Power Metal Timeline

1984 Yngwie Malmsteen Releases "Rising Force"
Rising Force is a Yngwie J. Malmsteen project as well as his debut solo album released in 1984. It is also the title of a song on Malmsteen's album Odyssey. Rising Force is credited as th...
1984 Sep 7 Queensrÿche release The Warning
The Warning is the first full-length album by Queensrÿche, released on 7 September 1984. The original tracklisting for the album was changed by mix engineer Val Garay under orders from...
1984 Sep 9 Fates Warning releases Night on Bröcken
Night on Bröcken is the debut album by Fates Warning, released in September 1984. In 2002, Metal Blade Records released a remastered version of this album which contained bonus tracks. ...
1985 Yngwie Malmsteen Releases "Marching Out"
Marching Out is an album by Yngwie J. Malmsteen which was released in 1985. In an interview with Sweden Rock Magazine, singer Jeff Scott Soto stated that he sings 'bög' ('faggot' in Sw...
1985 Oct 15 Fates Warning releases The Spectre Within
The Spectre Within is the second studio album by Fates Warning, released in 1985. It was re-released by Metal Blade Records in 2002 with four bonus tracks.
1985 Dec Helloween Releases "Walls of Jericho"
Walls of Jericho is the debut full length studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1985. In 1988, the Helloween EP/mini-LP and the Judas EP were added to the Walls O...
1986 Yngwie Malmsteen Releases "Trilogy"
Trilogy is the third album released by guitarist Yngwie J. Malmsteen issued in 1986 by the label Polydor. This album was produced in honour of the murdered Swedish prime minister, Olof Pa...
1986 Nov 10 Fates Warning releases Awaken the Guardian
Awaken the Guardian is the third album by Fates Warning. It was first released in 1986, and was later re-released as a double album with No Exit in 1992. It would be the band's last studi...
1987 May Helloween Releases "Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 1"
Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1 is the second studio album from German power metal/heavy metal band Helloween, released in 1987. It marks the first appearance of vocalist Michael Kiske, a...
1987 Sep 28 Savatage release Hall of the Mountain King
Hall of the Mountain King is an album by the progressive metal group Savatage, released in 1987 under the direction of Paul O'Neill. It is their first album produced by O'Neill, who was a...
1988 Mar 30 Fates Warning releases No Exit
No Exit is the fourth album by the progressive metal group Fates Warning, released in 1988. Lyrically, No Exit proved a radical departure from Fates Warning's last three albums, as the al...
1988 May 18 Blind Guardian releases Battalions of Fear
Battalions of Fear is the debut album by German metal band Blind Guardian. It was released in 1988 and is a straightforward metal album. The album is a raw and unpolished speed metal effo...
1988 Sep Helloween Releases "Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 2"
Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 2 is the third studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1988. The album capitalized on the success of Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1 a...
1989 Helloween Releases "Live in the UK"
Live In the UK is the first live album released by the band Helloween. It was released in some countries as Keepers Live. In the United States, it was released as I Want Out – Live withou...
1989 Feb 22 Metal Church releases Blessing in Disguise
Blessing in Disguise is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church, released as a vinyl LP in the summer of 1989; the CD followed in 1990. It was the band's fina...
1989 Aug 29 Fates Warning releases Perfect Symmetry
Perfect Symmetry was an album by progressive metal band Fates Warning released in 1989. It was the first album with Mark Zonder on drums. The album has been re-released as a special editi...
1989 Oct 17 Yngwie Malmsteen Releases "Trial by Fire"
Trial By Fire is a live album released by Yngwie J. Malmsteen in October 1989 in Leningrad, Russia. Three of the tracks are instrumental and many are strongly influenced by 1970s progress...
1989 Oct 25 Blind Guardian releases Follow the Blind
Follow the Blind is the second full-length album from the German metal band Blind Guardian, released in 1989. The album is more in the vein of speed metal, compared to the style that woul...
1989 Dec 1 Savatage release Gutter Ballet
Gutter Ballet is the sixth album produced by the progressive metal band Savatage. This was the second album created under the direction of producer Paul O'Neill and was initially released...
1990 Oct 3 Blind Guardian releases Tales from the Twilight World
Tales from the Twilight World is the third studio album that was released in 1990 by Blind Guardian. The cover artwork was created by Andreas Marschall, who has drawn the artwork for some...
1990 Dec 4 Rage releases Reflections of a Shadow
Reflections of a Shadow is the fifth full-length album by the German heavy metal band Rage. It was released in 1990. The album was remastered by Noise/Sanctuary in 2002 with slightly alte...
1991 Mar Helloween Releases "Pink Bubbles Go Ape"
Pink Bubbles Go Ape is the fourth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1991. It marked the departure of guitarist Kai Hansen, with Roland Grapow replacing him. M...
1991 Oct 29 Fates Warning releases Parallels
Parallels is the sixth album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released in 1991. It has sold over 150,000 copies due to the success of the singles "Eye to Eye", "Point of View", an...
1992 Power Metal Band Edguy Forms
Edguy was founded in 1992 by 14-year-old students Tobias Sammet, Jens Ludwig, Dirk Sauer, and Dominik Storch. The name "Edguy" was an affectionate epithet for Mr. Edgar Zimmerer, their ma...
1992 May 21 Rage releases Trapped!
Trapped! is the sixth studio album by the German heavy metal band Rage. The album was remastered by Noise/Sanctuary in 2002 with five bonus tracks.
1992 Jun 29 Blind Guardian releases Somewhere Far Beyond
Somewhere Far Beyond is the fourth studio album by German power metal act Blind Guardian. It was released in 1992 and produced by Kalle Trapp. The cover artwork was created by Andreas Mar...
1993 Jun Helloween Releases "Chameleon"
Chameleon is the fifth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1993. It is their most musically adventurous release, but also their least commercially successful, a...
1994 Helloween Releases "Master of the Rings"
Master of the Rings is the sixth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1994. It is the first to feature new members Andi Deris and Uli Kusch. The album is know...
1994 Jul 26 Fates Warning releases Inside Out
Inside Out is an album released in 1994 by Fates Warning. The album continues with the commercial sound that Parallels left off. It was the last to feature long-time members Frank Aresti ...
1994 Aug 16 Savatage release Handful of Rain
Handful of Rain is a heavy metal album by Savatage that was released in 1994. The first album since the death of their lead guitarist, Criss Oliva, the music is often dark in reflection o...
1995 Apr 5 Blind Guardian releases Imaginations from the Other Side
Imaginations from the Other Side is the fifth studio album by Blind Guardian that was released in 1995. The atmosphere of this album is darker in comparison to their earlier works, such a...
1996 Helloween Releases "High Live"
High Live is a live album released in 1996 by Helloween.
1996 Helloween Releases "The Time of the Oath"
The Time of the Oath is the seventh studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1996. The album is dedicated to the memory of former drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg, who co...
1997 Feb 8 Edguy Releases "Kingdom of Madness"
Kingdom of Madness, released in 1997, is the second album by German power metal band Edguy, usually referred to as their "official" debut album since it was the first to be professionally...
1997 Apr 22 Fates Warning releases A Pleasant Shade of Gray
A Pleasant Shade of Gray is a concept album by the progressive metal group Fates Warning, released in 1997. It contains one song divided into twelve chapters. After the last track, there ...
1998 Jan 15 Edguy Releases Vain Glory Opera
Vain Glory Opera, released in 1998, is the third album by German power metal band Edguy. It was produced by Stratovarius' Timo Tolkki, who also played additional lead guitar on "Out Of Co...
1998 Apr 24 Helloween Releases "Better Than Raw"
Better Than Raw is the eighth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 1998. The album contains two singles, which are "I Can" and "Hey Lord!". The album was reco...
1998 Apr 27 Blind Guardian releases Nightfall in Middle-Earth
Nightfall in Middle-Earth is a concept album by Blind Guardian, released in 1998. It is also Blind Guardian's sixth studio album. The album is based upon J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmari...
1999 Jan 27 Edguy Releases "Theater of Salvation"
Theater of Salvation, released in 1999, is the fourth album by German power metal band Edguy, the first to feature drummer Felix Bohnke and bass player Tobias Exxel.
2000 Jul 25 Edguy Releases "The Savage Poetry"
The Savage Poetry, released in 2000, is a re-recording of the album Savage Poetry , originally launched in 1995 as a demo by German power metal band Edguy. The album was originally self-p...
2000 Jul 25 Fates Warning releases Disconnected
Disconnected is the ninth album by the progressive metal group Fates Warning, released in 2000. Kevin Moore previously played on the Fates Warning album A Pleasant Shade of Gray and later...
2000 Dec 5 Helloween Releases "The Dark Ride"
The Dark Ride is the tenth proper studio album by the German power metal band Helloween, released in 2000. The album's style was quite different than Better Than Raw as it had much darker...
2001 Nov 27 Edguy Releases "Mandrake"
Mandrake, released in 2001, is an album by German power metal band Edguy. It is a varied album, exploring many styles of the power metal genre.
2002 Mar 4 Blind Guardian releases A Night at the Opera
A Night at the Opera is a 2002 album by the German power metal band Blind Guardian, named after the Queen album of the same name. Metal-Rules.com named this the best metal album of 200...
2003 Jan 1 Children of Bodom Release "Hate Crew Deathroll"
Hate Crew Deathroll is the fourth album by Finnish heavy metal band Children of Bodom, released in 2003 under the Century Media label. The album is the final to feature guitarist Alexande...
2003 May 20 Helloween Releases "Rabbit Don't Come Easy"
Rabbit Don't Come Easy is the eleventh album by the German power metal/heavy metal band Helloween. It is something of a return to the roots for the band. Rabbit Don't Come Easy combines m...
2004 Apr 6 Edguy Releases "Hellfire Club"
Hellfire Club, released April 6, 2004, is an album by German power metal band Edguy. The music of the band is supported by a German orchestra, the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg. I...
2004 Oct 5 Fates Warning releases FWX
FWX is the tenth studio album by the progressive metal group Fates Warning, released in 2004. The name stands for "Fates Warning X", or "Fates Warning 10".
2005 Oct 31 Helloween Releases "Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy"
Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy is the twelfth studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released October 31, 2005. The musicians, Andi Deris (vocals), Michael Weikath (guit...
2006 Jan 20 Edguy Releases "Rocket Ride"
Rocket Ride is the seventh full-length album by German power metal band Edguy, released on January 20, 2006. It features a style that differs from their usual power metal style and is mor...