Post your top 10 albums from the 80's

Don't forget to include your favorite song from each one.

In no particular order







Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'


Laughing


Moon Rocks


The Beautiful Ones

 

Ashes to Ashes


When I Think of You


Duchess


Shoo-Be-Doo


I Don't Owe You Anything

 

Older threads on a similar topic...

(2009): http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/your-favorite-20-albums-from-the-80s.182900/
(2012): http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/20-albums-from-the-80s-vote-for-your-favorites.274838/

 

20 is too much. Ten seems easier to do.

 

Try this one out: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/top-ten-albums-of-the-80s.417855/
Hey, wait a second, you've already posted in that thread: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/top-ten-albums-of-the-80s.417855/page-13#post-12591851

 

I don't even remember posting that. Close to half of my list changed.

 

It's funny, my tastes have changed to such a degree that few albums from the 80's that were my favorites in the 80's would make my contemporary list of favorite albums from the 80's. Only Hüsker Dü and R.E.M., although I rarely listen to them these days, would make both lists.

 

Can't read others...so as to not slant my views...

1. The Waterboys-Fisherman's Blues - A Bang on the Ear

2. U2 - The Joshua Tree- Red Hill Mining Town

3. Tom Waits - Rain Dogs - Anywhere I lay my head

4. sonic Youth - Daydream Nation - Cross the Breeze

5. The Waterboys - A Pagan Place - Red Army Blues

6. Sinead O'Connor - the lion and the cobra - Troy

7. Pixies - Doolittle - Tame

8. U2 - War - Drowning Man

9. Talking Heads - Remain in Light - Houses in Motion

10. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead - The Queen is Dead

As a kid of the 90s I thought for years the 80s sucked, but the last 10 years or so I've come to think while the 80s didn't have the breadthe of the late 60s and early 70s, the top albums are as good as any decade ever....

I could rotate in another 15-20 and still be floored with the genius.

 

Rush Moving Pictures - Red Barchetta
Rush Grace Under Pressure - Red Sector A
Rush Signals - New World Man/Subdivisions
Rush Power Windows - Power Windows
U2 Joshua Tree - Bullet The Blue Sky
Sting Bring On The Night - Message In A Bottle (Not on The album but in the film)
Sting Dream of The Blue Turtles - Fortress Around Your Heart
Prince Purple Rain - When Doves Cry
Paul McCartney Tug of War - Take It Away
Jonathan Butler Love Songs Candle Light And You
Sade Promise - Sweetest Taboo

 

Only listen to one eighties album now.
The rest 'fine in their period setting.

 

Your point is ... ? Does this mean it can never be broached again, that you have to go back and look at three and six year old threads if interested? Sorry, but I don't get the 'hall monitor' stuff.

 

My point? I'm just giving out links for SHMF members who want to cut 'n' paste old lists.

 

The Cars Panorama (Touch and Go)
Madonna (Borderline)
Bruce Springsteen The River (Jackson Cage, etc.)
The Clash Sandinista
U2 The Unforgettable Fire (title track)
Paul McCartney Press to Play (Footprints)
Rush Grace Under Pressure
REM all of their 80s albums,
same thing for The Smiths
B 52s Wild Planet (Give Me Back My Man)


Honorable mention goes to
Talking Heads Fear of Music and Remain in Light
Blondie Autoamerican
Bob Dylan Oh Mercy
Nirvana Bleach
The Ramones End of the Century
McCartney II
U2 Boy and October

I love the 80s. 1980 may be my favorite year for albums.

 

Gotcha!

 

The Blasters S/T - Border Radio
Born In the USA - Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire
Double Fantasy - John Lennon - Watching the Wheels
Graceland - Paul Simon - Graceland
How Will The Wolf Survive? - Los Lobos - Will the Wolf Survive?
Oh Mercy - Bob Dylan - Ring Them Bells
The River - Bruce Sprinsteen - Hungry Heart
Full Moon Fever - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Free Fallin'
Tattoo You - Rolling Stones - Waiting On A Friend
Thriller - Michael Jackson - The Girl Is Mine

 

1. King Crimson, Beat
2. Kate Bush, The Dreaming
3. Tom Waits, Rain Dogs
4. Prince, 1999
5. Beastie Boys, Paul's Boutique
6. The Clash, Combat Rock
7. The Smiths, The Queen Is Dead
8. Bert Jansch, Heartbreak
9. Big Audio Dynamite, This Is Big Audio Dynamite
10. Captain Beefheart, Doc at the Radar Station

Those are off the top of my head, so I'm sure I'm missing ones, and naming songs is too hard right this minute.

 

Husker Du - Zen Arcade
Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy
The Replacements - Sorry Ma....
The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour
Capt. Beefheart - Doc at the Radar Station
The Pretenders - The Pretenders
Dead Kennedys - Plastic Surgery Disasters
REM - Murmur
Sonic Youth - Sister
The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms

...to name a few

 

Antonio Carlos Jobim - Terra Brasilis (1980): Canta Mais (Sing Once More)
The Packards - Pray for Surf (1980): Andele
Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl (1989): You Got It
Laurindo Almeida & Charlie Byrd - Brazilian Soul (1981): Stone Flower
Brian Wilson - s/t (1988): Rio Grande
Paul McCartney - CHOBA B CCCP (1988): Ain't That a Shame
Dave Edmunds - D.E. 7th (1982): Other Guys Girls
Paul McCartney - Flowers in the Dirt (1989): This One
Vaya Con Dios - s/t (1987): Don't Cry for Louie
Frank Sinatra - Trilogy (1980): More Than You Know

 

Talking Heads- Remain In Light
King Crimson- Discipline
Lou Reed- New York
Lindsey Buckingham- Go Insane
Husker Du- New Day Rising
David Bowie- Scary Monsters
Prince- Dirty Mind
Faith No More- The Real Thing
Soft Boys- Underwater Moonlight
Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill

 

Genesis - Duke (Behind The Lines)
ABC - Beauty Stab (That Was Then But This Is Now)
The The - Soul Mining (This Is The Day)
Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden (Desire)
Moody Blues - Long Distance Voyager (Veteran Cosmic Rocker)
Eric Clapton - Behind The Sun (She's Waiting)
Phil Collins - Face Value (Hand In Hand)
John Martyn - Grace & Danger (Some People Are Crazy)
Paul McCartney - Press To Play (However Absurd)
Genesis - Abacab (Like It Or Not)

 

1. Prince and the Revolution, "Purple Rain" ("I Would Die 4 U")
2. U2, "The Unforgettable Fire" ("Pride [In the Name of Love]")
3. R.E.M., "Murmur" ("Pilgrimage")
4. Peter Gabriel, third album ("And Through the Wire")
5. the Replacements, "Let It Be" ("I Will Dare")
6. Talking Heads, "Remain in Light" ("Once in a Lifetime"--maybe my favorite song in the entire rock catalog)
7. My Bloody Valentine, "Isn't Anything" ("I Can See It [But I Can't Feel It]")
8. Sonic Youth, "Daydream Nation" ("Teen Age Riot")
9. Talk Talk, "Spirit of Eden" ("I Believe In You")
10. Various Artists, "NME C86" (the Shop Assistants, "It's Up To You")

 

Just rock/pop picks for this thread,:

Bauhaus - The Sky's Gone Out - Spirit
The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace - I Am Damo Suzuki
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds - A Forest
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation - Trilogy
Pixies - Surfer Rosa - Cactus
Robert Wyatt - Old Rottenhat -Alliance
XTC - English Settlement - Senses Working Overtime
Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth - Wurlitzer Jukebox
Talking Heads - Remain in Light - The Great Curve
Einsturzende Neubauten - Halber Mensch - Halber Mensch

Honorable mention: Doc at the Radar Station (Captain Beefheart), Peter Gabriel - "Melt", Husker Du - Zen Arcade, Black Flag - Damaged. Tom Waits - Rain Dogs. Specials - s/t, King Crimson - Discipline, Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime, Siouxsie and the Banshees - Juju

 

Thanks to one of the old threads posted above, I checked out David Bowie's "Scary Monsters", and I'm a little amused to note that my first impression was that despite it coming out in 1980, it sounded very much to me like a '70s album--something grandiose about it--and so it's no wonder it got so much appreciation on this board. Awesome album.

I also confess that my own list is essentially the same as the one that I posted on the old thread. I have "Purple Rain" on the top this time rather than "The Unforgettable Fire", and I made some room for "Spirit of Eden" because it's so unusual, but it's mostly the same list.

 

Despite this having been done numerous times before, I'll bite again:
Klaatu - Endangered Species 1980
Johnny Clegg & Juluka - Scatterlings 1982
Van Morrison - Beautiful Vision 1982
Eno - Apollo - Atmospheres & Soundtracks 1983
Van Morrison - The Inarticulate Speech of The Heart 1983
Paul Simon - Graceland 1986
Lucinda Williams - Lucinda Williams 1988
Nanci Griffith - One Fair Summer Evening 1988
Freiheit - Fantasy 1988
Neil Young - Freedom 1989

 

ELO - Time (The Lights Go Down)
Paul McCartney - Tug Of War (Wanderlust)
Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever (Zombie Zoo)
The Cars - Heartbeat City (You Might Think)
Michael Jackson - Bad (Smooth Criminal)
Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (She Bop)
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut (The Fletcher Memorial Home)
Julian Lennon - Valotte (Too Late For Goodbyes)
Pete Townshend - Empty Glass (Let My Love Open The Door)
Jackson Browne - Lawyers In Love (Tender Is The Night)

Honorable Mention: John Fogerty - Eye Of The Zombie (Knockin' On Your Door) Totally serious on this one, it was hard to leave it out of the top 10. Soda Pop, Soda Pop...