Rock and Reel

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