# Best 80s records by 60s-70s rock bands? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 30, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068 "2017-08-30T00:43:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/41 "2017-08-30T12:43:29Z")
I rather liked… “Perfect Strangers” by the Mach 2 edition of Deep Purple “Long Distance Voyager” by the Moody Blues “Emerson, Lake and Powell” ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/42 "2017-08-30T13:42:11Z")
Alan Parsons Project made their debut in the 70s but put out a string of phenomenal albums in the 1980s: Turn of a Friendly Card, Ammonia Avenue, and Gaudi in particular were strong offerings. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/43 "2017-08-30T14:04:05Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Richard and Linda Thompson’s final album together, _Shoot Out The Lights_. Oh, good one. A masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/44 "2017-08-30T16:09:35Z")
There are two: “Brian Wilson” from 1987, his first solo LP; and A Capella, by Todd Rundgren, which has only synthesized and sampled sounds of his voice. To my ears they are the only ones who made it from the 60s to the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/45 "2017-08-30T16:16:39Z")
ELO had their heyday in the seventies, but I think of \*Time \*(1981) as their masterpiece, and _Secret Messages_ (1983) and _Balance of Power_ (1986) as excellent albums as well. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2017, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/46 "2017-09-01T11:28:39Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > “Perfect Strangers” by the Mach 2 edition of Deep Purple Mk II. Anyway, Fleetwood Mac’s [Tango in the Night](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tango_in_the_Night) was hugely successful, spawning four hit singles and is their second best selling album to date. One can argue whether it’s truly a Fleetwood Mac album or an album by Lindsey Buckingham, ft. Fleetwood, McVie, McVie and Nicks. I still think it holds up pretty well, as compared to a lot of pop music from the era that sound really dated. ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/47 "2017-09-02T01:05:58Z")
Pink Floyd’s _The Final Cut_ was a great album. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/48 "2017-09-02T01:21:03Z")
I wouldn’t say it lives up to past material, but for me, the Four Tops’ Invincible(1988) is just so cool. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/49 "2017-09-02T01:21:52Z")
does starship who started as Jefferson airplane count? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/50 "2017-09-02T02:30:49Z")
Bob Seger started out in the 60s and was doing his best work in the 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/51 "2017-09-02T10:50:30Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > does starship who started as Jefferson airplane count? The fact that you feel the need to ask this question scares me a bit 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/52 "2017-09-02T16:00:29Z")
1984 by Van Halen 90125 by Yes Numbers were popular in the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/53 "2017-09-02T19:18:32Z")
> [@Reddy\_Mercury](#): > > The 80s are generally considered a time when many rock bands who originated in the 1960s or 1970s lost the plot and put out subpar material. > > What are some 80s records by 60s/70s bands that actually live up to the band’s past work? “Records” meaning individual songs or albums? CSNY’s song \*Wasted on the Way \* from their 1982 album “Daylight Again” hit number 9 on Billboard. This Graham Nash song is at or near the level of music quality the group put out in the 60’s and 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Reddy\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/54 "2017-09-02T19:24:55Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > “Records” meaning individual songs or albums? > > CSNY’s song \*Wasted on the Way \* from their 1982 album “Daylight Again” hit number 9 on Billboard. This Graham Nash song is at or near the level of music quality the group put out in the 60’s and 70’s. Albums is what I intended. But thanks for the song. A little off-topic but I soo wish Led Zeppelin had made even just ONE 80s record. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/55 "2017-09-02T19:25:43Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > As for the Stones … none of the three albums worth mentioning at all were close to their “best work”: I find Tattoo You (1981) overrated; Steel Wheels (1989) was a happy surprise, but no great shakes. That leaves Emotional Rescue (1980), which I really like – but it barely fits your criteria. > > I think the Kinks’ Word of Mouth (1984) comes closer to what the OP is after. The Stones were putting out some good music in the 80’s. Maybe the albums as a whole weren’t great, but “Mixed Emotions”, “Waiting on a Friend”, “Start Me Up” and a few others were songs that at least showed they could still write quality material. ---
**Author:** ![Reddy\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/56 "2017-09-02T19:37:32Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > The Stones were putting out some good music in the 80’s. Maybe the albums as a whole weren’t great, but “Mixed Emotions”, “Waiting on a Friend”, “Start Me Up” and a few others were songs that at least showed they could still write quality material. I agree, the only Stones album I don’t like from the 80s is Emotional Rescue. Waiting on a Friend is actually a 70s song you know. The song was recorded in 1972 during the Goat’s Head Soup sessions; Jagger only added vocals to it in 1981. Look up an instrumental demo - it’s the same as the released version instrumentally. Mick Taylor plays on it. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/57 "2017-09-02T21:21:34Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > The Stones were putting out some good music in the 80’s. Maybe the albums as a whole weren’t great, but “Mixed Emotions”, “Waiting on a Friend”, “Start Me Up” and a few others were songs that at least showed they could still write quality material. I agree (though, note that Start Me Up was written and mostly recorded in 1978, and Waiting… was from the 70s, as has been noted). But this is still small potatoes compared to their 1965-72 stuff. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/58 "2017-09-02T21:54:04Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Rush put out Power Windows, Permanent Waves, Grace Under Pressure, Signals, Exit…Stage Left, and A Show of Hands in the 1980’s. Others too, but not as strong as these. I think Roger Waters’ The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking is his masterpiece, that came out in 1984. Both Rush and Pink Floyd were around in the 60’s in one form or another. Moving Pictures wasn’t as strong as the titles you mentioned? I think it’s one of their very best albums with tons of strong songs. Signals was also very good, and really the last Rush album I liked as they transitioned to what to me sounded like a very clinical sound that I didn’t care for. Dammit Alex and your GK amps! > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I have one more to add. Neil Young’s eighties albums were a string of erratic and strange affairs, culminating in being sued by his own label (David) Geffen for being uncommercial, but he returned to form with one of his classic albums “ Freedom“ in 1989, which also included the biggest hit of his later career, “Rockin’ In The Free World“. I always had a soft spot for “Mansion On The Hill” as well. > [@SykoSkotty](#): > > 1981 = Moving Pictures, the best of the bunch. Ninja’d! > [@breezman](#): > > Pink Floyd’s _The Final Cut_ was a great album. If a bit pretentious and overwrought. Roger dominated that entire album, it was really a Gilmour and Waters record…not really a Pink Floyd one. Still, a great headphone album with all the Floydian sound effects. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/59 "2017-09-02T23:58:56Z")
Ooh, I’ve got a good one. Wire were best known for spiky minimalist late 70s art-punk blasts like “12XU”, but spent the 80s fizzling into irrelevance - until 1988’s _A Bell Is A Cup Until It Is Struck_, which was a kind of spiky lush dream-pop, and one of the best received albums of their career. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068/60 "2017-09-03T00:35:15Z")
I get to be the one who brings up Van Morrison! So, in 1967 he recorded _Astral Weeks_, widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. Not really Rock & Roll; more Jazz Mysticism. In the 70s he had many strong albums, including [ul] [li]_Moondance_[/li][li]_Tupelo Honey_ [/li][li]_Saint Dominic’s Preview_[/li][li]_Veedon Fleece_[/li][li]_Wavelength_[/li][li]_Into the Music_[/ul][/li] In the 80s, he put out a few stink-bombs (just like he did in the 70s - _Hard Nose the Highway_, anyone?), but he also released some very good CDs: [ul] [li]_Beautiful Vision_[/li][li]_No Guru, No Method, No Teacher_[/li][li]_Irish Heartbeat_ (with the Chieftans)[/li]_Avalon Sunset_[/ul] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-80s-records-by-60s-70s-rock-bands/795068.md?page=4)