Music: Best Albums of the Year Series: 1981

[Saturated Fats]

1965: The Beatles - Rubber Soul
1966: The Beatles - Revolver
1967: The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1969: The Beatles - Abbey Road
1970: Black Sabbath - Paranoid
1971: Led Zeppelin - IV
1972: Neil Young - Harvest
1973: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
1975: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
1976: Eagles - Hotel California
1977: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
1979: Pink Floyd - The Wall
1980: AC/DC - Back in Black
1982: Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
1984: Metallica - Ride the Lightning
1985: Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair
1987: Guns 'n Roses - Appetite for Destruction
1988: Metallica - ...And Justice for All
1989: Pixies - Doolittle
1991: Nirvana - Nevermind
1992: Alice in Chains - Dirt
1996: (TIE) Soundgarden - Down on the Upside // Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire
1998: (TIE) Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill // System of a Down - System of a Down
1999: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
2000: Radiohead - Kid A
2001: The Strokes - Is This It
2002: Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
2004: (TIE) Madvillain - Madvillainy // The Killers - Hot Fuss // Green Day - American Idiot
2005: Coldplay - X & Y
2007: Radiohead - In Rainbows
2010: The National - High Violet
2011: No definitive winner
2012: (TIE) Kendrick Lamar - good kidd, M.A.A.D. city // Deftones - koi no yokan
2014: Behemoth - The Satanist

1995: Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (24 votes)

2nd Place: Radiohead - The Bends (22 votes)
3rd Place: Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (19 votes)
4th Place: Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters (14 votes)
5th Place: Alanis Morisette - Jagged Little Pill (12 votes)

An outstanding year for music, and a great year for participation. Thanks for making this a fun one, folks. I am a sucker for the first two Oasis albums, so I am totally on board with this. Not as crazy about The Bends (despite loving Radiohead), and the other three are fine for me.

I didn't know a lot about 1981, but when I did the research, I... didn't find a lot to be wild about. It's a pretty barren year. Maybe I'm overlooking things, but I really have no idea which direction this one is going to go. Judging by RYM trends, there's a clear clubhouse favourite, but we'll see.

10/22: 2006
10/24: 1974
10/26: 1997

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[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I guess it's an "ok" year, considering it's the early 80s.

1. Massacre – Killing Time
2. Dome – Dome 3
3. Rip Rig + Panic – God (uneven, but in a mostly weak year, the parts that are great just look amazing - skip the first 3:20 at least)
4. Mnemonists (Mnemonist Orchestra / Biota) – Horde
5. Kip Hanrahan – Coup de tête (an American jazzman that covers a piece from a Marguerite Duras soundtrack? You know I'm in)
6. Television Personalities – ...And Don't the Kids Just Love It
7. Factrix – Scheintot
8. Art Bears – The World As It Is Today
9. Nocturnal Emissions – Fruiting Body
10. System Planning Korporation – Information Overload Unit
11. Fred Frith – Speechless
12. The dB's – Stands for Decibels
13. This Heat – Deceit
14. The Kinks – Give the People What They Want
15. The Lounge Lizards – The Lounge Lizards

HMs:
The Gun Club – Fire of Love
Robyn Hitchcock – Black Snake Diamond Role
Einstürzende Neubauten – Kollaps
The Replacements – Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash
Glenn Branca – The Ascension
Curlew – Curlew
The Flesh Eaters – A Minute To Pray, A Second To Die
Killing Joke – What's THIS For...!
Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Penguin Cafe Orchestra
The Exploited – Punks Not Dead
The Durutti Column – LC
Josef K – The Only Fun in Town
Black Flag – Damaged
Jon Hassell – Fourth World Volume Two: Dream Theory in Malaya
Adolescents – Adolescents
Public Image Ltd – The Flowers of Romance
The Birthday Party – Prayers on Fire
Wipers – Youth of America

Curiosities:
Alvin Lucier – I Am Sitting in a Room (this is the most interesting thing you'll listen to today)
Yoko Ono – Season of Glass (possibly her most accessible album, still bold and sad in themes... and damn that album cover)
Whitehouse – Dedicated to Peter Kürten: Sadist and Mass Slayer / Whitehouse – Erector / Whitehouse – Buchnwald (this is brilliant and should be ranked #1 here, but it's also quasi-unbearable and I strongly suggest you go easy on it, with low volumes, unless you don't care about hearing)
Electric Light Orchestra – Time (Not really a fan of the album, but Hold On Tight surely is 1981's most fun song, with Loverboy's Working for the Weekend coming second, but I can't even give a curiosity mention to that crap)
Dün – Eros
23 Skidoo – Seven Songs
Lizzy Mercier Descloux – Mambo Nassau
Serge Gainsbourg – Mauvaises nouvelles des étoiles
African Head Charge – My Life in a Hole in the Ground
Girls at Our Best! – Pleasure
Cabaret Voltaire – Red Mecca
Various Artists – Let Them Eat Jellybeans!
Bauhaus – Mask
The Raincoats – Odyshape (music is mostly great, the voice just doesn't fit for me)
Oingo Boingo – Only a Lad
Eskaton – 4 Visions
Tuxedomoon – Desire

(@Saturated Fats - you're eating my buffer now, slow down! ;-) )

 

[plank]

1. Fair Warning - Van Halen
2. Hard Promises - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
3. Bella Donna - Stevie Nicks
4. Face Dances - The Who
5. Tattoo You - The Rolling Stones
6. High 'N' Dry - Def Leppard
7. Moving Pictures - Rush
8. s/t - The Blasters
9. Ghost in the Machine - The Police
10. 4 - Foreigner
11. Don't Say No - Billy Squier

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

wow this was tough.

Diary of a Madman is an awesome record and Randy Rhoads just was God's gift to guitar.

But it's Soft Cell - Non Stop Erotic Cabaret.

Truly an early genre maker for electronic/synth and an awesome record too. The full length version of Tainted Love and Where Did Our Love Go as 1 song is easily in my top 5 favorites. With that album they truly shaped electronic/synth music and influenced many of those who became leaders of the genre.

 

[Teemu]

This is the only year in this timespan that I got nothin'

 

[Mescaleroman]

Echo and the Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here
the Au Pairs - Playing With a Different Sex
Stiff Little Fingers - Go For It

the 101'ers - Elgin Avenue Breakdown
Angelic Upstarts - 2,000,000 Voices
Gang of Four - Solid Gold
Heaven 17 - Penthouse & Pavement
the Stray Cats - s/t
the Undertones - Positive Touch
Altered Images - Happy Birthday
the the - Burning Blue Soul

HM's
Soft Cell - Non Stop Erotic Cabaret
Pete Shelley - Homosapien
the Human League - Dare
the Psychedelic Furs - Talk Talk Talk
Toyah - Anthem
UB40 - Present Arms

 

[Eisen]

Accept - Breaker
The Exploited - Punks not Dead

 

[frisco]

Other than Bella Donna, Escape:
Paradise Theatre-Styx
Working Class Dog-Rick Springfield
Of Skins And Heart-The Church
Don't Say No-Billy Squier
Mistaken Identity-Kim Carnes
The Baron-Johnny Cash
4-Foreigner
Beauty And The Beat-The Go-Go's
Private Eyes-Hall And Oates
October-U2
The Visitors-Abba

My Best-Carey

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman

 

[Cas]

I voted for a lot of things on the poll - Diary of a Madman, Mob Rules, Killers, Welcome to Hell, and Moving Pictures. All are very good albums, and Killers is a monster - my favorite Iron Maiden album.

Outside of those, Cirith Ungol's Frost and Fire is another monster of heavy, doomy rocky metal.

Two seminal live albums were released this year - Rush's Exit Stage Left and Motörhead's No Sleep 'til Hammersmith (another monster of an album). Iron Maiden also released the Maiden Japan live EP, though I have a 17-song version that I can't remember the origin for (I think I have it mislabeled as 1981, though it's clearly a 1981 performance).

Angel Witch released the Loser single - all three songs were first released on this single and all are very good. The Mercyful Fate Burning the Cross demo is also pretty strong.

Gotta go with Killers, though.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Three albums stand out for me. (For the record, when I list my recommendations, I'm generally listing my favourites from the year, ones that are highly recommended - I'm not saying there are only three albums from 1981 worth listening to).

King Crimson - "Discipline". After releasing one of the greatest progressive rock albums of all-time, Robert Fripp fired most of the band and completely changed their direction (retaining only drummer Bill Bruford). The addition of singer/guitarist Adrian Belew, I think, forced the band to keep their songs at least somewhat accessible. This record covers enormous ground including a highly technical, intricate dual guitar showcase; a beautiful love ballad; a frantic song about crime in the streets; a long, quiet instrumental; and a song based around alliteration, with guitars that sound like elephants trumpeting. A bizarre mix, but it works.

Iron Maiden - "Killers". Their fastest, most aggressive album. This is their only record featuring both Paul Di'Anno's raspy, edgy vocals and Adrian Smith's soulful, refined guitar. Lots of songs about serial killers, drifters and petty crime. The band's punk rock influence is apparent here, as it features many of their shortest, least complex songs. Still, there's a gorgeous ballad ("Prodigal Son"), the most complex instrumental in their entire catalogue ("Genghis Khan"), and a song that nearly qualifies as death metal (the title track).

Rush - "Moving Pictures". The second half of the album is a bit weaker, but the first side features their greatest instrumental (the challenging "YYZ") and three huge hits. I'm not convinced this is their best album (though it might be), but it highlights most of the strengths of the band.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Iron Maiden also released the Maiden Japan live EP, though I have a 17-song version that I can't remember the origin for (I think I have it mislabeled as 1981, though it's clearly a 1981 performance).

That's a great live album. It's extraordinary how fast they play some of those songs. That rendition of "Phantom of the Opera" seems inhuman.

 

[kihei]

Durutti Column: LC
Joan Armatrading: Walk under Ladders
Squeeze: East Side Story
Gang of Four: Solid Gold
The Police: The Ghost in the Machine
Psychedelic Furs: Talk Talk Talk
Pretenders: Pretenders II
Echo and the Bunnymen: Heaven Up Here
U2: October
Yoko Ono: Season of Glass

 

[Cas]

Iron Maiden - "Killers". ...and a song that nearly qualifies as death metal (the title track).

I have to ask what you mean by this, because one thing I've never thought about "Killers" was "death metal." Punk, sure, speed metal, sure, but not death metal.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

I included "Shake it Up" by the Cars.

 

[Chili]

Ghost in the Machine
Long Distance Voyageur
Moving Pictures
Bella Donna

Added:

Jon & Vangelis-The Friends of Mr Cairo
Men at Work-Business as Usual
Phil Collins-Face Value
The Cars-Shake it Up
Hall & Oates-Private Eyes
U2-October
J. Geils Band-Freeze Frame

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Mostly Other:


Police: Ghost in the Machine
Stevie Nicks: Bella Donna
Foreigner 4
Joan Jett: I Love Rock and Roll
Journey: Escape
Pretenders II
J. Geils Band: Freeze Frame
Men at Work: Business as Usual
The Moody Blues: Long Distance Voyager
The Cars: Shake it Up

 

[Oxbow Lakes]

Kraftwerk - Computer World
Wipers - Youth of America
The Sound - From the Lions Mouth
The Durutti Column - LC
Glenn Barca - The Ascension
Agent Orange - Living in Darkness
Discharge - Why
Minutemen - The Punch Line

 

[kook10]

a couple more "other"
Billy Squier - Don't Say No
Squeeze - East Side Story

 

[Sleemans]

The Police - Ghost in the Machine

Rush - Moving Pictures

 

[Cas]

I have to say, I'm really surprised Moving Pictures is winning, and that Diary of a Madman is following it.

 

[forsbergavs32]

Def Leppard - High N Dry

 

[Hockey Outsider]

I have to ask what you mean by this, because one thing I've never thought about "Killers" was "death metal." Punk, sure, speed metal, sure, but not death metal.

You're right, that was a mischaracterization. It's definitely not death metal by today's standards, or even by the standards of the mid eighties. But when the album was released in early 1981 (predating bands like Slayer and Venom - let alone Death, Possesed, Morbid Angel) that song in particular was pretty shocking for its intensity and violent imagery.

 

[Cas]

You're right, that was a mischaracterization. It's definitely not death metal by today's standards, or even by the standards of the mid eighties. But when the album was released in early 1981 (predating bands like Slayer and Venom - let alone Death, Possesed, Morbid Angel) that song in particular was pretty shocking for its intensity and violent imagery.

I will definitely accept that argument.

 

[Ouroboros]

First list for me without a metal album on it.

Derek Bailey - Aida [Free Improv]
Discharge - Why [Hardcore/D-Beat]
Roland Kayn - Infra [Electroacoustic/Drone/Noise]

That King Crimson album in the poll is fairly interesting, but it only has one really fantastic track [The Sheltering Sky - inspired by the novel, no doubt] with the rest of it being not nearly as good. Honestly, a lot of it sounds like Tool but 15 years ahead of those guys actually being a band.