Pitchfork - The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s

What would be ya'lls top 200?

 

As ever with Pitchfork, it's a really varied list at first glance. It will be interesting to compare it with the original list but I'm pleased to see how much Hounds Of Love and Purple Rain have risen. One thing I've noticed is a lot of the indie classics from the decade have fallen down and been replaced by more pop and hip hip albums. One of the albums I got into from the original list was Skylarking (which was in the top 20) so I'm disappointed to see it so low down here.

Anyway, one thing that's clear from this thread is that some of you are not very familiar with the kind of artist Pitchfork champions. I look at the list as a way of discovering music rather than focussing on the albums it doesn't include. And there's a lot of unfamiliar music on this list to get into (which is great for me!).

 

Pretty nice list with some bold picks. Never would have thought Morbid Angel would be on there. Hip hop is very relevant and 'in" right now, so I'm not surprised a recent retrospective list would reflect that.

 

I would say that most fans of these artists would agree that they were at their peak in the 60s/70s so it's hardly surprising they don't feature in a best of the 80s list.

 

Right. Same reason you won't see any Prince or Michael Jackson in the 90s or 2000s lists.

 

I have all but about 40 on the list so I obviously like much of the music on it. I would still make tons of changes but for someone to say that the whole list is crap or have only heard a handful of these albums simply blows my mind. Some people hate the 80s so much they won't even give albums that are highly ranked by many a chance.

 

Pretty much agree with all of that except I wouldn't even have GnR anywhere on my list. I don't hate them or anything, but there's no way a GnR album would be in a top 200 for me.

Also, I do like Tears for Fears, but I agree with you that no Tears for Fears album is better than any DLR Van Halen album.

 

For my tastes, the Miracle should definitely be there. It's one of my favorite Queen albums period.

 

I like Janet Jackson, damn good singles artist, but even her best albums weren't great albums. I'm not even sure she should be anywhere on this list. I'd sooner put in something from the Time.

 

No XTC in Top 100, no X in top 100, no Replacements in top 30, no Husker Du in top 50, no Lyres or Throwing Muses at all.

They had a very different 80s than I did.

 

It would take me awhile to compile one, but I can tell you this--you wouldn't be wondering what happened to the Yellowjackets.

 

No Dire Straits? No Police? Come on man!

 

That's the first thing I thought when I read the list, John Cougar Mellencamp is grossly under-represented.

Still, at least McCartney made the list eh

An embarrassing journalistic list. When they realise they left of "Dare" and either of the Japan albums they will kick themselves.

 

12 out of 200, ouch. Have other music or comps of about another 20%. Haven't heard of about another 20% of these artists.

A List is just a List...

 

"Control" yes, maybe top 30. But including "Rhythm Nation 1814" is a joke I don't think I'm intelligent to know the meaning of

 

Yeah, but the hope is that instead of common tastes, someone might have great taste like me.

(And then they can work on emulating my modesty.)

 

You got that right. The Who, The Rolling Stones and especially Dylan are three of my favorite artists of all-time, but there's no way in hell I'd call any of their '80s albums great, much less "the best" of the '80s. (Oh Mercy would have been the one exception had they actually used three of the best songs from the sessions instead of the three worst.)

 

Same here. I like Janet Jackson quite a bit, but I don't know if she'd make the cut in a top 200 80s list for me. 200 really isn't that many slots to play with for an entire decade.

 

I have 44 on the list.

I cannot name a Janet Jackson song off the top of my head though. She has two albums quite high on the list. All I remember is her performing wearing that microphone thing on her head.

 

Sorry to get off topic, but what three Dylan songs should have been on Oh Mercy? And what songs would they replace?

 

This list is utter crap and not worth discussing at great length.

A more interesting approach would be to choose an album from the 80's by a single artist and only one artist has one album on the list.

x2 Sade
x3 Springsteen
etc. etc. its too much to take seriously.

 

I only own 21 on that list. Too much of my type of music not included on that list. No worries

 

If I recall previously, you have said something to the effect that the 80s was the worst decade in music, so would any list really make the grade with you?

 

BTW, there were lots of albums on the list I love, a lot I'd forgotten, and a lot I don't know and might look into.

Is that not the point of such exercises?

 

Series of Dreams, Dignity (the "original" version, not the Brendan O'Brien remix or the two they used for Tell Tale Signs) and Born in Time.

I'd drop "Political World" (lyrically it's one verse after another that goes nowhere), "Where Teardrops Fall" (maudlin, and it just sounds completely out of place) and "Disease of Conceit" (guitar solo is nice but it's a pretty terrible song).

I also wished Lanois wasn't so heavy-handed with the mix and production. The stripped down mixes of Most of the Time and Ring Them Bells on the third disc of Tell Tale Signs are much better. Same with the earlier, less cluttered version of Everything Is Broken.