BEST CLASSIC ROCK ALBUM OF THE 80's
 

Personally mine was AC/DC Back in black (1980) , what about you ?

Why don't you tell us yours first, these threads are much better when the thread starter makes the effort to tell us their favourites.

It's a toss up between Journey - Raised On Radio and Rush - Moving Pictures.

AC/DC indeed was one of the best classic rock band, others are also good like Led Zeplin's somewhat groovy and bluesy licks makes you shake and serious lyrics makes to think really deep.

What was serious about Led Zeppelin's lyrics?

I'm sure you've never heard Stairway to Heaven by Zeppelin or else you would never have asked that question, my friend.

That's one of their deeper songs, but the majority of their lyrical content was based around the normal blues and rock n roll content typical of the time, granted they incorporated some more mystical stuff as they evolved and certainly got a bit deeper, but I would never call them a serious sounding band.

Oh come on now! "Hey mamma like the way you move/ Gonna make you sweat/ Gonna make you groove!" These aren't serious lyrics to you? :rofl:

How do you define classic rock anyway? I would never have considered AC/DC as such. Heavy metal/hard rock for me, but not classic. I suppose it depends on your timescale reference. For me, classic rock bands are the likes of Zep, Purple, Rainbow, T-Rex etc who all plied their trade in the 70s and who influenced a huge clutch of today's bands.

But what are the criteria, if any? Once a band has been in existence a certain number of years they become classic rock? Seems a little arbitrary to me...

Aside from a handful of songs, nothing.

Their most serious moment came when Robert plant proclaimed, "I wanna give you every inch of my love."

Serious to the groupies, at least. :rofl:

That said, and back to topic, I would possibly would have voted for Back in Black. It's everything that a lot of other albums tried to be. Still, it would have won if it were not for the existence of Motorhead's Ace of Spades.

You guys need to listen to this.

http://991.com/newGallery/Trapeze-Medusa-119650.jpg

Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet

Aside from the obvious "Livin' On A Prayer" and "You Give Love A Bad Name," this album has hidden gems abound, such as one of the band's only experimental, synthy tracks, "Let It Rock." My mother and I also always loved the raw rock of "Wild In The Streets"

@kevinh8782 Classic Rock is really a radio format, and was/is a mix of different genres.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...g_Pictures.jpg
1. "Tom Sawyer" 4:31
2. "Red Barchetta" 6:10
3. "YYZ" (Lee and Peart) 4:23
4. "Limelight" 4:20
5. "The Camera Eye" 11:01
6. "Witch Hunt" (Part III of Fear) 4:46
7. "Vital Signs" 4:47

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rlds_Apart.jpg

Side one
1."On the Loose" – 4:12
2."Wind Him Up" – 5:47
3."Amnesia" – 3:16
4."Framed" – 5:42
5."Time's Up" - 4:12
Side two
1."The Interview" – 3:52
2."No Regrets (Chapter V)" – 4:46
3."Conversations" – 4:46
4."No Stranger (Chapter VIII)" – 7:05

Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.
U2 - The Joshua Tree
John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy
Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
The Police - Ghost In The Machine
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
Def Leppard - Pyromania
Billy Joel - An Innocent Man

Scorpions - Love At First Sting was a big one for me. Blackout too.


Scorpions - Coming Home - YouTube

This was one of the very first metal albums I ever bought, got it when it came out and I bought it on the strength of its cover. Still a fantastic album today.

Dude, their first album was released in '76. Shouldn't that make them count as a seventies band?

Escape or Frontiers by Journey, if we're talking AOR.

Frontiers is AOR at its very finest.:band:

Humm...I'm still siding more with Escape. True, "Don't Stop Believin' " is one of the most over-played songs of the last couple of years and "Open Arms" is cheese, but then the former has an arresting opening Piano bit plus the hook that will never leave your mind and the later is possibly a very tasty cheese to some (certainly a Prom Night favorite back in the day). I feel that this was where the Steve Perry era had it's apex. As for highlight album tracks, Escape had "Stone In Love," one of the FM Rock staples I did not mind hearing a lot back in the day with a great simple guitar riff prefect for WRIF and WIOT over-kill play (memories).

Plus, there was the Atari 2600 video game - A laughable but likable highlight of 80's FM Rock promotion.

Journey Escape for the Atari 2600
Journey Escape - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So we have to consent to an album that critics and fans alike love which narrows down our choice.

Classic albums are generally assigned this way whereas I think you should have asked what is the best Rock album of the 80's in your opinion and my answer would be:

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...dzN0V4JYRmn9dA

That's a solid argument. I could add that Escape is more adventurous musically. However, I might lean slightly away from Escape, because I'm not fond of "Open Arms" and "Still They Ride," whereas I like all 5 songs from Frontiers that got much airplay.

Man, this is not my area of expertise, but of what I've heard I have to align myself with Nea and Puffn and go with Rush's Moving Pictures. Not only do I find almost every moment of it gleefully cheery, but it was also one of my first albums I got when really started to collect music, so it has the factor of nostalgia as well.

Yeah. For the AOR division, that was a highlight. Actually, I think that the Frontiers era was ruined a little by a video game that still is rated among the worst tie ins ever. That says nothing about the music, which still kept the sound alive very well, especially with a stronger lead off single than Escape's "Who's Crying Now" with "Separate Ways," but as they were going into a lot of things that tried to connect with their audience I still look at the whole package for full effect.

Some info on the arcade game that may have spelled the end for Data Age, who presented the Atari game, but found that the Arcade crowd was more picky about what they put their quarters in.

Journey Frontiers Arcade Game
Journey - Videogame by Bally Midway
Journey (1983 video game) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Just to keep things in check for this thread, I already voted for Motorhead's Ace of Spades (1980) as my personal pick a couple of pages back, with AC/DC's Back in Black in a very close #2, but I sometimes like to throw in some good words elsewhere.

I didn't know there was a Frontiers-inspired videogame. I could argue from the other side that Escape has less filler (which is a vague impression I have). Beyond those two albums, only a few others come to mind as great 80's classic rock. They include Def Leppard's Hysteria, 5150 by Van Halen, and the album 4 by Foreigner.

This is one of those questions where so many albums can qualify that it feels too open ended. I think a lot of people would say Ozzy Osbourne and Dio's solo material throughout the 80's would rate pretty high amongst classic rock aficionados, as would Whitesnake, Foreigner, Huey Lewis & The News, Journey (as previously mentioned), and to a lesser extent Toto and The Police.

Then again, different strokes for different folks. Two of my favorite albums from the decade are Dan Fogelberg's The Innocent Age and Strangeways's Native Sons, but would they qualify as "classic rock" per-se? Tough call.

I'd agree that Frontiers for such a classic album does have a couple of filler tracks, but like anything special its standout tracks are amazing. Escape is more consistent but I'd still take Frontiers over it anytime.

Hysteria very much fits in with what the general public would view as a classic rock album and sure its tunes are great. 4 by Foreigner is another great choice, never one of my favourite AOR bands but the album is kind of essential here.

Anything by Foreigner.

God, I am so embarrassed for you

EDIT (misread the topic, sorry)