This is the third "Best Album's of the '80s" list I've looked at in my quest to find someone who will agree with me that 1982 is the best year ever for pop music. When I finally find such a list, I'll feel validated and will naturally stop my search. Well, [spoiler alert] the search ain't stopping today, my friends. First, I looked at Rolling Stone magazine's list, where 1982 placed third. Then the list at Best Ever Albums ranked 1982 as 8th out of 10. Today, I'm using the list found at Dave's Music Database. Using the same formula (album #1 received 100 points, album #2 received 99 points, and so on through #100 receiving 1 point, 5050 total points available), here are the results:
 | 1986 Number of albums: 13 Points: 764 | |
 | 1989 Number of albums: 13 Points: 680 | |
 | 1987 Number of albums: 11 Points: 670 | |
 | 1984 Number of albums: 12 Points: 668 | |
 | 1985 Number of albums: 11 Points: 500 | |
 | 1983 Number of albums: 10 Points: 494 | |
 | 1980 Number of albums: 9 Points: 439 | |
 | 1988 Number of albums: 6 Points: 341 | |
 | 1982 Number of albums: 9 Points: 338 | |
 | 1981 Number of albums: 6 Points: 156 |
In case you were wondering, the album cover selected for each year represents the highest ranking album from that year.
The 9 albums selected for the list which were released in 1982 are:
| 1 | Thriller | Michael Jackson | December |
| 39 | Nebraska | Bruce Springsteen | September |
| 58 | The Number of the Beast | Iron Maiden | March |
| 60 | 1999 | Prince | October |
| 71 | Shoot Out the Lights | Richard & Linda Thompson | June |
| 81 | Rio | Duran Duran | May |
| 85 | The Nightfly | Donald Fagen | October |
| 87 | Imperial Bedroom | Elvis Costello | June |
| 89 | Business as Usual | Men At Work | April |
Dave's list is a little different in that he includes greatest hits packages as well as live albums. I'm liking his list a little better because it contains more of my personal favorites (i.e., Rio, The Nightfly) that weren't included in the other lists. But I'm more than a little frustrated with the 9th place ranking. The search continues...
| RS | BEA | DMDB |
| 1980 | 1984 | 1986 |
| 1984 | 1987 | 1989 |
| 1982 | 1989 | 1987 |
| 1987 | 1986 | 1984 |
| 1983 | 1980 | 1985 |
| 1986 | 1988 | 1983 |
| 1988 | 1983 | 1980 |
| 1985 | 1982 | 1988 |
| 1981 | 1985 | 1982 |
| 1989 | 1981 | 1981 |
The only 1982 albums common to all three lists are Thriller, Nebraska, and 1999.
Hello! Dave from DavesMusicDatabase.com here! Thanks for the plug! Personally, I have a particular fondness for 1982 since it was really the first year I started really paying attention to music. Most DMDB lists (including the 1980s albums) are aggregates from multiple lists. I'm fascinated to see what consensus critics come to in picking the cream of the crop. Still, the whole point of lists is to generation discussion, discovery, and debate so I'm always eager to see different opinions.
ReplyDeleteI'll be posting a link to this page on my DMDB FB page. Thanks again! - Dave
I enjoy your site, Dave. Thanks for dropping by. Don't be a stranger!
DeleteAs an evangelical witness for the year 1982 in music, I doubt you're going to be able to find any sort of critical agreement. I've looked. But I wish you luck nevertheless for it is a thankless task. We like what we like no matter what others say.
ReplyDelete