Best of the '80s, Poll — May 1, 2013 at 8:00 am

Top 100 Albums of 1982: Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Best of the ’80s — Part 3

Best of 1982

It’s the first of the month, which means it’s time to unveil the results of Part 3 of our year-long Best of the ’80s feature, a year-by-year poll of Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers to determine the best albums of each year of the 1980s — and then, when that’s all said and done at the end of 2013, we’ll run a monster best-of-the-decade poll to crown the overall champs.

For the 1982 poll, we received more than 32,000 total votes naming more than 250 different albums (including, as write-ins, a number of records that were not actually released in 1982). We narrowly averted another Top 10 tie, with The Clash’s Combat Rock edging out Roxy Music’s Avalon for the No. 4 spot by a single vote after nearly 2,000 votes were cast for the two albums combined.

So thank you all for voting and sharing your thoughts. Take a look at the Top 100 list below — and feel free to offer your own take on the results, good or bad, in the comments below.

And stay tuned for the Best of 1983 poll, which will launch next week.

PAST RESULTS: Top 100 Albums of 1980, Top 100 Albums of 1981

 

SLICING UP EYEBALLS READERS POLL: TOP 100 ALBUMS OF 1982

 

Duran Duran, 'Rio'

1. Duran Duran, Rio

BACKSTORY: The second album from Duran Duran made the U.K. band genre-defining superstars around the world on the backs of its trio of hit singles and now-classic music videos.
SINGLES: “My Own Way,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Save a Prayer,” “Rio”
BAND: Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor
PRODUCER: Colin Thurston
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

 

 

The Cure, 'Pornogrpahy'

2. The Cure, Pornography

BACKSTORY: The fourth album from Robert Smith and Co. ends the band’s early dark phase, and later would be declared part of a trilogy with 1989’s Disintegration and 2000’s Bloodflowers.
SINGLES: “The Hanging Garden”
BAND: Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Lol Tolhurst
PRODUCER: Phil Thornalley and The Cure
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

 

 

Depeche Mode, 'A Broken Frame'

3. Depeche Mode, A Broken Frame

BACKSTORY: Depeche Mode’s second album finds the band working as a trio following the departure of co-founder Vince Clarke and prior to Alan Wilder becoming a full member.
SINGLES: “See You,” “The Meaning of Love,” “Leave in Silence”
BAND: Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher
PRODUCER: Depeche Mode and Daniel Miller
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

 

 

The Clash, 'Combat Rock'

4. The Clash, Combat Rock

BACKSTORY: The Clash’s fifth album, originally envisioned as a double LP called Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg, would be the last to feature Mick Jones, who was later fired from the band.
SINGLES: “Know Your Rights,” “Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” “Rock the Casbah,” “Straight to Hell”
BAND: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon
PRODUCER: The Clash
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

 

 

Roxy Music, 'Avalon'

5. Roxy Music, Avalon

BACKSTORY: The eighth and final album from Bryan Ferry and Co., a No. 1 hit in the U.K., shows the band’s full transformation from glammy art-rock to smooth, pop-oriented New Wave.
SINGLES: “More Than This,” “Avalon,” “Take A Chance With Me”
BAND: Bryan Ferry, Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera, Neil Hubbard, Alan Spenner, Andy Newmark
PRODUCER: Rhett Davies and Roxy Music
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital), iTunes (Digital)

 

 

Yazoo, 'Upstairs at Eric's'

6. Yazoo, Upstairs at Eric’s

BACKSTORY: The synthpop debut from Vince Clarke’s post-Depeche Mode project — which was known as Yaz in the U.S. — features the impressive vocal talents of one Alison Moyet
SINGLES: “Only You,” “Don’t Go,” “Situation”
BAND: Vince Clarke, Alison Moyet
PRODUCER: E.C. Radcliffe, Yazoo
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

 

 

INXS, 'Shabooh Shoobah'

7. INXS, Shabooh Shoobah

BACKSTORY: The Aussie rockers’ third studio album proved to be a commercial breakthrough, earning the band’s first global record release and cracking the Billboard charts in the U.S.
SINGLES: “The One Thing,” “Don’t Change,” “To Look at You,” “Black and White”
BAND: Michael Hutchence, Andrew Farriss, Jon Farriss, Tim Farriss, Garry Gary Beers, Kirk Pengilly
PRODUCER: Mark Opitz
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

 

 

Simple Minds, 'New Gold Dream'

8. Simple Minds, New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84)

BACKSTORY: The fifth album from Simple Minds was a commercial turning point for the band, spawning classic singles and earning recognition by many fans as the group’s best work.
SINGLES: “Promised You a Miracle,” “Glittering Prize,” “Someone, Somewhere in Summertime”
BAND: Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Michael MacNeil, Derek Forbes
PRODUCER: Peter Walsh
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

 

 

ABC, 'The Lexicon of Love'

9. ABC, The Lexicon of Love

BACKSTORY: The debut from the Martin Fry-led act is considered by many to be a synthpop classic, topping the charts in the U.K. and spinning off hit singles both in the U.K. and the U.S.
SINGLES: “Tears Are Not Enough,” “Poison Arrow,” “The Look of Love,” “All My Heart”
BAND: Martin Fry, David Palmer, Stephen Singleton, Mark White
PRODUCER: Trevor Horn
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital), iTunes (Digital)

 

 

Siouxsie and the Banshees, 'A Kiss in the Dreamhouse'

10. Siouxsie and the Banshees, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse

BACKSTORY: The fifth studio album from Siouxsie and the Banshees is the last to feature guitarist John McGeoch, and found the band broadening its sound with strings and other instrumentation.
SINGLES: “Slowdive,” “Melt!”
BAND: Siouxsie Soiux, Steven Severin, John McGeoch, Budgie
PRODUCER: Siouxsie and the Banshees
BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

 

 

11. Kate Bush, The Dreaming
12. Bauhaus, The Sky’s Gone Out
13. The Psychedelic Furs, Forever Now
14. Cocteau Twins, Garlands
15. XTC, English Settlement
16. Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel (aka ‘Security’)
17. The Beat, Special Beat Service
18. Billy Idol, Billy Idol
19. Thomas Dolby, The Golden Age of Wireless
20. Adam Ant, Friend or Foe

 

The Go-Go's, 'Vacation'

21. The Go-Go’s, Vacation
22. Talk Talk, The Party’s Over
23. Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Imperial Bedroom
24. Joe Jackson, Night and Day
25. Berlin, Pleasure Victim
26. The Jam, The Gift
27. Devo, Oh, No! It’s Devo
28. X, Under the Big Black Sun
29. A Flock of Seagulls, A Flock of Seagulls
30. Modern English, After the Snow

 

Ultravox, 'Quartet'

31. Ultravox, Quartet
32. Dead Kennedys, Plastic Surgery Disasters
33. Oingo Boingo, Nothing to Fear
34. Midnight Oil, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
35. The Fixx, Shuttered Room
36. Stray Cats, Built for Speed
37. The Church, The Blurred Crusade
38. Front 242, Geography
39. Bad Brains, Bad Brains
40. Misfits, Walk Among Us

 

The Birthday Party, 'Junkyard'

41. The Birthday Party, Junkyard
42. Laurie Anderson, Big Science
43. Missing Persons, Spring Session M
44. Madness, The Rise & Fall
45. Split Enz, Time and Tide
46. Haircut One Hundred, Pelican West
47. Dexys Midnight Runners, Too-Rye-Ay (TIE)
47. Spandau Ballet, Diamond (TIE)
49. Squeeze, Sweets from a Stranger
50. Mission of Burma, Vs.

 

The Fall, 'Hex Enduction Hour'

51. The Fall, Hex Enduction Hour
52. Marshall Crenshaw, Marshall Crenshaw
53. Descendants, Milo Goes to College
54. Thompson Twins, Set
55. Christian Death, Only Theatre of Pain
56. Wall of Voodoo, Call of the West
57. Icehouse, Primitive Man
58. Men Without Hats, Rhythm of Youth
59. Killing Joke, Revelations (TIE)
59. Blondie, The Hunter (TIE)

 

The Dream Syndicate, 'The Days of Wine and Roses'

61. The Dream Syndicate, The Days of Wine and Roses
62. Associates, Sulk
63. Gary Numan, I, Assassin
64. Blancmange, Happy Families
65. Gang of Four, Songs of the Free (TIE)
65. Visage, The Anvil (TIE)
67. The Lords of the New Church, The Lords of the New Church
68. Brian Eno, Ambient 4: On Land
69. Lou Reed, The Blue Mask
70. Fun Boy Three, Fun Boy Three

 

Orange Juice, 'Rip It Up'

71. Orange Juice, Rip It Up
72. Sparks, Angst in My Pants (TIE)
72. Scritti Politti, Songs to Remember (TIE)
74. Virgin Prunes, …If I Die, I Die
75. The Damned, Strawberries
76. The dB’s, Repercussion
77. Circle Jerks, Wild in the Streets
77. The Go-Betweens, Send Me a Lullaby (TIE)
79. Fad Gadget, Under the Flag (TIE)
80. The Gun Club, Miami

 

Fear, 'The Record'

81. Fear, The Record (TIE)
81. Meat Puppets, Meat Puppets (TIE)
83. Kim Wilde, Select
84. Cabaret Voltaire, 2×45
85. China Crisis, Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Some People Think It’s Fun to Entertain (TIE)
85. Grace Jones, Living My Life (TIE)
87. UB40, UB44
88. Flipper, Album -“ Generic Flipper
89. Altered Images, Pinky Blue
90. Hunters & Collectors, Hunters & Collectors

 

Iggy Pop, 'Zombie Birdhouse'

91. Iggy Pop, Zombie Birdhouse
92. Orange Juice, You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever
93. Robyn Hitchcock, Groovy Decay
94. The Sound, All Fall Down (TIE)
94. The Motels, All Four One (TIE)
96. Waren Zevon, The Envoy (TIE)
96. The Comsat Angels, Fiction (TIE)
98. Bad Religion, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?
99. Klaus Nomi, Simple Man
100. Toyah, The Changeling

 

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84 Comments

  1. WILL THERE BE A POLL AT THE END, WHERE WE CHOOSE THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE WHOLE DECADE FROM THE TOP 10 OF EACH YEAR?

  2. Pretty solid top 10.

  3. A Broken Frame is the worst DM album in my opinion. Absolute rubbish. I must be missing something if it made this list.

    • it is one of the worst (although i own that one, but never like Sounds of the Universe OR exciter… :-/ )

      The Sun and The Rainfall is the final track on the CD, and the one song that shows where the band were going. Leave In Silence is ok as a single mix, this version is ok… and the Nothing to Feel Instrumental is good too. i listen to those songs more than most of the other albums that year, although Modern English’s second album was actually really good…

    • Well…there’s a reason it made it that high,
      so I guess it’s not rubbish, or your tastes are rubbish LOL

      It’s an album I keep going back to and I’ve been listening to them since day one…it’s a tremendously transitional album, and not only shows where they were going, but that they had the confidence to move on without Vince.

      It’s a highly underrated album, and deserves to be that high on the list…just sayin’ !

  4. Inevitably, in polls like this, many people will vote for the bands who made the album rather than voting for the album on its own merits

    • Shibster

      Agreed. Doubt many people have even sat through an entire album on a regular basis if ever. Are hordes of people really listening to mediocre crap like The Go Go’s Vacation start to finish in 2013? I think not. With the iPod generation it’s all about the singles. Like Mike Mills says, “there’s no b-sides anymore, it’s all mp3s”.

    • Shibster

      And I agree with Andy Partridge too.

  5. Not a surprising top 10 at all. Some great albums just outside the top 10 that I voted for and a few that made it.

  6. At least the Dead Kennedys’ debut beat Oingo Boingo.

  7. Yves Schneider

    A huge miss: R.E.M. – Murmur. “Out of category” or number 0….

  8. Nice Top 10. Was hoping “The Blurred Crusade” would have scored more votes, but cool to break into the Top 40, says Casey!

    Hey, Matt! Can we see your Top 10?! Would love to know your picks!

  9. A list like this is inevitably going to lead to dispute and I guess should be regarded for entertainment rather than as an endeavour to produce a definitive statement.
    …That said, the Top 10 (largely) makes it clear that the most highly regarded albums are by international ‘brands’ with a wide audience and big fan base. Perhaps a better definition of the list would be ‘most popular’ ‘most listened to’ or even ‘favourite’ albums. Many of the albums further down the list have built up great critical acclaim but have a much smaller audience.

  10. Following the logic of A Broken Frame landing the number 3 spot for 1982, Construction Time Again should overwhelmingly be number one for the 1983 poll.

  11. Pornography: best thing ever.

  12. Sigh. #1,3,4 and 9 should be lower on the list and #11,12,13,14,15,16 and 19 should be much higher…just saying!

  13. Incredible debacle on all levels. DD #1 while The Damned’s Strawberries #75. And don’t get me started why Iron Maiden’s Number Of The Beast is non-existant. How can you sleep at night? I’m 47 and I was a college deejay ’85-’87 and yes, I played The Smiths and Motörhead & D.I. and Bauhaus IN A ROW so this list is an insult to true college radio.

    • I like Maiden and Motorhead too, but if you have followed Slicing Up Eyballs at all you would know that metal is not the genre that it deals with so I’m not sure what your point is.

  14. it’s a great list, although I did notice Duran Duran did a little push via their fb page to have fans vote for their album.

  15. Pornography is my fav cure record by far! Love it.

  16. I’m a huge Depeche fan but I completey disagree with A Broken Fame being the third best album of 1982. It’s better that Upstairs at Eric’s or The Luxury of Love? It’s arguably their worst album and the two I just listed are outright classics. Terrible.

    • I meant A Broken Frame

      • people do just kind of vote for bands more than albums… although i think their second album wasn’t very good, i do listen to the last song The Sun and the Rainfall on a regular basis, far more than ABC. I guess Yazoo did do better, even if i only ever listen to the 2 singles really… lol

        • The Sun and the Rainfall was a decent song but the rest of it was pretty mediocre. Leave In Silence, See You and The Meaning of Love are also decent. I don’t fault the band as this was the first one where Martin was writing all of the songs. It was a transitional album to what was coming next. The Yaz album is fantastic and blows the DM album out of the water. So many great songs on that album. I’ve always said it was the high watermark of Vince Clarke’s career. None of the Erasure albums are better than Upstairs at Eric’s. As for ABC, just the three singles – The Look of Love, Poison Arrow and All of My Heart are way better than anything on A Broken Frame.

    • Ian Christensen

      It’s actually in my top 3 of Depeche Mode albums. “Violator” & “Music For The Masses” are the other two…

  17. And I also meant The Lexicon of Love for ABC.

  18. Flipper only came in at 88! The whole list is suspect. My first vote came in at 26.

  19. Sonia S.

    I think we all know the Cure’s Pornography should be #1.

  20. I agree with you Sonia! Also The Damned should be much higher as The Misfits

  21. Andrew Collins

    Not surprised by the top two, I figured it would be a race between DD and The Cure, both of whom I voted for. Sad two of my choices didn’t make the final cut, Mick Karn’s underrated “Titles” and “Epic Garden Music” from the criminally ignored Sad Lovers And Giants…

  22. Duran Duran, The Cure, Depeche Mode. Top 5. Excellent.

    It doesn’t get any better than The Cure’s ‘Pornography’ for me.

    Siouxsie is up there too.

    I hope to see R.E.M.’s ‘Murmur’ for the 1983 poll and can’t wait for vote for it.

    • Chandris Levaticus

      No one who listened to Pornography in the day listened willingly to Duran Barf Duran.

  23. what are we going to do for 1983 with no Cure or Siouxsie to vote for? What do yo guys think will win 83? I am going to say it will probably be U2- war

  24. Hex Enduction Hour only at 51!! Poor, people, v poor
    And still not clear why Springsteen’s Nebraska wasn’t included?

  25. I’m not sure how you can be a Depeche Mode fan and think that A Broken Frame is their worst record. Probably the same people who think the new album is brilliant! Barf…

  26. Again, while I love the concept, this is first and foremost a popularity contest. So no surprise Duran Duran, The Cure & Depeche Mode are top-3…and I love these albums!

    But I am curious at how many votes number 100 got? I voted for Sad Lovers And Giants as well and it’s appalling they’re not even top-100? Two critical faves, Comsat Angels & The Sound, at the bottom? Really?

    Good to see hardcore get love here though.

    1983 will be a turning point – no Cure, no Siouxsie – but the debuts of The Chameleons, R.E.M. and Tears For Fears plus U2’s War and David Bowie’s Lets Dance, and corkers from New Order, Echo & The Bunnymen, INXS, The The plus the final Duran Duran classic will make for an interesting fight for the top-10.

    And Sad Lovers And Giants “Feeding The Flame” will be ignored by all but a few of us…

    • Hutch RIP

      Not sure what INXS that would be. How about “The Swing”…in ’84. Still, you’re right: the ’83 lineup is gonna be ace!

  27. Not everyone likes Toyah and she was very different from majority of other artists that were around back in 82, however with her own style she became very mainstream and her Album The Changeling was a brilliant piece of work and in my eyes should have charted higher than 100, however i am happy that this album had been included as its totally original and did not follow the same rythymns of the music that was being hailed back then. Brilliant albums by Simple minds, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Roxy Music, The cure,Visage, Cocteau Twins and Kate bush listed here. Even though i am a die hard Toyah fan, i believe Kate Bush` dreaming album should have been at number 1. Suspended in Gaffa in my eyes is the best song she ever wrote.

    • Yes, The Dreaming should have been #1. I take it that Richard and Linda Thompsons’s Shoot Out The Lights doesn’t qualify as 80’s college rock? Too bad as it’s easily a Top 10 in critics polls for 1982.

  28. Duran Duran’s Rio at number 1: perfect! Good to see the band is getting some well deserved acclaim for their heritage. Much of their work is still a huge influence on many current artists. Unbelievable how so many so-called music fans still judge them as if they were a boy band or something.

  29. Márcia Rhodes

    I have very proud in to be Duran Duran fan since 1981,and the Rio Album is a true treasure of music!

  30. No Siouxsie in 1983, but we do have the Creatures and the Glove.

  31. Well, I correct myself. There is a Siouxsie album in 1983, Nocturne.

  32. Are you guys going to release these as Spotify playlists? That would be epic! A couple of singles (or more) from each album on the playlist would make for some mighty fine listening…

  33. I see Siouxsie again made the top 10 which is most excellent. I thought “A Kiss In The Dreamhouse” would miss the top 10, so it was a nice surprise.

    As far as 1983 is concerned, the first Sonic Youth album, “Confusion Is Sex” is in the running. I think it will make the list, but is a bit too obscure to finish high.

    As far as 1983’s top 10 goes, how could everyone forget “Speaking In Tongues” from Talking Heads? I hope it’s #1!

  34. Will never understand the Yaz popularity. Vince has been flawless in every other band and Yaz had perfect singles, but every other song other than the singles on Eric’s is terrible. Constantly amazes me.

  35. “Special Beat Service” should be top-five. In fact, the album is one of the top-five albums of the entire decade. “Forever Now” is also absurdly low on this list. At least “New Gold Dream” made the top ten. Love Depeche Mode, but “A Broken Frame” just hasn’t stood the test of time as well as a lot of the other albums on this list. Agree with others regarding the exclusion of Sad Lovers and Giants.

  36. For the accolade of album of the 80’s, an album should both define the decade and transcend it. From the Nagel album cover, the abundantly joyous hooks littered throughout the album, the sleek mini-movie videos which accompanied the singles, and the deft combination of some of the major movements which preceded it (glam, disco and punk) into a synth-dance art-pop all of its own, Rio defines the 80’s like no other album. It transcends the 80’s too because it still sounds fresh today and is a constant mine of influence for countless artists. In short, it is a pop masterpiece.

  37. Ken Adler

    How interesting that Thriller (released November 1982) would sell probably more albums than all of the 100 albums on this list combined. At first I was wondering how it didn’t make the list, but I see this is a college list and then thought how great it is that this list preserves an 80’s era not dominated by Michael Jackson and Madonna. Bring back 120 Minutes and WLIR!!!!!!!!!!!!

  38. Rick Vendl II

    These should have been on your list…

    Hello, I Must Be Going! by Phil Collins
    Pac-Man Fever by Buckner & Garcia

  39. My Top 10 Albums of 1982

    1. The Cure – Pornography
    2. Duran Duran – Rio
    3. Siouxsie & The Banshees – A Kiss in the Dreamhouse
    4. Mission of Burma – Vs.
    5. Elvis Costello – Imperial Bedroom
    6. Kate Bush – The Dreaming
    7. Roxy Music – Avalon
    8. The Clash – Combat Rock
    9. Yazoo – Upstairs at Eric’s
    10. Missing Persons – Spring Session M

  40. NOW we’re starting to see some real music, as 1980/1981 were pretty much shite in comparison (and all pale to 1984). That said I’m not sure where the colleges are that claimed to listen to this stuff, UK I guess. The Cure love-fest with 20-20 hindsight continues…. but at least legitimacy here in 1982. No one paid them a rat’s ass until Pornography came out but they’ve had ‘top 10’ in previous years; AS IF. But whatever, I’m over it.
    On what planet was ‘Know Your Rights’ released as a single? I’m calling out the author of these pages. That can be said for many ‘singles’.
    Depeche Mode way too high.
    This list is ok, and as I stated before it is how we envision the albums now, not as we might have in 1983. Top 10 is deserving for most part, but hell you could take #61-70 and call that top 10 and I wouldn’t complain… half of those should have been much higher, with Gang of Four’s masterpiece Songs for the Free as a candidate for #1, imho. Nice to see ABC and Simple Minds best albums representing in the top 10. XTCs finest work (English Settlement) is the very DEFINITION of ‘college’ music, should be in top 5. Fear’s album is entirely memorable; Fear and Circle Jerks should be higher and anything from Dexy’s entirely absent. Godawful stuff…. just as many will consider my post LOL.

  41. I don’t get the dislike for A Broken Frame. Personally,
    it’s my second fave Depeche album, behind only Speak and Spell! ;).
    I am glad to see that the underrated Klaus Nomi made the list with
    Simple Man, and that his self-titled debut made the 1981
    list.

  42. For me “pornography” of The Cure was number 1

  43. any list where duran duran and inxs are ahead of mission of burma, the fall, talk talk, brian eno, et al, is insanely backwards.

  44. XTC should have been on that top 10, switch it with Roxy Music.

  45. Where is Culture Club Kissing To Be Clever?

  46. Your list is complete crap for 1982 without including “Talk Talk – The Party’s Over”.

  47. Olivier Dodin

    after all these years, my Number One is “Too-Rye-Ay” from Dexy’s Midnight Runners (your #47)

  48. What a great year! I never got a chance to vote, so although nobody cares, here goes; 1)XTC 2)Midnight Oil 3)Peter Gabriel 4)Thomas Dolby 5)Mission of Burma 6)The Clash 7)Missing Persons 8)db’s 9)Psychedelic Furs 10)The Jam

  49. Also coming to this late, and wondering if me and my circle of ten Marshall Crenshaw devotees had voted, if his debut album would’ve made the top 50 cut (#52 now)?

  50. Wow. I had forgotten just how much shitty music was released in 1982!

  51. This is a pretty good list. Any list like this is subject for huge debate. 82 was a a solid year for a lot of music – pop, metal, new wave, punk, post-punk. A lot of the new sounds that these bands were getting sounded very modern compared to 70’s keyboards and production. Then as someone mentioned you had the burgeoning college radio scene with bands like REM; then the counter to the Reagonomics. I think 82-85 were the best years for 80’s music; then things got cooking again in 89 with the emergence of great alternative records like Janes Add – Nothing shocking, Pixies – Doolittle, and Nirvana – Bleach.

  52. For fans of this era, thought I would offer five other excellent albums not mentioned. If you don’t know them, worth listening…

    New Musik – Warp
    Yukihiro Takahashi – What? Me Worry?
    The Danse Society – Seduction
    John Cooper Clarke – Zip Style Method
    Captain Sensible – Women and Captains First

    And I’ll add to Blixa, Rob and Andrew’s support for Sad Lovers & Giants’ Epic Garden Music: brilliant record, amazing band.

  53. Missing Persons Spring Session M is criminally low. I’d rate it as #1. Thought it’d be top 25 at least. They truly are one of the most underrated bands of all time.

  54. How in the heck is Alan Parsons Project – Eye in the Sky not on this list, nor mentioned in any comments over the last 7 years?? Grammy nominated, platinum selling.

  55. Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska?

  56. also not including billy squier emotions in motion

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