Friday, November 22, 2013

Dave's Music Database also strongly disagrees with me about 1982


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:

 1ThrillerMichael Jackson December
 39NebraskaBruce Springsteen September
 58The Number of the BeastIron Maiden March
 601999PrinceOctober
 71Shoot Out the Lights Richard & Linda ThompsonJune
 81RioDuran DuranMay
 85The NightflyDonald Fagen October
 87Imperial Bedroom Elvis Costello June
 89Business as UsualMen At WorkApril



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...


RSBEADMDB
198019841986
198419871989
198219891987
198719861984
198319801985
198619881983
198819831980
198519821988
198119851982
198919811981

The only 1982 albums common to all three lists are Thriller, Nebraska, and 1999.

3 comments :

  1. 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.

    I'll be posting a link to this page on my DMDB FB page. Thanks again! - Dave

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I enjoy your site, Dave. Thanks for dropping by. Don't be a stranger!

      Delete
  2. As 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