1981 was not one of my favorite years for music but there were some very solid releases. Aside from the very top of the list the order is not necessarily important. To make the list is significant.
Most of the albums I liked here were second and third albums of artist I discovered during the previous few years. Aside from The Blasters there were not many new discoveries and that was a problem. The first New Order was interesting but we were still seeing it as an extension of Joy Division. The first Duran Duran album was OK but knowing how they would evolve kind of lowers there place in the list.
Lots of second albums; X, English Beat, U2, Pretenders, Echo & The Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs, etc.
It's a very personal list. No Rush, Phil Collins, Journey, Van Halen, Styx, Genesis, Def Leppard Foreigner, etc
One can never forget the facial expression of Phil Alvin on the cover of
The Blasters. It mirrored the intensity of the music inside.
- The Blasters - The Blasters
- X - Wild Gift
- Squeeze - East Side Story
- Gang of Four - Solid Gold
- Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
- Joan Armatrading - Walk Under Ladders
- The English Beat - Wha'ppen?
- The Psychedelic Furs - Talk Talk Talk
- Elvis Costello - Trust
- U2 - October
- Prince - Controversy
- The Cramps - Psychedelic Jungle
- Pretenders - Pretenders II
- Split Enz - Waiata
- Ramones - Pleasant Dreams
- Echo & The Bunnymen - Heaven Up There
- Robyn Hitchcock - Black Snake Diamond Role
- The dB's - Stands For Decibels
- The Gun Club - Fire Of Love
- King Crimson - Discipline
- Black Uhuru - Red
- David Lindley - El Rayo-X
- UB40 - Present Arms
- Grace Jones - Nightclubbing
- The Teardrop Explodes - Wilder
- Pete Shelley - Homosapien
- New Order - Movement
- Hall & Oates - Private Eyes
- The Selecter - Celebrate The Bullet
- Kraftwerk - Computerwelt
- Joe Ely - Musta Notta Gotta Lotta
- Rick James - Street Songs
- Was (Not Was) - Was (Not Was)
- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Hard Promises
- The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You
- Elvis Costello - Almost Blue
- Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club
- Emmylou Harris - Evangeline
- Black Flag - Damaged
- Men At Work - Business As Usual
- The Cure - Faith
- Joe Ely - Live Shots
- Depeche Mode - Speak & Spell
- Siouxsie and The Banshees - Juju
- The Cure - Pornography
- Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
- Magazine - Magic, Murder and the Weather
- Heaven 17 - Penthouse and Pavement
- The Police - Ghost In The Machine
- Rosanne Cash - Seven Year Ache
- Funkadelic - The Electric Spanking of War Babies
- Tom Verlaine - Dreamtime
- David Byrne - The Catherine Wheel
- The Church - Of Skins and Heart
- Kid Creole & The Coconuts - Fresh Fruit In Foreign Places
- Mink DeVille - Coup de Grace
- The Human League - Dare
- Garland Jeffreys - Escape Artist
- Go-Go's - Beauty and the Beat
- Duran Duran - Duran Duran
Almost on the list...
- Devo - New Traditionalists
- Material - Memory Serves
- Killing Joke - What's This For...
- Martha & The Muffins - This Is The Ice Age
- Japan - Tin Drum
- Cabaret Voltaire - Red Mecca
- Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Architecture & Morality
- Bauhaus - Mask
- Trio - Trio
- Kim Wilde - Kim Wilde
- Wall of Voodoo - Dark Continent
- Joe Jackson - Jumpin' Jive
- Fela Kuti - Original Sufferhead
- The Replacements - Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash
- Gary U.S. Bonds - Dedication
Some other interesting Collections, Compilations and Concerts:
- Sly & The Family Stone - Anthology
- The Rolling Stones - Sucking In The Seventies
- Various Artists - Mutant Disco: A Subtle Discolation of the Norm
- Various Artists - Seize The Beat (Dance Ze Dance)