Poll: What Was the Best Guitar Album of 1988?

Microsoft releases Windows 2.1. Sonny Bono becomes mayor of Palm Springs, California. Perestroika! Bitchin' year, dude!

Glamorous as it may seem, 1988 had as many downs as it did ups. For all the music being cranked out and hitting record store shelves -- and there was a lot of it; check out the list below -- there were regrettable losses, too. Guitar greats Hilel Slovak, Roy Buchanan and Roy Orbison passed away. The Cars disbanded and Milli Vanilli formed. Unfortunate circumstances, all.

Yet despite such tragedies the electric guitar still reigned supreme, punishing airwaves with raucous riffs and scorching solos. Although rock giants such as AC/DC and Metallica were still delivering the goods, most of the noise was coming out of L.A.'s Sunset Strip, which on any given night turned into a sea of teased hair, jangly earrings and skin-tight pants (Eat your heart out, hipsters).

The tide would begin to turn in the coming years, but in 1988 guitar dominance was the order of the day. It wasn't all stuff of legend -- again, their were ups and downs -- but more than a couple worthy gems shone through. Find your favorite on the list below, and happy voting.