the best of them all.

August 18, 1989: Testament launched the "Practice What You Preach" Tour with two shows at The Omni in Oakland, California. The band posted on social media in 2023 a promo photo that was used for their "US & EU tours in 1989 🤘 📸: Mark Leialoha".

August 1983: Def Leppard released "Foolin'" as the third single from the album "Pyromania", which became a Top 10 US rock hit. The music video features Billy Idol's then-girlfriend Perri Lister playing the harp with her eyes closed.

August 18, 1987: Y&T went more glam with their latest album "Contagious", and the supporting tour brought them to Arco Arena in Sacramento, California with openers Ace Frehley's Comet and Faster Pussycat.

Happy Birthday to Slaughter drummer Blas Elias (August 18, 1967).

Happy Birthday to Pink Cream 69 co-founder and former singer [1987-93] Andi Deris (August 18, 1964). Andi joined Helloween in 1993.

August 1985: Released in June, Scorpions "World Wide Live" took only a month to reach gold in sales in the US.

August 18, 1984: All of these killer metal albums were in record shops, ready for you to pick up the LP or cassette and take your summer to another level 🤘