Living On A Prayer; Wanted Dead Or Alive

Photograph; Rock Of Ages

Keep On Loving You; Take It On The Run

Bad Medicine; I'll Be There For You

Little Lies; Seven Wonders

Welcome To The Jungle; Paradise City; Sweet Child O' Mine

Footloose; Let's Hear It For The Boy; Almost Paradise

Rain On The Scarecrow; Smalltown; R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.

Dancing In The Dark; I'm On Fire; Glory Days

Pour Some Sugar On Me; Love Bites; Armageddon It

Strange, fun, and lovable songs!

Queen of the comebacks!

Classic!

Benatar at her best!

Great Rock & Roll that you can bear!

Great Voice! Best male of the 80s!

Fun!

Better than Michael!

It's Madonna at her best!

A breakthrough album ... refreshing sound!

The only stuff if his that I like...every song is good.

I appreciate this so much more now than I did back then.

Typical, high school listening. Loved this one!

The songs always tell a story, every track is fabulous!

"Green Grow The Rushes"... need I say more?

Another reminder of the beach... their best by far.

Every song is great... reminds me of summers at the beach...

If you want to sink into a self-absorbed depression this is the album.

Phenomenal collection of breezy, melodic tunes. Harriet Wheeler's voice is mesmerizing.

Arguably one of the best albums ever recorded. So unique and beautiful at the same time. Perfect circle is haunting...."drink another, coin a phrase..."

Although hard rock was pervasive throughout the decade in question- it was seldom good (despite the chops most in that genre could boast). Living Colour was an exception in part because of Vernon Reid's tendency to incorporate elements of funk and punk to the equation.

Tracy Chapman was the precedent to the "Lilith Fair" movement well before it's artists were in full swing.

Although Chrissie Hynde has been responsible for an array of fine singles in the last twenty-five years, Martin Chambers, Pete Farndon, and James Honeyman Scott gave her an all too evident edge when this band was in it's first and original incarnation.

At least it was justified as his "Royal Badness" suffered from conceit in 1982.

Could this be the most impressive debut of any given act throughout the history of popular music? Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe were astute enough to ignore bad trends and create a perfect distillation (not to mention an update) of folk, psychedelia, and garage rock. The revolution "Murmur" began was subtle yet still significant nonetheless.

Prince Rogers Nelson was not the only musical export Minneapolis could boast about. Despite mischievous behavior which in turn cost this quartet the appeal it sought, an introspective Paul Westerberg at his peak wrote exceptional Rock with a Post Modern tinge. He was in short the artistic link between John Lennon and Kurt Cobain.

Unlike many in hip-hop who implement polyrhythms to exercise swaggering machismo, sociopolitical overtones ran rampant in Public Enemy's controversial approach.

Although often pleasant on his own, Simon could never reach the heights of his previous work which was in conjunction with Art Garfunkel, until "Graceland" (which is an effective combination of the Dark Continent and pop).

Released at the tail end of the decade, the cognoscenti could forgive Young for an array of bad experiments (such as "Trans" and "Everybody's Rocking") after this project.

For those who were foolish enough to mistake the Violent Femmes as "punk", perhaps this rash outfit from the West Coast can teach you a valuable lesson.

Greatest hits compilation featuring every one of their singles of the 80s. Technically released in 1990, but every song from the 80s.

Aussie band whose 1985 album still stands, as pop songs go, head and shoulders above the competition.

The diva herself goes reggae.

The band every Australian music critic loved to hate, but what do they know? Aussie funk that even had Prince interested.

Australian band whose New Wave debut set the Oz charts alight.

ABC dumped their former image and re-created it with the guitar - raw but potent album that went so far under the radar it could have been a US sub.

Technically and visually creative, influential even to this day.

A return to form for the former pinup boys, and a welcome return to former chart glory.

Who mixed music and fashion better than Miss Grace Jones? This album contains some of the best obscure covers you may ever hear.

The best album from the early 80s by far. Groundbreaking, taking production to a new level.

1982

1984

1984

1983

1981

1981

1984

1981

1981

1985

1989 marks the debut album of the prog metal musicians.

1988. What a fantastic concept album.

While more pop than prog, consistent and good and fun. 1986.

1985. Rush enters the computer age with triggered drums and massive synths.

1984... along with Marillion's Script for a Jester's Tear the year before, reintroduced Progressive rock to a new generation.

Puts Yes back on the map. 1983.

1982. Has my favorite Rush song on it.

1981... their most successful album, by far.

Perfect blend of prog and pop. Also 1980.

1980. One of their best albums.

This IS synth-pop.

Again, obscure in the US, but hugely popular in Asia. Very simple yet very catchy synth-pop with a New Romantic touch.

Maybe not the best from start to finish, but side B makes up for whatever deficiency. Where were you when Every Breath You Take came out on MTV and hooked every one of us?

Another obscure choice. Roxy Music/Japan/Peter Gabriel style. Concept album with great dance songs with strong melody from start to finish.

Ok, this is not an album, but it would be a travesty if this one does not go into an 80s top 10 list. No matter how heavy they make the beat and rhythm of their hip hops, raps, these days, they just cannot come close to this. This IS dance music at the absolute, unbelievable best.

Another Steve Lillywhite produced, kick-ass classic. Relentless intensity.

The passion may seem a bit dated now, but this is U2 at their rawest best. One of a trio of Steve Lillywhite produced, adrenaline-filled classics in the 80s - the other two being the next entry and Big Country's Steeltown, which just failed to make the list here.

Little known in the US; very popular in Asia. Intrguing, delicate yet accessible.

New Wave era at its peak. An album that offers every New Wave genre from synth-pop, dance-pop, guitar pop, stadium rock, new romantic in unmistakable TFF style. One of only two albums of which every track goes into my MP3 (see previous entry).

Mature pop songs for adults. Top-notch melody and incredible vocal performance. One of only two albums of which every track goes into my MP3 (see next entry).

Just an awesome album with some rockin' tunes.

I'm not gonna lie, Prince is a superstar.

"Pour Some Sugar On Me" alone makes this a great album.

U2's best album.

So many great songs on such a great album.

Simply a complete album with a great song lineup.

The best heavy metal album ever made.

This album has many of Van Halen's best songs.

Over 50 million albums sold. That speaks for itself.

This album was made within months of Bon Scott's tragic death, making this album twice as great.

After the success of "West End Girls", the group didn't change their style in their new album but the mechanics of "Actually" was just great, a showcase for the synthesizer generation.

What a man wants from a soundtrack? Many people would tell "nothing" and it is not a bad attitude. Prince changed the nature of this business with his great musical work for a movie which was not cinematically that good. "Purple Rain" and "When Doves Cry" are unforgettable records that remind people of the decade.

It is not a shame to accept the influence of this record. In a sense, it helped the TV series to define the culture of the 1980s. Theme of the series is still remembered by the people. Also one can't skip the effect of Glenn Frey on this soundtrack. His "Smuggler's Blues" was both the name of a Miami Vice episode and a short definition of the life during 1980s with all those references to drug dealers and the notion of "easy money".

A great album that contains "Sledgehammer" and "Don't Give Up". This one put Gabriel into the MTV video clip madness of 1980s. One must listen to it, then he/she can understand its value.

Slowing down? He was faster than ever. This piece defined the position of Richie among the giants of the decade. While contributing to the struggle of Motown culture, the artist also managed create a determined pop sound, proper for 1980s. "All Night Long" and "Hello" still find a way to our ears.

Yes, she is a freak, yes she is alternative but you can't deny the power of this record. "Running Up That Hill", "Hounds of Love" and "Cloundbusting", with its interesting video clip, were all in this record. We see Bush accepts a portion of the decade's culture but makes it better with her secret formula. Maybe it is not a milestone record like Jackson's "Bad" but it is the best work of Bush, who has been enjoying musical success for three consecutive decades.

The record announced the comeback of the innovative Motown artist. "Sexual Healing" took the year by storm and showed that there is still space for old traditions in the business. It is also a great 80s album because it doesn't reject the needs of the decade but only offers a different point of view for its listeners.

Design of the album cover can be enough in this case because it's a brief explanation of the decade. The music was also pretty effective thanks to singles like "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Rio" and "Save a Prayer".

One of the most innovative pop albums of all time with a standard song like "Faith". The album can be described as a smooth work, in which there are no "filler" songs but only real singles.

Such a great record... Successful rock pieces, with guitar gods as guests; pop standards, like "Smooth Criminal" and "Bad; and old style R&B/Soul pieces like "Man in the Mirror" and "Liberian Girl"... Jackson's struggle to defeat himself for perfection.