The 5 Best '80s Rock Albums Of All Time, According To Fans

Popular music is rarely monolithic, but certain styles of rock can define different eras. The British Invasion and psychedelia bridged the '60s, and grunge flavored the early '90s, but the '80s were all over the place. The character of the decade's loudest and most guitar-and-drums-driven music was one of triumph and declaration. After all, this is the time when heavy metal went mainstream, roots rock for and about regular American working folks hit big, epic and anthemic European rock struck a chord, and hair metal helped people party down. The '80s also offered music buyers more ways to purchase music than ever before, what with so many chain stores inside and outside of shopping malls selling the hottest LPs on vinyl, cassette, and, later on, compact discs.

In retrospect, so much '80s music became dated really quickly. Still, a handful of albums by the biggest rock acts endured. The best-selling albums of the era never really went away, continuing to move units in subsequent decades and acquire major download and streaming figures in the 21st century. The fans spoke with their wallets, leaving us with the record of what are truly the most resonant and beloved albums. Here are the five '80s rock albums that stood the test of time because they're stone-cold classics, according to listeners.

In the mid-1970s, AC/DC stormed out of Australia with a bombastic but melodic heavy metal sound. Its formula of loud, riff-driven songs about carnal pleasures and the powers of rock 'n' roll resulted in some minor hits in the U.K. and the U.S. in the late '70s, such as "Highway to Hell" and "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap." Then, reeling from the devastating and tragic death of Bon Scott in early 1980, the band opted to soldier on with a new frontman, hiring Brian Johnson. The songs had already been written for another album, so Johnson sang the parts intended for his deceased predecessor.

AC/DC was cresting commercially, and there was likely some curiosity if Johnson was up for the task or if he would be one of the most unfortunate replacements in rock history. Those factors may have helped, but "Back in Black" was simply undeniable. 

Something of a tribute to Scott, the LP was packed with head-banging hits and would-be classic rock radio classics, including "Hells Bells," "Shoot to Thrill," "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution," "You Shook Me All Night Long," and the title track. Certified 27 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, "Back in Black"  is the best-selling studio rock album worldwide with 50 million sold, according to Rolling Stone Australia. In 2011, Rolling Stone readers named it one of the Top 10 best albums of the 1980s.

The nightclub scene on Los Angeles's Sunset Strip in the 1980s was the place to be for hard rock bands looking to make it big, particularly ones with a sound that was gritty, sleazy, and a little bit sinister. Guns N' Roses was formed from the merger of a couple of two such dying bands, L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. 

With a lineup solidified by 1985, featuring the shrieking and lyrically menacing Axl Rose on vocals and the top-hatted virtuoso Slash on guitar, Guns N' Roses built a cult following on tour and, after a label bidding war won by Geffen Records, the rollicking band recorded "Appetite for Destruction." A thesis statement for a scene, band, and era, the 1987 album captivated listeners, particularly its hit singles: the power ballad "Sweet Child O' Mine" and the chaotic "Welcome to the Jungle."

"Appetite for Destruction" is the second-best album released in the 1980s, according to Rolling Stone readers, many of whom contributed to the sales figure of 18 million copies The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) says it has sold, making it the top-selling debut LP ever upon its creation in 1988.

Bon Jovi both predated and outlasted the hair metal era, but in the late 1980s, it was the most successful and definitive purveyor of the form. With the follicly blessed and always smiling singer and guitarist at the front of the stage, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora respectively, Bon Jovi combined shimmering keyboards and catchy hooks with thundering drums and screaming guitars to make a TV and radio-friendly form of hard rock. 

With the late 1986 release of "Slippery When Wet" — a title inspired by a warning sign at a gentlemen's club with a working shower on stage — Bon Jovi perfected its sound right when hair metal was peaking. "Slippery When Wet" generated three Top 10 hits in rapid succession, including the No. 1 smashes "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer."

A lot of stars can't stand Bon Jovi, but then this is a band that named its box set "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong." The group really has sold that many pieces of all of its catalog, with a large portion of that coming just from "Slippery When Wet." The Financial Times estimated in 2017  that 28 million people around the world bought that album, with 15 million of those sales happening in the U.S., per RIAA.

Acclaimed since the 1970s as a next-level artist on par with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen was already famous with a string of nicely-selling albums, radio hits, and Grammy nominations. In 1984, "Born in the USA" made Springsteen and his long-standing E Street Band just about the most famous rock collective on the planet. There was a lot of stuff for a lot of people to like on the LP.

Along with Springsteen's usual sing-along worthy bar band cuts, there was the title track, which seemingly played into Reagan-era patriotism but which was actually a story song about a disillusioned and mistreated Vietnam War veteran. "Glory Days" was a baseball song that sounded good in the stadiums the E Street Band could now play, while "Dancing in the Dark" was a synth-driven New Wave-influenced bit of dance pop.

Demand for Springsteen cuts was so insatiable in 1984 and 1985 that Columbia Records issued seven of the 12 tracks of "Born in the USA" as singles, as they all reached the Top 10. Rolling Stone readers named it one of the top five best '80s albums. It has sold 17 million copies in the U.S. alone (via RIAA). 

In the 1980s, U2 sounded just plain massive. Spiritual, political, and riding the quirky sounds of the post-punk and early alternative rock waves, U2 sounded like nobody but themselves. The crisp drums of Larry Mullen Jr., the bubbling bass of Adam Clayton, and the ringing, jangling guitar of The Edge all complemented singer Bono on record and on the stages of the world's biggest stadiums as he held court and sang his heart out about injustice, love, and other complicated concepts. "The Joshua Tree," was ambitious but satisfying, from the heartbreaking ballad "With or Without You" to the epic "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and the sweeping "Where the Streets Have No Name."

Both when it was released in 1987 and in the years after, "The Joshua Tree" received lavish praise from rock critics, but it's even more popular with fans. The readers of Rolling Stone cited it as their favorite record of any kind of the 1980s, and just in the U.S., by 1995 it had sold 10 million copies, per RIAA.