Rock and Reel

100 Favorite Albums of the 1980s: The Top 20

Previous: 40-21

20. N.W.A- Straight Outta Compton

Paste: excluded

Slant: +4

19. Prince- Sign O’ the Times

Paste: -5

Slant: +10

18. Run-D.M.C.- Raising Hell

Paste: -27

Slant: -26

17. Eric B. and Rakim- Follow the Leader

Paste and Slant: excluded

16. Pixies- Surfer Rosa

Paste: -2

Slant: -13

15. Bruce Springsteen- Nebraska

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by Paste

Slant: -26

14. Talking Heads- Remain in Light

Paste: +7

Slant: +9

13. Tom Waits- Swordfishtrombones

Paste: excluded

Slant: -8

12. Bruce Springsteen- Born in the U.S.A.

Paste: +8

Slant: -16

11. R.E.M.- Lifes Rich Pageant

Paste: +6

Slant: -27

10. U2- The Joshua Tree

Paste: +2

Slant: -10

9. Pixies- Doolittle

Paste: +8

Slant: -18

8. The Replacements- Let It Be

Paste: -5

Slant: -24

7. The Replacements- Tim

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by Paste

Slant: -38

6. Joy Division- Closer

Paste: -22

Slant: tie

5. Public Enemy- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

Paste: -6

Slant: +2

4. Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique

Paste: -8

Slant: tie

3. Sonic Youth- Daydream Nation

Paste: -7

Slant: -22

2. R.E.M.- Murmur

Paste: -25

Slant: -9

1. The Smiths- The Queen is Dead

Paste: -1

Slant: -13

100 Favorite Albums of the 1980s: 40-21

Previous: 60-41

40. De La Soul- 3 Feet High and Rising

Paste: +22

Slant: +32

39. U2- War

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by Paste

Slant: -20

38. Husker Du- New Day Rising

Paste: +6

Slant: excluded

37. The Jesus and Mary Chain- Psychocandy

Paste: +4

Slant: +6

36. Tom Waits- Rain Dogs

Paste: +21

Slant: +24

35. My Bloody Valentine- Isn’t Anything

Paste: -13

Slant: -23

34. AC/DC- Back in Black

Paste: +14

Slant: excluded

33. Richard & Linda Thompson- Shoot Out the Lights

Paste: +10

Slant: excluded

32. Violent Femmes- Violent Femmes

Paste: +15

Slant: +13

31. Run-D.M.C.- Run-D.M.C.

Paste and Slant: excluded

30. Metallica- Master of Puppets

Paste: excluded

Slant: -26

29. Sonic Youth- EVOL

Paste: excluded

Slant: -25

28. R.E.M.- Reckoning

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by me and Paste

Slant: -25

27. Husker Du- Zen Arcade

Paste: excluded

Slant: -23

26. Prince- Purple Rain

Paste: +17

Slant: +24

25. Ramones- End of the Century

Paste and Slant: excluded

24. Elvis Costello- Get Happy!!

Paste: excluded

Slant: -23

23. Elvis Costello- Trust

Paste: tie

Slant: excluded

22. Eric B. and Rakim- Paid in Full

Paste: -27

Slant: -4

21. Leonard Cohen- I’m Your Man

Paste: -29

Slant: -3

Next: The Top 20

100 Favorite Albums of the 1980s: 60-41

Previous: 80-61

60. Bruce Springsteen- The River

Paste: #26 on adjusted list

Slant: excluded

59. Mission of Burma- Vs.

Slant: excluded

58. The Replacements- Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash

Slant: excluded

57. XTC- Skylarking

Paste: #30 on adjusted list

Slant: +11

56. Pretenders- Pretenders

Paste: #42 on adjusted list

Slant: +13

55. The Police- Synchronicity

Paste: +31

Slant: excluded

54. Bob Dylan- Oh Mercy

Paste and Slant: excluded

53. Paul Simon- Graceland

Paste: +43

Slant: +36

52. Elvis Costello- Blood & Chocolate

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by me

Slant: excluded

51. Beastie Boys- Licensed to Ill

Paste: +12

Slant: +41

50. Roxy Music- Avalon

Paste: excluded

Slant: +16

49. Michael Jackson- Thriller

Paste: +43

Slant: +48

48. Prince- Dirty Mind

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by me and Paste

Slant: +9

47. The Replacements- Pleased to Meet Me

Paste: #46 on adjusted list; two-album rule exclusion by me

Slant: excluded

46. The Smiths- Strangeways, Here We Come

Paste: two-album rule exclusion by Paste

Slant: -2

45. Brian Eno and David Byrne- My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

Paste: excluded

Slant: -10

44. Minutemen- Double Nickels on the Dime

Paste: +6

Slant: -7

43. X- Los Angeles

Paste: -9

Slant: -17

42. Dead Kennedys- Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

Paste and Slant: excluded

41. Talk Talk- Spirit of Eden

Paste: -1

Slant: +1

Next: 40-21

100 Favorite Albums of the 1980s: 80-61

Previous: 100-81

80. Black Flag- Damaged

Paste: #48 on adjusted list

79. Slayer- Reign in Blood

78. New Order- Low-Life

77. The Stone Roses- The Stone Roses

Paste: #29 on adjusted list

Slant: #23 on adjusted list

76. Bruce Cockburn- Humans

Paste: #43 on adjusted list

75. Stevie Ray Vaughan- Texas Flood

74. Minor Threat- Out of Step

73. Sonic Youth- Sister

Slant: #49 on adjusted list

72. Peter Gabriel- So

Paste: #25 on adjusted list

Slant: #33 on adjusted list

71. X- Wild Gift

70. The Jam- Sound Affects

69. Slick Rick- The Great Adventures of Slick Rick

Slant: #61 on adjusted list

68. Bruce Springsteen- Tunnel of Love

67. The Pogues- Rum, Sodomy and the Lash

Paste: #39 on adjusted list

66. Camper Van Beethoven- Telephone Free Landslide Victory

65. Metallica- Ride the Lightning

64. Michael Jackson- Bad

Slant: #35 on adjusted list

63. Public Enemy- Yo! Bum Rush the Show

62. R.E.M.- Document

Slant: #15 on adjusted list

61. Elvis Costello- King of America

Slant: beginning of comparison; excluded

Next: 60-41

100 Favorite Albums of the 1980s: 100-81

About a month ago, Paste (which still exists online) posted its “80 Best Albums of the 1980s.” I enjoyed the list but forget about it soon thereafter.

This past week, Slant published its “Best Albums of the 1980s.” It was odd that these two sites both decided to do the same amusing but otherwise random list. Naturally, I played along and also ranked my top 100 albums of popular music’s most underrated decade.

I recently ranked my top 10 albums for each year from 1965 to 2007 (linked below). I have been updating these lists from time to time, so I used these as guidelines. This top 100 should be consistent with the top 10s lists from the 80s.

Also, I decided to quantify the differences between my list and those of the two online magazines. Being a compulsive geek, I controlled for albums I have not heard (and took into consideration Paste’s two-album limit). This resulted in 51 albums I had heard on Paste’s lists and 61 on Slant’s. A “+” indicates the album was higher on their list, and a “-“ indicates the album was higher on mine. I only used my top 51 and my top 61 to compare with the respective lists, but I posted all of my picks anyway.

And lastly, I did not consider the Clash’s London Calling, which landed on both of the other lists. It might be the greatest rock album ever made, but in my mind, it is a 1970s release because of its U.K. drop date.

100. The Smiths- The Smiths

Paste: #39 on adjusted list

Slant: #37 on adjusted list

99. U2- Unforgettable Fire

Paste: #34 on adjusted list

98. Elvis Costello- Spike

97. The Police- Zenyatta Mondatta

96. U2- Boy

95. The Replacements- Hootenanny

94. Metallica- Kill ‘em All

93. R.E.M.- Fables of the Reconstruction

92. Elvis Costello- Almost Blue

91. The Cure- Disintegration

Paste: #15 on adjusted list

Slant: #13 on adjusted list

90. Guns ‘N Roses- Appetite for Destruction

Paste: #21 on adjusted list

Slant: #30 on adjusted list

89. The Clash- Combat Rock

Slant: #52 on adjusted list

88. Prince- 1999

Slant: #7 on adjusted list

87. Elvis Costello- Imperial Bedroom

Slant: #42 on adjusted list

86. Iron Maiden- The Number of the Beast

85. Captain Beefheart- Doc at Radar Station

84. David Bowie- Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

Paste: #40 on adjusted list

Slant: #22 on adjusted list

83. Boogie Down Productions- Criminal Minded

82. Meat Puppets- Meat Puppets II

Slant: #57 on adjusted list

81. Motorhead- Ace of Spades

Next: 80-61

Top 10 Albums of 2007

1. Spoon- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Listen: “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb”

2. Dinosaur Jr.- Beyond

Listen: “Crumble”

3. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago

Listen: “Flume”

4. Kanye West- Graduation

Listen: “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”

5. Various Artists, I’m Not There

Listen: “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Antony and the Johnsons

6. Jens Lekman- Night Falls Over Kortedala

Listen: “The Opposite of Hallelujah”

7. The White Stripes- Icky Thump

Listen: “Icky Thump”

8. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible

Listen: “Intervention”

9. Radiohead- In Rainbows

Listen: “All I Need”

10. Brandi Carlile- The Story

Listen: “The Story”

Honorable Mention: Andrew Bird’s Armchair Apocrypha, Kevin Drew’s Spirit If…, Flobots’ Fight With Tools, Lil Wayne’s Da Drought 3, Modest Mouse’s We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, The New Pornographers’ Challengers, Josh Ritter’s The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, The Swell Season’s Once: From the Motion Picture

Updated: January 13, 2012

Top 10 Albums of 2006

1. The Hold Steady- Boys and Girls in America

Listen: “Stuck Between Stations” [Non-Album Live Version]

2. Ghostface Killah- Fishscale

Listen: “Shakey Dog”

3. Tom Waits- Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards

Listen: “Missing My Son”

4. Belle and Sebastian- The Life Pursuit

Listen: “Another Sunny Day”

5. Sonic Youth- Rather Ripped

Listen: “Another Sunny Day”

6. Yo La Tengo- I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass

Listen: “Mr. Tough”

7. Bob Dylan- Modern Times

Listen: “Thunder on the Mountain”

8. Bruce Springsteen- We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

Listen: “We Shall Overcome”

9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Show Your Bones

Listen: “Gold Lion”

10. Neil Young- Living With War

Listen: “Let’s Impeach the President”

Archival Highlight: Neil Young- Crazy Horse at the Fillmore 1970

Listen: “Winterlong”

Honorable Mention: Lily Allen’s Alright, Still; Islands’ Return to the Sea; My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade; Sufjan Stevens’ The Avalanche; The Streets’ The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living; Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds

Updated: December 31, 2011

Top 10 Albums of 2005

1. The Hold Steady- Separation Sunday

Listen: “Your Little Hoodrat Friend”

2. Kanye West- Late Registration

Listen: “Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix feat. Jay-Z)”

3. The White Stripes- Get Behind Me Satan

Listen: “Blue Orchid”

4. Franz Ferdinand- You Could Have It So Much Better

Listen: “Do You Want To”

5. Sufjan Stevens- Illinois

Listen: “Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois”

6. Wilco- Kicking Television: Live in Chicago

Listen: “At Least That’s What You Said”

7. Serena-Maneesh- Serena-Maneesh

Listen: “Drain Cosmetics”

8. My Morning Jacket- Z

Listen: “Off the Record”

9. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Listen: “Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)”

10. Art Brut-Bang Bang Rock & Roll

Listen: “Emily Kane”

Archival Highlight: Bob Dylan- The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack

Honorable Mention: Fall Out Boy’s From Under the Cork Tree, Gogol Bordello’s Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike, The New Pornographers’ Twin Cinema, Nine Inch Nails’ With Teeth, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals’ Nothing But the Water, Bruce Springsteen’s Devils & Dust, System of a Down’s Mezmerize; Tapes ‘n Tapes’ The Loon, Weezer’s Make Believe

Updated: December 31, 2011

Top 10 Albums of 2004

1. Arcade Fire- Funeral

Listen: “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”

2. Kanye West- The College Dropout

Listen: “Never Let Me Down”

3. The Trash Can Sinatras- Weightlifting

Listen: “Leave Me Alone”

4. Iron & Wine- Our Endless Numbered Days

Listen: “Naked As We Come”

5. Sufjan Stevens- Seven Swans

Listen: “Abraham”

6. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds- Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus

Listen: “Get Ready for Love”

7. Brian Wilson- Smile

Listen: “Roll Plymouth Rock”

8. Wilco- A Ghost is Born

Listen: “At Least That’s What You Said”

9. Franz Ferdinand- Franz Ferdinand

Listen: “Take Me Out”

10. Morrissey- You Are the Quarry

Listen: “First of the Gang to Die”

Archival Highlight: Bob Dylan- The Bootleg Series Volume 6: Live 1964 - Concert at Philharmonic Hall

Listen: “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”

Honorable Mention: Annie’s Anniemal; The Black Keys’ Rubber Factory; Prince’s Musicology; TV on the Radio’s Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes; U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb; Tom Waits’ Real Gone; The Walkmen’s Bows + Arrows

Updated: April 5, 2012