Your Favorite Albums Of 1980

Steve Hackett: Defector
XTC: Black Sea
Pete Townshend: Empty Glass
Jethro Tull: A
Jeff Beck: There and Back
Mike Rutherford: Smallcreep's Day
The Romantics: The Romantics
Joe Jackson: Beat Crazy
OMD: Organisation
The Buggles: The Age of Plastic

 

In order of preference:


1 - (tie): Pretenders -- "Pretenders"

1 - (tie): Dire Straits -- "Making Movies

The Jim Carroll Band -- "Catholic Boy"

John Lennon & Yoko Ono -- "Double Fantasy" ... {John's songs only}

X -- "Los Angeles"

Linda Ronstadt -- "Mad Love"

The Cars -- "Panorama"

Talking Heads -- "Remain In Light"

AC/DC -- "Back to Black"

Prince -- "Dirty Mind"


{I love Elvis Costello, but "Get Happy" was the one misstep in his prime early years, IMO}

 

Bruce Springsteen - The River

 

As well as

Bruce Springsteen - The Ties That Bind
(alternate album + outtakes, which had an official archival release in 2015)

 

Springsteen - The River
Peter Gabriel - third
X - Los Angeles
Sabbath - Heaven & Hell
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Bowie - Scary Monsters
Costello - Get Happy!
Prince - Dirty Mind
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
AC/DC - Back in Black
Bunnymen - Crocodiles
Ozzy - Blizzard of Oz
XTC - Black Sea
Jam - Sound Affects
Lennon - Double Fantasy
Clash - Sandinista

 

Eskimo by The Residents. No album comes close either in jazz or rock or soul or blues.

 

01. Dire Straits - Making Movies
02. Roxy Music - Flesh And Blood
03. Rockpile - Seconds Of Pleasure
04. Bruce Springsteen - The River
05. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Against The Wind
06. Jethro Tull - A
07. The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue
08. Billy Joel - Glass Houses
09. Steve Winwood - Arc Of A Diver
10. The Alan Parsons Project - The Turn Of A Friendly Card
11. Genesis - Duke
12. The Romantics - The Romantics
13. The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
14. Matchbox - Midnite Dynamos
15. Steely Dan - Gaucho
16. John Lennon/Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy
17. Diana Ross - Diana
18. Ultravox - Vienna
19. Robert Palmer - Clues
20. Robert Gordon - Bad Boy

 

Pat Metheny / Charlie Haden / Jack DeJohnette / Dewey Redman / Mike Brecker - 80/81

It's on ECM, so there's nothing from this on youtube, unfortunately, but here is a killer live recording from the same line-up at just about the same time as the album:

 

Nice to see Matchbox getting some love.

 

Oh yes they deserve it don't they?

 

Underappreciated, sadly. Flying Colours is my favourite of theirs but they're all good.

 

Seconded.

 

Will be back with my 20 all time fave's of 1987.

Stay tuned.

 

Jim Carroll Band - Catholic Boy

 

I forgot to mention this one:

 

Elvis Costello - Get Happy!!
Dire Straits - Making Movies
Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Fischer-Z - Going Deaf For A Living
Peter Gabriel - 3
Rush - Permanent Waves
Emmylou Harris - Roses In The Snow
Squeeze - Argybargy
Steely Dan - Gaucho
Tom Waits - Heartattack & Vine
XTC - Black Sea
Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
Bruce Springsteen - The River
Joy Divison - Closer
Steve Winwood - Arc Of A Diver
Alan Parsons Project - Turn Of A Friendly Card
Paul Simon - One Trick Pony

 

Queen - The Game
AC/DC - Back in black
Rush - Permanent Waves
Yes - Drama
VH - WACF

 

Max Webster: Universal Juvelines
The Soft Boys: Underwater Moonlight
David Earle Johnson with Jan Hammer: Hip Address
Zamla Mammaz Manna: Familjesprickor
Weather Report: Night Passage
Cheap Trick: All Shook Up
Pekka Pohjola Group: Kätkävaaran lohikäärme
Peter Hammill: A Black Box
Peter Gabriel: 3rd
Genesis: Duke
Rush: Permanent Waves
Robert Palmer: Clues
Black Sabbath: Heaven And Hell

And probably 20-30 more...

 

Jon Hassell & Brian Eno - Possible Musics: Fourth World vol. I
Terje Rypdal - Descendre
Peter Gabriel - 3rd
The Residents - Commercial Album
Eberhard Weber & Colours - Little Movements
XTC - Black Sea
Ralph Towner - Solo Concert
Fred Frith - Gravity
Kate Bush - Never Forever
Harold Budd & Brian Eno - The Plateaux Of Mirror
Steve Tibbetts - Yr

 

The Clash - Sandinista!
The Damned - The Black Album
XTC - Black Sea

 

I was a Senior in H.S. and a budding guitarist of two years. 1980 was a great year for hard rock Heavy Metal guitar driven music & guitar solos as I recall. Some of these releases leave a lot to be desired now but, looking back at the youthful me in my final year of H.S. I was ecstatic as these were coming out in '80 much to the dismay of my parents who had to keep telling me to "Turn down that crap!" that was blasting from my bedroom I had most of those listed below & best friends had the others so this was the soundtrack in '80 for me (new release wise)on my path to becoming a Metal Head
In no order of favorites.......


Judas Priest
British Steel


Black Sabbath
Heaven and Hell


Rush
Permanent Waves





Ozzy Osbourne
Blizzard of Ozz




The Michael Schenker Group
The Michael Schenker Group

 

Part 2 of my earlier post ( see #447)



AC/DC
Back in Black


Scorpions
Animal Magnetism


Van Halen
Women and Children First

Molly Hatchet
Beatin' the Odds


Pat Travers Band
Crash and Burn

 

Peter Gabriel - 3 (Melt)
Jethro Tull - A
Captain Beefheart - Doc at the Radio Station
The Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
Talking Heads - Remain in Light

 

So many...I'll try to scale it down...and these are in some semblance of order...

Psychedelic Furs - s/t debut
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
Joy Division - Closer
The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
B-52s - Wild Planet
Tom Waits - Heart Attack and Vine
Queen - Flash Gordon Soundtrack (suck it, The Game)
The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro
Echo and the Bunnymen - Crocodiles
U2 - Boy
Def Leppard - On Through the Night
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Van Halen - Women and Children First
The Beat - I Just Can't Stop

Wow, that was really difficult. So many other great albums by Blue Oyster Cult, Genesis, Bowie, AC/DC, Siouxsie, etc that deserve a shout out, but these are the ones I reach for most often.