# Do you know any good ‘Best 80s albums’ lists? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [June 8, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852 "2021-06-08T16:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/1 "2021-06-08T16:53:13Z")
I’ve had an urge to listen to pop/rock of the 80s. So far, I’ve listened to Songs From the Big Chair, Purple Rain, Synchronicity, and Born in the USA. The key is that the entire album has to be good, not just a one or two hit wonder with a lot of filler. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/2 "2021-06-08T17:09:17Z")
Are you looking to buy a CD or are you after a Spotify playlist? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/3 "2021-06-08T17:12:53Z")
Streaming but listening to the entire album. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/4 "2021-06-08T17:17:35Z")
Compilations are always going to be hit and miss, and your filler is someone else’s killer. For instance do you regard New Order’s Blue Monday as a song you want to listen to in an 80’s pop and rock compilation? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/5 "2021-06-08T17:26:40Z")
> **[100 Best Albums of the Eighties](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-albums-of-the-eighties-150477/)** > > From synth pop and rap to metal and funk, 100 best albums of the Eighties selected by the editors of Rolling Stone That’s from Rolling Stone’s 1989 magazine. It may be a good starting place (though I have no memory at all of #9. None. I am not sure I’ve ever heard of those people or the album or any of the songs on it. None. The rest of the top 20 seem like reasonable choices for a “best of” list) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/6 "2021-06-08T18:38:47Z")
Any list of the ‘80s best albums that doesn’t have The Clash’s _Combat Rock_ at the top of the list is suspect, at best, IMO; it’s the second best rock album of all time. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/7 "2021-06-08T19:50:08Z")
Maybe it’s just me, maybe I had to be older during Thatcher/Reagan, maybe I’m just an institutionalist, but The Clash have never really done it for me. I did enjoy Rock the Casbah, primarily because it was played all the time on MTV. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/8 "2021-06-08T20:25:17Z")
Ok, now you’ve done it! Listen to the whole album… https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLw8I74P--tlVmX53NXBA_YtzoovpSfdlU&wmode=transparent&rel=0&autohide=1&showinfo=1&enablejsapi=1 ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/9 "2021-06-08T21:01:21Z")
Guns N Roses–Appetite for Destruction Def Lepard—Hysteria George Michael–Faith ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/10 "2021-06-08T21:03:08Z")
Pitchfork published a Top 200 Albums of the '80s list in 2018: > **[The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s](https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-1980s/)** > > Kate Bush, N.W.A., Brian Eno, Madonna, Prince, and the other icons who defined a decade ---
**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:** [June 8, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/11 "2021-06-08T21:25:44Z")
I just don’t get _Combat Rock_. I’ll take any of the first three Clash albums over it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/12 "2021-06-09T08:53:45Z")
I am currently listening to every album on the [NME’s The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME%27s_The_500_Greatest_Albums_of_All_Time). It includes 3 of the Clash albums. _Combat Rock_ is the lowest ranked at 387. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/13 "2021-06-09T10:26:23Z")
NIN’s _Pretty Hate Machine_ came out at the very tail end of the '80s (October 1989), but I feel it at least deserves an honorable mention. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/14 "2021-06-09T11:11:47Z")
[Talking Heads - Remain In Light (Full Album)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f3zmJ9vFOU&list=PLx3C-F_vt3dzkfKeEzPmhRTKCct8KpfgU&index=3) ---
**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:** [June 9, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/15 "2021-06-09T14:21:27Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > It may be a good starting place (though I have no memory at all of #9. None. I am not sure I’ve ever heard of those people or the album or any of the songs on it. None. You mean Richard & Linda Thompson’s “Shoot Out The Lights”?. That’s a fantastic album and indeed one of best albums of the 80s. It wasn’t a mainstream hit album, that’s why you’ve probably never heard of it, but you should give it a listen. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/16 "2021-06-09T14:28:24Z")
You could do worse than the [list of albums nominated for Album of the Year Grammys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Album_of_the_Year#1980s), though it’s biased towards albums with a lot of mainstream commerical success (in the U.S.). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/17 "2021-06-09T15:52:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Any list of the ‘80s best albums that doesn’t have The Clash’s _Combat Rock_ at the top of the list is suspect, at best, IMO; it’s the second best rock album of all time. Any list that puts Combat Rock near the top probably was made from only watching MTV. It’s not even the best Clash album. And don’t believe the hype - that “the only band that matters” line is bullshit. Pretentious wankers. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/18 "2021-06-09T16:12:26Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@amarinth](#): > > > > It may be a good starting place (though I have no memory at all of #9. None. I am not sure I’ve ever heard of those people or the album or any of the songs on it. None. > > You mean Richard & Linda Thompson’s “Shoot Out The Lights”?. That’s a fantastic album and indeed one of best albums of the 80s. It wasn’t a mainstream hit album, that’s why you’ve probably never heard of it, but you should give it a listen. Agreed. I wouldn’t classify “Shoot Out The Lights” as a typical 80’s album, but it is without a doubt one of the best break-up albums around. (Better, IMHO, than Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours”.) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/19 "2021-06-09T21:05:13Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Maybe it’s just me, maybe I had to be older during Thatcher/Reagan, maybe I’m just an institutionalist, but The Clash have never really done it for me. I did enjoy Rock the Casbah, primarily because it was played all the time on MTV. I’d have to agree. Maybe it’s a time thing, but I find them underwhelming. Granted, Rolling Stone has weird favorites, but I don’t know and never have heard what’s so special about The Clash. MAny others do, so objectively there’s gotta be something to it. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852/20 "2021-06-09T21:34:24Z")
Thriller - Michael Jackson Pyromania - Def Lepard Back in Black - AC/DC Permanent Waves - Rush Moving Pictures - Rush [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-any-good-best-80s-albums-lists/943852.md?page=2)