The 25 Best 1980s Albums of All Time

Picking the 25 best albums of the 1980s is impossible — but it's a useful exercise. The decade produced an extraordinary breadth of music, from chart-conquering pop to underground classics that would only get their due decades later.

At the top, very few albums have the cultural weight of Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982). At over 70 million copies sold, it remains the best-selling album of all time, and almost every track has become a standard.

Prince's Purple Rain (1984) is its only real competition — a film, an album and a tour all rolled into one cultural moment. Sign o' the Times (1987) is widely regarded as Prince's artistic peak.

From the British side, The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead (1986) is a near-perfect indie record. The Cure's Disintegration (1989) is the decade's most beautiful goth-pop album. Joy Division's Closer (1980) shaped post-punk and gothic rock for decades.

New Order's Power, Corruption & Lies (1983) and Depeche Mode's Black Celebration (1986) are essential synth-pop. Tears for Fears' Songs from the Big Chair (1985) is the genre at its most ambitious.

U2's The Joshua Tree (1987) is the decade's biggest stadium-rock album. Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction (1987) is the best-selling debut album in US history. Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet (1986) defined hair metal at its commercial peak.

On the alternative side, Pixies' Surfer Rosa (1988), Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation (1988) and Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988) all helped reshape what guitar and rap music could do.

Madonna's Like a Prayer (1989), Whitney Houston's Whitney (1987), George Michael's Faith (1987) and Janet Jackson's Control (1986) are the dance-pop high water marks. Talking Heads' Remain in Light (1980) is the New Wave masterpiece.

Special mentions to Kate Bush's Hounds of Love (1985), Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms (1985), Pet Shop Boys' Actually (1987) and a-ha's Hunting High and Low (1985) — all top-of-decade records.

The 1980s remain one of pop music's most fertile decades. Once you've worked through this list, you've barely scratched the surface — but you've covered a lot of essential ground.