Eighties

Lately, I've been listening to and considering a lot of music from 1980s because I contributed to yet another music list: This one a list of the top 100 albums of the '80s as compiled by the writers of Popblerd. The site has been unveiling 10 picks per day (with today's installment counting down #s 70-61). I've contributed several blurbs about different albums, so check it out.

But the only place you'll find my personal top 100 is right here, and as with all of these lists, I reserve the right to change my mind 10 minutes after I make the list. At any rate, here's my top 100, with my number one being...AC/DC's Back in Black. The 1980 release found the Australian act reinventing itself with a new lead singer, Brian Johnson, after the tragic death of Bon Scott. And with the help of producer Mutt Lange, the band turned out the biggest album of its career and one of the best-selling albums of all time. Sure, "You Shook Me All Night Long" has been played to death, but the list of classic songs is immense: The title track, "Hell's Bells," "Have a Drink on Me," "Shoot to Thrill," "What You Do for Money Honey," "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution." Really, not a clunker in the bunch. Thirty-two years later, it's as powerful as ever.

Here's the rest of my list:

2. Prince - Purple Rain
3. Husker Du - Zen Arcade
4. U2 - The Joshua Tree
5. Mission of Burma - Vs.
6. Pixies - Surfer Rosa
7. R.E.M. - Murmur
8. Van Halen - Fair Warning
9. Rush - Moving Pictures
10. Prince - Sign o' the Times
11. Replacements - Tim
12. Talking Heads - Remain in Light
13. Black Flag - Damaged
14. Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
15. The Pretenders - s/t
16. Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
17. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
18. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (Melt)
19. Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff
20. R.E.M. - Reckoning
21. Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz
22. Prince - 1999
23. Husker Du - Flip Your Wig
24. The Clash - Sandinista!
25. Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
26. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
27. The Smiths - Meat is Murder
28. The Cure - Disintegration
29. Metallica - Master of Puppets
30. Nirvana - Bleach
31. Pixies - Doolittle
32. Rolling Stones - Tattoo You
33. Replacements - Let It Be
34. Rush - Permanent Waves
35. Joy Division - Closer
36. Husker Du - New Day Rising
37. Van Halen - Women and Children First
38. The Cult - Electric
39. Dinosaur Jr. - Bug
40. U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
41. Metallica - Ride the Lightning
42. Def Leppard - Pyromania
43. Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
44. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
45. Neil Young - Freedom
46. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand the Weather
47. David Bowie - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
48. The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
49. Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me
50. Peter Gabriel - So
51. The Misfits - Walk Among Us
52. Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
53. U2 - War
54. Pete Townshend - Empty Glass
55. Queen - The Game
56. R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant
57. Husker Du - Candy Apple Grey
58. The Police - Ghost in the Machine
59. Robert Plant - The Principle of Moments
60. Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman
61. Van Halen - 1984
62. Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
63. Living Colour - Vivid
64. The Tragically Hip - Up to Here
65. Husker Du - Warehouse: Songs and Stories
66. David Lee Roth - Eat 'Em and Smile
67. Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me
68. Steely Dan - Gaucho
69. Metallica - ...And Justice For All
70. Pete Townshend - White City
71. Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue
72. U2 - Boy
73.  The Pursuit of Happiness - Love Junk
74. INXS - Kick
75. Public Image Limited - Album
76. Led Zeppelin - Coda
77. R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction
78. Replacements - Hootenanny
79. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
80. Fishbone - Truth and Soul
81. Faith No More - The Real Thing
82. Lou Reed - New York
83. Def Leppard - High n' Dry
84. Black Sabbath - The Mob Rules
85. Peter Gabriel - Security
86. Joe Jackson - Night and Day
87. Iron Maiden - Powerslave
88. Van Halen - Diver Down
89. Robert Plant - Pictures at Eleven
90. The Cult - Love
91. Max Webster - Universal Juveniles
92. Phil Collins - Face Value
93. Soundgarden - Louder Than Love
94. Fugazi - 13 Songs
95. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother's Milk
96. X - Los Angeles
97. Devo - Freedom of Choice
98. Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
99. Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
100. Roxy Music - Avalon

So that's it. It was a great decade for music and there are plenty of albums that didn't make the cut that probably should have. C'est la vie.