Our 10 Favorite 80's Metal Music Videos // Rock of Aging // Headbangers Ball

In this episode of Rock of Aging, we crank the volume and fire up the TV for a celebration of our favorite 1980s metal music videos. Back when MTV ruled the culture, videos weren’t just promotion—they were events. Bigger hair, louder guitars, cinematic concepts, wild performances, and enough smoke machines to fill an arena.

Dave and Erika each count down the videos that defined the era for them—from arena-ready anthems and sleaze-soaked party clips to dark, dramatic epics and pure headbanging chaos. We talk about which bands understood the power of image, which videos still hold up today, and how visual style helped turn hard rock and metal bands into larger-than-life icons.

We each picked our five favorites -- and we had only one overlap! Can you guess which video?

For Dave's (Not So) Deep Dive, he is talking about a recent box set from the 80s band, Hüsker Dü. The collection, 1985: The Miracle Year, features professionally captured live recordings from this legendary band from throughout 1985. For Erika's Atmosphere Check, she brings us back to 1980s basement culture. If you had a basement in the 80s, you were no doubt camped out down there every Saturday night for Headbanger's Ball

Back When Videos Meant Everything: The Rise (and Fall) of MTV: Rock of Aging (VIDEO)

 In this episode of Rock of Aging, Dave and Erika rewind to the glory days of MTV, when music videos weren’t optional, they were everything. Before streaming, before algorithms, before phones in our pockets, MTV told us what mattered — what to wear, how bands looked, and which artists became legends.

We dig into how music videos transformed songs into visual events, turned musicians into larger-than-life icons, and reshaped rock culture forever. From late-night video marathons to world premieres that stopped time, MTV didn’t just play music — it created mythology.

This is a love letter to the era when image, attitude, fashion, and sound collided… and rock was never the same.