I'll have to think about this. Albums that defined the 80s for me - pretty much the soundtrack to my youth then and no crappy pop music - it just didn't exist for me
.
but 12 isn't anywhere near enough...
In no particular order:
Operation: mindcrime - with I&W my most played album. Perfection.
Iron Maiden - Killers - Maiden ruled the 80s and this was the first album I heard by them. Still their best for me.
Bon Jovi - New Jersey - Slippery was obviously huge but this follow up was better in every way. There is a confidence on this album they hadn't had up until then, the confidence that comes with selling a shitload of albums and touring to millions.
Vinnie Moore - Mind's Eye - My most played shred album, but it's much more than that. With the likes of Satch and Vai instrumental guitar became mainstream. Pretty unthinkable these days
Vinnie Vincent - Invasion - if the 80s were over the top then this album summed that up. Everything is OTT but the guitars even more so. vinnie saved KISS, was fired, came out with his own band that was signed with a huge advance, was fired from his own band...
Dokken - Back For The Attack - a great melodic rock album with George Lynch at his best.
Yngwie J Malmsteen's Rising Force - S/T. This is one of those albums that changed the course of my listening and made me a huge fan of the guitar and even nudged me towards listening to some classical music. The main reason I became such a fan of instrumental guitar. Mike Varney should have sent me a personal thank you for keeping his Shrapnel label going.
Y&T - Mean Streak - Just a great 80s rock album. I played the crap out of this.
WASP - S/T - another album that couldn' t have come from any other decade.
Keel - 1987 - not a well-known or particularly well regarded album but it did it for me. Big guitars, big vocals, big choruses and big hair. The 80s
Whitesnake - 1987 - another album that was everywhere back in the day.
Dream Theater - WDADU - Another one of those standout moments where I knew I was hearing something special.
There were hundreds of others that were huge for me - Rush, Marillion, Magnum, Tesla, Cinderella, Winger, Europe, G'n'R before I went off them, Gary Moore, T-Mac, Jason Becker, Steve Vai, Scorpions, Vain, Vicious rumors, KISS (still great after the make up came off), Judas Priest, Poison, Alice Cooper, Saxon, Motorhead, AC/DC, Def Leppard (some of us were there from the 1st album), David Lee Roth and VH, Giant, Motley Crue, Ratt, so many.
Ahh they were the days.