Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#67) Journey – Frontiers

November 16, 2017

YEAR RELEASED: 1983 NOTABLE TRACKS: “Separate Ways”, “Faithfully”, “After The Fall”, “Send Her My Love” ALBUM MVP: “Faithfully” WHY I LOVED IT: Frontiers almost identically shadows the same blueprint as their previous albums two years prior, Escape, packed with ballads built for radio along with a couple of rock out with your cock out jams, … Read More

Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#68) LL Cool J – Radio

November 15, 2017

YEAR RELEASED: 1985 NOTABLE TRACKS: “I Can’t Live Without My Radio”, “I Need a Beat”, “Rock The Bells”, “You’ll Rock” ALBUM MVP: “Rock The Bells” WHY I LOVED IT: I’m not sure if Radio is the first truly great hip-hop album that enjoyed commercial success but it’s certainly one of them.  LL Cool J was … Read More

Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#69) Air Supply – Lost In Love

November 14, 2017

YEAR RELEASED: 1980 NOTABLE TRACKS: “Lost In Love”, “Every Woman in the World”, “All Out of Love” ALBUM MVP: “All Out of Love” WHY I LOVED IT: When i was a youngster—like really young (I was but nine when this came out), I inexplicably liked Air Supply songs from this album more than any pre-adolescent … Read More

Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#70) Steve Winwood – Back In The High Life

November 13, 2017

YEAR RELEASED: 1986 NOTABLE TRACKS: “Higher Love”, “Freedom Oversplit”, “Split Decision”, “Take It As It Comes”, “The Finer Things”, “Back In The High Life” ALBUM MVP: “Higher Love” WHY I LOVED IT:  On the surface this seems to be a run of the mill everyday 80’s pop album, with nothing standing out. Maybe to some … Read More

Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#71) Top Gun – Movie Soundtrack

November 10, 2017

YEAR RELEASED: 1986 NOTABLE TRACKS: “Danger Zone”, “Take My Breath Away”, “Heaven In Your Eyes”, “Playing With The Boys” ALBUM MVP: “Danger Zone” WHY I LOVED IT: I feel like this is a rhetorical question, because who didn’t love the Top Gun soundtrack? It’s pretty much everything an 80’s pop music aficionado could want on … Read More

Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#73) John Cougar – American Fool

November 8, 2017

YEAR RELEASED: 1982 NOTABLE TRACKS: “Hurts So Good”, “Jack and Diane”, Hand To Hold On To”, “Thundering Hearts” ALBUM MVP: “Jack and Diane” WHY I LOVED IT:  I’d be lying if I said I was a big a fan of heartland rock  of most my friends and I liked many more 80’s rockers than John … Read More

Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#74) Pat Benatar – Crimes Of Passion

November 7, 2017

YEAR RELEASED: 1980 NOTABLE TRACKS: “You Better Run”, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, “Treat Me Right”, “Hell is for Children”. ALBUM MVP: “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” WHY I LOVED IT:  Is this one of the greatest albums in the history of rock and roll music? No, but it’s one of the biggest … Read More

Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#75) Run DMC – Raising Hell

November 6, 2017

YEAR RELEASED: 1986 NOTABLE TRACKS: “Walk With This”, “My Adidas”, “You Be Illin”, “It’s Tricky”, “Proud to be Black”, “Peter Piper” ALBUM MVP: “Walk This Way” WHY I LOVED IT:  Simply put, “Raising Hell” changed the rap game for good. Younger fans of hip hop may think I’m embellishing the significance of this album but … Read More

Favorite 100 Albums of the 80s: (#76) Billy Ocean – Suddenly

November 3, 2017

YEAR RELEASED: 1984 NOTABLE TRACKS: “Caribbean Queen”, “Suddenly”, “Loverboy”, “Mystery Lady” ALBUM MVP: “Caribbean Queen” WHY I LOVED IT:  There’s a handful of songs from the 80’s I love so much you could literally have the same track on an album a dozen times, call it an album and I’d sit here lauding it.  If … Read More