Van Halen, Metallica, SRV, Iron Maiden, Rush, Dio, Yngwie, Vai and the greatest guitar albums of 1984 – only in the new Guitar World

Have you ever noticed how many great guitar albums came out in 1984? We have! In this 40th-anniversary celebration, we examine 1984’s greatest releases – going (literally) month by month, classic by classic, interview by interview.

Highlights include...

>>> Chris Gill tells the story of the making of Van Halen's appropriately titled 1984, the band's most successful album – featuring portions of a 2014 interview with Eddie Van Halen.

>>> Alex Lifeson takes you behind the scenes of Rush's Grace Under Pressure

>>> Adrian Smith recalls the making of Iron Maiden's Powerslave

>>> Yngwie Malmsteen talks Rising Force

>>> Steve Vai revisits Flex-Able

>>> Alan Paul – co-author of Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan – details the making of SRV's mighty second album, Couldn't Stand the Weather

>>> Vivian Campbell takes you behind the scenes of Dio's The Last in Line

>>> Vicki Peterson discusses the making of the Bangles' All Over the Place

>>> Adrian Belew revisits King Crimson's Three of a Perfect Pair

>>> We have a new eight-page transcription of Scorpions' Still Loving You, a standout track from 1984's Love at First Sting...

>>> ...and the inside story of Metallica's Ride the Lightning, the album that changed metal forever!

This issue also features...

ACE FREHLEY: Guitar World spent some quality time at Ace's pad to shoot the breeze, check out his guitars (and, um, some other stuff) and dissect his groovin' new album, 10,000 Volts.

ALEX LIFESON: The Rush legend provides GW with a deep dive into his new line of signature Lerxst gear – amps, pedals and that luscious Limelight guitar.

EARL SLICK: The venerable session ace recounts fast times with John Lennon and David Bowie – and exactly why he turned down David Coverdale's Whitesnake offer.

MIKE NESS: In Lost Classics, Mr. Social Distortion himself explains why the California punks took a decidedly rootsy left turn with their self-titled 1990 album.

This issue – aka the dashing May 2024 issue of Guitar World – is available right here, right now.

But wait, there's more...

We have new interviews with Anna Calvi, Europe's John Norum, MJ Lenderman, Emanuel Casablanca, Rock City Machine Co., Isaiah Mitchell, Ava Mendoza and Aerosmith's Joe Perry. Yeah, he's here too!

Meanwhile, Joe Bonamassa offers up some memorable reflections on the late, great Jeff Beck.

Besides the Scorpions tune, this month's transcriptions are Pearl Jam's Even Flow and Save Me by Jelly Roll.

We have reviews of the Peavey Classic 20 combo, the Jackson Pro Plus Dinky MDK HT7 MS, the Martin Guitar GPCE Inception Maple, the Funny Little Boxes Skeleton Key and the Seymour Duncan PowerStage 100 Stereo.

Over in Power Tools, Chris Gill explores the history and mystery of the 1992-2000 Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier.

You can buy new issues of Guitar World at Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Hudson News, Books a Million and other stores – and online from Magazines Direct. And, while you're at it, why not save on every issue by subscribing?