Music: What are your Top 10 Eighties Albums?

[Ben Grimm]

List 10. Mine are in no order.

1. Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A."
2. Paul Simon, "Graceland"
3. Talking Heads, "Remain in Light"
4. U2, "The Joshua Tree"
5. Prince and the Revolution, "Purple Rain"
6. The Clash, "London Calling" - Released in the US in the 80s.
7. REM - Murmur
8. Shoot out the Lights
9. Tracy Chapman
10. Elvis Costello - Get Happy

Click to read more...

 

[Unholy Diver]

Donnie Iris - Back on the Streets
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
Judas Priest - British Steel
Spinal Tap - This is Spinal Tap
Dio - Holy Diver
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love
Traveling Wilburys - Vol 1
George Harrison - Cloud 9
Krokus - Headhunter

 

[reckoning]

1. Murmur - R.E.M.
2. The Dreaming - Kate Bush
3. Reckoning - R.E.M.
4. The Unforgettable Fire - U2
5. Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
6. Sign O' The Times - Prince
7. Under The Big Black Sun - X
8. Dream Of Life - Patti Smith
9. The Trinity Session - Cowboy Junkies
10. Fables Of The Reconstruction - R.E.M.

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

1. The Fall - Grotesque
2. Echo & The Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here
3. R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction
4. Dinosaur Jr - You’re Living All Over Me
5. The Dentists - Some People Are on the Pitch They Think It’s All Over It Is Now
6. Melvins - Gluey Porch Treatments
7. Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
8. Meat Puppets - Up on the Sun
9. Hoodoo Gurus - Mars Needs Guitars
10. King Crimson - Discipline

 

[Nalens Oga]

Not sure of the exact order but:

1. Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
2. The Stone Roses - S/T
3. XTC - Skylarking
4. The Sound - Jeopardy
5. Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
6. The Wild Swans - Bringing Home The Ashes
7. The Blue Nile - Hats
8. Felt - Forever Breathes The Lonely World
9. The Jesus Mary - Psychocandy
10. The Chameleons - Script of The Bridge

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

Meat is Murder
Graceland
Technique (New Order)
Stone Roses
Meat Puppets 2
Closer (Joy Division)

 

[KirkOut]

Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time
Rush - Moving Pictures
Metallica - Kill 'Em All
Slayer - Reign In Blood
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman
Sammy Hagar - Standing Hampton
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Steve Walsh - Schemer Dreamer
Triumph - Allied Forces

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

Not sure of the exact order but:

1. Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
2. The Stone Roses - S/T
3. XTC - Skylarking
4. The Sound - Jeopardy
5. Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
6. The Wild Swans - Bringing Home The Ashes
7. The Blue Nile - Hats
8. Felt - Forever Breathes The Lonely World
9. The Jesus Mary - Psychocandy
10. The Chameleons - Script of The Bridge

Felt... what a cool sound that band had.

 

[Fantomas]

Nothing exhaustive, but I like these (in random order):

Vangelis - Blade Runner Soundtrack
Leonard Cohen - I’m Your Man
John Zorn - Spillane
Prince - Sign o the Times / Camille
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
Lou Reed - New Sensations
Eduard Artemyev - Pictures-Moods
Kino - Blood Type
New Order - Substance
Pet Shop Boys - Actually

 

[Babe Ruth]

Appetite for Destruction (GnR)
Slip it In (Black Flag)
Purple Rain (Prince)
Louder than Love (Soundgarden)
Freeze Frame (J Geils Band)

I'd have to deliberate to come w/some more.. I also liked the first Danzig solo album.. I think it was released in '88.

 

[Mikeaveli]

The 80's is the decade I've listened to the least by far haha. This is pretty much everything from the decade that I've heard and liked. I'll have to go through some of the albums in this thread.

1. Jon Hassell & Brian Eno - Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics
2. Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded
3. Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land
4. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
5. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton
6. Big Daddy Kane - Long Live the Kane

 

[kihei]

Reckoning—REM
Spirit of Eden—Talk Talk
War or The Unforgettable Fire or The Joshua Tree—U2
Sandinista—The Clash
Once upon a Time—Simple Minds
The Pretenders—The Pretenders
Substance—Joy Division
Stop Making Sense—Talking Heads
Avalon—Roxy Music
The Raw and the Cooked--Fine Young Cannibals

 

[Fantomas]

Laughing Stock was 1991, fellas.

 

[Shareefruck]

Spirit of Eden is better anyways

1. Closer by Joy Division
2. The Ascension by Glenn Branca
3. Fourth World Vol. 2: Dream Theory in Malaya by Jon Hassell
4. Ambient 4: On Land by Brian Eno
5. Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics by Jon Hassell
6. Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk
7. E2-E4 by Manuel Gottsching
8. Remain in Light by Talking Heads
9. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
10. Treasure by Cocteau Twins

 

[Oscar Acosta]

1. Thriller - Michael Jackson
2. Straight Outta Compton - NWA
3. Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys
4. Paid in Full - Eric B & Rakim
5. Fore! - Huey Lewis and the News
6. Easy-Duz-It - Easy E

 

[Mimsy]

I liked the 70s thread, where you requested one album per artist only. I'm settling on a single album per artist, but including honorable mentions (i.e., cheating).

The 80s was my biggest period of new music consumption. I'm a sucker for top 40 music from the era -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.


In no particular order:

Duran Duran -- Rio

U2 -- The Unforgettable Fire (The Joshua Tree is likely the stronger album, but hearing the opening track on The Unforgettable Fire for the first time was reminiscent of my first spin of Rubber Soul -- love at first listen). U2 was by far my favorite 80s band. I lost the plot in the 90s.

R.E.M. -- Fables of the Reconstruction (hard to overlook most every other 80s album in their catalogue)

The Cure -- The Head on the Door (HM: Disintegration and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me)

Guns N Roses -- Appetite for Destruction (I prefered "Lies", but it's an ep)

The Smiths -- Strangeways, Here We Come

The Pogues -- Peace and Love (more so then than now)

INXS -- The Swing (HM: Listen Like Thieves)

The Grapes of Wrath -- Treehouse

The Northern Pikes -- Secrets of the Alibi


HM: Paul Simon (Graceland), John Lennon (Double Fantasy), The Police (Synchronicity), Rush (Exit Stage Left)

...fighting urge to list hair metal albums....

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

- Michael Jackson - Thriller
- Prince - Purple Rain
- GnR - Appetite for Destruction
- Metallica - Master of Puppets
- Journey - Escape
- Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
- Janes Addiction - Nothing Shocking
- NIN - Pretty Hate Machine
- Motley Crue - Too Fast for Love (when they were still on the thrash side)
- Soundgarden - Louder than Love
- Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation...

 

[kihei]

Laughing Stock was 1991, fellas.

Thanks a lot. I have about four of their albums tied for #1, so I will just switch to another one.

 

[peate]

Yeah, the 80's really sucked for music as opposed to the 70's.

 

[JesusPrice]

Anthrax - Among the Living
Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
Bryan Adams - Reckless
Def Leppard - Hysteria
Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance
Megadeth - Peace Sells
Metallica - And Justice for All
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
Rush - Moving Pictures

Not sure of the order, but there it is!!

 

[Acadmus]

No order, don't feel like ranking, hard enough to remember 6-10 albums I've heard
Disintegration - The Cure
Purple Rain - Prince and the Revolution
Liquidizer - Jesus Jones
So - Peter Gabriel
Some Great Reward - Depeche Mode
This is the Day...This is the Hour...This is This! - Pop Will Eat Itself
Joshua Tree - U2
Into the Gap - Thompson Twins
Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
She's So Unusual - Cyndi Lauper

Trimmed from the list: Rio - Duran Duran, Synchronicity - The Police, and Songs From the Big Chair - Tears for Fears. A lot of other artists I love in that decade basically put 2-3 good songs on each album, so didn't consider them long. Which is too bad, because a lot of my favorite 80s songs aren't on any of the albums I listed. Thriller may have made the list, but I think quite a few of the songs there didn't age well.

 

[Aladyyn]

No particular order, 1 album per artist

Kate Bush - The Dreaming
Iron Maiden - Killers
Bathory - Blood Fire Death
Blind Guardian - Battalions of Fear
Helstar - Nosferatu
King Diamond - Abigail
Coroner - No More Color
Progres 2 - Dialog s Vesmírem
Sodom - Persecution Mania
Sabbat - Dreamweaver

some honorable mentions because 10 is nowhere near enough... and if I was writing this one on another day most of these might just make it depending on my mood
Megadeth - Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!
Stormwitch - Walpurgis Night
Riot - Fire Down Under
Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath
Fates Warning - Awaken the Guardian
Metallica - Kill Em All
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion
Whitesnake - 1987

 

[Teemu]

1. Pixies - Doolittle
2. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
3. Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
4. REM - Document
5. Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session
6. The Replacements - Let It Be
7. REM - Reckoning
8. Paul Simon - Graceland
9. Prince - Purple Rain
10. Husker Du - Zen Arcade

 

[reckoning]

U2 -- The Unforgettable Fire (The Joshua Tree is likely the stronger album, but hearing the opening track on The Unforgettable Fire for the first time was reminiscent of my first spin of Rubber Soul -- love at first listen). U2 was by far my favorite 80s band. I lost the plot in the 90s.

I agree with that completely. The Joshua Tree had the popular hits, but Unforgettable Fire has a much better all-around feel to it. The one big hit ("Pride"), while a great song, is also the only one that doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the album.

 

[Jumptheshark]

I personally have London Calling as a December 79 release cause my brother got it for xmas that year in Vancouver