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Our 1983’s Best Rock Albums list defines a year in rock and roll that showed a dramatic improvement in the quality of music released as opposed to to the previous year. While rock music continued to steer towards more of the pop side of things, metal continued to become even more popular as many hard rock fans of the 70s were turned off by the MTV generation that was in full swing. Even metal started to cross the genres of glam and rock as an entire wave of new bands would fuel a new genre often referred to as the 80s hair bands.
Rock and roll legends that arrived in the 1960s such as The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and Ex-Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr all released new material. Elton John continued his yearly release schedule with one of his strongest albums of his 80’s period. The band U2 continued to get better with every album while The Police released the album of their career which would also prove to be their last. Billy Joel released a tribute album to the past composed of new materiel. Interestingly, Jim Steinman had a huge hit single without the help of Meat Loaf via the vocal chords of Bonnie Tyler.
New Wave music that born our of the punk era also continued to shift towards a more friendly pop sound or maybe it was just that mass culture began to accept the genre on a wider scale. One of the highlight of the year was the debut of the first Stevie Ray Vaughn album. SRV proved that great rock and roll and blues never gets old. And of course, we have to mention that 1983 saw the debut of Metallica’s first album.
1983’s Best Rock Albums crossed many musical genres and styles. There were many great albums released by bands old and new. While 1981 and 1982 were disappointing years, 1983 seemed to be another turning point in music. The following years from 1984 to 1988 would present fans with some powerful new groups and classic albums that would go down as some of the best of all time. 1984 was an exceptional year and we are really looking forward to doing that one. However, for now, we think you will find some great ones on this list.
# 50 – Outside Inside – The Tubes
# 49 – Script for a Jester’s Tear – Marillion
# 48 – Cuts Like a Knife – Bryan Adams
# 47 – Ark – The Animals
# 46 – Uh-Huh – John Cougar Mellencamp
# 45 – Infidels – Bob Dylan
# 44 – Midnight Madness – Night Ranger
# 43 – Baby Snakes – Frank Zappa
# 42 – Murmur – R.E.M.
# 41 – Album – Joan Jett
# 40 – Money and Cigarettes – Eric Clapton
# 39 – Born Again – Black Sabbath
# 38 – The Present – The Moody Blues
# 37 – Never Surrender – Triumph
# 36 – Seven and the Ragged Tiger – Duran Duran
# 35 – Lick It Up – Kiss
# 34 – Flick Of The Switch – AC/DC
# 33 – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) –Eurythmics
# 32 – Too Low for Zero – Elton John
# 31 – Genesis – Genesis
# 30 – Hearts and Bones – Paul Simon
# 29 – Rebel Yell – Billy Idol
# 28 – No Parole from Rock ‘n’ Roll – Alcatrazz
# 27 – Speaking in Tongues – Talking Heads
# 26 – Undercover – The Rolling Stones
# 25 – Pipes of Peace – Paul McCartney’
# 24 – Little Robbers – The Motels
# 23 – Confusion Is Sex – Sonic Youth
# 22 – Shout at the Devil – Mötley Crüe
# 21 – Metal Health – Quiet Riot
# 20 – The Crossing – Big Country
# 19 – State of Confusion – The Kinks
# 18 – Bark at the Moon – Ozzy Osbourne
# 17 – Piece of Mind – Iron Maiden
# 16 – Thunder and Lightning – Thin Lizzy
# 15 – The Principle of Moments – Robert Plant
# 14 – Holy Diver – Dio
# 13 – The Wild Heart – Stevie Nicks
# 12 – Let’s Dance – David Bowie
# 11 – Swordfishtrombones – Tom Waits
# 10 – Frontiers – Journey
# 9 – Sports – Huey Lewis & The News
# 8 – 90125 – Yes
# 7 – Kill ’em All – Metallica
# 6 – Texas Flood – Stevie Ray Vaughan
# 5 – The Final Cut – Pink Floyd
# 4 – Eliminator – ZZ Top
# 3 – War – U2
# 2 – Synchronicity – The Police
# 1 – Pyromania – Def Leppard
More Fantastic Classic Rock Albums Released in 1983
These are listed in chronological order in which they came out throughout the year
Best Rock Albums – January 1983
Feline – The Stranglers
Nena – Nena
Trouble In Paradise – Randy Newman
The Law of Devil’s Land – Loudness
The Art of Falling Apart – Soft Cell
What’s Funk? – Grand Funk
Best Rock Albums – February 1983
Porcupine – Echo & The Bunnymen
Lucky – Marty Balin
Somewhere in Afrika –Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
Kilroy Was Here – Styx
Making Contact – UFO
Youngblood – Carl Wilson
Best Rock Albums – March 1983
Legendary Hearts – Lou Reed
Dazzle Ships – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
True – Spandau Ballet
No Rest for the Wicked – Helix
The Man from Utopia – Frank Zappa
Europe – Europe
The Abominable Showman – Nick Lowe
Inarticulate Speech of the Heart – Van Morrison
No Guts…No Glory – Molly Hatchet
Best Rock Albums – April 1983
Faster Than the Speed of Night – Bonnie Tyler
Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes
Headhunter – Krokus
Whammy! – The B-52s
Kihnspiracy – Greg Kihn Band
Cargo – Men at Work
Havana – Santana
Midnight at the Lost and Found – Meat Loaf
Best Rock Albums – May 1983
Life’s a Riot with Spy vs Spy – Billy Bragg
With Sympathy – Ministry
Zig-Zag Walk – Foghat
You Bought It, You Name It – Joe Walsh
Bruiseology – The Waitresses
The Eleventh Hour – Magnum
Head First – Uriah Heep
Listen – A Flock of Seagulls
Siogo – Blackfoot
Best Rock Albums – June 1983
Your Move – America
London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 1 – Frank Zappa
Body Wishes – Rod Stewart
Old Wave – Ringo Starr
Keep It Up – Loverboy
Suicidal Tendencies – Suicidal Tendencies
Best Rock Albums – July 1983
You and Me Both – Yazoo
Alpha – Asia
Everybody’s Rockin’ – Neil Young and the Shocking Pinks
All of the Good Ones Are Taken – Ian Hunter
Drastic Measures – Kansas
Out For Blood – Lita Ford
Balls to the Wall – Accept
Best Rock Albums – August 1983
Lawyers in Love – Jackson Browne
Punch the Clock – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
An Innocent Man – Billy Joel
Subterranean Jungle – Ramones
Rant N’ Rave with the Stray Cats – The Stray Cats
Passionworks – Heart
Bent Out Of Shape – Rainbow
Best Rock Albums – September 1983
Heads or Tales – Saga
DaDa – Alice Cooper
Mean Streak – Y&T
Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker – The Joe Perry Project
More Fun in the New World – X
Best Rock Albums – October 1983
She’s So Unusual – Cyndi Lauper
Bay of Kings – Steve Hackett
Best Rock Albums – November 1983
Walk Into Light – Ian Anderson
Best Rock Albums – December 1983
Show No Mercy – Slayer
Bad Influence – Robert Cray
Mommy’s Little Monster – Social Distortion
Updated May 3, 2023
1983’s Best Rock Albums article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2023
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