Top 100 Music Albums of 1979
by MadhattanJack

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XTC was one of the first bands ever to adopt a logo that could be used to draw a human face, almost two years before Toto did the same thing on their "Turn Back" LP. Unfortunately, many buyers complained that they couldn't "unsee" the face while record-shopping, and XTC was forced to abandon it. For a while, copies of this album were fetching prices of over $1,000,000, but then the internet came along and ruined everything. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,322
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
2. (=)
154 
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The title "154" refers to the number of live shows Wire had played prior to recording the album. Wikipedia (currently) says "at the time of the album's release," but there's always a few weeks between artwork finalization and initial stock date, during which they could have played at least a dozen gigs, so I call shenanigans on that. Some people thought it was an oblique reference to Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451," only with the numbers in reverse order, but then the title would have actually been "154 Tiehnerhaf," which sounds more like a Lithuanian street address. Also, I'm not a big fan of Ray Bradbury. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,736
Rank in 1979:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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Science would suggest that there's only one form of tension, which is exemplified by applying energy to expand (or "load") a spring. But that's science - for everything else, the sky's the limit! There are many forms of *dramatic* tension in particular, including psychological, sexual, and comedic tension, and of course, suspense. There's also hypertension, which is what most of us who were around when this album was released have now. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
417
Rank in 1979:
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Average Rating:
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Buy album United States
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They say this is a concept album covering various forms of everyday fear and paranoia involving common objects and what-not, but that's probably just what they WANT you to think. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,927
Rank in 1979:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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The debut album from one of the most underrated bands of the early "New Wave," and maybe one of the most underrated bands ever. I've always wondered how much better things might have turned out for them if they'd chosen "The Very Doog" as the title instead of what they ended up going with. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
57
Rank in 1979:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Though it's overshadowed by their second album, "Underwater Moonlight," this one shouldn't be overlooked, since it has bees in it. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
117
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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These guys were better than the Clash and the Sex Pistols, maybe even the Ramones and the Buzzcocks too, but their lead singer died of a drug overdose before they could even record a follow-up to this album. So this is almost all we have... What is it about drugs, anyway? I don't like them. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
174
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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For a couple of weeks, the UK critics tried to label Magazine an "art punk" band, but nobody was buying it, so they started calling them a "post punk" band, and... hey, they bought it! We win again! Yay! [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
307
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Most people probably know that Bill Nelson was the singer-guitarist who led Be Bop Deluxe, a fairly successful UK progressive-rock band with heavy glam overtones. My theory is that he heard some of the early XTC stuff and decided "this is the future!" and then dropped everything to form a new band and record this album. He's never been confronted with this theory though, but that's only because nobody respects me as a theoretician. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
49
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
10. (=)
Buy album United States
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Since this is a compilation album (of all their singles, as of the date of release), normally I'd rank this a bit lower. But of all the singles compilations ever compiled, by anyone before or since, this one is the best ever, in my opinion. Unfortunately, after this came out, everyone else wanted to do the same thing because this one was so great, but since none of theirs were as great as this one, there were accusations of fan-exploitation along with record-label greed and corruption. "Why buy all those singles when they're just going to compile them into one of these albums," all of the single-buyers asked. Nobody had an answer. At one point I said, "Maybe the singles will be collectible someday anyway," but everyone just laughed. [First added to this chart: 08/31/2022]
Year of Release:
1979
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,631
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10

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Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 composition

Artist Albums %


The Dickies 2 2%
The Fall 2 2%
Joe Jackson 2 2%
Skids 2 2%
Simple Minds 2 2%
Buzzcocks 2 2%
Gang Of Four 1 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 64 64%
United States 26 26%
Mixed Nationality 4 4%
Australia 1 1%
Germany 1 1%
Japan 1 1%
Jamaica 1 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%
Live? Albums %
No 98 98%
Yes 2 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 chart changes

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(from the 1970s)
TitleSourceTypePublishedCountry
Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 MadhattanJack1979 year chart2025
Top 89 Music Albums of 1978 MadhattanJack1978 year chart2025
Top 77 Music Albums of 1977 MadhattanJack1977 year chart2022
Top 37 Music Albums of 1976 MadhattanJack1976 year chart2025
Top 45 Music Albums of 1975 MadhattanJack1975 year chart2025
Top 42 Music Albums of 1974 MadhattanJack1974 year chart2024
Top 87 Music Albums of 1973 MadhattanJack1973 year chart2025
Top 34 Music Albums of 1972 MadhattanJack1972 year chart2025
Top 49 Music Albums of 1971 MadhattanJack1971 year chart2025
Top 53 Music Albums of 1970 MadhattanJack1970 year chart2023

Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 3 votes)
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04/11/2023 21:05 Rhyner  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,45499/100
  
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03/25/2023 02:51 mickilennial  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 71577/100
  
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03/24/2023 10:09 Larcx13  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,14486/100

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Best Artists of the 1980s
1. The Smiths
2. Prince
3. Pixies
4. The Cure
5. Talking Heads
6. U2
7. Metallica
8. Kate Bush
9. R.E.M.
10. The Stone Roses
11. Sonic Youth
12. Michael Jackson
13. Bruce Springsteen
14. Iron Maiden
15. Prince And The Revolution
16. Tom Waits
17. Joy Division
18. New Order
19. Talk Talk
20. Rush
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