My Top 50 Albums of 1983
Here's the Spotify playlist:
1. Violent Femmes -
Violent Femmes
2. REM – Murmur
3. Tears For Fears - The Hurting
4. Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones
2. REM – Murmur
3. Tears For Fears - The Hurting
4. Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones
5. Maze – We Are One
6. Minor Threat – Out Of Step
7. U2 – War
8. David Bowie - Let's
Dance
9. Cyndi Lauper - She's So
Unusual
10. Sonic Youth - Confusion
Is Sex
11. Madonna – Madonna
12. Talking Heads - Speaking
In Tongues
13. Eurythmics – Touch
14. The Police -
Synchronicity
15. The Isley Brothers –
Between The Sheets
16. Bob Dylan - Infidels
17. The Minutemen - What
Makes A Man Start Fires?
18. Def Leppard - Pyromania
19. Cheap Trick - Next
Position Please
20. Midnight Star – No
Parking On The Dance Floor
21. Tom Waits –
Swordfishtrombones
22. Dio - Holy Diver
23. ZZ Top – Eliminator
24. Huey Lewis And The News –
Sports
25. Whodini – Whodini
26. Rick James – Cold
Blooded
27. Anita Baker - The
Songstress
28. Big Country - The
Crossing
29. The Golden Palominos -
The Golden Palominos
30. Metallica - Kill 'Em All
31. Yes - 90125
32. Genesis - Genesis
33. John Mellencamp - Uh-Huh
34. Kix - Cool Kids
35. Lionel Richie - Can't
Slow Down
36. Bryan Adams – Cuts Like
A Knife
37. Sparks – In Outer Space
38. Malcolm McLaren - Duck
Rock
39. The B-52s - Whammy!
40. The Replacements –
Hootenanny
41. Split Enz - Conflicting
Emotions
42. The Waterboys - The
Waterboys
43. Peter Gabriel - Plays
Live
44. Pulp - It
45. Social Distortion -
Mommy's Little Monster
46. Chic – Believer
47. Elvis Costello & The
Attractions - Punch The Clock
48. The Minutemen - Buzz Or
Howl Under The Influence Of Heat EP
49. Sonic Youth – Kill Yr
Idols EP
50. Duran Duran - Seven And
The Ragged Tiger
What struck me as I was putting together this list was that 1983 was one of the best years for new artists ever. The 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 22, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 42, 44, and 45 entries on here are all debut albums, and while some of these records were tentative first steps, and Big Country and maybe a couple others peaked in '83, they're mostly bold entrances from artists who'd continue making great music for a long time. A lot of new bands were coming out of new wave/punk/alternative scenes, but there's also hip-hop, metal, R&B, an incredible amount of new sounds and personalities that would quickly shape the decade. I think the only other year I've done a top 10 albums for that had 6 debut albums was 1990.
Previously: