The 1980s were an endlessly fascinating period for music. While the pop from the era is derided by many – though I’ll note that the best pop from the ‘80s is easily as good as the output from other eras – as soon as you look underneath the surface to the emerging sounds of college rock and post-punk and early hip hop and hardcore – there are pleasures aplenty.
And when we pull out the 14 albums from 1984 that made the best 1,000 albums ever, you’ll quickly find a bevy of heavy hitters.
I wouldn’t be surprised though if not very many people have heard of the 1984 album that blew me away more than any other.
I’ll let the best 14 albums from 1984 take over from here if you’d like to find out why…
1) Cheepskates – Run Better Run (#66 of best 1,000 albums ever)
The first eight tracks are a murderer’s row that, if nothing else, proves how much luck is involved in the music industry – and the arts in general – in terms of what becomes massively popular versus what deeply deserves more recognition and acclaim.
2) Midnight Oil – Red Sails in the Sunset (#71)
In thinking about Red Sails in the Sunset as a whole, I’m struck by how well Midnight Oil laces elements of rock, funk, post-punk, and its own native windswept Aussie edge. It’s an exceptionally strong album from both a musical and political standpoint, and like other great albums they’ve produced, it has a way of lingering in your mind and your heart in a good way.
3) R.E.M. – Reckoning (#156)
“So. Central Rain” and “Pretty Persuasion” are both absolute smashers, and easily among the best songs R.E.M. has ever produced.
4) The Smiths – The Smiths (#300)
Over time, I also came to realize that there’s a connection between R.E.M.’s early jangle pop and Midnight Oil’s new wave meets college rock vibe. Of course, with The Smiths, Morrissey is a singularly talented and unique performer, and guitarist Johnny Marr’s style makes The Smiths very much its own Smiths-y thing.
5) Run-D.M.C. – Run-D.M.C. (#424)
Run-D.M.C., the rap outfit’s self-titled debut album, feels so powerful and timeless to this day because of its wildly sparse production mapped against hard rock samples and old school rap delivery that hits you in the face like a well-aimed sledgehammer.
6) The Cars – Heartbeat City (#433)
“You Might Think” is my favorite Cars song. It’s a perfectly crafted rock song with a great and catchy pop sensibility. I watched the music video about 1,000 times as a kid and could never seem to get enough.
7) The Pretenders – Learning to Crawl (#501)
Learning to Crawl also works as one of the great comeback albums in rock. By the time it dropped in 1984, The Pretenders had already been gutted by tragedy, with guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon both lost to drugs in rapid succession. Lesser bands would’ve folded.
8) Van Halen – 1984 (#511)
When it comes to the eternal Roth versus Hagar debate, I lean hard toward Diamond Dave. Roth is a circus barker and vintage ‘80s showman, elevating Van Halen above other hard rock bands of its era. Sammy Hagar, by contrast, brought earnestness and certainly stability, but in the process the band got way less interesting. Hit songs like “Right Now” bore me to tears, for example.
9) Minor Threat – First Two Seven Inches (#570)
Speaking of influential, the song “Straight Edge” literally helped to kick off the straight edge movement, forming a positive and accepting haven for disaffected punk rock kids. Of course it helps that the song is 45 seconds of hardcore punk bliss set to hyperdrive.
10) Prince – Purple Rain (#685)
It’s deeper cuts like “Baby I’m a Star” that I’ve come to appreciate and enjoy much more over the years. “Baby” has a weirdo ecstatic energy that ties to the style and vibe that I appreciate so much about 1999 and even more so from Dirty Mind, from 1980. In writing these words, it’s helping me to realize that I’m a much bigger fan of Prince’s early work (and sound) versus stuff he did later.
11) Minutemen – Double Nickels on the Dime (#723)
Back to “Viet Nam”: the reason that it really does embody the sound of upstate New York bands during the mid-‘90s – by way of an ostensible punk band from SoCal from the mid-‘80s! – is partly its upbeat funk-meets-ska-punk-meets-alt-rock vibe, but I think the dynamic that nails it most is the specific spacing in the music that allows each element (guitar, bass, drums, vocals) to really stand out, and production that makes it sound like a really great live recording.
12) The Replacements – Let It Be (#780)
“I Will Dare” is my favorite song on Let It Be. Not only am I a sucker for a good college rocking jangle pop song, but I love the energy of this song, the way it builds nicely to the chorus and then especially the fantastic bridge.
13) Scorpions – Love at First Sting (#859)
“Rock You Like A Hurricane” is one of the best songs of the hair metal era.
There’s something earnest and even wholesome about the way these fellas rock out, as opposed to the dirt-under-the-fingernails way that Sunset Strip hair metal feels. And that earnestness kind of helps elevate it into the stadium-ready banger that it is: it’s loud, it’s fun, and it works whether you’re fist pumping out of the window of your car blasting down the highway or if you’re mom or dad rocking out, fist pumping at the sports stadium with your kids.
14) Hüsker Dü – Zen Arcade (#947)
Another reason this is a great album is because of its variety and range. “Never Talking to You Again” is an acoustic song (on an album that has full-blown hardcore punk going on at times!) with guitar work that you could almost imagine being on a 1980s era Midnight Oil record. And, what’s more, even though it almost feels like a throwaway or interstitial at one minute and forty seconds, it might be my favorite song on Zen Arcade.