The Top 10 Vinyl Records Every '80s Fan Should Already Own

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Flashy, flamboyant, bizarre, image-focused, experimental, eclectic: The '80s were a time of heady musical innovation tempered by MTV-led videos and eventual homogenization. Such creative tensions, and the talent of individual musicians, produced a mountain of superb albums across all genres that vinyl collectors should already own. 

By definition, this article has to be a kind of who's who of records across the entire decade — big hits that are so pervasive that they've infiltrated everyone's shelves. But we also want to cast a wide net that represents the full variety of what the '80s has to offer. This means limiting our choices to one album per artist, no matter the enormity of artists like Michael Jackson, the top-selling and most globally known artist of the decade. At the same time, we're envisioning a fictional fan owning these albums, someone musically open-minded enough to go for everything from Madonna to Metallica. Also, loads of worthy choices have to be left off a list of only 10 vinyls, so if your favorite didn't make the cut, that doesn't mean it doesn't deserve to be included.

In the end, we've got a highlight reel of some of the '80s best. From AC/DC and Talking Heads at the top of the decade to mid-decade mega-hits from Prince and Bruce Springsteen, to late-decade masterworks from the Cure and U2, these are the albums you're sure to own if you own any '80s albums at all. 

There'll never be another musician like Prince. Multi-instrumentalist, producer, mad stage performer, rampant songwriter, etc., etc., we all know the Purple One's basics. But before "Purple Rain" dropped in 1984, it might not have been clear to the public precisely how superb an artist Prince was, right down to the album's legendary self-titled song. This is the album that cemented Prince's legacy, with an assist from its accompanying, self-mythologizing movie. It's likely the vinyl you've already got in your collection.

Madonna was the first, last, and undisputed colossal female solo pop star of the '80s, setting the template for all such stars to come. And while the Queen of Pop has shifted forms many times over the years to stay relevant (1998's "Ray of Light" stands out in this regard), 1989's "Like a Prayer" remains her finest overall musical work. Spearheaded by the song of the same name, one of a whopping 12 Madonna songs to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, it's a staple in the vinyl collection of any '80s fan.

1984's "Born in the U.S.A." is Bruce Springsteen's best-selling album (30 million copies), one of the biggest albums of the '80s, and contains a song that, somehow, stills fools listeners into thinking it's a patriotic anthem. "I'm on Fire," "Cover Me," "Dancing in the Dark," "Glory Days," and, of course, "Born in the U.S.A.:" the album's tracklist is like an all-star team. With this record, Springsteen did a complete 180 from 1982's dark folk album, "Nebraska," straight into pop-rock territory, but still retained his working-man, roots-rock roots. An essential vinyl for any collection.

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is the vinyl that people would have in their collection even if they have no other vinyls. Forget any notions of what "big" and "pop star" mean when trying to understand how enormous "Thriller" was when it detonated over the public in 1982. Over the decades, it's sold 66 million copies. "Beat It" (No. 1), "Billie Jean" (No. 1), "The Girl is Mine" (No. 2), and "Thriller" (No. 4) all come from this album. Get it if you somehow don't have it.

Proudly representing all things weirdly '80s while simultaneously defying all attempts at definitions, new wave and punk labels included, Talking Heads' "Remain in Light" is a jaw-dropping album. Some consider it one of the best albums ever made, period. Out of all the vinyls in this article, this 1980-released, David Byrne-led magnum opus satisfies the musical needs of the loftiest, artsiest of fans and also just bops. A maelstrom of slap bass, experimental synthesizer lines, traditional rock instruments, and outré composition, this is a vinyl that '80s music fans ought to already own. 

It's almost dealer's choice when it comes to Cure albums, a quintessentially '80s band that sat at the nexus of new wave, pop-rock, post-punk, goth, etc. (no matter singer Robert Smith's rejection of that last label). The Cure have had a lasting cultural impact far, far beyond their so-so Billboard chart history. And while a single song like "Just Like Heaven" from 1987's "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" defined '80s rock history, it's 1989's "Disintegration" that belongs in every '80s fan collection. Clear and sparse, impeccably arranged, masterfully produced, and emotionally full, this is peak Cure. 

Even though U2 had been building in popularity across the '80s, nothing could have prepared them or the world for the immensity of the Joshua Tree in 1987. Lead by "Where the Streets Have No Name," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "With or Without You" (a song that's really about Bono's struggle with art vs. marriage), U2 won critical and popular hearts alike, acting like a spiritual inoculant to the decade's excesses. This is a defining '80s album, one near and dear to many people and already in many vinyl collections.

Those looking for the party-hardy incarnation of "rock 'n' roll" need look no further than 1980's "Back in Black" from AC/DC. The album's songs tell its admittedly one-dimensional, but catchy as hell, story: "Hell's Bells," "Shoot To Thrill," "Back In Black," and, "You Shook Me All Night Long," the last of which has a chorus so unforgettable that is makes a nearly perfect song. Such is the power of Angus Young's riffs and Brian Johnson's shrieks, whose addition to AC/DC's lineup with this album marked the beginning of the band's undying presence in cultural memory. Admit it: This stuff's awesome and you ought to own it.

It's beyond belief that Guns N' Roses' 1987 "Appetite for Destruction" was their debut album. Thirty million copies sold, monolithic hits like "Welcome to the Jungle," "Paradise City," and "Sweet Child O' Mine," the last of which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and brimming with musical savvy easily overlooked by the band's wild-child antics, "Appetite for Destruction" still stands far above the rest of Guns N' Roses subsequent work. It summarized '80s rock till that point even as it put a creative spin on it and presaged harder '90s fare to come. This is a vinyl collector's mainstay.

Sorry, "... And Justice for All" fans (we're one, too), but 1986's "Master of Puppets" is the definitive metal album of the '80s and the one that folks will likely have in their vinyl collection — even the normies. Recorded when Metallica was in their early 20's, the band churned out this classic in a flurry of energy and spontaneous creative power that matched the intensity and vibrancy of the music, right down to Cliff Burton's now-classic "Orion" bass solo. Get it if you don't have it.