Top 12 albums that defined the '80s

[BlobVanDam]

This would take some time, but any such list must include Thriller or it is invalid.

I couldn't write a definitive list, but this much is a certainty.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Gonna sleep on it. But Michael Jackson will NOT be on it!

Winger will be, though.

[ariich]

This would take some time, but any such list must include Thriller or it is invalid.

Equally, any such list must NOT include Y&T.

So worst of all is surely any list that places Y&T above Thriller..?

[hefdaddy42]

This would take some time, but any such list must include Thriller or it is invalid.

Equally, any such list must NOT include Y&T.

So worst of all is surely any list that places Y&T above Thriller..?

Indeed.  But surely such a list doesn't exist.

*looks back at OP*

Dear Lord in Heaven.

[TAC]

Gonna sleep on it. But Michael Jackson will NOT be on it!

Winger will be, though.

Well if the list was the 12 mostdisappointingsuckassfuckingqueerwsteoftalentuselesspieceofshit albums of the 80's, then yes, it would be.

[jingle.boy]

Gonna sleep on it. But Michael Jackson will NOT be on it!

Winger will be, though.

Well if the list was the 12 mostdisappointingsuckassfuckingqueerwsteoftalentuselesspieceofshit albums of the 80's, then yes, it would be.

Point to where Kip touched you Tim.   

[Zydar]

 

What are you implying, TAC?

[BlobVanDam]

Gonna sleep on it. But Michael Jackson will NOT be on it!

Winger will be, though.

Well if the list was the 12 mostdisappointingsuckassfuckingqueerwsteoftalentuselesspieceofshit albums of the 80's, then yes, it would be.

Point to where Kip touched you Tim.   

And he was only seventeen!

[Kwyjibo]

Without mentioning Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms this thread so far is invalid. 

[hefdaddy42]

One thing that is hard for me is using albums to define the 80s in the first place.  While there is no doubt in my mind that some of the greatest albums of all time were released during this time, I normally think of singles when I think of the 80s, not albums. 

[Evermind]

Well, Money for Nothing was kind of a hit single, if I recall correctly. And anyway, Brothers in Arms sold a hell lot of copies, so yep, needs to be in the list for sure.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Gonna sleep on it. But Michael Jackson will NOT be on it!

Winger will be, though.

Well if the list was the 12 mostdisappointingsuckassfuckingqueerwsteoftalentuselesspieceofshit albums of the 80's, then yes, it would be.

Point to where Kip touched you Tim.   

[King Postwhore]

I still haven't got that answer from Tim.


Get him an Alice Cooper doll to help!

[ariich]

Without mentioning Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms this thread so far is invalid. 

Very narrowly missed out on my list.

[jingle.boy]

Without mentioning Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms this thread so far is invalid. 

Very narrowly missed out on my list.

Ditto.

[dparrott]

Duran Duran RIO!!!  If y'all still haven't recognized the greatness that is John Taylor, then you're missing out.

Fear Of A Black Planet?  That was 1990.  Do you mean Nation Of Millions?

Bugs Bunny ani!

[King Postwhore]

Duran Duran RIO!!!  If y'all still haven't recognized the greatness that is John Taylor, then you're missing out.

Fear Of A Black Planet?  That was 1990.  Do you mean Nation Of Millions?

Bugs Bunny ani!

Rio was a bass masterpiece of an album.  John Taylor is a killer bass player.

[TAC]

Deleted

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

My personal "defined the 80's for me" list has elements of albums I grew up on and albums that defined it for me after the 80's were over and I got more heavily into music:

1. Whitesnake – s/t
1. GnR – Appetite
2. Poison – Look What the Cat Dragged In
3. Quiet Riot – Metal Health
4. Van Halen – 1984
5. Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet
6. Metallica – Master of Puppets
7. Kiss – Animalize
8. Dokken – Under Lock and Key
9. Enuff z'Nuff – Enuff z'Nuff
10. Prince – Purple Rain soundtrack
11. Def Leppard – Hysteria
12. David Lee Roth – Eat Em and Smile

Whitesnake s/t and Appetite for Destruction will always tie for number 1.  Others include the Miami Vice Soundtrack, the Top Gun Soundtrack, and albums from AC/DC, Cheap Trick, Warrant, Night Ranger, the Cult, Mr. Big, Joe Satriani, and countless others.

[dparrott]

Buckner & Garcia - Pac-Man Fever.   My first album.

[bosk1]

Funny thing about the way my mind works.  I graduated HS in '88 and then went off into the military.  Seems like a LOT of good '80s music came out in '89 while I was overseas in Okinawa.  But since my life had changed so drastically since high school and was in such a different phase, I subconsciously often do not attribute that music to the '80s even though it was. 

Buckner & Garcia - Pac-Man Fever.   My first album.

 

[RoeDent]

Don't know how qualified I am to talk about this, but my favourite 80s album is The Seeds of Love by Tears for Fears. But I can't really say it "defined" the 80s as it only came out in 1989. Which, as it happens, was the year I was born.

Also, the opening exchange between Zook and Bosk has me in stitches. 

[Dream Team]

Don't really see the point of commending a hard rock band for being as intentionally commercial as they possibly can (speaking of Hysteria). I liked DL up til that point.

[hefdaddy42]

Not sure I understand the criticism.

[KevShmev]

Michael Jackson - Thriller
U2 - The Joshua Tree
The Police - Synchronicity
Price and the Revolution - Purple Rain
Def Leppard - Hysteria
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
INXS - Kick
AC/DC - Back in Black
Rush - Moving Pictures (homer pick )
Van Halen - 1984
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction (overrated as hell, but its impact cannot be denied)
Huey Lewis and the News - Sports

As far as the Rock (not pop, and not metal) genre goes, this is as close to 'spot on' as this thread is going to get.  Perhaps I'd swap Kick and Sports for something else.  Contenders would be:

Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA
 

Dang, I forgot about Born in the U.S.A.  That'd have to be in there somewhere.

This would take some time, but any such list must include Thriller or it is invalid.

Equally, any such list must NOT include Y&T.

QFT.

Thriller is the most popular album ever, and, personal opinion aside, anyone who doesn't think it defined the 80s is smoking something really good stuff...or bad stuff.

[Mosh]

Fear Of A Black Planet?  That was 1990.  Do you mean Nation Of Millions?

ahhh could've sworn that was 1989. Replace that with Appetite then.

[bl5150]

Thriller is the most popular album ever, and, personal opinion aside, anyone who doesn't think it defined the 80s is smoking something really good stuff...or bad stuff.

I think a number of us have listed a few albums that defined the 80's for us ..............but yes , if I were to list albums that defined the times for me regardless of whether I liked the music or not it might include stuff like Pet Shop Boys, Rick Astley and all sorts of shite.   I did own Thriller but I bought it mostly because EVH played on Beat It 

As noted above by more than one , Brothers In Arms would be very close to a mention in my list.

[jingle.boy]

This would take some time, but any such list must include Thriller or it is invalid.

Equally, any such list must NOT include Y&T.

QFT.

Thriller is the most popular album ever, and, personal opinion aside, anyone who doesn't think it defined the 80s is smoking something really good stuff...or bad stuff.

Re-read his statement Kev - Hef is saying that the list MUST include Thriller, and giving the gears to Bosk for including Y&T over it.

[gazinwales]

Metallica - Ride The Lightning - the heaviest album I'd ever heard crushing riffs and so fast
Black Sabbath -  Live Evil - my introduction to Sabbath
Motley Crue - Shout At The Devil - I bought this LP shared it around at school, though they were chicks for a while
Manowar - Battle Hymns - someone taped this for me, had no idea about the songs titles or the image
Kiss - Unmasked introduced me to Kiss, a kid in my block was a massive fan and soon after I heard them so was I
Rush - Grace Under Pressure - bought this on cassette, no lyric sheet, so I went to the record store and stole the lyrics from inside the LP
Dream Theater - When Dream and Day Unite - a real game changer, never quite heard anything else like it
Def Leppard - Hysteria -  this was all over TV and radio, I couldn't escape them, it was perfect pop hard rock
Vinne Moore - Mind's Eye - I'd just started playing guitar and this album for me defined the great shredders of the era
Helloween - Keeper of the & Keys I & II - 'speed' metal as it was that became power metal at it's finest, nothing comes close to these albums
Bon Jovi - 7800 Degrees Fahrenheit - before Slippery made them huge, this one went under the radar and for me it just as good

[TAC]

Helloween - Keeper of the & Keys I & II - 'speed' metal as it was that became power metal at it's finest, nothing comes close to these albums

Amen, brother!

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Mind's Eye is awesome.

[Fluffy Lothario]

Without mentioning Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms this thread so far is invalid. 

I think I read once that this was the first album to sell a million CDs.

[chaossystem]

In Alphabetical Order:

1) Black Sabbath-Heaven and Hell

2) Blue Oyster Cult-Cultorsaurus Erectus

3) Dio-Holy Diver

4) Genesis-Duke

5) Iron Maiden-Piece of Mind

6) Kansas-In the Spirit of Things

7) Metallica-...And Justice for All

8) Alan Parsons Project-Eye in the Sky

9) Pink Floyd-Momentary Lapse of Reason

10) Queensryche-Operation:MindCrime

11) Rush-Moving Pictures

12) Yes-90125

[jingle.boy]

Guess it's easy to misread the post as "Top 58 albums that defined the 80s".

[Outcrier]

Guess it's easy to misread the post as "Top 58 albums that defined the 80s".

Guess it's easy to misread the entire thread as "Top Rock albums that defined the 80s"