It will be nice over the next few months not only to hear about a major '80s rock band about to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame but also to focus on some truly groundbreaking music that does the decade quite proud. It's not that Metallica has not produced perfectly serviceable, technically sound music over the last 15 years or so. Still, what stands out to me most is that the group concentrated most all of its abundant brilliance into the '80s, an era not necessarily all that celebrated for innovation and envelope-shredding.

It may not be fresh or astute to point out that America's most accomplished thrash pioneers began their career descent just as they reached their commercial peak with 1991's popular but lacking Black Album, but that doesn't make that fact any less apparent to the discerning music fan. So '80s fans everywhere should look forward to the April 4 Rock Hall induction ceremony, when Metallica (and four other acts, including '80s rap mainstays Run-DMC) celebrate a night of honor in Cleveland, the Hall's hometown. After all, it will be an evening that shines a long-overdue light on one of many artists that help keep '80s music as beloved and influential as we all know it should be. Until then, listen with anticipation for "The Call of Ktulu."

When it comes to musical prodigies, the entire genre of rock and roll and especially an era such as the '80s don't necessarily come to mind. Blues, jazz and other specific styles either unrelated or only slightly tied to pop music generally contain the majority of young instrumental virtuosos, but guitarist Charlie Sexton stands out as a major '80s exception to this rule. Striking up an impressively mature cross-genre approach as a teenager, Sexton produced one of the finest straight-ahead rock singles of the '80s in the brooding, rootsy and swaggering "Beat's So Lonely".

This is a song utterly unafraid to merge layers of keyboards with biting, snarling guitar riffs, not to mention scorching leads. Such a phenomenon was highly uncommon during the '80s in general and in the case of hit pop singles in particular, but Sexton's precocious talents somehow cut through the commercial glaze and made it all the way to No. 17 on the pop charts. With equal levels of interest in blues, punk rock and various versions of roots rock, Sexton deserved the notoriety, but most music fans can be forgiven for not hearing much 1986 in this aggressive track.

• Sample or download "Beat's So Lonely" here.
• Roots Rock Profile

Album Cover Photo Courtesy of MCA Records

If you were a post-pubescent student during late 1986-early 1987 and happened to know an appealing girl named Amanda, then chances are you enjoyed pleasant associations with Boston's sweet, chiming power ballad of the same name. If, like me, you did not have such good fortune, then you may have found yourself bending reality as needed to set up a nice fantasy nonetheless. My own personal Amanda was actually called Sarah, a discrepancy that scarcely bothered me given this girl's status as the quintessential blonde cheerleader fantasy. I know she liked the song, too, because I sat transfixed in gym class while she and pals serenaded us from the corner of the room as they practiced tumbling or something to the strains of a boom box. At that moment it didn't even matter that the degree of her indifference toward me could not be quantified by the most advanced of human technologies.

I also enjoyed a celebrity-crush Amanda the following summer, in the wake of a casual viewing of the thoroughly decent teen comedy Can't Buy Me Love. With Boston's Third Stage still a cherished, oft-played cassette in my room, I had little trouble connecting the song to fresh on-screen images of the lovely Amanda Peterson, who somehow made even crimped hair look stunning. Though perhaps this double-whammy example of romantic song associations says more about me than a typical teen of the time, I have to believe there are thousands of Amandas out there, occasionally appearing in high-definition flashes in the minds of countless '80s music fans. And hey, if you made it through this highly personal recounting of my "Amanda" ideals, feel free to share with me yours.

• Sample or download "Amanda" here.
• Power Ballad Profile

I'm not about to claim that this Philadelphia hair metal band has left a fine art imprint on American pop culture, but I have always thought unwaveringly that "Long Way to Love" features one of the greasiest high-octane guitar riffs and one of the finest simple melodies in all of hard rock. I'm not a huge fan of frontman Dean Davidson's often screechy vocal style, but the band's driving sound (and, of course, the nostalgic coming-of-age appeal of the "Girlschool" music video - you remember it) allowed me to forgive more than a few such sonic sins.

Britny Fox may have looked as glam if not more so than many of its contemporary groups, but like fellow Philly band Cinderella, the music itself discouraged most image-based scoffing by detractors. This is the kind of band that will almost always be snubbed in a best-of list like VH-1's recent 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs. But that's one of my self-appointed charges as your '80s Music Guide: uncover the neglected treasures that have yet to be played often enough to obscure their brilliance. It's OK, you can thank me later.

• Sample or download "Long Way to Love" here.
• Official Britny Fox Website

Album Cover Photo Courtesy of Columbia Records