With the ferocious opening track of their self-titled 1984 debut album, here is Los Angeles shock rock band W.A.S.P. performing “I Wanna Be Somebody.” Despite the band’s later forays into mainstream hair-metal and bogged-down concept albums, this record stands as one of my top ten all-time metal albums.

Watch the official video for “I Wanna Be Somebody” here below.

Taken by Force was the fifth Scorpions album. Issued in December of 1977, it would be their last album to feature lead guitar virtuoso Uli Jon Roth. The lyrics for the song “We’ll Burn the Sky” were adapted from a poem by Roth’s wife at the time Monica Dannemann. Dannemann had been the last girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix died in her London flat and the lyrics to “We’ll Burn the Sky” are a tribute to him. (Be sure to check out the dance performed by singer Klaus Meine during Roth’s blistering guitar solo in the video!)

Watch the video here below.

“I Am A Viking” is the fifth track from Marching Out, the second album by Swedish guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen and his band Rising Force. The track features the vocals of the legendary front man Jeff Scott Soto. This video was filmed live in Japan during Rising Force’s 1985 tour.

Watch the Video here below.

Here with their massive breakthrough hit “Screaming in the Night” is the Swiss band Krokus. The song is from from their seventh album, Headhunter. Released in 1983, the video for this song was a heavy rotation staple in the early days of MTV.

Check it out here below.

With the title track of their barn-burner 1977 album Lights Out, here is the classic lineup of UFO – watch the video here below.

This performance was filmed live at the Roundhouse Theater in London on June 12, 1977 and features guitar legend Michael Schenker laying down one of rock’s most iconic solos. If you like this, be sure to check out the band’s 1979 release Strangers in the Night, which many people (myself included) consider to be the greatest live album ever recorded.