The Top Ten Albums of the 1980s

Same rules apply as the 1970s list: one album per artist unless it cannot be avoided, and of course, all selections are strictly opinion. Now, the list:

10. AC/DC: Back in Black
AC/DC is famous as a band that really only has one trick up its sleeve. Well here was where that trick was at its best. After the death of Bon Scott, few would have expected the band to rebound in such a way. Brian Johnson's voice was fresh on Back in Black, and hadn't yet devolved into the frightening-sounding caricature it would later become.
 Essential tracks: ''Hell's Bells, " "Shoot to Thrill."

9. Metallica: Ride the Lightning
In the decade in which metal as we know it was largely invented, it seems necessary to give a spot to the decade's most influential, and best, metal band. And though many prefer Master of Puppets, I believe Ride the Lightning was the band's best achievement; their sound was never fresher, or heavier, than it was here.
Essential tracks: "Fade to Black," "For Whom the Ben Tolls."

8. David Bowie: Let's Dance
This is far from Bowie's best--he was on an all-time roll in the mid-'70s--but when Bowie decided to try his hand at Nile Rogers-produced dance music, there was no way it couldn't work. And while Let's Dance has some clunkers, it's also home to some of Bowie's best-ever songs, which is really saying something.
Essential tracks: "Let's Dance," "Modern Love."

7. REM: Document
REM's fifth album was the first one that set them on the path to greatness; everything that people love about this band today--the lyrics, the jangly guitars, the band's songwriting prowess--can first be traced back to this album.
Essential tracks: "The One I Love," "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)."

6. Tears for Fears: Songs from the Big Chair
The most '80s-sounding album ever is also one of the decade's best efforts. if it weren't for the fact that it really only has six worthwhile songs--subtracting "Broken," which is one minute long, and "Listen," which is an eight-minute sound collage--this album would rank much higher. No other album captured so perfectly the sound of a decade, and Big Chair also contained some of its best songs, while perfectly capturing the excesses and flaws of the '80s as well: just look at that album cover.
Essential tracks: "Head over Heels," "Everybody Wants to Rule the World."

5. Michael Jackson: Thriller
Come on. There's no way a top '80s albums list could leave this one off. The album that basically invented modern pop music as we know it, Thriller catapulted Michael Jackson, who was still probably best known as the 5-year-old singer from the Jackson 5, to a level of superstardom that no one in music has matched since. Quincy Jones' production is excellent here too.
Essential tracks: "Billie Jean," "P.Y.T."

4. U2: The Joshua Tree
This was before Bono really became Bono, and before a million Coldplays and Travises started mimicking U2's style, making it ubiquitous and bland. This was when U2 was writing killer songs like "With or Without You," and aided by Brian Eno's production, became the rock stars we know them as today. U2 wouldn't be able to charge $300 a ticket in 2014 without an album as good as this in their past; after all, it's not like people go to their shows to hear "Vertigo."
Essential tracks: "With or Without You," "Where the Streets Have No Name."

3. Joy Division: Closer
After a crucial member of a band dies early, that band's last album becomes overrated in retrospect in many cases. This is not one of those cases. Closer is a brooding, dreary masterpiece, as well as the most depressing album ever to make such heavy use of synths. But when the remaining members of Joy Division formed New Order after Ian Curtis' death, it wasn't the songwriting that was missing; it was his lyrics, which become even more haunting knowing now what was soon to happen to him.
Essential tracks: "Isolation," "Heart and Soul."

2. The Clash: London Calling
OK, OK, so maybe this is cheating a little bit. After all, London Calling was actually released in the UK in late December of 1979. But it was released in the US in 1980, and most people heard and enjoyed it in the '80s, so I decided to include it here. (And hey, it's not that easy to find top albums from the '80s. I needed this). The Clash were one of the earliest punk bands, and yet many will argue that London Calling isn't a punk album at all. And you know what? They'd be right. But here's the thing: it's better for it. After all, the mid-'70s incarnation of The Clash never wrote a song as good as "Train in Vain." Or "London Calling," which has survived being included in seemingly every movie or TV show where a character goes to London. The Clash needed to move beyond punk to string together an album as good as this extra-long masterpiece.
Essential tracks: "Train in Vain," "London Calling."

1. The Smiths: Meat Is Murder
It's my belief that no band sums up the '80s quite as well as The Smiths. The songwriting was incredible, but the production decisions would only have occurred in the '80s, and really bring some of the songs down. (Really, does there need to be a mandolin in "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want?" Really?). But that's all OK, because a vocalist like Morrissey only comes along once in a decade. Ditto for a pair of songwriters like Morrissey and Johnny Marr. And this album, which kicks off with their best song, is their high point, and consequently, the high point of the decade.
Essential tracks: "The Headmaster Ritual," "How Soon Is Now?"

The Top 10 Albums of the 1970s

This is strictly opinion, of course. I should note that I tried to mainly keep it to one album per artist, unless they had two that just had to be on the list. And the '70s were home to many of the greatest albums of all time, which means plenty of all-time classics will be sadly unrepresented on this list. But let's get started:

10.Elvis Costello: Armed Forces
While My Aim Is True sounds like the '50s, Armed Forces is where Elvis Costello really developed and grew into his own signature sound. I actually prefer the overall sound of this one over My Aim Is True; that being said, it just doesn't stack up with it on a track-by-track basis. Still a classic, though.
Essential tracks: "Accidents will Happen," "Goon Squad,"

9.Marvin Gaye: What's Going On
For the most part, disco, funk, and soul (three of the premier genres of the '70s, tended to be singles-based and were rarely able to string together great full albums, This is the exception. Here, Marvin Gaye really had something to say (rhyme unintentional, I swear), and with that voice, the world was listening.
Essential tracks: "Mercy Mercy Me," "What's Going On."

8. Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division served as the precursor to many of the great '80s alternative groups (and arguably invented alternative music itself) by proving here that music could be dance-y and mopey at the same time. This album is notable in how unique it was; nobody sounded like these guys in 1979.
Essential tracks: "Shadowplay, ""She's Lost Control. "

7. Blondie: Parallel Lines
there is a tendency to dismiss Blondie that existed both then and now,and it exists because the group decided to name themselves Blondie, a mistake which would have really hurt their chances of being then seriously - if their music didn't sound as good as this, that B. A phenomenal power-pop masterpiece, Parallel Lines has also aged remarkably well.
Essential tracks: "One Way or Another," "Heart of Glass."

6. Boston: Boston
This album sold very well, but for some reason, perhaps because of the nature of its recording, Boston is not afforded the respect that most of the other albums on this list receive now, But it should: This album is classic cock in at its absolute peak, from the soaring vocals of Brad Delp to the harmonized guitars. And besides, who doesn't love them some "More Than a Feeling?"
Essential tracks: "Peace of Mind," "More Than a Feeling"

5. Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
Never has a band in such turmoil came off sounding so good. By this point each member of Fleetwood Mac had basically slept with all the others, but it didn't matter when they got to the recording studio. Lindsey Buckingham's ability to write quality songs is first-rate, and that was on full display here. A doesn't hurt that this album contains my all-time favorite song,"Go Your Own Way."
Essential tracks: "Go Your Own Way," "The Chain. "

4. Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV
An album that has been in the news recently thanks to a (very timely) lawsuit against "Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin IV has often been overshadowed - that is, until people listen to it again, and they forget all about everything surrounding it,and just listen to one of the forest albums ever assembled. Led Zeppelin was a very polar band; when they were bad, they were truly awful, but when they were good, no one could touch them. And this is their one album without a single misstep.
Essential tracks: "Black Dog," "When the Levee Breaks."

3. Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
Rarely does an artist kick off their career so well. My Aim Is True is the '50s personified, and yet updated for the new decade. And like many of the mid-'00s '80s style bands, you can easily make the argument that this is the better than any of the '50s artists it was emulating. Plus, none of those bands wrote a song like "Watching the Detectives."
Essential tracks: "Watching the Detectives," "Miracle Man."

2. Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run
Epic is definitely the only word I can use to describe many of these songs--"Born to Run," "Thunder Road," "Jungleland;" all of these are epics, but they don't come off as pretentious or heavy-handed. Bruce Springsteen pulls them off with aplomb, and manages to make each of them feel important, and at times, genuinely moving.
Essential tracks: "Born to Run," "Thunder Road."

1. David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust*
*Yes I know its full name, but when you name an album something that long I reserve the right to never, ever call it that.
Forget about the storyline; the storyline is dumb. Forget about the rock opera aspects of this album, or the fact that Bowie for some reason decided to throw a Kinks cover in there, when it would be perfectly fine without it. Few artists, from any time or any decade, have managed to string together a succession of songs this good. So many times I have been listening to a song off Ziggy Stardust, say, "Lady Stardust" for example, marveling at how good it is, and then been blown away when I realize that it's the seventh best song on this album. Ziggy Stardust isn't perfect, but it's better than any rock opera about a space being named "Ziggy Stardust" has any right to be, and it's the best album of the 1970s.
Essential tracks: Everything but "It Ain't Easy."

Update

So, this blog has unfortunately been dark for a while. There was just a lot going on and I couldn't find the time to continue updating it for a while there. I'm sure this disappointed my legions of readers, but fear not, legions (who totally exist), this week we return with a series on the best albums of each decade. And, of course, a picture of Jeff Ament wearing a ridiculous hat: