Pitchfork - The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s

One issue is that pop music history doesn't necessarily fit neatly with the start and end of our historical decades. I always found that things started to transform mid-decade. So for example The Jam/Paul Weller who are arguably archetypal early 1980's aren't on the list as their output bridged the turn of the decade. By the mid-80s music was moving more into the indie-dance crossover space driven by the arrival of Detroit House in 1986 so had moved on from that post-punk ethos. In contrast to The Jam, 808 State who are definitely a turn of the 90s band make the list.

 

I'm convinced Pitchfork's mission statement is to include Ornette Coleman and Alice Coltrane on every decade best of list until somebody actually listens to them.

 

Pitchfork should stick to rock. They want to draw you in with their jazz bona fides by placing For Olim at 195, and then they almost completely forget about the entire genre. Nothing by David Murray, Henry Threadgill, Sonny Sharrock, or Joe Henderson for starters. Even the most well known artists like Wynton Marsalis and Pat Metheny are totally neglected. Why even list anybody if you are going to only going to have a token three jazz albums on it, two of which are far from the best of the 1980s (Alice Coltrane and Ornette Coleman)?

Look at it this way. For Olim is better than every single album on that list. I'm not saying its the best album of the 1980s (it's damn close), but it's certainly the best on that list. Why not put it at its rightful place of #1 instead of just using it as a way to gain credibility so its one of the first things you see at #195? Which one is the bolder statement?

 

No Queen in the op 200.The rabid Queen fanboys on SHf must feel gutted.

 

4 Prince albums in the top 33. Nice!

 

Albums from the list that could possibly wind up on my own top 200 from the 80s:

Prince -- Purple Rain (would be below at least a couple other Prince albums for me, though (not including Sign O' the Times))
Michael Jackson -- Thriller
Talking Heads -- Remain in Light
Sonic Youth -- Daydream Nation
Beastie Boys -- Paul's Boutique
Laurie Anderson -- Big Science (would be below United States Live)
Tom Waits -- Rain Dogs
Paul Simon -- Graceland
David Bowie -- Scary Monsters
Metallica -- Master of Puppets (would be below And Justice for All)
Motorhead -- Ace of Spades
Michael Jackson -- Bad
Nine Inch Nails -- Pretty Hate Machine
Brian Eno/David Byrne -- My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (I'd include a couple other Eno collaborations, too, as well as Byrne's Catherine Wheel)
George Michael -- Faith
Fleetwood Mac -- Tango in the Night
Roxy Music -- Avalon
Steely Dan -- Gaucho
Pretenders -- Pretenders
Peter Gabriel -- Peter Gabriel (Melt) (definitely wouldn't be above Security for me)
AC/DC -- Back in Black
The Clash -- Sandinista!

Other artists that could be in my top 200 with at least one album, but either not the album(s) that Pitchfork chose, or I'm not sure at the moment which I'd choose (the artists above might have other albums I'd include, too, but I'll not repeat those artists here):

The Smiths
Madonna
Bruce Springsteen
R.E.M.
U2
Iron Maiden
Steve Reich
Whitney Houston
Philip Glass
XTC
Anita Baker
Elvis Costello
Stevie Wonder
Judas Priest
Tina Turner
Ornette Coleman
Joe Jackson
ABBA
The B-52's
Paul McCartney

 

Albums in my collection from this list.

181 ABBA - The Visitors
172 Duran Duran - Rio
91 George Michael - Faith
72 Michael Jackson - Bad
49 Paul Simon - Graceland
33 Prince - Dirty Mind
30 Janet Jackson - Rhthm Nation 1814
26 Prince 1999
17 Prince - Sign Of The Times
8 Janet Jackson - Control
2 Michael Jackson - Thriller
1 Prince - Purple Rain


Darryl

 

1. Prince and the Revolution Purple Rain
2. Michael Jackson Thriller
3. N.W.A. Straight Outta Compton
4. Kate Bush Hounds of Love
5. Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
6. Janet Jackson Control
7. Sade Diamond Life
8. Eric B. & Rakim Paid In Full
9. Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique
10. Madonna Madonna
11. Prince Sign o' the Times
12. Kraftwerk Computer World
13. De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising
14. Prince 1999
15. Eric B. & Rakim Follow the Leader
16. Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation 1814
17. Prince Dirty Mind
18. Sade Stronger Than Pride
19. Run-D.M.C. Raising Hell
20. Slick Rick The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
21. Paul Simon Graceland
22. Bruce Springsteen Born in the U.S.A.
23. EPMD Strictly Business
24. Talking Heads Stop Making Sense
25. Ultramagnetic MC's Critical Beatdown
26. Michael Jackson Bad
27. Bob Marley and the Wailers Uprising
28. Madonna Like a Prayer
29. Jungle Brothers Straight Out the Jungle
30. Guns 'N' Roses Appetite for Destruction
31. Tears for Fears Songs from the Big Chair
32. George Michael Faith
33. Fleetwood Mac Tango in the Night
34. Beastie Boys Licenced to Ill
35. INXS Kick
36. Madonna Like A Virgin
37. Whitney Houston Whitney Houston
38. Steely Dan Gaucho
39. Run-D.M.C. Run-D.M.C.
40. David Bowie Let's Dance
41. The D.O.C. No One Can Do It Better
42. Neneh Cherry Raw Like Sushi
43. Big Daddy Kane Long Live the Kane
44. 3rd Bass The Cactus Album
45. Geto Boys Grip It! On That Other Level
46. LL Cool J Radio
47. Ryuichi Sakamoto Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
48. Ice-T Rhyme Pays
49. Scritti Politti Cupid & Psyche 85
50. Duran Duran Rio
51. Tina Turner Private Dancer
52. Joe Jackson Night and Day
53. ABBA The Visitors
54. Change The Glow of Love
55. Too $hort Life is… Too $hort
56. Tom Tom Club Tom Tom Club
57. Bronski Beat The Age of Consent
58. Salt-N-Pepa Hot, Cool and Vicious
59. Patrice Rushen Straight from the Heart

59/200 pretty decent!

 

$h|t, cat, they want you and your droogs to listen to them.

 

I like how Janet Jackson has now been reformed as some sort of martyr and all her work must now be hailed.

 

Just wait until they discover Teena Marie.

 

As usual, a list that shows my tastes are very different to the self-appointed movers & shakers.

I heard seventeen of the albums on the list and of those, I like six.

 

Where's Rick James' Street Songs?

 

Juju at #75??!!!!!

 

But hey, props to them for putting Motorhead in the Top 100, even ahead of Michael Jackson's Bad.

 

Pretty good list all in all.

Dirty Mind and Sandinista should be much higher, however.

Edit: And there's no way Straight Outta Compton is a more consistent album than PE's Millions. Or either of Eric B and Rakim's first two. Or Raising Hell!

 

no doubt, that was well after the "rock era".

 

Hard for me to take any Best of the 80s list that has Guns and Roses Appetite for Destruction that low. Obvious & safe blockbuster choices at 1 & 2 but the Joshua Tree comes in at 47? Not one record from the Police?

I will give them credit for the heavy presence of hip hop. Not my genre of choice but there is no denying that a number of important records came out in the latter part of the decade that fueled hip hop's takeover as the pop music genre of choice. My only quibble is this is supposed to be a "best of the 80's" not "most important of the 80's" list. I will argue till I'm out of air in my lungs that Van Halen's 80's DLR output was superior to anything released by Tears for Fears

 

Van Halen's Fair Warning could have made an appearance.

 

No Queen albums?
Just one Depeche Mode album?
No Brothers In Arms?

 

Which Queen album would you pick?

 

Sign o' the times #17??? Not too sure about that.

 

1. The Game
2. It's a kind of Magic
3. The Works
4. Hot Space

 

We could quibble all day about it (too high, too low, where's this?) but I think the broad point is that it isn't a bad list overall.

I have 63 of them but even then I was surprised by a few picks. That's the way it should be.