Here are mine...it's really hard to choose only one for each year.... :(

1980: Kaleidoscope-Siouxsie & The Banshees

1981: Physical-Olivia Newton John/Dare!-The Human League

1982: (SO many great albums released this year....) A Kiss In The Dreamhouse-Siouxsie & The Banshees/The Dreaming-Kate Bush

1983: Sweet Dreams are Made Of These-The Eurythmics

1984: She's So Unusual-Cyndi Lauper/Purple Rain-Prince

1985: Physcocandy-Jesus & The Mary Chain

1986: Revenge-Eurythmics

1987: (another really great year....) Sign O' The Times-Prince/Louder Than Bombs-The Smiths

1988: Daydream Nation-Sonic Youth/Tell It To My Heart-Taylor Dayne

1989: (tremendous year........) Rhythm Nation 1814-Janet Jackson/Disintegaration-The Cure

Very tough calls on some of these!

1980 - I was 6, so let me get back to you.
1981 - Police, "Ghost In The Machine"
1982 - Phil Collins - "Hello, I Must Be Going"
1983 - Fleetwood Mac, "Mirage"
1984 - Huey Lewis & The News - "Sports"
1985 - Glenn Frey, "The Allnighter"
1986 - Bruce Hornsby & The Range - "The Way It Is"
1987 - Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine - "Let It Loose"
1988 - Rod Stewart - "Out Of Order"
1989 - Billy Joel, "Storm Front"

Your Pal,
Doc
8)

I have two favorites lists.  Since i was young in the 80's my only exposure to music was through the radio and MTV.  So i listened to top 40 stuff as you can see on my "back in the day" list.  I didn't buy my first tape or album until 1983.  My "recently discovered" list is my favorite albums for music that i discovered in the 90's and 00's on my own, through friends, and via the internet.

Back in the Day
1980 - The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta (still in the rotation)
1981 - Hall and Oates - Private Eyes
1982 - Michael Jackson - Thriller
1983 - Def Leppard - Pyromania
1984 - Van Halen - 1984, Don Henley - Building The Perfect Beast, and Bryan Adams - Reckless
1985 - Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms and Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam - Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
1986 - The Jets - The Jets, Genesis - Invisible Touch, and Beastie Boys - License to Ill
1987 - U2 - Joshua Tree and Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
1988 - Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions to hold us back
1989 - Madonna - Like A Prayer

Recently Discovered
1980 - Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids.  Had no idea who they were 2 years ago.
1981 - Rush - Moving Pictures
1982 - Roxy Music - Avalon
1983 - Duran Duran - Rio.  Wouldn't touch Rio as a kid because of the "boy-band" feel, but now it is great.
1984 - Rush - Grace Under Pressure.  Got me through the weak 90's.
1985 - Kate Bush - Hounds of Love.  Had no idea who she was last year.
1986 - Metallica - Master of Puppets
1987 - Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love
1988 - Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man
1989 - none. I have been avoiding Rap and Hair Bands for years now.

wow... a great idea!
i don't know how to begin to answer the question...
but i'll get to work on it.
really interesting...

I'll have to compile my list too-there's so many for me to choose from.  :)

Years based on when the album was in the charts here in Canada ...

1980 | Drums and Wires - XTC
1981 | Clues - Robert Palmer
1982 | Avalon - Roxy Music
1983 | Fantastic - Wham!
1984 | Working With Fire and Steel (Possible Pop Songs Volume 2) - China Crisis
1985 | Forward Your Emotions - One to One
1986 | Just in Time to Be Late - Eye Eye
1987 | Amazulu (self-titled)
1988 | Blvd (self-titled)
1989 | Fun, Faith and Fairplay - Big Bam Boo

1980 | Back in Black - AC/DC
1981 | Oddities - The Clean
1982 | The Number Of The Beast - Iron Maiden
1983 | Eliminator - ZZ Top
1984 | Powerslave - Iron Maiden
1985 | Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits
1986 | Crowded House (self-titled)
1987 | Document - R.E.M.
1988 | Temple of Low Men - Crowded House
1989 | Full Moon Fever - Tom Petty

More "metal" & "classic rock" during the early half moving further into "alternative rock" in the latter half.

my favorite album of 1984 is now The Smith's debut.

it might just be my favoirte album now period  :o.

everyone MUST have a copy...........

1980: Back in Black - AC/DC
1981: Hi Infidelity - REO Speedwagon
1982: Business as Usual - Men at Work
1983: 90125 - Yes
1984: 1984 - Van Halen
1985: Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits or Afterburner - ZZ Top
1986: 5150 - Van Halen or Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys
1987: In the Dark - Grateful Dead or Hysteria - Def Leppard
1988: Appetite for Destruction - Guns 'N Roses or Long Cold Winter - Cinderella
1989: I don't remember...

Here comes the pop soul invasion!  ;D

1980 Andy Gibb – After Dark
1981 The Jacksons - Triumph
1982 Michael Jackson - Thriller
1983 Culture Club – Colour By Numbers
1984 Madonna – Like A Virgin
1985 Five Star – Luxury of Life / Whitney Houston – s/t (no I’m not choosing lol)
1986 Michael McDonald – Sweet Freedom / The Jets - The Jets
1987 Whitney Houston - Whitney
1988 Five Star – Rock The World
1989 Janet Jackson – Rhythm Nation 1814

The only year I struggled with was 1981. I chose The Jacksons cos they were the best on the list I linked below.

I'm not a big Madonna fan, but Like A Virgin was a supreme pop album.

For those struggling to fill in the years, here's an okay site which lists famous albums for each year...

http://www.oldielyrics.com/1986.html

^cool website, but they've made several mistakes about which albums were released which years....

...........btw, 'like a virgin' is one of my very least favorite madonna albums  :-\\

...........btw, 'like a virgin' is one of my very least favorite madonna albums  :-\\


I think it's just the association of the hits from that album that reminds me of a great happy childhood... Material Girl, Angel, Over and Over and Dress You Up. If you were a kid in the 80s it might've had more of an impact. Not too sure about the other album tracks as my mind's gone a total blank. Maybe I should actually buy the album again... haha.

ok...i might get some wrong but..


1979  Singles Going Steady- Buzzcocks
1980  True Colors - Split Enz or Flowers Of Romance-PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED
1981  Clues - Robert Palmer  or Pretenders II
1982  Avalon - Roxy Music (great, great album)
1983  High Land, Hard Rain - Aztec Camera or construction time again- depepche mode
1984  The Flat Earch-  Thomas Dolby
1985  Dream into Action- Howard Jones or Hounds of Love-Kate Bush
1986  True Stories- Talking Heads
1987  Kick- INXS
1988  If I  should fall from grace with god- the Pogues
1989  disintegration- The Cure

ok...i might get some wrong but..


1979  Singles Going Steady- Buzzcocks
1980  True Colors - Split Enz or Flowers Of Romance-PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED
1981  Clues - Robert Palmer  or Pretenders II
1982  Avalon - Roxy Music (great, great album)
1983  High Land, Hard Rain - Aztec Camera or construction time again- depepche mode
1984  The Flat Earch-  Thomas Dolby
1985  Dream into Action- Howard Jones or Hounds of Love-Kate Bush
1986  True Stories- Talking Heads
1987  Kick- INXS
1988  If I  should fall from grace with god- the Pogues
1989  disintegration- The Cure






Wow!  What a great list O0

That Aztec Camera and Robert Palmer albums are indeed awesome!

Wow!  What a great list O0

That Aztec Camera and Robert Palmer albums are indeed awesome!


making this list makes me feel the need to dig out the records....