1980 AC/DC
Back In Black
AC/DC show that there’s life after Bon Scott. Bringing in Brian ‘Beano’ Johnson on vocals and retaining the production talents of Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange. The results, from Hell’s Bells to Rock’n’Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution, are awe-inspiring.
BLACK SABBATH
Heaven & Hell
Many wondered whether the mythical visions of ex-Rainbow vocalist Ronnie Dio (in Ozzy’s absence) would fit comfortably with Sabbath’s bloody bombast, but one listen to this album blew all doubts away.
IRON MAIDEN
Iron Maiden
Miles from the sleek metal machine Maiden would become, the NWOBHM leaders’ debut remains a high point. Vocalist Paul Di’Anno barks out the words like a drunk threatening you with a broken pint glass, and the band carry out their ramshackle punk/metal hybrid with aplomb.
JUDAS PRIEST
British Steel
Judas Priest underwent a transformation for British Steel, underpinning their mighty metal with pop sensibilities. Hardened headbangers might have chortled, but Judas Priest knew what they were doing, and chalked up hit singles with Living After Midnight, Breaking The Law and United.
MOTÖRHEAD
Ace Of Spades
No argument: this is the best studio album from the definitive Motörhead line-up of Lemmy, ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke and Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor. The predecessor to No Sleep ’Til Hammersmith, Ace Of Spades was the album where it all came together for the band in a blizzard of powder and noise.
SAXON
Wheels Of Steel
Wheels Of Steel’s first-punching anthems feel as catchy and familiar today as they were when first released back in 1980. On this superb record every track, from Motorcycle Man to Machine Gun, is a work of Barnsley-fied metal brilliance.
RUSH
Permanent Waves
This is the album that laid the foundations for Rush’s postsword-andsorcery career. After 1978’s Hemispheres, Permanent Waves highlighted a leaner, less convoluted approach, marrying deceptively memorable songs with art-rock tendencies, including hit single The Spirit Of Radio.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
The River
An epic double album, this is the record that broke Bruce Springsteen into the big time, thanks largely to the presence of Hungry Heart and the title track. Some critics say it contains too many fillers and that it would have been much better if it had been a single album. We say bollocks, and prefer to wallow in the magnificence of it all.
KATE BUSH
Never Forever
These days a new Kate Bush appearance is a rare event, but back in the 80s she was cranking out records like nobody’s business. Never Forever went to No.1 in the UK thanks to the success of the feisty Babooshka and Army Dreamers, the latter an anti-war song.
GENESIS
Duke
With Phil Collins now bedded in at the microphone, Duke marked the dawn of a new age for Genesis. Less prog rock wanderings, more smart, punchy singalongs like Turn It On Again, which opened the band to the mass market – and planted the seeds for Collins’s megastar status.
DIRE STRAITS
Making Movies
No one could have predicted how big these unassuming South London-formed pub rockers would become with their third album Making Movies. Mark Knopfler’s bitter-sweet storytelling on songs such as Tunnel Of Love and Skateaway twanged at the nation’s heartstrings and turned the Straits into icons.
DEAD KENNEDYS
Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
Just when everyone thought they’d seen the back of punk rock in Britain, along came a raging hooligan from San Francisco called Jello Biafra. A macerating slice of hardcore/punk made all the more alarming by Biafra’s panic-stricken wailing, Fresh Fruit remains a twisted classic.
PRETENDERS
Pretenders
With this glorious album (which deservedly went to No.1) Chrissie Hynde found the perfect foil for her sultry, acerbic songwriting, in the evocative
