Photo: Helge Øverås, http://www.helgeoveras.com/concertphoto.shtml / CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
1982’s Most Influential Albums list stands as an outlier in our best rock albums series. We had a really tough time with this one because a couple of the biggest selling albums of the year did not necessarily fall into the rock category. Or did they? Albums released by Michael Jackson, Prince and Hall & Oates heavily dominated pop culture in 1982. With MTV’s dominance in the music business, the 1970’s music scene seemed to have finally come to an end. There were still some great 70s based rock albums being released but in the overall picture the music scene had changed dramatically.
There had been a dramatic change in music from the 1950s to the 1960’s. The Beatles were responsible for that change. The 1960s flowed much more smoothly into 1970s in a more progressive manner that saw changes over time. 1982 flipped everything upside down almost instantly. And it was all Michael Jackson’s fault. When an album is released that sells more records than anything before it, record executives are going to take notice and start looking for acts to sign or promote that sound like Michael Jackson. Most of those acts an albums were pretty lame. Nonetheless, pop music with a dance beat fueled by emerging new electronic instruments starts to take hold.
This list presents a mix of albums. Some are listed because they were huge sellers, some because they were heavily influential and of course a good portion of the albums on the list were listed because there simply great rock records. We did the best we could with a very unusual year in rock.
# 50 – Billy Idol – Billy Idol
# 49 – Upstairs at Eric’s – Yazoo
# 48 – If That’s What It Takes – Michael McDonald
# 47 – Imperial Bedroom – Elvis Costello
# 46 – Peter Gabriel IV – Peter Gabriel
# 45 – Talking Back to the Night – Steve Winwood
# 44 – Beautiful Vision – Van Morrison
# 43 – A Flock of Seagulls – A Flock of Seagulls
# 42 – Vacation – The Go Gos
# 41 – Jump Up – Elton John
# 40 – I Can’t Stand Still – Don Henley
# 39 – H2O – Hall & Oates
# 38 – Hello, I Must Be Going! – Phil Collins
# 37 – Abracadabra – Steve Miller Band
# 36 – Get Nervous – Pat Benatar
# 35 – It’s Hard – The Who
# 34 – Under the Big Black Sun – X
# 33 – Daylight Again – Crosby, Stills & Nash
# 32 – Vinyl Confessions – Kansas
# 31 – Sweets from a Stranger – Squeeze
# 30 – Wild Things Run Fast – Joni Mitchell
# 29 – Private Audition – Heart
# 28 – Eye In The Sky – The Alan Parsons Project
# 27 – Signals – Rush
# 26 – Rock In A Hard Place – Aerosmith
# 25 – Never Surrender – Triumph
# 24 – Toto IV – Toto
# 23 – Coda – Led Zeppelin
Yeah we know its just outtakes and unreleased cuts, but it’s still Led Zeppelin.
# 22 – Built for Speed – Stray Cats
# 21 – Special Forces – 38 Special
# 20 – Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? – The Waitresses
# 19 – Iron Fist – Motorhead
# 18 – Picture This – Huey Lewis and the News
# 17 – Rio – Duran Duran
# 16 – The Nightfly – Donald Fagen
# 15 – Bad To The Bone – George Thorogood
# 14 – Mirage – Fleetwood Mac
# 13 – The Broadsword and the Beast – Jethro Tull
# 12 – Three Lock Box – Sammy Hagar
# 11 – Pictures at Eleven – Robert Plant
# 10 – Combat Rock – The Clash
You know what The Clash’s Combat Rock shouldn’t be in the tenth spot, its too freaking brilliant! We will take care of this!!!
# 10 – Long After Dark – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
# 9 – Night and Day – Joe Jackson
It really was Night and Day in comparing this record to his first couple of albums which we all loved just as well. However, this was a work of art.
# 8 – Screaming for Vengeance – Judas Priest
Another great album by Judas Priest that featured the song “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'” that turned the band into a household name
# 7 – The Number of the Beast – Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden’s dominance of the heavy metal genre is further cemented with this butt kicking spectacular heavy metal album.
# 6 – Nebraska – Bruce Springsteen
The road from The River to Born in the U.S.A went brilliantly through Nebraska. Dark, daunting, and masterful.
# 5 – Tug Of War – Paul McCartney
The Paul McCartney solo album we had all been waiting for.
# 4 – The Nylon Curtain – Billy Joel
Our favorite Billy Joel album defines his brilliant songwriting and arranging skills on a level higher that any of his other records. It may not have been his biggest selling record, but it was his deepest.
# 3 – 1999 – Prince
While Purple Rain may be the most popular Prince album ever released, 1999 was his best.
# 2 – Asia – Asia
Powerful progressive rock wrapped in a pop sensibility performed by master musicians .Everyone loved this album. Finally a supergroup album that delivered the goods.
# 1 – Combat Rock – The Clash
Yeah, that more like it!
More Fantastic Classic Rock Albums Released in 1982
These are listed in chronological order in which they came out throughout the year
Best Rock Albums – January 1982
Another Day/Another Dollar – Gang of Four
Oriental Beat – Hanoi Rocks
Jinx – Rory Gallagher
Diver Down – Van Halen
All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes – Pete Townshend
Best Rock Albums – February 1982
English Settlement – XTC
The Blue Mask – Lou Reed
Swing to the Right – Utopia
Chase the Dragon – Magnum
Green Light – Bonnie Raitt
Just Another Day in Paradise – Bertie Higgins
Mechanix – UFO
Best Rock Albums – March 1982
March – Charlie Daniels Band
Blackout – The Scorpions
Breaking the Chains – Dokken
Truce – Jack Bruce and Robin Trower
Good Trouble – REO Speedwagon
Best Rock Albums – April 1982
No Control – Eddie Money
Avalon – Roxy Music
How Could Hell Be Any Worse? – Bad Religion
All Four One – The Motels
Best Rock Albums – May 1982
Tuckerized – Marshall Tucker Band
Straight Between the Eyes – Rainbow
Pleasure Victim – Berlin
Best Rock Albums – June 1982
Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
Marshall Crenshaw – Marshall Crenshaw
Walk Among Us – The Misfits
Metal on Metal – Anvil
Best Rock Albums – July 1982
View from the Ground – America
Fast Times at Ridgemont High – Soundtrack
Emotions in Motion – Billy Squire
The Party’s Over – Talk Talk
Best Rock Albums – August 1982
Art of Control – Peter Frampton
Rough Diamonds – Bad Company
Shango -Santana
It’s Hard – The Who
Under The Blade – Twisted Sister
Best Rock Albums – September 1982
The Dreaming – Kate Bush
Love Over Gold – Dire Straits
Forever Now – The Psychedelic Furs
A Broken Frame – Depeche Mode
Room to Live – The Fall
Get Closer – Linda Ronstadt
Heartlight – Neil Diamond
Pressin’ On – Billy Preston
The Pursuit of Accidents – Level 42
Scandal EP – Scandal
UB44 – UB40
Zombie Birdhouse – Iggy Pop
Best Rock Albums – October 1982
Restless and Wild – Accept
Creatures of the Night – Kiss
Quartet – Ultravox
In the Mood for Something Rude – Foghat
Assault Attack – The Michael Schenker Group
…Famous Last Words… – Supertramp
Friend or Foe – Adam Ant
Kim Mitchell – Kim Mitchell
An Officer and a Gentleman – Soundtrack
Shabooh Shoobah – INXS
Kissing to Be Clever – Culture Club
Shuttered Room – The Fixx
Spring Session M – Missing Persons
Strawberries – The Damned
Best Rock Albums – November 1982
I Could Rule the World if I Could only Get the Parts – The Waitresses
The Lee Aaron Project – Lee Aaron
The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect – Todd Rundgren
Dawn Patrol – Night Ranger
Identity Crisis – Sweet
Run for the Roses – Jerry Garcia
Speak of the Devil – Ozzy Osbourne
Best Rock Albums – December 1982
Trans – Neil Young
The Distance – Bob Seger
Comeback – Eric Burdon
