Top Ten Albums Of The 80s

I was inspired by the "Top Ten 90s albums" to make this thread.
( Tried to search for a thread like this, but I guess it's a pretty vague search. )

Anyway...

No particular order here, just some albums that I can think of off the top of my head (probably forgetting some crucials)

De La Soul - 3 Feet High & Rising
Dead Milkmen- Big Lizard In My Backyard
Dead Milkmen- Beazlebubba
Janes Addiction- Nothing's Shocking
Bobby McFerrin-Spontaneous Inventions
Operation Ivy- Energy
Blues Brothers- Soundtrack
Grateful Dead- Reckoning
Hooters- Nervous Nights (nostalgia)
Beastie Boys-License To Ill

I'm most likely forgetting some awesome stuff.
What's your 80s top ten?

 

No particular order-

The Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4
U2 - The Joshua Tree
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
The Proclaimers - Sunshine On Leith
Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love
Paul Simon - Graceland
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
The Human League - Dare
Adam And The Ants - Kings Of The Wild Frontier
U2 - Boy

 

U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
The Pixies - Doolittle
Bruce Springsteen - The River
R.E.M. - Murmur
X - Los Angeles
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Black Flag - Damaged
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

 

in no particular order (and all over the place stylistically!)

Reckoning - R.E.M.
Murmur - R.E.M.
Discipline - King Crimson
The Love that Whirls (Diary of a Thinking Heart) - Bill Nelson
Dazzle Ships - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Zen Arcade - Hüker Dü
Flip Your Wig - Hüker Dü
Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics - Brian Eno & Jon Hassell
Metal Fatigue - Allan Holdsworth
The Kings Are Here - The Kings

 

Blue Oyster Cult - Fire Of Unknown Origin
Slayer - Reign In Blood
Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast
Dio - Holy Diver
Metallica - Ride The Lightning
Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman
Overkill - The Years Of Decay
Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell
Judas Priest - British Steel
Queensryche - The Warning
Rush - Moving Pictures

 

In no particular order:

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead (I think you can't do any 80's top anything without including this album)
Prince - Purple Rain (It sounds nothing like r&b music before that, so it beats Thriller in this slot)
Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen (Beautiful perfect pop that I don't understand why it's so underrated)
Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska (Bruce's best work of this decade even though Born In The USA is more famous)
Sonic Youth - Goo (Pave the way for more others to come in the next decade)
U2 - The Joshua Tree (Perfect rock album with all the sound, the look, the lyric. You can still listen to this album without feeling it's been dated like other rock albums from the same period of time)
Husker Du - Zen Arcade (How an indie band from Minnesota made one little conceptual masterpiece)
Pixies - Doolittle (See Sonic Youth)
The Style Council - Our Favorite Shops (I don't know why there's so much rants about this Paul Weller's project. People always compare it to The Jams and it's totally not! Weller combines sharp comment on British society with beautiful pop and some soul melody. I love it!)
New Order - Substance (OK this one actually is a compilation, but it summed up what this great band had been doing throughout the decade)

+1 for this single - Pump Up the Volume by M/A/R/R/S (They released only this single but Oh! how it changed the dance music scene of the upcoming future)

 

No order:

Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Tom Tom Club - S/T
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Uprising
The Clash - Sandinista!
Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love
Donald Fagen - The Nightfly
Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America

 

Yes! I forgot Uprising! +1

 

Peter Gabriel -Melted Face
I love So , but this is one of the great albums of all time.

 

In no order.

Olivia Newton-John- Physical
Culture Club- Colour By Numbers
George Michael- Faith
Xanadu- Soundtrack
Thompson Twins- Into The Gap
Wham!- Make It Big
Paul McCartney- Tug Of War
Elton John- Sleeping With The Past
Fleetwood Mac- Mirage
Bee Gees- Living Eyes

 

Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Peter Gabriel - III
Brian Eno & David Byrne - Bush of Ghosts
XTC - Mummer
Boomtown Rats - V Deep
B-52's - Wild Planet
Psychic TV - Force the Hand of Chance
John Foxx - Metamatic
Bill Nelson - Quit Dreaming and Get on the Beam
Tom Waits - Raindogs

 

Jeff Beck There and Back
Ry Cooder The Slide Area
The Dregs Unsung Heroes
Alan Holdsworth Metal Fatigue
AC/DC Back in Black
King Crimson Discipline
Public Image Limited Album
Rolling Stones Tattoo You
The Police Synchronicity
The Roches Speak

 

Murmur - R.E.M.
Hatful of Hollow -The Smiths (comp, but still)
Tim - The Replacements
The Queen is Dead - The Smiths
Closer - Joy Division
Doolittle - The Pixies
Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen
The Unforgettable Fire -U2
Sound Affects - The Jam
Paul's Boutique - The Beastie Boys

(X - Los Angeles, Husker Du - New Day Rising, DK - Fresh Fruit, or Dinosaur Jr. - YLAOM could easily take any of the last spots on a different day)

And if it were permitted, I would say "London Calling" was the best album of both the 70s AND the 80s as it was released just as the decades were turning.

 

I had to go and check the date on London calling as I was making my list ha

 

Probably something like

Gang of Four - Solid Gold
Big Black - Songs About ****ing
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
Echo & The Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here
The Cure - 17 Seconds
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Killing Joke - s/t
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
PIL - Metal Box (Second Edition)

 

The Replacements--Let It Be
REM--Document
Robert Cray--Strong Persuader
X--Wild Gift
Prince--Sign O' The Times
The Mekons--Rock 'n' Roll
Neil Young--Freedom
Paul Simon--Graceland
Marshall Crenshaw--S/T

And the one that's going to make people think, "He just ruined a pretty good list":

Bruce Springsteen--Born in the U.S.A.

 

Isn't Goo a '90s album?

 

Yep, 1990 release.

 

Giving it a whirl...

Remain In Light - Talking Heads
New Gold Dream(81–82–83–84) - Simple Minds
Hounds Of Love - Kate Bush
Synchronicity - The Police
Graceland - Paul Simon
English Settlement - XTC
The Unforgettable Fire - U2
Power, Corruption & Lies - New Order
Get Happy!! - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Murmur - R.E.M.

 

This is Big Audio Dynamite
Damaged
Avalon
Crocodiles
Mister Heartbreak
Sandinista
Bad Brains
In the Flat field
Solid Gold
And Justice for all

 

• Simple Minds- Sparkle in the Rain
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood- Welcome to the Pleasuredome
• The Stone Roses- s/t
• Big Country- The Crossing
• U2- The Joshua Tree
• Bruce Springsteen- The River
• Simple Minds- New Gold Dream
• OMD- Architecture and Morality
• The Smiths- The Queen is Dead
• Simple Minds- Sons and Fascination

 

1 - The Joshua Tree U2
2 - The Queen Is Dead The Smiths
3 - Closer Joy Division
4 - Disintegration The Cure
5 - Heaven Up Here Echo & The Bunnymen
6 - The Colour Of Spring Talk Talk
7 - Bete Noire Bryan Ferry
8 - The Unforgettable Fire U2
9 - Ocean Rain Echo & The Bunnymen
10 - Freedom Neil Young

This is my list today, tomorrow will eventually be different.

 

10 off the top of my head

Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello
The Blue Mask - Lou Reed
More Fun In The New World - X
Violent Femmes
Tim - The Replacements
Zen Arcade - Husker Du
Reckoning - REM
Double Nickels On The Dime - The Minutemen
You Are What You Is - Frank Zappa
Tattoo You - Rolling Stones

 

The Police - Synchronicity
David Bowie - Scarey Monsters
Dire Straits - Love Over Gold
The Police - Ghost In The Machine
The Fixx - Reach The Beach
Bob Dylan - Oh Mercy
u2 - Joshua Tree
Roxy Music - Avalon
The Clash - Combat Rock
John Cougar Mellencamp - Scarecrow

 

REM - Green
Prince - Purple Rain
Adam & The Ants - Kings of The Wild Frontier
Jim Steinman Bad For Good
U2 - Joshua Tree
Rolling Stones - Tattoo You
Meat Loaf - Dead Ringer
REM - Document
Paul McCartney - McCartney II
Michael Jackson - Bad