The Best Albums of 1980
By 1980, the disco genre, largely dependent on orchestras, was replaced by a lighter synthpop production, which subsequently fuelled dance music. The reinvention of Michael Jackson, the worldwide superstardom of Prince, and the national emergence of Madonna and Whitney Houston, who were all among the most successful musicians during this time. Dance music records made using only electronic instruments became increasingly popular, largely influenced by the electronic music of Kraftwerk and 1970s disco music. Such music was originally born of and popularized via regional nightclub scenes. America’s Top 10, the television version of radio’s American Top 40 and hosted by Casey Kasem, debuts this week in syndication. Here are all of the 1980 albums ranked.
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10. Crazy Rhythms (The Feelies)
“Crazy Rhythms’ is a folk-rock and ‘bubblegum’ classic. The overall sound is icy and alienating, like an android clone of the Byrds. The playing is almost amateurish in its simplicity of delivery but paradoxically geometrically complex in its structure. The strumming guitars are played frantically, whilst the melodies have the feeling of being electronically ‘processed’ to create a neurotic rhythm and decadent minimalist trance that has delusions of the Velvet Underground with hints of Jonathan Richman.”
9. Seventeen Seconds (The Cure)
“The Cure’s second album takes the punky sounds from their debut but now fuses them with the more gothic sounds they would now employ for a few more albums. It’s certainly a good record, although it takes a few listens to fully digest it, but, faith, is a superior record in my opinion. Still, nothing wrong with this LP; play for today, and, a forest, is superb. Easily in the top five Cure albums.”
8. Making Movies (Dire Straits)
“An excellent Dire Straits album. Making movies is full of great songs in, tunnel of love, Romeo and Juliet, and, espresso love. This is one of three superb Straits albums with, love over gold, and the first record. Dire straits always get a bad rap, but with excellent records like this, it’s baffling.”
See more: Dire Straits Albums Ranked
7. Peter Gabriel III (Peter Gabriel)
“Peter Gabriel’s first masterpiece. He’s finally found his solo voice after two slightly ambitious and uncertain albums. Here though, is the start of the Peter Gabriel sound, these are the kind of songs you associate with him. Great songs here, games without frontiers, family snapshot, and, I don’t remember, are all excellent. Closing with the superb, Biko, this is the true start of Gabriel’s solo career.”
6. The River (Bruce Springsteen)
“Up there with the very best of Springsteen’s work, some say this would have been better as a single album but I think there is very little filler here – great collection of songs – each song a little story backed by a great performance from the E Street Band”
5. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (David Bowie)
“Overall Bowie’s best album. There are no bad tracks, all of them are very interesting and unique. Teenage Wildlife is a standout track. The vocals are interesting, and David’s voice was the best it had ever been in 1980. Simply put, the best David Bowie.”
4. Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables (Dead Kennedys)
“The Dead Kennedys punk rock satire at it’s finest. Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables was the first DK album I bought I’ve had it on vinyl, cassette and CD over the past 20 years never failing to wear out my copy in any format. With tunes like “Your Emotions,” “Chemical Warfare” and their high speed low drag cover of “Viva Las Vegas” which in my opinion is as much a tribute to Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas” as much as it is an homage to the “King” himself, one can only element that the late great comedian Lenny Bruce did not get to yuck it or rip it up alongside DK frontman Jello Biafra. A hard hitting album from start to finish, Dead Kennedys were no joke!”
See more: Dead Kennedys Albums Ranked
3. Back In Black (AC/DC)
“Great album and the start of a completely different sound for AC/DC. Brian’s best album with them. Everything after this was a slow decline. Good listen from start to finish with fantastic production. A must in any hard rock/metal collection. I’d still rate any Bon Scott album above this though.”
2. Closer (Joy Division)
“The swan song from short-lived post-rock luminaries Joy Division is markedly more finessed and emotionally nuanced than the band’s universally hailed debut record, Unknown Pleasures. Closer, their second and concluding collection of music is a paradigm-shifting, soul excursion into the psyche of frontman Ian Curtis during his final days. Due to this saddening alignment of events, the album acts both as a monument of post-rock music but also as scientific, psychological documentation of a virtuoso battling mortal depression.”
1. Remain In Light (Talking Heads)
“This is a great album, but I don’t think it’s their best. Remain In Light seems to be in some sort of sweet spot. In my opinion, it’s not experimental enough to be particularly interesting and it’s not pop-minded enough to be fun to listen to, with Once In a Lifetime being the outlier. I do think the lyrics and songwriting are exceptional, and the performances are airtight, which makes me appreciate it as an album in concept and execution.”
