43 Classic LPs of the 80s - ChartMasters
https://chartmasters.org/2018/11/43-classic-lps-of-the-80s/#comment-30585
5. Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet (1986)
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Critics may not appreciate long haired rock bands from the 80s as much as they do love 60s acts, the general public clearly does love them as shown by the #5 spot taken by Bon Jovi‘s Slippery When Wet among the most streamed 80s albums.
After two successful underground albums in the US, the band reached a global audience with this 8 weeks #1 effort. While this is already an impressive showing, it could have been even much better since the album cumulated 20 weeks as runner up for 5 different albums.
Successful singles can support albums high on charts for at most 4 months, so such an extensive run can have only been achieved with several smashes. In fact, first two singles got to #1, they were You Give Love A Bad Name and Livin’ On A Prayer. They both continue to be immensely popular with respectively 251 million and 302 million streams. There is only 3 albums with two hits of this magnitude and the remaining two chart at #1 and #2 of the decade.
Apart from these pair of global monsters, the record also features the classic Wanted Dead Or Alive which breaks 100 million. Remaining tracks are much more modest but an hat-trick of smashes is certainly already very good from only one era.
4. Michael Jackson – Bad (1987)
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An 80s ranking wouldn’t be an 80s ranking without Michael Jackson. His absence up to now could have been worrying, the fact is that in spite of his overwhelming domination of the decade he only issued 2 albums during these period. I won’t do much of a spoil telling that the other one, Thriller, has yet to come.
Let’s first speak about Bad. Home of an absurd 5 #1 singles at a time where singles and albums cannibalized each other way more than during the download era, its figures are amazing. The debut #1 single was I Just Can’t Stop Loving You which isn’t the best performer right now. It still records an healthy 46 million streams.
The title track came next, also hitting #1. It fares better with 88 million spins to date. One more single, one more #1 with The Way You Make Me Feel. With a huge 135 million streams, it’s only good enough for the 3rd highest score from the album. The fourth chart topper was Man In The Mirror. The song was already very popular and became even bigger after the passing of the global icon. It has 166 million plays. Then, the 5th and last #1 was Dirty Diana, one of the fans favorite of the artist, it is up to 68 million plays.
It’s key to point out that unlike acts like A-Ha, Toto, and Journey, there is no obvious go-to song for someone like Jackson to include on playlists. Most from Spotify never include more than one unique song from an artist. The fact that these 5 songs continue to perform so well is thus very telling.
There is more still. After all, if the album was often promoted with the “5 #1 singles!” tag line, it also had 9 UK Top 15 hits out of an original track list of 11 songs. One of these additional singles was no other than Smooth Criminal and its iconic bass line. It’s the second best performer of the album with 151 million streams. The last single to be released in both sides of the Atlantic, Another Part Of Me, doesn’t perform that well at 15 million.
Remaining restricted releases Leave Me Alone and Liberian Girl also have consistent streams at 28 million and 22 million streams, respectively. The album cut Speed Demon is also quite impressive at 13 million. The only song from the original track list to be below that mark is Just Good Friends which is still fairly high at 6 million.
No need to say that all these smash hits made the album a monumental success. With 63 million equivalent album sales, it’s the second biggest album of the decade. In terms of streams only, it thus ranks at #4. After charting at #7 of the 60s list as part of the Jackson 5 and at #22 of the 70s with his LP Off The Wall, the superstar is joins Paul Simon the only singer to belong to the best of each of these 3 decades.
3. AC/DC – Back in Black (1980)
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Hard rock classic album Back In Black shots to #3 of the ranking with a combined 765 million streams. Its singles release schedule was quite atypical. That year, in 1980, Aussie legends AC/DC managed to start it by charting 5 singles in the UK, none of which came from this album. Then, the title track which is arguably the most popular song of the LP was never issued in that country.
It was in the US though, hitting the Top 40 just like You Shook Me Al Night Long. This latter song was the first commercial single in the UK going also Top 40. Obviously, the big deal wasn’t to be seen on singles rankings though.
On its side, the album peaked at #4 in the US on a 23 weeks run inside the Top 10. It seems almost modest considering its stature. Indeed, that’s the only non-#1 US album among the Top 7 of our list. No need to say that it still went on to sell unreal numbers through the years, currently standing on 23,5 million US sales and 36 million worldwide.
Its evergreen results have been granted by its 4 strongly popular songs. The big two is the title track on 319 million, followed by Shook at 214 million. Around 85 million come both Shoot To Thrill and Hells Bells. Album cuts are possibly lower than we could have though but they still add for 5 to 18 million each. These are healthy numbers, at least healthy enough to secure a tiny lead of 8 million over Bad.
2. Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction (1987)
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We do a mammoth jump from less than 800 million streams to more than 1,2 billion to reach the legendary Appetite For Destruction from the Guns N’ Roses. Knowing that the previous albums were already ridiculously successful, the gap speaks by itself to highlight how much of a monster this LP is.
The first single It’s So Easy received enough airplay to push the album inside charts in 1987 but without making that much more. It hasn’t really grown lately as shown by its 21 million streams which are on par or even below various album cuts. The double A single Welcome To The Jungle / Nightrain hasn’t done much better then barely making the Top 100 in the UK and failing charts in the US.
One year after the album’s release hopes of high sales were mostly gone, it was poised to end as a minor underground success. There is no better way to reverse a negative trend than dropping a song as iconic as Sweet Child O’ Mine yet. The US #1 hit was an instant smash there while gaining mass recognition more slowly but surely abroad. The enormous popularity of the song concludes on 451 million streams. It’s the second most streamed song of the decade, edging out Toto‘s Africa by half a million plays only. It should be noted, in passing, that it also rocketed the album from the bottom of US charts to the top spot.
After that delayed but huge era kick off everything was easier. Welcome To The Jungle was released again to much more success. It peaked at #7 in the US and #24 in the UK will solidifying the album’s healthy pace of sales. The song is still immensely popular with just over 300 million rotations on Spotify to make Appetite For Destruction the only 80s album with 2 songs over this threshold.
Paradise City then came out, going top 10 in the US and in the UK. It’s also one of the hottest songs of the decade, the third one, with also a gigantic figure of 271 million streams. No need to say no other album has 3 hits of this size.
Below this trio there is a significant gap until reaching the 5th single from the original era as Nightrain has a more modest 33 million streams. This lack of mid-range hits costs the first position of this ranking to this LP. Album cuts are still absolutely impressive with numbers ranging from 9,5 million to 29 million.
The only song that looks a bit weaker is Shadow of Your Love. In reality it was added to the album only a few months ago as part of the massive 30 years anniversary edition of the disc.
1. Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982)
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In spite of the immense competition brought by the Guns N’ Roses, Thriller manages to validate its iconic stature by topping the list of most streamed albums from the 80s. It’s the first and only pop album to lead its decade. This is also a tremendous showing for Michael Jackson who lands at #1 and #4 with his two releases of the 80s.
There is already so much that have been written about the most successful album of all-time that we may only focus on its streams. We start with the biggest pop hit ever, Billie Jean. This global #1 smash continues to be incredibly popular at 447 million streams. That’s the 4th highest showing from songs of the decade, with a minimal gap of 4 million with hits charting at #2 and #3.
Another huge #1 across the globe is next as Beat It registers 275 million spins. Not far behind and at also more than 200 million is Thriller. It’s all the more impressive since its iconic video clip gives it much more weight on YouTube than on Spotify, but it still does wonders there.
P.Y.T. shows how deep the album is. The song has been listened to 126 million to make the LP the only 80s record with 4 songs in 9 digits. Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ has 67,85 million streams. It was very close to be the biggest 5th song out of all albums, but Dirty Diana from the singer’s own album Bad tops it by a ridiculous margin of 7,000 streams.
We continue to check the era’s top 10 hits with Human Nature at 59 million. The comment about Bad is true here too: considering there is so many songs by the singer that will be prefered to these ones to feature on playlists, their numbers are truly stunning. The song that was the lead single in 1982 happens to be the worst performing today. The Girl Is Mine has 36 million streams which remains a sizable number.
The only two non-singles from the original track list The Lady In My Life and Baby Be Mine have 14 million streams a piece. It means that apart from having several of the biggest hits of the decade and by far the highest density of hits, the album is also the most consistent as this is by far the highest low of all 80s records.
Conclusion
I hope you loved going through all these fabulous albums. As music lovers, we can only advice you to go after them especially since many are now fairly cheap, often under $5, which is a bargain for such essential records.
While the biggest rock albums of the decade all perform very well the pop superstar Michael Jackson managed to hold them off. Not all do so well though, others suffer a huge disappointment. The most obvious case is the one of Madonna who completely fails the list with all her albums. Her Like A Virgin came the closest at 218 million but even this number isn’t that close. She isn’t the only one to miss the list as Phil Collins, Duran Duran, and Lionel Richie are absent too.
The next step in these series celebrating the 10 years of Spotify is naturally the 90s so you can already start putting money on your favorite horse!
In the meantime, here is the Top 30 singles of the decade:
1. 1981 – Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’ – 528,219,000
2. 1987 – Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine – 451,368,000
3. 1982 – Toto – Africa – 450,849,000
4. 1982 – Michael Jackson – Billie Jean – 447,324,000
5. 1985 – A-Ha – Take On Me – 425,393,000
6. 1980 – Queen – Another One Bites The Dust – 348,287,000
7. 1983 – Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams – 346,587,000
8. 1983 – Police – Every Breath You Take – 330,611,000
9. 1982 – Queen – Under Pressure – 325,004,000
10. 1982 – Survivor – Eye of the Tiger – 322,202,000
11. 1980 – AC/DC – Back In Black – 318,633,000
12. 1986 – Bon Jovi – Livin’ On A Prayer – 302,241,000
13. 1987 – Guns N’ Roses – Welcome To The Jungle – 300,100,000
14. 1982 – Michael Jackson – Beat It – 274,535,000
15. 1987 – Guns N’ Roses – Paradise City – 270,910,000
16. 1982 – Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing – 270,041,000
17. 1987 – Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody – 261,487,000
18. 1980 – Hall & Oates – You Make My Dreams – 260,054,000
19. 1987 – U2 – With Or Without You – 259,168,000
20. 1984 – Bryan Adams – Summer Of ’69 – 257,572,000
21. 1986 – Bon Jovi – You Give Love A Bad Name – 250,695,000
22. 1982 – Clash – Should I Stay Or Should I Go – 247,153,000
23. 1988 – Tracy Chapman – Fast Car – 245,916,000
24. 1986 – Wham! – Last Christmas – 237,975,000
25. 1984 – Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go – 229,430,000
26. 1984 – Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want to Have Fun – 224,514,000
27. 1980 – Bob Marley – Could You Be Loved – 221,263,000
28. 1982 – Dexys Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen – 220,161,000
29. 1984 – Soundtrack – Footloose – 219,394,000
30. 1980 – AC/DC – You Shook Me All Nigt Long – 213,612,000
