Top 38 Music Albums of 1985
by 
Romanelli 
- Chart updated: 01/01/2026 21:15
- (Created: 04/11/2012 18:38).
- Chart size: 38 albums.
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1985 – WARNER BROTHERS
Produced By NEIL DORFSMAN & MARK KNOPFLER
1. So Far Away
2. Money For Nothing
3. Walk Of Life
4. Your Latest Trick
5. Why Worry
6. Ride Across The River
7. The Man’s Too Strong
8. One World
9. Brothers In Arms
The greatest commercial achievement for Dire Straits also turned out to be the beginning of the end of the band. The last five years had been a struggle for Mark Knopfler and company following the excellent Making Movies. Love Over Gold had the exceptional 14 minute track “Telegraph Road”, but not much else. This had been followed by a somewhat lame extended play and a disappointing live album (Alchemy). So, when Brothers In Arms exploded in 1985, it was actually something of a surprise. That they became the poster band for MTV was even more surprising. “Money For Nothing”, with its cheesy slick animated video and backup vocals by Sting, became ridiculously enormous. The better tracks fared not as well, but don’t disappoint. “So Far Away” is a fine song, but points the way to more mellowness to come. “The Man’s Too Strong” and “Your Latest Trick” are better representative of what Dire Straits was now about…this was fast turning into one of the mellowest bands in the world…had they continued on, they may have gotten even softer.
The two tracks that people identify most with the album are actually the two that don’t fit in. “Money For Nothing” is that huge guitar riff over some badly recorded snare shots and “I want my MTV”. The other is “Walk Of Life”, which (thankfully) sounds nothing like anything the band ever recorded. The rest is Knopfler maturing, and even though the sound is sometimes so quiet you can barely hear it, it’s pretty strong work. The tracks are long…five of the nine are over six minutes long. It’s the stuff that didn’t get hammered into the radio over and over that will stick with you. The hits are disposable and dated, and the album would be better without them. But songs like the title track, “Why Worry”, and “Ride Across The River”, while sounding like whispers compared to earlier Dire Straits tracks, have a definite beauty about them. The band made only one more album, six years after this, and then they were gone. But there’s enough to make you smile here. You just won’t spend much time rocking out to it. [First added to this chart: 04/11/2012]
Produced By NEIL DORFSMAN & MARK KNOPFLER
1. So Far Away
2. Money For Nothing
3. Walk Of Life
4. Your Latest Trick
5. Why Worry
6. Ride Across The River
7. The Man’s Too Strong
8. One World
9. Brothers In Arms
The greatest commercial achievement for Dire Straits also turned out to be the beginning of the end of the band. The last five years had been a struggle for Mark Knopfler and company following the excellent Making Movies. Love Over Gold had the exceptional 14 minute track “Telegraph Road”, but not much else. This had been followed by a somewhat lame extended play and a disappointing live album (Alchemy). So, when Brothers In Arms exploded in 1985, it was actually something of a surprise. That they became the poster band for MTV was even more surprising. “Money For Nothing”, with its cheesy slick animated video and backup vocals by Sting, became ridiculously enormous. The better tracks fared not as well, but don’t disappoint. “So Far Away” is a fine song, but points the way to more mellowness to come. “The Man’s Too Strong” and “Your Latest Trick” are better representative of what Dire Straits was now about…this was fast turning into one of the mellowest bands in the world…had they continued on, they may have gotten even softer.
The two tracks that people identify most with the album are actually the two that don’t fit in. “Money For Nothing” is that huge guitar riff over some badly recorded snare shots and “I want my MTV”. The other is “Walk Of Life”, which (thankfully) sounds nothing like anything the band ever recorded. The rest is Knopfler maturing, and even though the sound is sometimes so quiet you can barely hear it, it’s pretty strong work. The tracks are long…five of the nine are over six minutes long. It’s the stuff that didn’t get hammered into the radio over and over that will stick with you. The hits are disposable and dated, and the album would be better without them. But songs like the title track, “Why Worry”, and “Ride Across The River”, while sounding like whispers compared to earlier Dire Straits tracks, have a definite beauty about them. The band made only one more album, six years after this, and then they were gone. But there’s enough to make you smile here. You just won’t spend much time rocking out to it. [First added to this chart: 04/11/2012]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,102
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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1985-BLANCO Y NEGRO
Produced By THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
1. Just Like Honey
2. The Living Dead
3. Taste The Floor
4. The Hardest Walk
5. Cut Dead
6. In A Hole
7. Taste Of Cindy
8. Never Understand
9. Inside Me
10. Sowing Seeds
11. My Little Underground
12. You Trip Me Up
13. Something’s Wrong
14. It’s So Hard
Another highly influencial British band, The Jesus And Mary Chain came out of Scotland in the early 80’s and began immediately challenging the boundaries of what a band could and could not do. William and Jim Reid were heavily influenced by The Sex Pistols, and by the time they started getting noticed, they were an oddity because they were not a synth band like everyone else. The band started adding noise and feedback to their already punkish sound, giving them a unique sound that they carried to their debut album, Psychocandy. People didn’t quite know what to make of this band with the blasphemous name and singles with titles like “Suck” and “Jesus Fuck”. As terrified as their label was of them, they also knew that the music was exceptionally good. Psychocandy became an instant classic, setting the stage for bands like My Bloody Valentine.
It’s not that the songs were anything complicated. Basic punk structures with a Velvet Underground state of mind were the norm. But the sound was something else altogether. Psychocandy is a sea of sound, pop songs buried in sonic blankets topped with searing white noise. This is one of the best albums of the 80’s for good reason…there’s really nothing else like it. “Just Like Honey”, “Taste Of Cindy”, and “The Living End” are examples of what was to come later on in the decade from other bands…but this band did it first and best. They abandoned their sound for the next album and the rest of their careers…they also never came close to the greatness of Psychocandy. This is a great sounding album. How in the world did we miss this in the 80’s? Not sure. But it’s never too late to make a discovery like this one. [First added to this chart: 11/27/2013]
Produced By THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
1. Just Like Honey
2. The Living Dead
3. Taste The Floor
4. The Hardest Walk
5. Cut Dead
6. In A Hole
7. Taste Of Cindy
8. Never Understand
9. Inside Me
10. Sowing Seeds
11. My Little Underground
12. You Trip Me Up
13. Something’s Wrong
14. It’s So Hard
Another highly influencial British band, The Jesus And Mary Chain came out of Scotland in the early 80’s and began immediately challenging the boundaries of what a band could and could not do. William and Jim Reid were heavily influenced by The Sex Pistols, and by the time they started getting noticed, they were an oddity because they were not a synth band like everyone else. The band started adding noise and feedback to their already punkish sound, giving them a unique sound that they carried to their debut album, Psychocandy. People didn’t quite know what to make of this band with the blasphemous name and singles with titles like “Suck” and “Jesus Fuck”. As terrified as their label was of them, they also knew that the music was exceptionally good. Psychocandy became an instant classic, setting the stage for bands like My Bloody Valentine.
It’s not that the songs were anything complicated. Basic punk structures with a Velvet Underground state of mind were the norm. But the sound was something else altogether. Psychocandy is a sea of sound, pop songs buried in sonic blankets topped with searing white noise. This is one of the best albums of the 80’s for good reason…there’s really nothing else like it. “Just Like Honey”, “Taste Of Cindy”, and “The Living End” are examples of what was to come later on in the decade from other bands…but this band did it first and best. They abandoned their sound for the next album and the rest of their careers…they also never came close to the greatness of Psychocandy. This is a great sounding album. How in the world did we miss this in the 80’s? Not sure. But it’s never too late to make a discovery like this one. [First added to this chart: 11/27/2013]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,540
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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[First added to this chart: 01/30/2015]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,205
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 04/12/2012]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
754
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 05/10/2012]
Buy album
- #Sponsored
1985 – SIRE
Produced By TOMMY ERDELYI
1. Hold My Life
2. I’ll Buy
3. Kiss Me On The Bus
4. Dose Of Thumder
5. Waitress In The Sky
6. Swingin’ Party
7. Bastards Of Young
8. Lay It Down Clown
9. Left Of The Dial
10. Little Mascara
11. Here Comes A Regular
The Replacements were an absolute eighties band…never mind the short lived reunions in 2006 and from 2012-2015. In the ten years between 1981 and 1990, the ‘Mats released seven albums of punk driven rock and roll, and they were one of the coolest bands of the decade. Never overly famous, they made their music on their terms, and forged a legacy that lives to this day. Tim is the band’s fourth album, and it marks (along with its predecessor Let It Be) their peak. This is the last album with the original lineup of Paul Westerberg, Bob & Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars, and after this, it was a slow downhill for them. But Tim (they named it Tim because Westerberg “thought it was a nice name”) is magnificent…it’s brutal, hard, fast and perfect.
There aren’t any hits here (the early Replacements didn’t have hits), but there are some truly great moments. “Bastards Of Young” became legendary after a performance on SNL, and “Kiss Me On The Bus” includes a guitar solo by producer Tommy Ramone. Alex Chilton also adds vocals on “Left Of The Dial”. The closing track, “Here Comes A Regular”, is also pretty terrific. As for the rest, this is The Replacements at their very best, so you can’t go wrong with any of it. Lead guitarist Bob Stinson was kicked out after this album, and things were never quite the same. The last three albums sold more copies, but they didn’t pack the punch of the earlier days. And so, as ended the eighties, so ended The Replacements. But we’ll always have their excellent first four albums. [First added to this chart: 10/30/2023]
Produced By TOMMY ERDELYI
1. Hold My Life
2. I’ll Buy
3. Kiss Me On The Bus
4. Dose Of Thumder
5. Waitress In The Sky
6. Swingin’ Party
7. Bastards Of Young
8. Lay It Down Clown
9. Left Of The Dial
10. Little Mascara
11. Here Comes A Regular
The Replacements were an absolute eighties band…never mind the short lived reunions in 2006 and from 2012-2015. In the ten years between 1981 and 1990, the ‘Mats released seven albums of punk driven rock and roll, and they were one of the coolest bands of the decade. Never overly famous, they made their music on their terms, and forged a legacy that lives to this day. Tim is the band’s fourth album, and it marks (along with its predecessor Let It Be) their peak. This is the last album with the original lineup of Paul Westerberg, Bob & Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars, and after this, it was a slow downhill for them. But Tim (they named it Tim because Westerberg “thought it was a nice name”) is magnificent…it’s brutal, hard, fast and perfect.
There aren’t any hits here (the early Replacements didn’t have hits), but there are some truly great moments. “Bastards Of Young” became legendary after a performance on SNL, and “Kiss Me On The Bus” includes a guitar solo by producer Tommy Ramone. Alex Chilton also adds vocals on “Left Of The Dial”. The closing track, “Here Comes A Regular”, is also pretty terrific. As for the rest, this is The Replacements at their very best, so you can’t go wrong with any of it. Lead guitarist Bob Stinson was kicked out after this album, and things were never quite the same. The last three albums sold more copies, but they didn’t pack the punch of the earlier days. And so, as ended the eighties, so ended The Replacements. But we’ll always have their excellent first four albums. [First added to this chart: 10/30/2023]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,905
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 04/24/2014]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
945
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 02/14/2014]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,262
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
1985 – ATLANTIC
Produced By CHRIS THOMAS
1. What You Need
2. Listen Like Thieves
3. Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)
4. Shine Like It Does
5. Good + Bad Times
6. Biting Bullets
7. This Time
8. Three Sisters
9. Same Direction
10. One X One
11. Red Red Sun
INXS had some hits from their first four albums…songs like “The One Thing” and “Don’t Change” and “Original Sin” showed that this was a band on the rise. We just needed to be patient with them. In 1985, INXS finally found their sound on their fifth album, Listen Like Thieves. And it starts off strong. “What You Need”. “Listen Like Thieves” and “Kiss The Dirt” are all excellent rock songs that showed what their future had in store for them. But then Listen Like Thieves suddenly, with “Shine Like It Does”, slips into the ordinary. From that point on, only “This Time” seems to have any kind of life to it. “One X One” comes close, but the rest is dull and lifeless. Fortunately, the wave of their future was in the better tracks.
What INXS did here was to get heavier. Singer Michael Hutchence grasped the reins on the more rock oriented tracks and started down the path to being one of the better frontmen of the eighties. This album led directly to their even bigger successes with the albums Kick and X, and began their chart dominance not only in their native Australia, but in the rest of the world as well. The roots of that huge success can be found here, on Listen Like Thieves. But you’ll want to keep your finger on that skip button, particularly for surprisingly weaker tracks like “Shine Like It Does” and the snoozy instrumental, “Three Sisters”. The hits here are all worth having…the other tracks are simply not. It’s okay. Bigger and better things were on the way. [First added to this chart: 08/11/2019]
Produced By CHRIS THOMAS
1. What You Need
2. Listen Like Thieves
3. Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)
4. Shine Like It Does
5. Good + Bad Times
6. Biting Bullets
7. This Time
8. Three Sisters
9. Same Direction
10. One X One
11. Red Red Sun
INXS had some hits from their first four albums…songs like “The One Thing” and “Don’t Change” and “Original Sin” showed that this was a band on the rise. We just needed to be patient with them. In 1985, INXS finally found their sound on their fifth album, Listen Like Thieves. And it starts off strong. “What You Need”. “Listen Like Thieves” and “Kiss The Dirt” are all excellent rock songs that showed what their future had in store for them. But then Listen Like Thieves suddenly, with “Shine Like It Does”, slips into the ordinary. From that point on, only “This Time” seems to have any kind of life to it. “One X One” comes close, but the rest is dull and lifeless. Fortunately, the wave of their future was in the better tracks.
What INXS did here was to get heavier. Singer Michael Hutchence grasped the reins on the more rock oriented tracks and started down the path to being one of the better frontmen of the eighties. This album led directly to their even bigger successes with the albums Kick and X, and began their chart dominance not only in their native Australia, but in the rest of the world as well. The roots of that huge success can be found here, on Listen Like Thieves. But you’ll want to keep your finger on that skip button, particularly for surprisingly weaker tracks like “Shine Like It Does” and the snoozy instrumental, “Three Sisters”. The hits here are all worth having…the other tracks are simply not. It’s okay. Bigger and better things were on the way. [First added to this chart: 08/11/2019]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
411
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 04/13/2012]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,006
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 38. Page 1 of 4
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Top 38 Music Albums of 1985 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| John Cougar Mellencamp | 1 | 3% | |
| The Everly Brothers | 1 | 3% | |
| Accept | 1 | 3% | |
| Little Richard | 1 | 3% | |
| Pete Townshend | 1 | 3% | |
| The Cult | 1 | 3% | |
| Robert Palmer | 1 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
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| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 04/01/2021 14:49 | DJENNY | 4,341 | 100/100 |
| ! | 11/02/2012 00:20 | strawberryfields | 273 | 95/100 |
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