Our year-long Best of the ’80s feature continues this month as we turn to 1982, and once again ask Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers to weigh in on their favorite albums of that year in our ongoing quest to rank the releases of each year of the decade over the course of 2013, concluding, come December, with a poll to determine the best of the ’80s.
It’s a simple process: We’ve assembled a list of 175 albums released in 1982, and you’re welcome to vote for up to 10 of them — or write in any title(s) you wish that we didn’t include.
A few notes and reminders on how this works:
- The albums that made the ballot are those that fall within the very loose and ill-defined “alternative” banner, generally titles from the punk, post-punk, goth, college rock, indie, industrial, New Wave and related genres. Some people no doubt will express outrage that, say, Thriller and Nebraska aren’t on this list. That’s the point. But you’re certainly free to write ’em in.
- Speaking of write-ins, you may list multiple albums in the box at the end of the poll, but, please, limit your total votes to 10 (honor system, here).
- As has been the case with the first two polls in this series, this is a ranking of studio albums. So no EPs (sorry, Chronic Town), live albums or compilations.
Voting will be open through 5 p.m. EDT April 26, and results will be posted on or after May 1 — after which we’ll launch the 1983 poll and take it from there. Sound good? Then vote away. And feel free to discuss/list/explain/lobby for your picks in the comments section below.
And if you missed it, here are the Top 100 albums of 1980 and the Top 100 albums of 1981 — as voted by Slicing Up Eyeballs readers.
NOTE: If this app isn’t letting you vote, you may also do so directly on the Polldaddy site.
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Top 100 Albums of 1981: Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Best of the ’80s — Part 2
- Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Best of the ’80s, Part 2: Vote for your top albums of 1981
- Top 100 Albums of 1980: Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Best of the ’80s — Part 1
- Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Best of the ’80s, Part 1: Vote for your top albums of 1980
The Fall!!
The Clean: Boodle Boodle Boodle!!!
And if I could have added another:
The Dunedin Double EP (The Chills, Verlaines, Stones, Sneaky Feelings)
Actually, I meant to write this:
The Clean: Great Sounds Great …
because “Boodle …” is actually from 1981
If you could change this, thanks. If not, no problem.
Of course
So many great albums. Tough to narrow it down to 10.
Wouldn’t the Sonic Youth entry be considered an EP?
You are correct. I have removed it.
Both Sonic Youth’s Sonic Youth and The B-52’s Mesopotamia are EPs, not albums.
Did you really need to do that? I think an EP should be on here if it is more than 6 songs, or is very influential. Sonic Youth, and R.E.M.’s Chronic Town should be here because of their influence, and that those songs do not appear elsewhere. Just my opinion.
I’m trying to be consistent across the various polls I’ve done so far. In the end, though, I’m now thinking I’ll do a separate EP poll, probably just one for the whole decade, so that we can include ‘Chronic Town,’ ‘Signals, Calls, and Marches’ and stuff like that.
Great idea!
If you do an EP poll please include Skinny Puppy- Remission and The Misfits- Three Hits From Hell
Not to mention Cocteau Twins are going to have a lot missing in the polls. They made so many EPs…
Pornography.
too many good albums to name just 10,very difficult!!!
Berlin’s Pleasure Victim is an EP, and should be excluded re: your guidelines (altho it deserves a vote)
That one I’m going to leave since there seems to be some dispute (the Wikipedia entry even acknowledges it) as to whether it’s an album or EP.
Even if you think seven songs is too long for an EP (and it isn’t; eight has usually been the minimum LP length for songs of normal length) back in the day it was priced and sold as an EP. It’s a great record, but it doesn’t belong.
,…. …..Misfits!!!
And wouldn’t the B-52’s Mesopotamia also be an EP?
Yes, you are correct.
Too many to choose from,what an amazing time it was for music …
Well, that was tougher than I thought! But, I think my #1 would have to be Roxy Music’s Avalon ;-)
I NEED TO PICK 20 OFF THIS LIST.
The Cure Pornography, low rated but a jewel.
For me, Kate Bush’s “The Dreaming” is one of the best albums of all time.
A life changer.
Kate Bush! Marc Almond!
Year I graduated. Very good music year. Very hard to choose. But Pornography is a masterpiece …
I vote for Duran Durans Rio to be number 1 with Billy Idol coming in 2nd.
I vote that you are correct. The most commercially accepted albums will be the highest rated because these polls all come down to popularity.
I would expect INXS and The Go-Gos as well.
VOTE BEANO http://www.ppa.co.uk/ppa100/vote/#
1982 was a great year for music. There were so many classic albums to come out that year. But i would have go with The Cure’s Pornography as the best album for 1982.
The Cure!
Ah, the good-old days!
comment
Oh my God, you are so right! Thanks so much for your comment, it changed my life.
Cocteau Twins, Garlands was my number one pick. Flipper was my number ten.
I have a cassette of Garlands, with Peel Sessions on the flip.
So many great albums in this list and I have a number of them and also some things I’d forgotten about…time to buy them.
These were the albums that got me through high school.
how did the Violent Femmes not make the list?
Their debut album came out in 1983.
according to their website discography page their debut was released in 1982 –
http://www.vfemmes.com/discography.html
Interesting…I had written this in as a choice because on one wiki page it had a release date of 11-30-82, but on another it states April 1983.
The Cure !!!
The Cure and Bauhaus!
INXS Shabooh Shoobah! ” Don’t Change” was the first time I really heard rocking guitar with syths, and it changed me forever…
Amen, Marty. INXS should have remained as popular as U2 their entire run.
Oops. I had thought we were doing 1983, hence my write-in vote.
wow, good tunes…
Quite simply a beautiful album by The Cure xxx
A Kiss in The Dreamhouse is my favourite album of all time.
Tough to pick just 10, when in doubt I went with the one I listened to more often.
NEBRASKA and CHRONIC TOWN should be added.
the cure
Best year in music history. Simple Minds, Duran Duran, Yazoo, ABC, Roxy Music, Depeche Mode… Vote for Simple Minds and best album of all time ‘New Gold Dream’.
At this point in history, MTV was driving the popularity of many of these artists and their respective albums. Now, many, many lifetimes later, that’s what people will remember and I predict the poll will bear that out. The more popular something was on MTV the higher it will appear in the poll.
I don’t know what MTV you were watching in 1982, but very few of these mostly British bands appeared on MTV at that time. Those of us who followed alternative music then certainly did not let MTV dictate our tastes, we were already far ahead of MTV.
I think you’re both right. I believe “Drab” though is predicting the “Duran factor,” i.e. that they will place high in the poll regardless of whether they were still actually being played on college radio by 1982.
If they weren’t playing Rio every hour on MTV in 1982 then they must have started playing it in ’83 because I got sick of it from seeing it so much. Either way, it was popular it will do well in this or any other poll. Why? Because it was popular.
the cure meilleurs album 82 sans probleme
No doubt, English Settlement- XTC-
Yeppers! Agreed ;)
Tough one but my t5 picks are: All Fall Down, Garlands, New Gold Dream, Pornography & Sulk.
Wow, this was a good year for Australian music: Icehouse, Midnight Oil, INXS, and The Church all released stellar albums…
and The Birthday Party!!
What a great albums! Night and day, New gol dream, Avalon,Pornography. All totally diffent but real music history. And don’t forget my “childhoods crime” the lexicon of love!
Slainthe!
So easy to pick my #1, so hard to pick the remainder. “Plastic Surgery Disasters” easily in my top 10 all-time list – Dead Kennedys at their best for my money.
THE CURE – Pornography
These polls are so much fun! But very difficult to pick just 10!
XTC’s English Settlement is undoubtedly the best album of 1982. Just listen to it!
Agreed, 101% ;)
Mission of Burma made your list. Now your it is legitimate.
Pornography the best album of 1982!!!
Where the heck is Captain Beefheart’s “Ice Cream for Crow?”
Why Pornography? I do not say nothing, there can not be enough words to describe it, you just have to listen and you’ll understand ;) xxx
Maybe the best year for releases ever? Even limiting oneself to 25 would already be difficult enough…
The Cure – Pornography is a milestone
A Kiss in the Dream House is THE best of that year and One of the All-Time best. Still relevant, still unique. Superior work!
The Cure Pornography … Of course !!!
Kate Bush – “the Dreaming” – THE best!!
A great year!
The Cure – Pornography. Hands Down.
A CLOSE SECOND – Siouxsie and the Banshees – A Kiss in the Dreamhouse.
A bonus mention for INXS.
X. With the Dream Syndicate in close second.
Pornography: best music ever made.
you are correct! a powerful album, a lot of great albums on this list but Pornography stands high above them all
An utter, categorical, untouchable, definitive masterpiece!!! :-)
ABC’s “The Lexicon of Love” and A Flock Of Seagulls eponymous albums were the first two I bought that year. I remember the first day I had them in my hands. I thought I was the coolest person I knew.
if voted for Duran Duran, Go Go’s and that ilk and not Mission Of Burma, go ahead and have a loved one push you down a flight of stairs.
* err if you voted
Apart from “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Rio,” Rio is a great album.
Combat Rock, apart from the two singles, may be the best of the year.
It almost sounds like you are more into being into things others aren’t than the music itself. Once the masses accept it then there must be something wrong with it.
Whatever floats your boat.
The Cure definitely.
I have a feeling the cure is going to perform the best throughout this best of the 80s project. With the exception of 1988 and perhaps 1986, can anyone see them not being in the top 5 every year?
1983 as well. I don’t think people would pick The Top for top 5 for 1984 though I feel it deserves to be there
Australian albums dominated in 1982 and rightly so.
“Upstairs at Eric’s” followed very closely by “A Broken Frame”. 31 years later and no one has yet to come close to the brilliance of Martin Gore and Vince Clark
The cure of course
I screwed up and missed The Dreaming.
I can’t believe I had to write in “Moving Windows” by Our Daughter’s Wedding. For shame! TONS of great releases in 82. It will probably end up near the top, but really, “Pornography” should come in at about #25.
NO reason for ODW to have been missing from the initial 200 selections. None whatsoever. Hatred for Ohio I guess lol. Anyway, like King Crimson’s ‘Discipline’ in 1981, the absence of ODW is quite conspicuous.
Rio!!!
The Fab Five!!
It’s great to see that so many peoe liked “pirnography” by the cure. I must have spent a million hours driving around listening to that record in high school.
It’s so GD hard to narrow it down! I was stuck between The Fall or Section 25 capping off the list.
Pornography is a masterpiece!
Got a few of these but not as many as ’81.
I’m surprised you had Portion Control & Die Krupps on your list. I think Cure might win though
A classic year – and staggeringly, there were SEVEN albums I would have considered voting for which weren’t even mentioned on your list!
Gerry Rafferty – Sleepwalking
Richard & Linda Thompson – Shoot out the lights
Crosby, Stills, & Nash – Daylight again
King Crimson – Beat
Talking Heads – The name of this band is Talking Heads
Prince – 1999
Roy Harper – Work of heart
!
Under The Big Black Sun
Blurred Crusade
Bad Brains
Pornography
A Broken Frame
after that I went crazy just clicking…how to choose from this list.
Could have easily picked 20. Great list. Didn’t do Pornography simply because its too obvious. Oh 1982.
10 is just not enough.
If u can name only 10 albums u are a better man than me. I love about 40 of these. Plastic Surgery Disasters and Upstairs at Erics are two of the most absolute perfect albums ever. I never want these polls to end.
after hours of deliberation:
abc, laurie anderson, anti nowhere, the beat, dead kennedy’s, exploited, flipper, flock of, billy idol, yazoo
bury me with these albums
Wow, what a great year for music! A lot of these were my primer for good alternative music. Had a hard time picking 10, but I am happy with my choices.
Any way you guys can include album covers or at least links to albums to check out track lists in the polls? Remember a lot of us were swapping mix tapes back then and might not have known the album the music was off of. Otherwise great stuff!
Well this poll is all about classic “albums”; of which there was a rich smorgasbord in the 80s. Sorry…but if you want to vote for best “songs” from mix tapes…you are on the wrong site.
Good list with some great music in 1982 for sure… but Marc and the Mambas were just on a different level
Wow!! forgot so many brilliant albums were released in 1982! Amazing year, amazing decade. How lucky I was to be a teenager in this decade to experience the diverse music coming from the UK and Australia! INXS, Duran, Toyah my favs
Those were the days…..could have chosen another 15-20 albums that rules my collection of vinyls. My votes goes to the following 10 where Icehouse’s “Primitive man” is one of the most played ever. A fantastic record for all to explore and enjoy!! Great poll!!!! ;-)
ABC
Blancmange
Kate Bush
China Crisis
Cocteau Twins
The Cure
Icehouse
Simple minds
Talk Talk
Yazoo
Duran Duran’s Rio was definitely no. 1
what a MONSTER year for music!
Squeeze x
Theatre Of Hate..Westworld..Classic.
Didn’t Bill Nelson touch your world? – The Love That Whirls (Diary Of A Thinking Heart)
Impossible to pick just 10. This year was insanely amazing.
I voted based on album that I can still listen to and enjoy. Albums that are timeless. Duran Duran’s ‘Rio’ and ABC’c ‘The Lexicon of Love’ both fit the bill. Do they SOUND like 80’s records? kind of, but do they also sound like they could be on the radio today? YES.
Rio!
duran duran the best
anytime ABC is involved…well..you should all know!
SQUEEZE
Duran Duran is clearly the iconic band of the 80’s.
Duran Duran live inside my heart. Has to be Rio.
“The Blurred Crusade” and “Rio” were two of the easiest picks–both ’80s classics. And to think the Church opened up for Duran Duran in ’82!!!
Probably not cool to admit, but I LOVE “A Broken Frame.” There’s something very sweet and sentimental about it that I really appreciate.
In terms of craft, is it “Violator” (or even “Some Great Reward”)? No, of course not. The lyrics are Martin Gore’s juvenilia (if not in actuality, then in appearance) and the instrumentation is “eh” compared to later albums. However, I feel there’s an atmospheric cohesiveness to it that foreshadows that of later albums, and a sense of youth and yearning in the lyrics that echoes the vulnerability Martin shows throughout his songwriting career.
Great album. See You, Leave In Silence, Sun And The Rainfall, My Secret Garden. All standout tracks. There is something in those tracks. Later albums (from 1993 to present day) don’t have that kind of atmosphere & some kind of melancholia (except maybe ‘Ultra’ in some tracks, for example ‘Love Thieves’)
Agreed on all counts!
ABSOLUTELY COMSAT ANGELS- FICTION! So STOKED you had them on here! Give them a listen people, it’s great stuff. Blurppy.com knows because I have all the vinyl!
Duran Duran forevet
HER NAME IS RIO AND SHE DANCE ON THE SAND-MERAVIGLIOSO
MERAVIGLIOSO
GRANDE FRASE POETICA ALLA OSCAR WILDE:HER NAME IS RIO AND SHE DANCE ON THE SAND-MERAVIGLIOSO
Duran N. 1
Well… Pornography, hands down.
I’m not going to win many sympathy likes, but Tunes of Two Cities is such an amazing experiment, front to back.
If you’re referring to The Bongos from Hoboken, NJ, then the album title is “Drums Along The Hudson”, which is definitely one of the top 10 of 1982.
Missing Persons’s “Spring Session M” is an unforgettable classic!! Listen to the whole album and you’ve got yourself a party!!!
My all time favorites INXS “Shabooh Shoobah” and Duran Duran’s “Rio”. They rocked the 80’s!
Cutting out most of the mtv pap, that leaves great records like Fear, The Gun club, The Church, The Dream Syndicate, X, and Iggy’s Zombie Birdhouse.
The Clash were at the pinnacle of their career in 82 with the release of Combat Rock. I saw them live in August ’82, memorable performance and an incredible showman Joe Strummer was.
Yes, Pornography is an iconic Cure album, my vote for #1.
The Sky’s Gone Out is among my all time favourite albums… it finds Bauhaus maturing and to me its a masterpiece.
Forever Now is an amazing Furs album !
Still love it and listen to it today…
How can I add these? It only seems to let me add 1 not on the list.
Alan Parsons Project, The Eye In The Sky;
Genesis – Nursery Cryme;
Yes – Fragile;
Boston – Boston;
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here;
King Crimson – Discipline;
You’re either on the wrong site or you have a great sense of humour!!
The funniest part – I don’t think any of these albums are from 1983.
Glad to see Front 242’s name offered on the list, their debut is one of the best “Industrial” records of all time.
Pornography. Best kill yourself album ever along side JD Closer!
Too much too good albums…
What about
Felt’s – Crumbling The Antiseptic Beauty
or Springsteen’s Nebraska?
isn’t Springsteen dead yet?
God no!
Pornography and Garlands. 1982 was the best year for serious auteur music. Can’t wait for 1983…Script of the Bridge…
Rio by far lots of talent
Duran Duran’s Rio all the way! Every single on that album rocked!! Best album ever in my opinion! Duran Duran is still around making great music and selling out concert halls! Long live Duran Duran! They rock live!
So many good ones—what a year for great music.
Enjoyed completing voting for albums from 1982
I’m surprised there isn’t more love for “Blurred Crusade” by The Church. It is a GREAT album – arugably their best.
I still can’t believe John Cale’s ‘Music For A New Society’ didn’t make the list.
Such a great year for music. I think you need a new poll that lets us choose at least 25.
So glad The Fleshtones classic “Roman Gods” was already on the list so I didn’t have to write it in!! Forgot just how many excellent LPs were released in ’82. And sorry we probably won’t see another year that rich in great music.
Toyah!…Adam Ant!….and Iggy Pop!!
After “Meat Is Murder” all must consider Iron Maiden’s “The Number Of The Beast” as a possible second best album of the 80’s. Disagree? You might need a lobotomy. Lobotomy!
That was difficult! I miss my 80s!!!!
Nice to see some hardcore on this list – though I doubt it will do as well as the Cure, Go Gos or Duran2. Thumbs up for including The DKs, FEAR and the Angry Samoans (!). I remember being kind of upset with some of the music coming out back then. Now I look back and I’m proud to have come of age in that era.. Great year….
’82, a great year.
this year could EASILY be a “pick your favorite 25 albums” kind of year!
Hard to pick that tenth one!
Looking through the list its amazing how many albums I actually own from that year. I’d have to include a guilty pleasure from ’82 (although not remotely college rock as you guys over there call it) – Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast -even metal was good in ’82 (it wasn’t much afterwards).
I did not realize that so many of my favorite albums all came out in 1982. Keeping it 10 was not easy. A great list to work with, although I did have to write in Shoes-Boomerang, which according to the CD liner notes came out in August of 1982.
Duran Duran Forever
Duran Duran’s Rio, even if you dont like DD you gotta love this album.
Best album ever
Duran Duran forever
I vote Duran Duran Rio! best album !
My write-in vote is Phil Collins’ “Hello, I must be going”. Fantastic album. Do not judge me!!!
Yazoo, Simple Minds, Missing Persons, The Motels, Kate Bush
One of the best albums of all time
Very the best for me
I added the album “Arias & Symphonies” by Spoons as my write-in choice. A Canadian band whose greatest hit was “Nova Heart”, a new wave classic. Surprised that the Payola$ made the list but (The) Spoons didn’t (no slight against the Payola$ intended; “Eyes of a Stranger” is one of the absolute best songs of the 80s decade, no lie). I suspect most votes will go towards the bands/artists that comprised the second British Invasion but I hope more people would give Spoons a listen.
long live Duran Duran!!!!!
long live Duran Duran !!
My top five for ’82 (best year in music history)
1. Simple Minds – New Gold Dream
2. Roxy Music – Avalon
3. Yazoo – Upstairs At Eric’s
4. Duran Duran – Rio
5. ABC – Lexicon Of Love
That’s my list too
THE CURE – PORNOGRAPHY
Pornography is by far the best of 1982 and one of the greatests of all the decade.
Where do you start, 1982 the seminal 80’s all start and end here…… ABC (Look of Love and Poison Arrow), the Duranies with Rio (RIP Milo !) Flock of Seagulls (Hair spray please). And then the Cure, Peter Gabriel, the Masterful Kate Bush and those rockers the Clash.
10 votes is NOWHERE near enough !!!!!!!!!!!
Good year.
my top 10 in which had the most impact on my life:
Adam Ant – Friend or Foe, Bauhaus – the Sky’s Gone Out, Berlin – Pleasure Victim, the Birthday Party – Junkyard, Christian Death – Only Theatre of Pain, the Cure – Pornography, Depeche Mode – A Broken Frame, Duran Duran – Rio, tHe Lords of the New Church – the Lords of the New Church, Siouxsie and the Banshees – A Kiss in the Dreamhouse. Honorable mention to the Clash, Madness, Modern English, Oingo Boingo, Psychedalic Furs, Roxy Music & the Sparks. M
Simple Minds ‘New Gold Dream’ on my favorite 10 albums. ‘Avalon’ and ‘English Settlement’ are really great.
Thanks for this wonderful poll. Expect a close race between The Cure and Duran Duran for the top spot, with both albums doing well in the final decade poll.
My top 3 for the year would be:
1 Laurie Anderson – Big Science
2 Associates – Sulk
3 Fad Gadget – Under the Flag
Listened to ‘New Gold Dream’ much more often back then, but I don’t think this album has aged as well (same goes for ‘Rio’).
Duran Duran will probably rank high because their official facebook is pushing fans over here to vote. This will probably continue as long as there is a Duran Duran album on the list.
What a year! Kate Bush, X, Gun Club, Split Enz, XTC are my top picks and a few others…
Cherry ice cream, smile, I suppose it’s very nice.
Rio is the best!
Wot?? You really forgot The Police and The Ghost In The Machine??? Can’t believe it!!
Rio, no doubt about it.
how am I supposed to choose! There are so many great albums?
…………
Duran Duran Rules!
Rio……..the best
Obviously…. Rio !! allways the BEST!!!!
So hard to choose!
The Party’s Over by Talk Talk
Talk Talk–YES! They are the godfathers of
post-rock!
The Cure, Talk Talk etc…
You said the first two polls did not include EPs, but “Oingo Boingo” was included in the 1980 poll and was a four song EP.
Couldn’t do 10…my failing, but could definitely pick 3.
My four deserted island records: 1) The Seeds of Love-Tears for Fears, 2) The Color Of Spring-Talk Talk, 3) It’s My Life-Talk Talk, 4) New Gold Dream-The Simple Minds.
Cool
Duran Duran- hand’s down-
They are amazing live… And all you have to do is see them live to see how they affected people ( 80’s children like myself!) And now- my generation is introducing their children to DD….
Duran Duran is contagious !!!
Duran Duran – Rio, the winner by a clear mile. Duran Duran always the best!
Rio…….FOREVER
Best. Record. Ever!
duran duran!
Best album ever. Not just best of 80’s.
Judge my top ten !!! Let me know
This album was highly influential to me, and still is. Duran Duran’s RIO album is just as fresh and modern sounding to me as it was in 1982. If it wasn’t released until 2013, it would still be a contender with todays music. The album, to me, is a great blend with a funky rhythm section I catchy, melodic vocals, lush synths and sequencing, and great guitar playing. The band members with their individual styles and sounds synch perfectly on RIO!
Rio,shabooh shoobah,upstairs at Eric’s,shuttered rooms,night & day,combat rock,
primitive men,lexicon of love & killer on the rampage !!! My Picks !!! Any comments !!!
Go Go Duran Duran
Simply the best
Depeche mode
Nunsexmonkrock by Nina Hagen!
would like to vote for inxs ten times…….
Again, I need 20 selections to remotely cover all the
excellent releases this year. I ended up picking Bad Brains,
Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Cure, Fear, INXS, Misfits, Missing Persons,
Siouxsie, and Talk Talk. An amazing year for music.
You say ‘Nebraska’ isn’t independent enough, but you put
‘Avalon’ on the list (nothing against Roxy Music, I loved that
album). That’s a little bit strange and not really
comprehensible.
Springsteen is an artist that appeals to classic rock fans therefore that makes Nebraska ineligible.
Love 82
Pornography is by far the best of 1982 and one of the greatests of all the decade. :D
Just voted.
Classix Nouveaux La Verite is missing!!!!!!!!!!
the cure pornography is the best album
My fave ever is Pornography – THE CURE… of course!!!!