A bit disappointed with the way some of the voting went - there were much better albums to choose from than Rumours and 21 in their respective decades - but this is what it comes down to. While I love Automatic for the People, from this list there’s really only one option in my mind: The Clash.
London Calling, here as well.
Yes to every word of this.
(Except the part about Automatic for the People, since the only R.E.M. album I have is a greatest-hits compilation, so I don’t know one R.E.M. album from another. But that’s not a criticism of the OP, that’s my own shortcoming. Anyway, London Calling it is, given the choices.)
I went with REM, though there were three very good choices. But they just edged out The Clash and Radiohead. Mostly because it’s the one that holds up best as an album.
I didn’t vote for it ( I think Remain in Light was my choice from that decade ), but Rumors really is a bit of a soft-rock masterpiece. Which may seem like an oxymoron :D, but really it is best in class relative to its mostly crappy competitors in the field of laid-back 1970’s California rock. Better that than The Eagles’ Hotel California any day. The Peter Green/Jeremy Spencer/Danny Kirwan FM remains the gold standard, but I actually can find something to like in most of its incarnations.
All that said London Calling crushes the opposition like little bugs.
The Clash gets my vote.
London Calling followed by Automatic for the People.
If it had been Sandinista or* Combat Rock*, the Clash would get my vote. As it is, I voted for REM.