The Top 20 albums of the 80s according to acclaimedmusic.net

There were better and more time typical 80s albums than these, but went for Stone Roses then. "Thriller" and "Purple Rain" were also great.

Hard to fathom that Closer and Appetite for Destruction occurred during the same decade.

In any case, for me it's a toss up between Psychocandy and Paul's Boutique

Oh, and having two Prince albums cited renders the whole thing abjectly moot.

Rong Waits alb, would have voted for Rain Dogs.

remain in light!

Paul's, though this is way better than the 90s list.

REM wins this but lots of worthy contenders here. Will be interested to see how Graceland does after the unexpected (to me) eruption of ILX love on the other thread.

Oh please -- Paul's Boutique completely trumps Murmur

Sign 'O' The Times or Remain in Light.

Unlike the 90s list, this one actually has my favourite album of the 80s, so it's Sign 'O' the Times, easily. Especially since the rest of the list is mostly boring rock. Apparently no great pop or dance albums were made in the 80s?

"boring rock"

Hard to choose. A lot of these were favorite albums for me at the time they were released. It's a good list.

Apparently no great pop or dance albums were made in the 80s?

I'd deem "Dare" or "Lexicon Of Love" as better than these, and I believe both were in the Top 40 of the 80s.

Apparently no great pop or dance albums were made in the 80s?

Don't fuckin' Prince and MJ satisfy that slackjawed herd?

This is fucking impossible.

Hard to fathom that Closer and Appetite for Destruction occurred during the same decade.

Ah, the birth of the boy band phenomenon.

Oh please -- Paul's Boutique completely trumps Murmur

― Alex in NYC, Sunday, May 17, 2009 10:29 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

Have never heard PB, feel free to mentally subtract my vote from REM's total if this is disqualificatory for you.

"disqualificatory"

Don't fuckin' Prince and MJ satisfy that slackjawed herd?

Prince and MJ come directly from disco and funk, what I meant is stuff like synth pop or electro, which to me define the 80s much more than some indie rock bands.

I mean, there are not one but two albums on the list by the Pixies. Besides indie hipsters, who has even heard of such a band?

lol indie hipsters

Okay, besides indie hipsters and lol indie hipsters, who has heard of such a band?

Not enough Bruce Springsteen or The Cramps for my taste. No Van Halen, Def Leppard, Cyndi Lauper, Butthole Surfers either. At least there is no Sting or Police, so I will be satisfied and vote for Doolittle, for no reason other than I'd rather listen to it right now than the others.

most people who go to my massive public college aspire to be "indie hipsters." not exactly a negligible sub-group anymore.

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No one. The Pixies have about the same profile as When People Were Shorter & Lived Near the Water or House of Large Sizes.

admittedly it is pretty odd that there are two albums on there by the pixies, though i don't know anything about "acclaimedmusic.net".

clearly murmur

Prince and MJ come directly from disco and funk,

B-b-b-b-b-b-b-but he's the "king of pop"!

Never trust self-appointed kings.

all these albums are basically fantastic

actually elizabeth taylor appointed him ;) (thanks trivial pursuit!)

(never trust kings appointed by elizabeth taylor)

1. Prince - Sign 'O' the Times
2. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
3. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
4. Pixies - Surfer Rosa
De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

i picked Remain in Light.

the only stuff i really don't see myself having any use for on this list is Back in Black and Appetite for Destruction.

but i gotta be honest, It Takes a Nation... and Paul's Boutique usually give me a headache.

If I'm being honest, my top five would have to be Public Enemy, Sonic Youth, JAMC and the two Prince albums. Too tough to narrow it down from there.

Murmur or Graceland, Murmur or Graceland....fuck.

Daydream Nation

Thriller

"what I meant is stuff like synth pop or electro, which to me define the 80s much more than some indie rock bands."

Sound wise, I get what you are saying, but how many of those groups really were somewhat popular album artists outside maybe New Order or Depeche Mode?

"disqualificatory"

Crap, you're right, I just looked this up and it's not a word! I've been saying this my whole life. So what do you say in this situation, just "disqualifying?"

Yep.

some of the best albums of all time on that list (and i'm not talking about fucking 'thriller', 'doolittle' or 'paul's boutique').

HELL YEAH:

1. Prince Sign 'O' the Times
2. The Smiths The Queen Is Dead
3. Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
4. The Stone Roses The Stone Roses
5. De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising
6. Talking Heads Remain in Light
7. Michael Jackson Thriller
8. Pixies Doolittle
9. Prince and The Revolution Purple Rain
10. Paul Simon Graceland
11. Tom Waits Swordfishtrombones

YEAH, WHATEVER:

Joy Division Closer
R.E.M. Murmur
Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction
The Jesus and Mary Chain Psychocandy

CHRIST, NO:

U2 The Joshua Tree

NEVER HEARD THEM:

Sonic Youth Daydream Nation
Pixies Surfer Rosa
AC/DC Back in Black
Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique

21. Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man

dude, you rank doolittle but you've never heard surfer rosa??! you must amend that

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Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Prince and MJ come directly from disco and funk, what I meant is stuff like synth pop or electro, which to me define the 80s much more than some indie rock bands.
― Tuomas, Sunday, May 17, 2009 7:17 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I mean, there are not one but two albums on the list by the Pixies. Besides indie hipsters, who has even heard of such a band?
― Tuomas, Sunday, May 17, 2009 7:21 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark

Nowhere does it state that this is a list of the most definitive 80's albums. And since when does claiming ignorance make an album unnoteworthy? There's 2 Pixies albums in that list because they're both great albums, an opinion which is apparently shared by a lot of rock crits and media publications based on these results.

Sound wise, I get what you are saying, but how many of those groups really were somewhat popular album artists outside maybe New Order or Depeche Mode?

I would say there were some, but few managed to build up a lasting career. Yet, "Lexicon Of Love", "Dare" and "Rio" are typical examples of good albums within this genre, and also albums that have proved to have a lasting appeal. Two of them are both top 100 items in Acclaimed Music's 80s list, while Duran Duran are also in the overall Top 1000 albums.

I would also say that Ultravox and OMD released a handful each of early 80s albums that held up nicely.

Besides New Order and Depeche Mode, there were many other synth pop/new wave/dance acts that released one or more great albums during the 80s: Yello, Kraftwerk, Neneh Cherry, Pet Shop Boys, Marc Almond, Grace Jones, Vangelis...

Nowhere does it state that this is a list of the most definitive 80's albums.

No, but it does claim to be a list of 20 best albums of the 1980s, period, whereas in reality it's just a list of the best rock albums with a few token non-rock acts.

It is actually a list based upon all critics lists ever made, and most critics are more into rock than pop (plus they were to an even bigger extent in the 80s), so this is why it looks like it does. Most of the names you mention are represented in the 80s list, just not in the top 20.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Michael Jackson Thriller 1
Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction 1

This makes me so, so, so, so happy.