Best Album of the '80s - And the winner is ... on page 14

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

I think it's kind of funny that there are so few "hair band" albums on this list considering how popular those bands were during the 1980s.

I count Whitesnake and Bon Jovi as hair bands. Def Leppard is debatable. AC/DC, Van Halen, Guns N Roses and Metallica are definitely not "hair bands"

Not counting Pyromania, are there any "hair band albums" that people think were overlooked?

I think Cinderella's Long Cold Winter is a very underrated album, but I'm not saying it should have made the list. Motley Crue had some great songs, but I would argue never had a great album.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

Chicago 17 is another. If we're looking for albums that defined the era instead of those that are just good, Wham & Air Supply both should be there too.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

I've grown more fond of Sandinista over the years. It takes some serious dedication to get through it though.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

This. Rolling Stone had it ranked as the best album of the decade when they did that list in 1989 (I still have a copy of it somewhere).

If London Calling is included, and it should be, it's a 1 seed and sort of the Kentucky of the bracket, IMO.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

Def Leppard is not a hair band.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

You picked the wrong Styx album.
Paradise Theater (1981) was a superior album and their only No. 1 album.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

I was just joking around, but you're right, E-Street.

And I have a soft spot for "Hi InFidelity" because it and "For Those About to Rock" by AC/DC were the first two albums I owned. My uncle worked in the electronics department at Sears, and he gave me promotional copies of each album when I was about 10 years old. I thought they were cool as hell (although I didn't understand the full story behind songs like "Inject the Venom" ... or the REO Speedwagon album cover picture, for that matter).

My mom was not too pleased with her brother, either!

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

I agree...

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

1983: Pyromania released. Def Leppard is NOT a hair band. But their brand of metal is quite poppy.

1988: Hysteria released. Def Leppard is not quite a hair band, but they have chosen to make music that only sounds like dangerous metal to 13-year-old girls.

199whatever: Adrenalize is released. You bet Def Leppard is now a hair band, except instead of releasing music intended to get girls into bed with them, they are seeking the pre-pubescent audience with their utter dreck.

As for genre-defining in a certain genre: Duran Duran had a couple of great albums released in the early 1980s.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

This. Hysteria was fucking terrible. Even Pyromania was a bit too saccharine for me.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

As someone who saw Cinderella 11 times in concert (Nine as an opening act, twice as a headliner...) I agree...

I think the only acts I've seen more times are Pearl Jam, Metallica, Springsteen and maybe Tesla, which seemed to open every show in Northern California from 1988-92.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament

Hair bands were gone by the time Adrenalize came out.