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100 Greatest Albums of 1984

Criteria: These 1984 albums were chosen for their initial and lasting popularity and their influence and impact on rock music in general. Also considered is critical acclaim. The list includes rock and roll and related genres that were influential on rock music.
Top 100 Albums by Year: (in progress)
Note: Yearly album lists go by earliest 'release date'.
Not necessarily the year an album peaked in the U.S. charts.
  1. Purple Rain - Prince and the Revolution
  2. Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
  3. Like A Virgin - Madonna
  4. Run-D.M.C. - Run-D.M.C.
  5. 1984 - Van Halen
  6. The Unforgettable Fire - U2
  7. Let It Be - The Replacements
  8. The Smiths - The Smiths
  9. Ride The Lightning - Metallica
10. Private Dancer - Tina Turner
11. Zen Arcade - Hüsker Dü
12. Double Nickels On The Dime - Minutemen
13. Rattlesnakes - Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
14. How Will The Wolf Survive - Los Lobos
15. Reckoning - R.E.M.
16. Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads
17. Ocean Rain - Echo And The Bunnymen
18. Learning To Crawl - The Pretenders
19. Reckless - Bryan Adams
20. Make It Big - Wham!
21. Heartbeat City - The Cars
22. Chicago 17 - Chicago
23. Building The Perfect Beast - Don Henley
24. Footloose - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
25. Suddenly - Billy Ocean
26. Who's Afraid Of The Art Of Noise - Art Of Noise
27. Diamond Life - Sade
28. Welcome To The Pleasuredome - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
29. Ice Cream Castle - The Time
30. Love At First Sting - Scorpions
31. I Feel For You - Chaka Khan
32. Big Bam Boom - Daryl Hall & John Oates
33. Powerslave - Iron Maiden
34. Beverly Hills Cop - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
35. Emergency - Kool & The Gang
36. Out Of The Cellar - Ratt
37. The Age Of Consent - Bronski Beat
38. Stay Hungry - Twisted Sister
39. Let The Music Play - Shannon
40. New Edition - New Edition
41. Swept Away - Diana Ross
42. Agent Provocateur - Foreigner
43. Don't Break The Oath - Mercyful Fate
44. The Fat Boys - The Fat Boys
45. A Private Heaven - Sheena Easton
46. The Last In Line - Dio
47. Escape - Whodini
48. Street Talk - Steve Perry
49. Defenders Of The Faith - Judas Priest
50. Three Of A Perfect Pair - King Crimson
51. Vital Signs - Survivor
52. Grace Under Pressure - Rush
53. Bon Jovi - Bon Jovi
54. A Walk Across The Rooftops - The Blue Nile
55. Tooth And Nail - Dokken
56. Slide It In - Whitesnake
57. Wheels Are Turnin' - REO Speedwagon
58. Sparkle In The Rain - Simple Minds
59. Valotte - Julian Lennon
60. ...All The Rage - General Public
61. Meat Puppets II - Meat Puppets
62. Ego Trip - Kurtis Blow
63. The Allnighter - Glenn Frey
64. The Glamorous Life - Sheila E.
65. All Over The Place - The Bangles
66. Couldn't Stand The Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughan
67. Into The Gap - Thompson Twins
68. Treasure - The Cocteau Twins
69. Fistful Of Metal - Anthrax
70. The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Red Hot Chili Peppers
71. I Often Dream Of Trains - Robyn Hitchcock
72. Meeting In The Ladies Room - Klymaxx
73. Some Great Reward - Depeche Mode
74. Breaking Hearts - Elton John
75. Perfect Strangers - Deep Purple
76. Self Control - Laura Branigan
77. Human's Lib - Howard Jones
78. Various Positions - Leonard Cohen
79. Camouflage - Rod Stewart
80. Body And Soul - Joe Jackson
81. Warrior - Scandal Featuring Patty Smyth
82. The Woman In Red - Stevie Wonder
83. The Swing - INXS
84. Tonight - David Bowie
85. Victory - The Jacksons
86. It'll End In Tears - This Mortal Coil
87. The Big Express - XTC
88. Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell
89. Word Of Mouth - The Kinks
90. Ammonia Avenue - Alan Parsons Project
91. VOA - Sammy Hagar
92. Tour De Force - .38 Special
93. Go Insane - Lindsey Buckingham
94. Alf - Alison Moyet
95. Starchild - Teena Marie
96. Planetary Invasion - Midnight Star
97. Hard To Hold - Rick Springfield
98. New Sensations - Lou Reed
99. W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P.
100. Tropico - Pat Benatar
Purple Rain Prince album cover
Born in the USA Bruce Springsteen album cover
Like A Virgin Madonna album cover
Run-D.M.C. album cover
1984 Van Halen album cover
The Unforgettable Fire U2 album cover
Let It Be The Replacements album cover
 DigitalDreamDoor Editor Picks for 1984
  Brett's choice - An unheralded great album from 1984
 •  Love Letters - Force MDs
  Bruce's choice:
 •  What's The Point?!! - R. Stevie Moore
  Brian's choice:
 •  Like This - The dB's
  Ryan's choice:
 •  Swoon - Prefab Sprout
  Lew's choice:
 •  Human Racing - Nik Kershaw




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