Here are 13 of my favorite 1980s-released albums.
My having discovered as early as the late ’70s to the early ’80s bands like Blondie (“Heart of Glass”), The Cars (“My Best Friend’s Girl”), The B-52s (“Planet Claire”), The Knack (“My Sharona”), and The Pretenders (“Brass in Pocket”) has drawn me to the sound that came to be known as New Wave. This is the primary reason my top favorite albums released in the 1980s all fall under the genre New Wave. But this does not mean that I listened only to this kind of music. I was actually listening already to a wide array of music even in the 1970s and the 1980s.
Many non–New Wave releases in that decade that I also love just got shortlisted—like John Lennon’s Double Fantasy (1980), Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1982), Air Supply’s Now and Forever (1982), Madonna’s self-titled debut album (1983), and Menudo’s Reaching Out (1984).
Siouxsie & the Banshees – Kaleidoscope (1980)
Depeche Mode – Some Great Reward (1984)
Fiction Factory – Throw the Warped Wheel Out (1984)
The Lotus Eaters – No Sense of Sin (1984)
Modern English – Ricochet Days (1984)
Spandau Ballet – Parade (1984)
a-ha – Hunting High and Low (1985)
The Cure – The Head on the Door (1985)
Everything but the Girl – Love Not Money (1985)
Tears for Fears – Songs from the Big Chair (1985)
Echo & the Bunnymen – Echo & the Bunnymen (1987)
U2 – The Joshua Tree (1987)
The Wild Swans – Bringing Home the Ashes (1988)
Final Note
There are still so many albums on my list of favorites, but this Top 13 from the 1980s should do for now.
What about you? What are your favorite albums? Let me know and we will feature them here!
