The Best Album of Every Year Part 2: 1981-1991

Part 2 of the feature I spent way too much time on: the best albums of every year. Here's 1981-1991:

1981

Elvis Costello's Trust

Why it’s the best: Because Elvis Costello started out his career on fire, just like Led Zeppelin. Five great albums in five years—few artists can boast such a claim, but Elvis Costello can, and even more incredibly, they were the first five albums of his career.

Other candidates: The Clash’s Sandinista!,
Quality of year (out of 10): 1

1982

Michael Jackson's Thriller

Why it’s the best: Because it’s the best that pop has ever been, and possibly the best it ever will be. Thriller remains unsurpassed as a pop album, the modern definition of which usually consists of multiple radio hit singles and some filler to make it an album-length. Not so with Thriller, which is basically an entire album's worth of hit singles; all these songs still get regular radio play today, and with good reason.

Other candidates: The Clash’s Combat Rock, Elvis Costello's Imperial Bedroom
Quality of year: 4

1983

David Bowie's Let's Dance

Why it’s the best: This may not be Bowie's best, but anything he does has the opportunity to be the best album of its year. This also isn't the most popular Bowie album among fans; many at the time saw it as a bit of a sell-out. In reality it's not that, while it's also not quite up to the standards of his '70s work. And if you're OK with that, this is a worthwhile Bowie album that features several of his very best songs.

Other candidates: The Police's Synchronicity, New Order's Power Corruption and Lies

Quality of year: 7

1984

Metallica's Ride the Lightning

Why it’s the best: Because the genre of metal we know today wouldn’t exist without it—and it’s still better than almost anything being put out by current bands. Metallica aren’t simply an influence on metal bands; they remain the band that every metal band is still trying to match.

Other candidates: U2's The Unforgettable Fire, The Replacements' Let It Be

Quality of year: 3

1985

Tears for Fears's Songs from the Big Chair

Why it’s the best: Because it sums up the ‘80s in a way no other album can. With some of the best tracks of the entire decade ("Head over Heels," "Everybody Wants to Rule the World")

Other candidates: The Smiths’ Meat Is Murder, The Cure's The Head on the Door

Quality of year: 6

1986

The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead

Why it’s the best: Because a Smiths album had to get on here at some point; they were just that good. In spite of their overly '80s production, the Smiths are in my opinion the best band of the '80s, and either this or Meat Is Murder is their best work. This one features Morrisey's lyrics at their most complex, and while it lacks that one classic song in the vein of "How Soon Is Now?" it's the most complete Smiths album.

Other candidates: Metallica's Master of Puppets, Paul Simon's Graceland

Quality of year: 6

1987

U2's The Joshua Tree

Why it’s the best: Because this is the one where it all clicked for U2. This album manages to be grand in the best possible ways, without sounding pretentious like some of their later work. Love them or hate them (and there are many on both sides of that argument) you can't deny that intro to "Where the Streets Have No Name."

Other candidates: REM's Document, New Order's Brotherhood

Quality of year: 8

1988

Michael Jackson's Bad

Why it’s the best: Because Michael's arguably the best pop singer ever, meaning Thriller isn't all he has to offer. Bad features "The Way You Make Me Feel" and other classic songs, and while it's not quite Thriller, nothing really is.

Other candidates: Metallica's ...And Justice for All

Quality of year: 2

1989

Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever

Why it’s the best: Because of "Free Fallin," "I Won't Back Down," and "Running Down a Dream." There are other reasons, but shouldn't that be enough?

Other candidates: Nirvana's Bleach, The Cure's Disintegration

Quality of year: 2

1990

Pixies' Bossanova

Why it’s the best: Because while 1990 was an especially weak year for music--coming in the middle of the transition of the '80s and '90s--but the Pixies were the most important band of that time period, and Bossanova is very representative of their sound. 

Other candidates: Neil Young’s Ragged Glory, AC/DC's The Razor's Edge

Quality of year: 1

1991

Nirvana's Nevermind

Why it’s the best: Because the rest of the ‘90s couldn’t have happened without it. As much as I wanted to pick Pearl Jam's Ten for this spot, I couldn’t choose anything other than Nevermind for 1991. It just wouldn’t be right. Besides, I've already given Pearl Jam too many spots in part 3 (coming later this week!)

Other candidates: Ten, REM's Out of Time
Quality of year: 9