An ongoing ranking and rating of my favorite albums of 1988. Items in bold are part of my personal CD collection.
THE TOP TEN
1. Queensrÿche ~ Operation: Mindcrime (10.2)
2. Edie Brickell & New Bohemians ~ Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars (9.4)
3. Living Colour ~ Vivid (9.2)
4. Bad Company ~ Dangerous Age (9.0)
5. The Jeff Healey Band ~ See The Light (8.9)
6. Ozzy Osbourne ~ No Rest For The Wicked (8.8)
7. Van Halen ~ OU812 (8.7)
8. Iron Maiden ~ Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (8.6)
9. Cinderella ~ Long Cold Winter (8.5)
10. Steve Winwood ~ Roll With It (8.4)
THE REST: ALPHABETICAL BY RATING
Poison ~ Open Up And Say… Ahh! (8.4)
Kix ~ Blow My Fuse (8.4)
Metallica ~ …And Justice For All (8.3)
The Traveling Willburys ~ The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (8.3)
Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force ~ Odyssey (8.1)
R.E.M. ~ Green (8)
Shawn Colvin ~ Live ’88 [Live] (8)
U2 ~ Rattle And Hum (8)
Anthrax ~ State Of Euphoria (7.9)
Bobby Brown ~ Don’t Be Cruel (7.8)
Taylor Dayne ~ Tell It To My Heart (7.8)
Paula Abdul ~ Forever Your Girl (7.7)
Winger ~ Winger (7.7)
Havana Black ~ Indian Warrior (7.6)
Bon Jovi ~ New Jersey (7.5)
Kingdom Come ~ Kingdom Come (7.5)
Restless Heart ~ Big Dreams In A Small Town (7.4)
Tracy Chapman ~ Tracy Chapman (7.4)
Guns N’ Roses ~ GN’R Lies (7.3)
Hurricane ~ Over The Edge (7.2)
BulletBoys ~ BulletBoys (7.2)
Lita Ford ~ Lita (7.1)
David Lee Roth ~ Skyscraper (7.1)
Cheap Trick ~ Lap Of Luxury (7.0)
Ratt ~ Reach For The Sky (7.0)
Blue Öyster Cult ~ Imaginos (7)
House Of Lords ~ House Of Lords (7)
Frehley’s Comet ~ Second Sighting (6.9)
Britny Fox ~ Britny Fox (6.8)
Robert Plant ~ Now And Zen (6.7)
Roxette ~ Look Sharp! (6.7)
Roachford ~ Roachford (5) (6.7)
Judas Priest ~ Ram It Down (6.5)
Mike + The Mechanics ~ The Living Years (6.4)
AC/DC ~ Blow Up Your Video (6.3)
Quiet Riot ~ Quiet Riot (6.2)
Killer Dwarfs ~ Big Deal (6)
King’s X ~ Out Of The Silent Planet (6)
Vixen ~ Vixen (5.7)
L.A. Guns ~ L.A. Guns (5.6)
Tiffany ~ Hold An Old Friend’s Hand (5.5)
Scorpions ~ Savage Amusement (5.4)
Circus Of Power ~ Circus Of Power (5)
Europe ~ Out Of This World (5)
Frehley’s Comet ~ Live +1 [Live EP] (5)
Lillian Axe ~ Lillian Axe (5)
Little Feat ~ Let It Roll (5)
Megadeth ~ So Far, So Good… So What? (5)
Melissa Etheridge ~ Melissa Etheridge (5)
Bryan Adams ~ Live! Live! Live! [Live] (4)
Dokken ~ Beast From The East [Live] (4)
Femme Fatale ~ Femme Fatale (4)
Joe Satriani ~ Dreaming #11 [EP] (4)
John Hiatt ~ Slow Turning (4)
Riot ~ Thundersteel (4)
Slayer ~ South Of Heaven (4)
Suicidal Tendencies ~ How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can’t Even Smile Today? (4)
Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ ~ Whisper Tames The Lion (3)
Phish ~ Junta (2)
D’Molls ~ D’Molls (1)
Jimmy Page ~ Outrider (1)
CURRENTLY UNRATED
3 ~ …To The Power Of Three
38 Special ~ Rock & Roll Strategy
Black N’ Blue ~ In Heat
Candlemass ~ Ancient Dreams
Celtic Frost ~ Cold Lake
Chicago ~ 19
Crimson Glory ~ Transcendence
Danzig ~ Danzig
Eddie Money ~ Nothin’ To Lose
Elton John ~ Reg Strikes Back
Fates Warning ~ No Exit
Flotsam And Jetsam ~ No Place For Disgrace
Glenn Frey ~ Soul Searchin’
Helloween ~ Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II
Huey Lewis And The News ~ Small World
Ian Gillan & Roger Glover ~ Accidentally On Purpose
Impellitteri ~ Stand In Line
Jason Becker ~ Perpetual Burn
Joan Jett And The Blackhearts ~ Up Your Alley
Kansas ~ In The Spirit Of Things
Kenny Loggins ~ Back To Avalon
King Diamond ~ Them
King Kobra ~ King Kobra III
Kingpin [Shotgun Messiah] ~ Welcome To Bop City
Krokus ~ Heart Attack
Magnum ~ Wings Of Heaven
Manowar ~ Kings Of Metal
The Moody Blues ~ Sur La Mer
Neil Young ~ This Note’s For You
New Kids On The Block ~ Hangin’ Tough
Night Ranger ~ Man In Motion
Overkill ~ Under The Influence
Pantera ~ Power Metal
Pat Benatar ~ Wide Awake In Dreamland
Rage ~ Perfect Man
Raven ~ Nothing Exceeds Like Excess
Rick Springfield ~ Rock Of Life
Rod Stewart ~ Out Of Order
Running Wild ~ Port Royal
Sacred Reich ~ Surf Nicaragua [EP]
Samantha Fox ~ I Wanna Have Some Fun
Saxon ~ Destiny
Sheena Easton ~ The Lover In Me
Soundgarden ~ Ultramega OK
Status Quo ~ Ain’t Complaining
Steve Miller Band ~ Born 2 B Blue
Stryper ~ In God We Trust
Survivor ~ Too Hot To Sleep
Ted Nugent ~ If You Can’t Lick ‘Em… Lick ‘Em
Testament ~ The New Order
Toto ~ The Seventh One
Vinnie Vincent Invasion ~ All Systems Go
Virgin Steele ~ Age Of Consent
“Weird Al” Yankovic ~ Even Worse
[Last Updated: 2020.05.23]
ROCK IN A HARD PLACE 