Panda's Top 100 Albums of the 1980's

Similar to my effort to identify the top 150 tracks of the 80's, I've now moved on to the top 100 albums of the 1980's. And, yes, it was just about as difficult. Although, while I had over 440 songs on my first pass for that article, I only had about 180 albums on my first pass here, so much less work to get to a hundy. Similarly, like last time, I can hear the questions coming already. Why are you missing some of my favorite albums? There's a pretty good chance many of them just missed the cut.

But I would like to reiterate that I am not a Rolling Stone editor. This is my personal list of favorites. And as I said last time I am an expert in what I like. And these albums are the bomb. To me. And others, I presume.

Like last time, I strongly steer towards rock, and my list reflects that. This is the stuff I listened to then, and I listen to still today, or most days. I also did not include live albums or soundtracks. Maybe those are lists for another day?

One other thing I will come clean on. I have always thought the great Clash album London Calling was released in '79. For that reason no song from that album graced my top 150 list. However, I recently noted that the Rolling Stone listed the album in the 80's when it prepared its own list. I guess it released in the states in January of '80. For that reason, I have included it here. Sadly, one or several songs from that album are deservedly in the top 150, but that's water under the bridge. I fixed the issue here at least.

Take a look, and let me know what you think.

Vintage 80's (51 - 100)

100	I Love Rock 'N' Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts  (1981)
99	Women & Children First - Van Halen  (1980)
98	Steel Wheels - The Rolling Stones  (1989)
97	Nothing's Shocking - Jane's Addiction  (1988)
96	Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan  (1983)
95	Ghost in the Machine - The Police  (1981)
94	Private Dancer - Tina Turner  (1984)
93	Shout at the Devil - Motley Crue  (1983)
92	East Side Story - Squeeze  (1980)
91	Centerfield - John Fogerty  (1985)
90	Holy Diver - Dio  (1983)
89	Double Fantasy - John Lennon  (1980)
88	Love Stinks - J. Geils Band  (1980)
87	Ace of Spades - Motorhead  (1980)
86	Let's Dance - David Bowie  (1983)
85	War - U2  (1983)
84	Bella Donna - Stevie Nicks  (1981)
83	Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden  (1982)
82	Asia - Asia  (1982)
81	Honeymoon Suite - Honeymoon Suite  (1984)
80	Against the Wind - Bob Seger  (1980)
79	Diary of a Madman - Ozzy Osbourne  (1981)
78	90125 - Yes  (1983)
77	Full Moon Fever - Tom Petty  (1989)
76	Screaming for Vengeance - Judas Priest  (1981)
75	Duran Duran - Duran Duran  (1981)
74	Heaven and Hell - Black Sabbath  (1980)
73	So - Peter Gabriel  (1986)
72	Disintegration - The Cure  (1989)
71	Little Creatures - Talking Heads  (1985)
70	Graceland - Paul Simon  (1986)
69	Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi  (1986)
68	Autoamerican - Blondie  (1980)
67	Mystery Road - Drivin N Cryin  (1989)
66	Fun & Games - The Connells  (1989)
65	Sports - Huey Lewis & the News  (1983)
64	Abacab - Genesis  (1981)
63	Nervous Night - The Hooters  (1985)
62	Crowded House - Crowded House  (1986)
61	Pleased to Meet Me - The Replacements  (1987)
60	Fair Warning - Van Halen  (1981)
59	Ride the Lightning - Metallica  (1984)
58	Third Stage - Boston  (1986)
57	Whitesnake - Whitesnake  (1987)
56	Get Lucky - Loverboy  (1981)
55	Madonna - Madonna  (1983)
54	Genesis - Genesis  (1983)
53	Picture This - Huey Lewis & the News  (1982)
52	Songs from the Big Chair - Tears for Fears  (1985)
51	Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys  (1986)

Special Albums (26-50)

50	Face Value - Phil Collins  (1980)
49	Hysteria - Def Leppard  (1987)
48	Rebel Yell - Billy Idol  (1983)
47	Signals - Rush  (1982)
46	Rattle and Hum - U2  (1988)
45	Eliminator - ZZ Top  (1983)
44	The Queen is Dead - The Smiths  (1986)
43	Vol. 1 - Traveling Wilburys  (1988)
42	Cuts Like a Knife - Bryan Adams  (1983)
41	High 'N' Dry - Def Leppard  (1981)
40	Listen Like Thieves - INXS  (1983)
39	1999 - Prince  (1982)
38	Pretenders I - Pretenders  (1980)
37	Zenyatta Mondatta - The Police  (1980)
36	The Game - Queen  (1980)
35	Combat Rock - The Clash  (1981)
34	Blackout - Scorpions  (1982)
33	Heartbeat City - The Cars  (1984)
32	4 - Foreigner  (1981)
31	Allied Forces - Triumph  (1981)
30	Still Standing - Jason & the Scorchers  (1986)
29	Waking Hours - Del Amitri  (1989)
28	High Infidelity - REO Speedwagon  (1980)
27	Don't Say No - Billy Squier  (1980)
26	Wild-Eyed Southern Boys - 38 Special  (1980)

25	Document - R.E.M.  (1987) I have to admit that while I really liked this album when it came out, I lost touch with it over the years. About 5 years ago I took it for a spin and remembered how much I liked it and how deep it was in terms of tracks. Exhuming McCarthy is one of my all-time fave tracks, and it's not all that well known. But it's not the only one on the album. Welcome to the Occupation, Oddfellows Local 151 and Disturbance at the Heron House are great tracks that don't get much love. And the two popular tracks are both songs that hold up well. Just a great album.
24	Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits  (1985) What a powerhouse album this was. Timed to take advantage of the MTV revolution, which only enhanced its potency. The title track, Walk of Life and So Far Away are my personal faves, but Money for Nothing is what moved this train down the tracks. Great video and a cool song.
23	Like a Virgin - Madonna  (1984) Speaking of powerhouses, let's talk a little Madonna. If you didn't grow up in the 80's it's hard to understand how simply everywhere this lady was in the mid-to-late decade timeframe. For me it started with a surprising addition to the movie Vision Quest, which we reviewed on our S2E5 podcast. While she was already a thing, that pushed her over the top. And, for me, Like a Virgin was her crowning achievement. The lead track Material Girl was such a good video, iconic for the decade, but just a great pop track. The title track and Dress You Up were the other two big hits, but Angel and Over and Over were solid as well.
22	Speaking in Tongues - Talking Heads  (1983) I went to my first concert ever at the TH show on this very tour. Will never forget David Byrne coming out to an empty stage with just a boom box and singing the first song (Psycho Killer maybe?). Then they kept adding musicians until the full band was on the stage. Mind blown. And this album just grabbed me from jumpstreet. Burning Down the House is a song people will know in a hundred years. But Swamp is a close second for me and Girlfriend is Better is not far behind.
21	Give the People What They Want - The Kinks  (1981) This is the best album I know from a mainstream band that NOBODY talks about. I'll say up front I am not a Kinks fanboy. I admire them, but not their biggest fan. However, this albums cooks. And it is exceptionally deep. Elite songs include the title track, Around the Dial, Destroyer and Art Lover. But there's not a bad track on the album. Killer's Eyes, Predictable, Yo-Yo and A Little Bit of Abuse are all stellar. I repeat, not one bad track on this one.
20	American Fool - John Mellencamp  (1981) Hurts So Good and Jack & Diane are the stellar tracks and they deserve the attention they've gotten over the years. But what sets this apart from other 80's albums with a couple of good songs is the depth of good-to-very good tracks it possesses. Hand to Hold On To is first rate and should have probably gotten more notoriety over the years. Thundering Hearts and Weakest Moments headline the next wave of the very good.
19	Freeze Frame - J. Geils Band  (1981) The title track and Centerfold are the gems of this album. But it takes more than two to make a list like this. And this album delivers. Rage in the Cage, Flamethrower and Angel in Blue all show up regularly on my playlists. Great, fun album. Wish I had seen them live.
18	Pyromania - Def Leppard  (1983) It's really hard for me to not have this album even higher on the list. It was such a staple of my youth. I think I wore through two cassettes of this album. Another deep one, though there are a few duds towards the end. Side one was nails, and side two started off with Rock of Ages, doesn't get any better than that.
17	Murmur - R.E.M.  (1982) Lifes Rich Pageant has been my favorite R.E.M. album for probably more than 30 years. It was the album that first drew me in to the band. Ironically, a club called Exit Inn was just across from the Vandy campus when I was there and I ran into Pete Buck and others when they were in town recording the album I suppose. I decided to give it a good look, and I have been an R.E.M. fan ever since. But in hindsight, I have to acknowledge the sheer brilliance of the band's first mainstream album. It's weird and kinda cool to go back to early albums of bands you discovered on down the line, so I never fully appreciated this album until I dove in about a decade ago. Just genius, and certainly a sign of what was to come for these guys.
16	Escape - Journey  (1981) Journey shook up their lineup a bit on this album, and whoa did it pay off. Certainly one of the most popular albums of the 80's, full of iconic tracks like Don't Stop Believin', Who's Crying Now, Open Arms and the great Stone in Love. Keep on Runnin' is another personal deep cut fave. Can't forget Still They Ride, either!
15	Thriller - Michael jackson  (1982) Everyone knows the songs. This album was such a sensation at the time. Michael's magnetism collided with the MTV revolution just as he produced the work of a lifetime. And this album was on the airways for a year or more, and we loved every minute of it.
14	1984 - Van Halen  (1984) Van Halen died for me after this, at least for a time. But, man, did they go out with a bang with DLR as the frontman. I loved the keyboards that were sprinkled in here, but didn't love it quite as much after this. I felt they moved too far away from the sound I loved as they moved into the 90's. But this album delivered in such a big way that it's hard to really blame them for what came later. That was a different band. This band ended at their peak, or at least got back to a level they achieved with the great VH1 album.
13	Purple Rain - Prince  (1984) Just to be clear, I do not consider this to be a soundtrack, though it is the title of a movie Prince starred in back in the day. Which reminds me, why do I never see this movie on TV? I digress. I do have to admit to not being the most knowledgeable Prince fan. Probably more of a casual fan. But boy did this album make fans of millions. When it first came out Let's Go Crazy was my favorite track. Loved the opening and the crazy guitar work. But over time When Doves Cry just got into my system and never left. In fact, it was #1 on my Top 150 list that came out recently. But it's not the only great track. The title track is iconic in its own right, and I Would Die 4 U and Darling Nikki are keepers as well.
12	Lifes Rich Pageant - R.E.M.  (1986) End to end not a single bad track. Swan Swan H is one of those songs I have loved from the jump. Could list every track, but Superman, I Believe and Begin the Begin stand out to me. Fall On Me is, of course, a classic.
11	Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes  (1983) I am not sure I've ever listened to a single other album from these guys. But Wow! This album is a killer. Such a cool vibe. Catchy tracks across the board. I recall riding in the backs of many a car screaming out the lyrics to songs like Blister in the Sun, Please Do Not Go, Add it Up and Gone Daddy Gone. Kind of an anomaly on this list with just the one elite level album, but thank god we got this one!
10	Tattoo You - The Rolling Stones  (1981) So this was a hodge-podge, thrown together album of castoff songs from the 70's? Well dang. Tells you what I know. On my list of fave Stones albums, this comes in at #1 not just for the decade, but for all-time. Things that make you go hmmm. Or maybe it says more about the brilliance of a band that can go on to the shelf and pull out tracks like these. I don't know how, but it all hangs together. Start Me Up is a top 5 Stones song to this day in my view and Waiting on a Friend is not far behind for me. But the brilliance of this album resides in the remaining standouts, like Hang Fire, Neighbours, Little T&A, Slave and Black Limousine. And Heaven is one of those sneaky tracks that grabs on to you if you let it.
9	Blizzard of Oz - Ozzy Osbourne  (1980) Ozzy passed recently, which I suppose we all knew was coming, but, man, what a gutshot. And my admiration for the man started with this very album. One of my friends had it on 8-track and I remember listening to it on the way home from basketball practice. It just blew my mind. I was already into Van Halen, but this album had the same impact as hearing the great VH1 album a year prior. He was just different, and Randy Rhoades was on an Eddie VH level as a guitar player. And they delivered this classic full of all-timers. Crazy Train was the top track for good reason. But I Don't Know, Mr. Crowley, No Bones Movies and Goodbye to Romance were nearly as good.
8	Beauty and the Beat - The Go-Go's  (1981) It was not cool to be a guy in high school who liked the Go-Go's. At least not where I came from. So I was a closet fan. But no more. I happily profess my love for these ladies who changed everything for every female performer who followed in their tracks, to their own detriment in some ways. If you haven't watched the great Go-Go's documentary, you should. I've seen it a half dozen times. That only makes me appreciate what they were able to do on this album all the more. Two all-time great pop rock songs in We Got the Beat and Our Lips Are Sealed are the clear standouts. But I love This Town, Tonite and Lust to Love almost as much. I always feel better after listening to this album. Couldn't think of any higher praise than that.
7	Crimes of Passion - Pat Benatar  (1980) Side one of this album is freaking loaded. Treat Me Right, You Better Run, Never Wanna Leave You, Hit Me With Your Best Shot and Hell is for Children is just about as good as an album side can get. And my favorite track is on side two with I'm Gonna Follow You. Pat and her hubbie Neil made the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and this album was likely the biggest reason. Both show out in their individual ways to deliver a vintage rock album for the ages.
6	Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen  (1984) Not the biggest Boss fan. I have great respect for his talents, and have seen him twice live and he's amazing in that setting. But many of his albums don't grab me like this one did. For comparison, his way underrated album Magic is my second fave album of his, and they both have the same pop sensibilities, so I guess that's the thing for me. In any event, he delivered a sure fire all-timer with this glorious album. So many great tracks, with not a sign of an ordinary one on the list. My personal faves inlcude Glory Days, Cover Me, No Surrender and Bobby Jean. Of course the title track and Dancing in the Dark are classics.
5	Appetite for Destruction - Guns N' Roses  (1987) Man oh man. Some albums just grab you on first spin, and this one did like few others have ever done. I'd say this, VH1, Blizzard of Oz and Back in Black are all in the same vicinity when it came to initial impact. And this one was perhaps more impactful, because I had no idea who the hell these guys were. So it came out of nowhere. While the band continued to release good to great material in the years that followed, I don't think they really approached greatness again like they did here.
4	Moving Pictures - Rush  (1981) Rush was a nerd band. And I was a nerd on some level. So when my good friend introduced me to this album, I fell hard. And when I went to college, I went all the way back into their catalog. But nothing to that date approached this album. Side one was nearly perfect, maybe the best side one ever. But side two is sneaky good, and Vital Signs is one of my faves. I always said this was my all-time fave album. After reflection, maybe it's not at the very top, but top 5 is pretty good.
3	The Joshua Tree - U2  (1987) I had begun to really dig U2 by the mid 80's. War was a great album, and their live album was top notch. But this album represented a huge leap for the band in my view. Call it a maturity, or a refinement of their sound, whatever it was generated a nearly perfect rock album. And what gets it for me isn't the hits everyone knows, it's the songs many do not. Trip Through Your Wires, Red Hill Mining Town and In God's Country are songs that would be the best efforts of most bands, but on here they're not even considered top 5. Just a great and deep rock album.
2	Back in Black - AC/DC  (1980) BOOM! All I remember when I played this on 10 for the first time is going a little numb. I was in my bedroom with the doors closed to keep the noise down and I could not believe what I heard. I was a huge Highway to Hell fan, and I thought there was no way any band could replace a Bon Scott. No way. And then side one hit and I was all in. Probably the one hard rock album that pulled more people into that genre than any album had done to that point. Metallica was not yet a thing. Too many great tracks to mention, we all know them. A great album that will transcend time.
1	London Calling - The Clash  (1980) So happy this great album can be counted in the 80's! The Clash was a band that first grabbed me with their Combat Rock album. I was lucky enough to see them live my freshman year on campus, and that's when I decided to expand beyond that great album. And this was the first album I checked out. Mind blow. 19 tracks, and no duds. And the most popular song is track 19! The Clash was just different. Punk, and rock and reggae, all blended together into catchy and mesmerizing material. I can't highlight every great track beyond the two most well-known, but Lost in the Supermarket, The Guns of Brixton, Brand New Cadillac, Wrong 'Em Boyo and Clampdown are some of my faves.