10 albums from the 1980s that changed rock history
No changes in rock history happen overnight. Even though the 1970s and the ‘60s feel like worlds apart, the seeds of ‘70s rock were starting well before the clock struck 12 on December 31st, 1969. Even though it might not be easy to pinpoint the moment things change, the ‘80s weren’t going to be the same as the previous decade for one thing: MTV.
After groups took to the road for most of their careers in the ‘70s, the origin of the music video marked a sea change in music that fans would never see again. No longer having to hide behind their instruments, most artists were given free rein with the video format, either turning in elaborate art pieces or using the medium as an excuse to tell a multimedia story that couldn’t be captured on a record.
Alongside the change in presentation, the music was progressing by leaps and bounds, from the most fashionable elements of synth-pop happening at the time to records that signalled the beginnings of alternative music that would come to fruition in the next decade. Regardless of which genre of music one was into, chances are there was some type of artist pushing the boundaries for what the genre was capable of.
On every one of the records listed below, the artists are both pushing themselves forward while also trying to make their music into an irresistible package. It might not have been the easiest task to complete, but once the final product from U2 and Rush was released to the world, the next few decades were bound to look a lot different.
10 albums from the 1980s that changed rock history:
Born in the USA – Bruce Springsteen
Looking purely at the music, the ‘80s were fairly kind to Bruce Springsteen. After pushing his E Street Band to their limits on the record Born to Run, the rest of the ‘70s were about hitting the big time for ‘The Boss’. Once he came up for air, he found himself lost, and his major pop crossover had more than a few lost souls trapped within the grooves.
Throughout Born in the USA, Springsteen rides the edge of being intimately personal and so general that anyone could understand what he’s talking about. Despite the patriotic sound of the title track, Springsteen is talking about souls that find themselves on the wrong side of America, from the kid who has to leave his old flame behind for something better on ‘Bobby Jean’ to the two sad sacks reminiscing about how much better they used to be on ‘Glory Days’.
Although the label might have wanted 50 versions of this album throughout Springsteen’s career, that’s never been how he operates. Springsteen always writes about where he’s coming from, and this emotional honesty is still being felt in heartland rock and country music to this day.
Moving Pictures – Rush
Most of the progressive rock elite had a hard time adjusting to what the ‘80s would become. Although Genesis managed it all right, groups like Yes did take some damage in the MTV era, including a time when the core members split up into two separate acts. Rush was always going to press on, and a new decade just brought more opportunities for different sounds.
When coming up with the material for Moving Pictures, Rush took to recording the tracks they were working on during their live set, yielding some of their catchiest singles yet. Although most fans are aware of songs like ‘Tom Sawyer’, some of the best cuts come when the trio blend their prog aesthetics with modern production, like on the ten-minute epic ‘The Camera Eye’.
Neil Peart is also his most personal on this album, writing lyrics about wrestling with fame and trying to find a way through the world of celebrity while still holding onto one’s privacy. Of all the tracks available, the song ‘YYZ’ encapsulates the purest form of Rush. The band might not have been prepared for the whirlwind of success they got afterwards, but this is still one of the core starting points for anyone trying to get into progressive rock.
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
The end of the ‘80s tends to look like a wasteland for good music on the charts. Even though the hair metal scene in Los Angeles started the decade off nicely, the aftermath of it made everything look like manufactured garbage by the end of the decade. Everyone was waiting for the next movement, and they got their answer through some stoned-out rockers from Manchester.
While The Stone Roses might not have meant to be one of the greatest bands in the world, their debut album has everything that old-school rock and roll was about. Despite having fairly simple songs, the core sound behind them was always Ian Brown’s delivery, all while John Squire delivered some tasty guitar licks that owed more to classic rock than the punk scene. Though the Roses may have started out in Manchester, their influence came much later.
Along with acts like The La’s, The Roses’ debut album kicked down the door for what would become Britpop years later, with acts like Ocean Colour Scene, The Verve, and Oasis borrowing heavily from what they did for their first handful of albums. The Stone Roses might have just wanted to make a decent rock album, but sometimes if artists do a good enough job, they end up defining a generation along the way.
Disintegration – The Cure
At first glance, the ‘80s look like living in a world purely through technicolour. As much as some fans might have liked the fashions on MTV, a handful of the music videos that were made were disposable, either lacking substance or featuring “artists” with no aspirations beyond becoming famous. In between the fashion statements, Robert Smith was coming to the forefront, looking to paint the decade pitch black.
Throughout The Cure’s career, every one of their albums was on a linear progression, embracing atmospheric sounds on Pornography and cracking into the pop market with songs like ‘Just Like Heaven’. At the very end of the decade, Smith painted his masterpiece on Disintegration, marrying the cold sounds of synthesisers with his emotional croon, sounding like he was reaching the point of desperation on songs like ‘Pictures of You’ or ‘Love Song’.
For all of the eyeliner and layers of white makeup painted on their faces, there was never one moment where The Cure felt anything less than genuine. Fashions might come and go and some of the sonics might not age all that well, but coming across this open-hearted is still impacting the pop scene in artists as diverse as Blink-182 and Five For Fighting.
Hounds of Love – Kate Bush
One thing should be known about Kate Bush before anything else: she does whatever the hell she wants. Throughout her career, every album Bush made seems to be based on some sort of creative risk, either cutting her teeth on songs like ‘Wuthering Heights’ or pushing the limits of the studio on albums like The Dreaming. Though that album might have been a lot for most casual fans to take in, Hounds of Love is the perfect marriage between Bush’s ambitious side and her penchant for pop hooks.
Though the album might have taken on a strange legacy thanks to Stranger Things, there’s a lot more to unpack here besides ‘Running Up That Hill’. Going through the entire first side, Bush makes some of the most forward-looking progressive pop songs, telling stories like ‘Cloudbusting’ or making it sound like the heavens opening up on ‘Big Sky’. Despite the hits on the front side, the second side enters The Ninth Wave.
Being a mini concept album about getting lost at sea, Bush practically creates a mini theatre production out of the last few songs, including bits and pieces of dialogue that make the listener feel like they’re watching from the front row. In an era when some artists chose to either sell out to please the masses or experiment to their heart’s content, Kate Bush proved that it wasn’t too much to ask for both.
Master of Puppets – Metallica
The entire hard rock scene in the ‘80s could be defined by the Sunset Strip alone. Though acts like Van Halen may have paved the way for the hair metal movement, artists like Mötley Crüe and Cinderella made it a habit of strutting their stuff up and down Los Angeles, with songs that made them look a little bit cartoony through a modern lens. Metal fans were looking for something heavier, and Metallica delivered a clinic on how thrash metal was supposed to go.
After having cut their teeth on records like Kill Em All, Master of Puppets was the first time Metallica zeroed in on their strengths, creating a tapestry of metal grandeur that would never be replicated. While most other thrash acts took to making songs with fast tempos, they were about focusing on the details in between, like creating a heavy ballad on ‘Welcome Home (Sanitarium)’ and Cliff Burton painting his masterpiece on ‘Orion’.
The rest of the thrash scene wasn’t too far behind, with acts like Megadeth and Slayer emerging soon afterwards with albums that hit equally as hard from back to front. Some of them might have been heavier and some of them might even be more consistent across their runtime, but it took an album like Master of Puppets to kick down the door for the heavier side of metal.
Murmur – R.E.M.
For most of the ‘70s, the idea of ‘alternative music’ didn’t exist in the mainstream. Although acts like The Velvet Underground may have turned some heads in the ‘60s with their debut album, it would take years before the critical reevaluation of that album took place. As the young rock fans of the ‘70s came of age, a young group from Athens created a road map for the next phase of rock music on Murmur.
Though R.E.M. might have had a certain sound all its own, one can easily pick out traces of rock and roll’s past in it as well. Compared to most other pin-up stars at the time, Peter Buck was focusing on filling out the sound with his guitar, making something that played through the gaps that were left in the average rock fan’s record collection. And while it might have been near impossible to figure out what Michael Stipe was on about, his devotion to his craft was as intrinsic a part of his style as Patti Smith or Lou Reed.
Despite having none of the visual charms of someone like Michael Jackson or Madonna, R.E.M. found themselves on top of MTV off the strength of ‘Radio Free Europe’, which defined their trajectory even further on later releases. By the time most rock fans had thrown at all their ‘80s albums in the wake of grunge, R.E.M. was being worshipped like elder statesmen of the alternative movement.
Appetite for Destruction – Guns N’ Roses
There was no way that hair metal was going to last past the end of the ‘80s. Like most MTV trends, there was a clear expiration date on most of the bands there, and the rise of grunge would see many of them switching their styles in a deliberate attempt to market to the next phase of rock fans. Nirvana may have struck the killing blow, but the warning shot of the future came from Guns N’ Roses.
While GNR had grown up playing the same seedy clubs that Ratt and Poison were known for playing, their approach was far more authentic, carrying themselves like a street gang and playing in the same vein as acts like Aerosmith or The Rolling Stones. Compared to the party-all-night mentality of their contemporaries, Appetite for Destruction is equal parts catchy as it is dangerous, with Axl Rose crooning on ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ and then taking the listener down to Hell on ‘Welcome to the Jungle’.
As a new era was dawning, Guns N Roses remained one of the final true send-offs for sleazy rock and roll, marrying the right amount of trashiness with songs that hit like a sledgehammer. They might have gotten the reputation as a hair metal act, but there was no way any other Sunset Strip transplant was going to make an album like Appetite if they tried.
Purple Rain – Prince
For every great artist to come out of the ‘80s, it’s easy to narrow down which genre they belong to. As much as Tears for Fears might have had mass appeal, they were still synth-pop, and it’s not hard to see why an act like Mötley Crüe were gods to people that were into metal music. In the wide array of different genres, Prince dared to ask one question: why can’t someone dominate every genre on the map?
While the production of Purple Rain is practically stamped in 1982, Prince’s level of showmanship and skill on the record is unmatched, going from massive rock tracks like ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ to pure funk on songs like ‘Computer Blue’. There were even a handful of tracks that seemed to defy genre altogether, like ‘When Doves Cry’ lacking any sort of bassline and sounding like a robotic take on funk, rock, and soul all at once.
From there, Prince never looked back, working with his band The Revolution to create some of the greatest shows of the ‘80s, painting himself as the rock god with his yellow guitar and trademark purple suit. While some of the baby boomers may have already been talking about how music was so much better back in their day, this was the closest thing that ‘80s kids were going to get to seeing someone like Elvis Presley for the first time.
The Joshua Tree – U2
It’s fairly easy to chalk up most of U2’s staying power to extreme arrogance on the part of Bono. As much as people might like their songs back in the day, the amount of questionable decisions that the frontman has made these days has turned many fans off of their music for good. If there was ever an album to prove that all of his musical messianic complexes were justified though, it would have to be The Joshua Tree.
Looking to tell their story about experiences they have with America, every tune is a different exploration into their relationship with the music, whether it be The Edge creating the cinematic scope of ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ or Bono wearing his heart on his sleeve during ‘With Or Without You’. Even on gospel songs like ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’, they stretch it out into their own unique vision, making rock and roll sound like achieving spiritual salvation on Earth.
Throughout the rest of the project, U2 veer into deep topics and some of the most outlandish production choices of their career, using Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois as instruments by themselves on the political ‘Bullet the Blue Sky’ or the hypnotic ‘Trip Through Your Wires’. U2 might sometimes carry themselves like they are one of the most important musical forces on Earth, but when listening to any one of these songs, it starts to feel like a simple tune could actually save the planet.
