Counting down the Top 50 of '84 - Albums #20 - 11

(or, more accurately, my favorite albums released in 1984)

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Make It Big
Wham!

Billboard peak: 1
CashBox peak: 1
Rolling Stone peak: 3

Top 40 pop singles: "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (#1), Careless Whisper (#1), Freedom (#3), Everything She Wants (#1)
Top track: "Everything She Wants"

"An almost flawless pop record" - Rolling Stone (★★★½)

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Straight to the Heart
David Sanborn

Billboard peak: 64
CashBox peak: 62

Top 40 pop singles: none
Top track: "Smile"

"may not be great art, but at least it's good music" - DownBeat (★★★★)

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Born in the U.S.A.
Bruce Springsteen

Billboard peak: 1
CashBox peak: 1
Rolling Stone peak: 1

Top 40 pop singles: "Dancing in the Dark" (#2), "Cover Me" (#7), "Born in the U.S.A." (#9), "I'm On Fire" (#6), "Glory Days" (#5), "I'm Goin' Down" (#9), "My Hometown" (#6)
Top track: "Glory Days"

"has a rowdy, indominable spirit" - Rolling Stone (★★★★★)

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Human's Lib
Howard Jones

Billboard peak: 59
CashBox peak: 88

Top 40 pop singles: "What is Love?" (#33), "New Song" (#27)
Top track: "What is Love?"

"may have just rescued new music" - Stereo Review

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Access All Areas
Spyro Gyra

Billboard peak: 59
CashBox peak: 79

Top 40 pop singles: none
Top track: "Schu's Blues"

"there's no denying that Spyro Gyra has written and recorded some lovely tunes" - Billboard

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The Unforgettable Fire
U2

Top 40 pop singles: "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (#33)
Top track: "Pride (In the Name of Love)"

"seems to drone on and on" - Rolling Stone (★★★)

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First Circle
Pat Metheny Group

Billboard peak: 91
CashBox peak: 69
Rolling Stone peak: 41

Top 40 pop singles: none
Top track: "The First Circle"

"the range of his music is unmatched by any of his contemporaries (and few of his elders)." - DownBeat (★★★★★)

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Footloose Soundtrack
Various Artists

Billboard peak: 1
CashBox peak: 1
Rolling Stone peak: 1

Top 40 pop singles: "Footloose" (#1), "Let's Hear It for the Boy" (#1), "Almost Paradise" (#7), "Holding Out for a Hero" (#34), "Dancing in the Sheets" (#17), "I'm Free" (#22)
Top track: "Footloose"

"Despite the undisguised cynicism of its packaging, Footloose actually contains some pretty good music." - Rolling Stone (★★★)

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17
Chicago

Billboard peak: 4
CashBox peak: 5
Rolling Stone peak: 6

Top 40 pop singles: "Stay the Night" (#16), "Hard Habit to Break" (#3), "You're the Inspiration" (#3), "Along Comes a Woman" (#14)
Top track: "Hard Habit to Break"

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High Crime
Al Jarreau

Billboard peak: 49
CashBox peak: 31
Rolling Stone peak: 41

Top 40 pop singles: none
Top track: "Imagination"

"mostly high-energy dance music heavily influenced by funk-laced rock" - Stereo Review

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These are my personal top 50 albums released in 1984. The following criteria was used on a very slippery sliding scale:

• How often I enjoyed the album at the time of release
• How often I've enjoyed the album in the years since release
• Overall quality of the album

Chart information is from the US Billboard and CashBox album charts and the Billboard "Hot 100" pop singles. The top track for each album is solely my opinion.