The Greatest Album of the 1980's

Talk Talk Spirit of Eden.

Soul Mining by The The

Too hard a question. Some thoughts though ... Music for the masses, George Best, Hatful of Hallow, The Stone Roses, Brotherhood, So.

Organisation by OMD, really captures the desolation of the early years of the decade.

Use your illusion GnR

Edit - it was 91. Some good suggestions above though.

Heaven and Hell
Dio era Sabbath.

So many great albums in the 80’s
Disintegration - The Cure
Thunder and Consolation - New Model Army
The River - Bruce Springsteen
Shelter - Lone Justice

Greatest Album

My favourite

Yeah its just the one folks. One,

#Kickscat re Spirit Of Eden good shout.

So many... Guess how good a decade was depends on how old you were then.
Daydream Nation
Doolittle
Strangeways
Nation of Millions

It was my youth I can’t pick 1, 10 years is a long time in musical taste as a teenager/early 20’s

Thriller

Closer - Joy Division

Reign in Blood.

tractionman

Organisation by OMD, really captures the desolation of the early years of the decade.

Is a good call, but IMO its Script of the Bridge by the Chameleons

Closer – Joy Division

Good shout. Did you hand the prize out at the time, ballsy move with 9.5 years to go 😉

Too difficult. However,
Sign o' the times - Prince

Heaven up Here, Echo and the Bunnymen
Closer, Joy Division
Remain in Light, Talking Heads
De la Soul, 3 Feet High & Rising
The Joshua Tree, U2

Could go on and on. Too many to choose a winner

Speak And Spell by Depeche Mode….but there really are too many to choose from.

Lots of good choices.

Technique.

Merak

Just the one though, What’d you think?

That was the original question

The The’s ‘Soulmining’ pushed the boundaries of pop music.

From the audio cassette version:

Prepared for the ridicule….but growing up I loved Dire Straits Brothers in Arms album. So many good songs. Music by proper musicians.

So many great albums in the 80s. I'm going with The Lexicon of Love.

Pretty Hate Machine - Nine Inch Nails

Good thread. Can I add…

REM - Murmur

Other 80’s REM albums also apply.

The greatest? The Clash. London Calling.
The best? Prince. Sign O' The Times.
My favourite? The Cult. Electric, or The Sisters Of Mercy. Floodland, or The The. Infected, or The Cure. Disintegration, or one of many, many others (as a music obsessed child of the '80s it's an almost impossible question).

Outrageous from the OP - the Second Coming was way betterer

Loads of stonewall classics already

Two to add…

I'm inclined to agree with Mr overshoot on script of the bridge......
Or maybe Remain in light? Spirit of Eden? Life's rich pageant? Difficult.

Peter Gabriel, So.

the Second Coming was way betterer

In the 1980’s?

Tears for Fears-The Hurting.
Kilomanja-The Teardrop explodes.
For a shit decade to many to choose from.

Lots of good choices.

Technique.

Yes, this.

The Jam-Sound Affects.I loved the Style Council as well.

penthouse and pavement. heaven 17.
welcome to the pleasure dome. frankie.
born in the usa. springsteen.
graceland. paul simon
joshua tree. u2

and many more

Tom Waits: Rain Dogs

gallowayboy

I’m inclined to agree with Mr overshoot on script of the bridge……
Or maybe Remain in light? Spirit of Eden? Life’s rich pageant? Difficult.

There were many brilliant albums in the 80's but I was 18 when it came out and that's what I would call my defining 80's album, plus the Chameleons were bloody great.

God I hated Springsteen. No offence Ton.

There are loads of them to chose from… many of the above plus others…

The Unforgettable Fire
Hounds of Love
A pagan place
Ghost in the Machine
Ace of Spades

Anybody like/remember Japan?I thought David Sylvian was really talented.

Talking to the taxman about poetry-Billy Bragg.

Fair play to those with the conviction to pick one.

Some crackers in there.

We can all pick four/maybe five that's the easy choice. It's just one folks. Just one.

i live in hope that in the future society will look back on all these 'greatest subjective thing of some arbitrary time period' and say 'how quaint they were darhllingg, haha haha!'

Ace of SpadesBass

FTFY 😉

Lots of good choices.

Technique.

Yes, this.

yep

One of the best albums ever recorded. An absolute masterpiece

Sonic temple the cult?

1984 vanhalen

Whitesnake 1987

Dare
The Human League

Avant garde electronica at the time.

Disintegration – The Cure
Rum Sodomy & the Lash - Pogues.
Tango in the Night - Mac
Nevermind - Nivana
Much of the above. New Order, Smiths, Roses….

The colour of spring
Talk Talk

Still the album I listen to every time from the hotel to the airport.

Disintegration - my best album ever.

@monkeycmonkeydo

A couple of years ago, I’d have agreed with you.

They never should have released the singles ‘born to run’ and ‘born in the USA’ over here.
Far too strident sounding.

I’ve heard some of his live performances on radio 2, etc, and they’re not unpleasant.

I just bought the colour of spring and soulmining on vinyl terrific albums.

Surely some bowie in there too.

Joshua Tree U2

Appetite for Destruction.

It's a tough choice but if you can only have one. 🤷‍♂️

Reign in Blood.

@gowerboy beat me to it, but another shout for Hounds of Love by Kate Bush. Been listening to it a lot lately after getting myself a fretless bass and trying learn some of the songs (Morning Fog being a particular gem). Inventive, uplifting, and utterly original.

Also love most of the suggestions above though too, particularly The The....was quite the decade for music, eh?

London Calling was '79, just.

Loads of great albums already mentioned, so im going with Boat to Bolivia, Martin Stephenson.

Lots of great choices already suggested across a range of genres.

Personally, 19 year old me was properly blown away by Appetite for Destruction. From the opening riffs, right through. So much energy and emotion.

Massive Attack Blue Lines or the Stone Roses for me

Some great suggestions, not all to my taste but I'm aware of them and how well the albums have stood up over time.

My pick was releaseed March 1990... so if we're working with the view that the new decade doesn't start until 1991 (the whole "there was no year 0") the the best album of the 1980s was Depeche Mode - Violator.

Failing that, Appetite for Destruction. Or the Lexicon of Love. Or Purple Rain. Or The Joshua Tree.

Blue Lines and Nevermind were both 1991.

Stone Roses for me.

Welcome to the Pleasuredome.

Paradise Theater

Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records - Chumbawamba.

It was a gateway into a world of anarcho madness for me.

Nevermind – Nivana

Wrong decade.

I do like these threads as it gives you hope in humanity that there are people who like both bikes and good music.

On Fire - Galaxie 500

But could quite easily be:

Children of God - Swans
Streetcleaner - Godflesh
Treasure - Cocteau Twins
Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth
Doolittle - Pixies
Songs about F@cking - Big Black
Damaged - Black Flag
Psychocandy - JaMC

Stone Roses - I was an idiot back then*, I got it as part of some kind of music club, an automatic subscription thing that I always forgot to cancel and, as I didn't want it, I didn't listen to it for years. Almost life-changing when I finally did. 🙂

* This has not changed.

Anybody like/remember Japan?

yes one of my favourite bands.

I’m torn between:
Sulk by The Associates
St Julian by Julian Cope
Back in the DHSS

Reading the first page of this I realis3d I had never listened to ‘Closer’ as a full album, so that is this morning sorted out.

But, in doing the searching, I asked my GF what she though and, without hesitation, she replied it was Queensrÿche “ Operation: Mindcrime”. So, I offer that from her.

This is really difficult though. London Calling was ‘79, News of the World was ‘77 so are both out and, despite like The Police at that time, Sychronicity is not in the amazing level.

Screw it, I’ll say ‘Organisation’ by OMD. And then spend the day listening to Master of Puppets and Joy Division.

Much as London Calling is a great 80s album even though it actually came out in the late 70s….. Paul’s Boutique in my best album from the 80s even though it’s really a soundtrack to the 90s

Tears for fears - Songs from the big chair.

I saw them live twice and they didn't disappoint.

There are too many (like most decades) for me, included but not limited to:

Thriller - Micheal Jackson (how this wasn't the second post is beyond me)

Purple Rain Prince, perhaps not as good as Dirty Mind, but the man is so prolific there's still Sign O the Time and Parade in the eighties

Graceland - Still astonishing

Murmur - REM They released what 10-12 albums in the eighties? pick one they're nearly all solid...Maybe Green?

It Takes a Nation... P.E.

Dolittle

Scary Monsters and Super Creeps.

Faith - Why is he sniffing his arm pit on the cover though?

Dare.

Psycho Candy - If nothing else it annoyed my parents.

Oh God, the more I think about it, the more there are, some excellent suggestions already though

Straight Outta Compton was the 80's wasn't it?

Paul's Boutique? Perhaps not their best though?

The Greatest Album of the 1980's was from 1979.

My favourite album full stop never mind of the 80’s. Side 1 is great, side 2 is epic…

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Eric B & Rakim - Follow The Leader

@the-muffin-man, I remember buying it  (as a cassette) and being so excited to hear it that I made my dad put it in the car, still to this day Jig of Life takes me right back there. Amazing album