# Best Pazz & Jop Crtics Poll Album of the '80s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pazz-jop-crtics-poll-album-of-the-80s/710946 "2015-01-26T20:40:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pazz-jop-crtics-poll-album-of-the-80s/710946/1 "2015-01-26T20:40:40Z")
A much better list than the '70s, my only complaint being the Traveling Wilburys beating out more deserving albums from Public Enemy, Sonic Youth and Midnight Oil. 1981 and 1989 both had ties for first, so there are 12 items on the list; in addition, _Thriller_ won for both '82 and '83, so for '83 I picked the 2nd place winner, _Murmur_. Pretty sure I know how the voting will go on this, but maybe I’ll be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pazz-jop-crtics-poll-album-of-the-80s/710946/2 "2015-01-26T20:47:34Z")
For me it’s between the Clash and the Pixies, and I went with the Clash. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pazz-jop-crtics-poll-album-of-the-80s/710946/3 "2015-01-26T20:56:11Z")
I ended up going with The Clash, too, though I could easily have picked at least 4 others. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pazz-jop-crtics-poll-album-of-the-80s/710946/4 "2015-01-26T23:23:21Z")
It was between Michael Jackson and U2, I was more in the mood for MJ today so he got my vote. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pazz-jop-crtics-poll-album-of-the-80s/710946/5 "2015-01-27T11:54:43Z")
Oh, what the hey: it’s not the best of these albums, but you can’t talk in your sleep if you can’t sleep. _Beauty and the Beat_ fits my mood at the moment, even if it’s really one of the weaker albums on this list. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pazz-jop-crtics-poll-album-of-the-80s/710946/6 "2015-01-27T15:29:49Z")
_ **Murmur** _, hands down. It was literally life-altering for me. Brought me to Athens. ---
**Author:** ![Eddie\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/22d042/32.png) [@Eddie\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eddie_F)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pazz-jop-crtics-poll-album-of-the-80s/710946/7 "2015-01-27T15:35:06Z")
Further proof that the eighties was quite possibly the best decade ever in terms of popular music. Anyway, I went with **Purple Rain** , but I could’ve voted for the majority of this list with a clear conscience. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2015, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pazz-jop-crtics-poll-album-of-the-80s/710946/8 "2015-01-28T06:41:28Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > _ **Murmur** _, hands down. It was literally life-altering for me. Brought me to Athens. This. (though I was only in Athens for one night) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pazz-jop-crtics-poll-album-of-the-80s/710946/9 "2015-01-28T06:43:17Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > This. > > (though I was only in Athens for one night) I was there for three of the best years of my life. 😃 I heard **Murmur** , and I had to make my way to the spot from whence this ethereal music emanated. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-pazz-jop-crtics-poll-album-of-the-80s/710946/10 "2015-01-28T08:39:30Z")
London Calling is the album that I associate with just about everything in the 80s.