Top 55 Music Albums of the 1980s by Repo

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'80:11 => '70s Sunshine
aka Let's Have a Pool Party!

When I got a little older, about 8 or 9, I became the family DJ. My Mom was a great dancer, and we used to have house parties. So I used to walk around the house with my pen and pad and take down requests from everybody there and I’d go to the record player and stack the records up and play the records for everyone. – Kurtis Blow on growing up on 60s & 70s R&B.

The Setting: He was a Hip Hop first. First Hip Hop artist to be signed to a major. First Hip Hop artist to have an album go Gold. First to tour. You get the drill. BUT, does it still stand up this many years later? Are we talking jumpsuits & wood paneling or lava lamps?

The Listen: Kurtis just had it. His Mom had it too. Dancing around the house and the neighborhood. That inner joy. That joy to just be alive. Watch Kurtis in an interview today, and he still has it. That joy to just be dancing and singing and living. Making other people happy. Getting everyone’s requests and being the DJ. It’s infectious. His love for 60s & 70s buoyant soul shines through on this downright lovable album. It's not a true & blue Hip Hop album. That would come later. But, it's a key transition album from 70s R&B to mid-80s Hip Hop, and, seen through that lens, it's very easy to fall for. Fun. And very, very lovable. Like Kurtis himself.

The Verdict. No. it won’t make the chart. It’s not a five star album. But HOT DAMN, this would be a fine choice for my next pool party here in Chicago as the sun beats down from the sky! Let's go dance, people! Especially all you Moms out there! Wink

Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
[First added to this chart: 06/08/2021]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31
Rank in 1980:
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Average Rating:
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Buy album United States
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'81:2 He’s Leaving. He waited for so long.

Every day a new start, and she prefers the sudden truth
We'll never learn to guide our heart, we'll never find what we deserve
She's leaving, she waited for so long
She pretends that he cares, invents some tale just to get his heart
With no more dreams she didn't have
She washed her hands of this whole affair
She's leaving, she waited for so long
But as she left, she gave her all, abandoned hope, she took for home - She's Leaving

The Cure. New Order. Depeche Mode. We can all agree they’re the big three of 80s DARK synth pop. Crushing songs. Deep songs. Songs that made us feel understood in the crazy storm called junior high. Songs that could get us through. As an awkward 80s kid, I was a massive fan of all three. But, for some reason (I'm blaming Pretty In Pink!), OMD were relegated to a "best of" in my growing vinyl collection. An LP that I would break out merely for 80s dance parties. I (& most my friends back then) considered them lightweight. Fluff.

So what a surprise when I started revisiting the early 80s due to Mercury’s request to make an 80s chart to find this stunning, deeply touching album. As my Genni would say, “It’s deep, Dad". Deep indeed, I reply in return. My Genni loves things that are deep. And dark. A turn in events from just a few years ago. Things change I guess. I remember hanging out with her in the lobbies of movie theaters to let the scary scenes pass. Watching her jump & twist on the lobbies makeshift attempts at comfortable seating. So happy that we were just there together. Waiting out the scary parts. Waiting for the storm to pass. Waiting for our Tilly, the daredevil oldest, to burst out the exit doors like a tempest gabbing a mile a minute to catch us up on all we had missed.

We had missed nothing though. Because we had each other.

To weathering the storm. And finding those who are willing to wait with us through it. No matter how uncomfortable the seating.

Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
[First added to this chart: 11/05/2021]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,118
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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Buy album United States
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81:1 Punk’s NOT Dead!

Say to me that punk is dead
I wish you even more contempt
Don't like the music, don't like the words
You can all piss off, you're a bunch of turds

The Setting: The Crass famously said it first. Presumptiously all the way back in 1978. (Maybe they were just the first click baiters?! That's my guess! ) Those who didn’t just pay attention to the headlines of the New Musical Expressive, those of us who actually went to shows, knew otherwise. Punk was alive and well post The Class of '77 with killer bands like The Buzzcocks, Sham 69, The Ruts, 999, and yes, even The Crass themselves still making important and creative music (not to even mention the entire Post-Punk scene). Some also say, that Brish punk in particular in the early 80s couldn’t compare with what was going in the good 'ol US of A. Was punk rock in '81 England really as stale a day old chip dropped on the wharf?

The Listen: Bloody hell, my friends. Of course not! It’s in the freakin' album title for Christsake. A big middle finger to all the haters. The music critics who, as we have discussed previously, are usually no better than the papparazzi. More interested in making a splash (or getting "clicks" even back then) than actually talking about the actual music. Like scientists fudging their data just to get published. Thoughts on music by the press is typically just fashion and typically has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with THE music itself.

Like a lot of Hardcore in the 80s (and I'm talking about BOTH the Brits & the Americans here), it can get a bit monotonous at times with some songs running into each other. So this is NOT a 5 star album. BUT, there are some all time great punk ANTHEMS on this gnarly mofo such as “Punk’s Not Dead”, "Mucky Pup” and of course “Sex and Violence”. AND, this 1981 album served as crucial bridge to the legendary Class of ’82 (that we will get to if it ever dawns around here).

The Verdict: If you were at a Cockney punk club back in 1981, you'd better believe that THESE were the bloody songs that YOU were belting out until your voice went hoarse no matter how many bitters you were swilling.

Rating: Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
[First added to this chart: 10/24/2021]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
94
Rank in 1981:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 04/25/2021]
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
361
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Well this came out of nowhere! It's simple, but alluring piano passages combined with found sounds that is magically and movingly transportive. It’s like stepping into a wardrobe and emerging in a land of unicorns and butterflies ( can you tell I have two girls! lol). The countryside of Totoro essentially springs to life. And you find yourself sunning on a field of buttercups or whatever as warm, peaceful church bells echo in the distance. An overwhelming sense of calmness enters your bones and you believe that magic is not just possible but real. But it’s not overly pretty or overdone. It’s all very tasteful and not a bit new agey.

It has two distinct sides with side a being incredibly playful and joyful and side b being more on the somber side of things as the day comes to an end.

Grade: A+. I’ve only been at this a short time , but it is definitely the most unique and alluring ambient album I’ve ever heard. And it immediately shoots to the top of my little chart.
[First added to this chart: 04/24/2017]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
441
Rank in 1983:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Dream Pop
Essential
[First added to this chart: 06/20/2018]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
454
Rank in 1989:
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27. (26) Down1
Buy album United States
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Reggae
Great
[First added to this chart: 12/11/2018]
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
79
Rank in 1984:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
28. (27) Down1
Buy album United States
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Hip Hop
Great
[First added to this chart: 12/10/2018]
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
44
Rank in 1984:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Pop
Good
[First added to this chart: 12/10/2018]
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
35
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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[First added to this chart: 02/07/2021]
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
435
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 55. Page 3 of 6

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Top 55 Music Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 21 38%
1981 8 15%
1982 4 7%
1983 5 9%
1984 6 11%
1985 2 4%
1986 2 4%
1987 4 7%
1988 1 2%
1989 2 4%
Artist Albums %


Cocteau Twins 2 4%
The Durutti Column 2 4%
Exploited 1 2%
fIREHOSE 1 2%
Tenor Saw 1 2%
Lucinda Williams 1 2%
Pylon 1 2%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 25 45%
United Kingdom 21 38%
Jamaica 4 7%
Japan 2 4%
Australia 1 2%
Senegal 1 2%
Nigeria 1 2%
Live? Albums %
No 53 96%
Yes 2 4%

Top 55 Music Albums of the 1980s chart changes

Biggest fallers
Faller Down 1 from 1st to 2nd
Ragin', Full-On
by fIREHOSE
Faller Down 1 from 2nd to 3rd
Guilty As Charged
by Culprit
Faller Down 1 from 3rd to 4th
Ample Destruction
by Jag Panzer

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Top 55 Music Albums of the 1980s ratings

Average Rating: 
87/100 (from 1 vote)
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