1983's Best Rock Albums

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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

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