80s Metal, Glam, and Hard Rock Collide: Decide Which Album We Dig Out Next
Master of Puppets, Iron Fist, Slade’s MTV‑era glam, and Tora Tora’s late‑80s hard rock all hit the poll. Your vote decides which album gets the deep‑dive.
All right guys, time to decide which 80s metal record gets the next full Dig Me Out episode. You didn’t just nominate these albums; now you get to pick the one that moves from the ballot to the main stage.
The Albums
Metallica – Master of Puppets
nominated by Keith P. Miller
“Master of Puppets is Metallica’s best album. Songs about drugs, violence and power played with crushing precision.” Keith put this one forward, and if it wins, we’ll go deep on how a band this young made a record that still feels definitive.
Slade – Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply
nominated by Chip
Chip’s nomination pulls Slade back into the conversation as more than just source material for Quiet Riot. UK glam survivors trying to make sense of the MTV era, CBS Records, an Ozzy tour invite cut short when the bassist collapsed and was diagnosed with hepatitis—this ballot slot is all about that alternate history.
Tora Tora – Surprise Attack
nominated by Richard Waterman
“Late 80’s hard rock/metal album that needs diggin’ out.” Richard nailed the vibe. If you want the podcast to shine a light on a record that never got the legacy‑act treatment, this is the underdog.
Motörhead – Iron Fist
nominated by Patrick Testa
Patrick’s case is that Iron Fist has been dragged for years because Ace of Spades is untouchable and Lemmy himself knocked it. On the speakers it’s raw, fast, and live‑room loud, final album from the classic Lemmy/“Fast” Eddie/Phil “Philthy Animal” lineup. If you’ve ever thought Iron Fist got a raw deal, this is your chance to put your vote where your opinion is.
Your voting power
Here’s what happens when you vote in this poll:
The winning album becomes the next full Dig Me Out episode and long‑form post
We read member comments on air
We build a community rating from your scores and include it alongside our own
The result becomes part of the Dig Me Out catalogue to be rediscovered by a whole new audience
Normally, I’d have gone with Slade. However, if you’re going to do that album, it should really be from the perspective of the original (and superior) European release of that record, The Amazing Kamikaze Sydrome, before it was re-named and reconfigured for North American audiences. Any possible future show should talk about the differences.
As such, I’m throwing my vote in with Tora Tora, which is an underrated great, that suffered from being released at the tail-end of the Hair/Glam Metal era. And even though they weren’t that, they got lumped in with that scene.
Nobody asked, but I struggle with the Master-of-Puppets-is-Metallica's-best-album thing so much. I mean, it probably is. But...like all of Metallica's albums it has weak spots for me that are hard to ignore...and Metallica's my favorite band! Now, this probably has the least weak stretches and has some of the highest highs, so, like I said, it probably is their best album but in my head their best album is actually like the dozen or so tracks that still get played on radio from their first four albums...like pick 2-4 from each and you've got an amazing record.
OK, that said, I'll say this because if I'd led with it nobody would have listened to me. Everything I said above is exactly how I feel except St. Anger is actually their best album and I love it from start to finish. If you don't like the drum sound, I'm sorry, but I don't have that hang-up (it's kind of like a bold color in a painting that at first I cringed at and then grew to just define that album) and the songs are amazing. (The one thing I have to try to forget is that Bob Rock plays bass.)
Anyway, I don't need another take on Master of Puppets.
Hard no to Tora Tora. That was a band my friends and I mercilessly pilloried a few years later when their label, for some bonkers reason, decided to really push Spread Eagle hard. They were one of the representatives of what we wanted to see die as our tastes were all switching to the alternagrungewhatever you wanna call it.
I voted Motorhead because I need to know their catalog better. Slade would have been my second choice.