Top 12 albums that defined the '80s

[Anguyen92]

Not really one for thinking too much about what would "define" the 80s, but I'll post my top 12 of the 80s. I suppose in some ways this list does do a good job of defining the 80s for me, as it includes some pretty great albums in genres that were very prominent in the 80s such as metal, hard rock and pop, plus the early stages of prog metal and American punk rock.

1. Metallica - ...And Justice for All
2. Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason
3. The Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky
4. Rush - Permanent Waves
5. Iron Maiden - Powerslave
6. Metallica - Master of Puppets
7. R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant
8. Queensr˙che - Operation: Mindcrime
9. Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
10. Michael Jackson - Thriller
11. Bad Religion - Suffer
12. Guns n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

So riddle me this, if an album, like Permanent Waves, was made in late 1979 and released on the 1st official day of 1980, how does it counts as an 80s album, just to clarify?

[King Postwhore]

In no order,

1.  Yes -- 90125.  Did any album in 1983 sound like this one?  Prog that was accessible?  The real winner was Trevor Horn.  This cemented him as a legit producer.  This album still sounds ahead of it's time today.

2.  AC/DC -- Back in Black -- This album to this day makes me want to crack a beer open and get 20 buds together to drunkenly sing  to every song on this album.  What a way to redefine themselves after losing their lead singer.

3.  Rush -- Power Windows -- Bright, uplifting, passionate and a perfect mix of sound and instruments. Producer Peter Collins told Neil Peart he could make his drums sound 100% better.  Neil scoffed but not after he heard the final result   They aimed high and hit a bullseye.

4.  U2 -- The Joshua Tree --- A band on the brink of superstardom mixes Americana in their album to have so many songs played on the radio and  on so many different radio formats.  With Or Without You was the first single.  When that became a hit on a song that is not your normal lead single, fireworks could and did happen.

5.  Police -- Synchronicity  -- A band on the verge of self destructing pulls out their most polished album that was a new direction for a band on the verge of moving to stadiums.  Never releasing another studio album, they left us wanting more.

6.  Journey -- Escape --  A change of a main writer and keyboard player, Journey went on to write their best album that again transcended radio formats at the time to have all the girls melt with the lyrics and the guys liking that they could still rock.

7.  Peter Gabriel -- So -- How does a musician put out music, with traditional world music and technically so advanced and intricate that is transcends to sell 5 times platinum?!  Gabriel influenced so many with his music and his videos that in the 80's worked like peanut butter and jelly.

8.  Bryan Adams -- Reckless  --  12 million copies wordwide should say enough.  Straight forward rock, catchy choruses and rock anthems that put Bryan Addams in another hemisphere.

9.  Def Leppard -- Pyromania -- Taking it to the next level with great writing, production and videos to match these rocking, anthemic tunes,  Def Leppard took storm of America waving their British underwear and songs for all to see.

10.  Bon Jovi -- Slippery When Wet -- A touch of Desmond Child co writing with this great duo of Jon Bon Jovi and Ritchie Sambora and you get foot stomping, hard rocking anthems that, to this day I get caught singing and playing air drums and air guitar in my car.

11.  Paul Simon -- Graceland -- After So, this album again opened our eyes (and ears) to world music.  Simon put his balls on the line recording in South Africa during Apartheid and during a cultural boycott with African musicians and came up with gold or maybe Platinum.....5 times over.

12.  Duran Duran -- Rio -- Boy band?  Maybe, Damn good musicians?  You bet.  This album and videos blew open their way to stardom.  This lead the way for the New Romanticism music scene into America.  Thank you MTV for exposing us to this great album.

Just missed the list,

VH -- 5150
Queenryche -- OM
Asia -- Asia
INXS -- Kick
Iron Maiden -- Piece Of Mind

[TAC]

Unfortunately, I could never make a list like this. My listening was pretty close minded. I could not include anything that was not rock or metal.

[King Postwhore]

Well If I was to do my favorite albums from the 80's list it would be different.

[ariich]

Not really one for thinking too much about what would "define" the 80s, but I'll post my top 12 of the 80s. I suppose in some ways this list does do a good job of defining the 80s for me, as it includes some pretty great albums in genres that were very prominent in the 80s such as metal, hard rock and pop, plus the early stages of prog metal and American punk rock.

1. Metallica - ...And Justice for All
2. Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason
3. The Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky
4. Rush - Permanent Waves
5. Iron Maiden - Powerslave
6. Metallica - Master of Puppets
7. R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant
8. Queensr˙che - Operation: Mindcrime
9. Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
10. Michael Jackson - Thriller
11. Bad Religion - Suffer
12. Guns n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

So riddle me this, if an album, like Permanent Waves, was made in late 1979 and released on the 1st official day of 1980, how does it counts as an 80s album, just to clarify?

I'm going by release year, as I have no idea exactly when or over how long different albums were written and recorded.

[jingle.boy]

Not really one for thinking too much about what would "define" the 80s, but I'll post my top 12 of the 80s. I suppose in some ways this list does do a good job of defining the 80s for me, as it includes some pretty great albums in genres that were very prominent in the 80s such as metal, hard rock and pop, plus the early stages of prog metal and American punk rock.

1. Metallica - ...And Justice for All
2. Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse of Reason
3. The Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky
4. Rush - Permanent Waves
5. Iron Maiden - Powerslave
6. Metallica - Master of Puppets
7. R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant
8. Queensr˙che - Operation: Mindcrime
9. Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
10. Michael Jackson - Thriller
11. Bad Religion - Suffer
12. Guns n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

So riddle me this, if an album, like Permanent Waves, was made in late 1979 and released on the 1st official day of 1980, how does it counts as an 80s album, just to clarify?

I'm going by release year, as I have no idea exactly when or over how long different albums were written and recorded.

Exactly... it was released in the 1980s, so it's an 80s album.  What's so hard to grasp?

[bosk1]

Unfortunately, I could never make a list like this. My listening was pretty close minded. I could not include anything that was not rock or metal.

That's fine.  I would love to see a list from your perspective.

[TAC]

In my opinion, the 12 most important albums of 80's ROCK AND METAL are:
Chronologically:

AC/DC-Back In Black
Judas Priest-British Steel
Ozzy Osbourne-Blizzard Of Ozz
Rush-Moving Pictures
Iron Maiden-The Number Of The Beast
Metallica- Kill 'Em All
Def Leppard-Pyromania
Slayer-Reign In Blood
Bon Jovi-Slippery When Wet
Guns n Roses-Appetite For Destruction
Helloween-Keeper Of The Seven Keys
Queensryche-Operation:Mindcrime
 
Not all of these are my favorites, but I feel all were vitally important to their own particular metal genres. Obviously the early 80's albums are bunched up.

[hefdaddy42]

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

lol