These are my twenty most recommended albums of 1980 (in no specific order).
1980 was a great year- a year dominated by great heavy metal bands- especially the New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead & Diamond Head. Punk music morphed into the more eclectic radio-ready New Wave & Post-punk which would help set the tone for the alternative music movement of the late 80’s-early 90’s.
U2 & The Pretenders released their first full length albums- both New Wave/Post-Punk masterpieces. Xdefined L.A. Hardcore with their brilliant debut “Los Angeles”. Rap music was still bubbling underground while black music was dominated by the Funk by groups like the Gap Band & The Brothers Johnson. Prince released his first fully great album with “Dirty Mind” which combined Funk with New Wave and would set the course for his many great albums to come later in the decade. The Talking Heads released perhaps their best album and Joy Division sadly their last before becoming the more Techno group New Order after the very unfortunate suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis.
In my opinion an amazing year and one of the best, if not THE best, music years of the 80’s.
AC/DC/Back in Black
Buy Amazon Back in Black
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band/the River
Buy Buy AmazonThe River
David Bowie/Scary Monsters
Buy Buy Amazon Scary Monsters
Dexys Midnight Runners/Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
Buy Buy Amazon Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
Elvis Costello & the Attractions/Get Happy!!
Buy Buy Amazon Get Happy!!
Iron Maiden/Iron Maiden
Joy Division/Closer
Buy Buy Amazon Closer
Motorhead/Ace of Spades
Buy Buy Amazon Ace of Spades
Prince/Dirty Mind
Buy Buy Amazon Dirty Mind
The Talking Heads/Remain in Light
Buy Buy Amazon Remain in Light
The English Beat/I Just Can’t Stop It
Buy Buy Amazon I Just Can’t Stop It
The Feelies/Crazy Rhythms
Buy Buy Amazon Crazy Rhythms
The Jam/Sound Affects
Buy Buy Amazon Sound Affects
The Police/Zenyatta Mondatta
Buy Buy Amazon Zenyatta Mondatta [Digipak]
The Pretenders/The Pretenders
Buy Buy Amazon Pretenders
The Raincoats/The Raincoats
Buy Amazon The Raincoats
The Soft Boys/Underwater Moonlight
Buy Amazon Underwater Moonlight . . . And How It Got There
U2/Boy
Buy Buy Amazon Boy
Young Marble Giants/Colossal Youth
Buy Buy Amazon Colossal Youth
X/Los Angeles
Buy Buy Amazon Los Angeles