501 Essential Albums of the '80s
The Music Fan's Definitive Guide
Published on 29. May 2025
Book
Hardback
448 pages
978-0-7603-9336-9 (ISBN)
Description
Break out the parachute pants, jelly shoes, and Aqua Net and indulge in this nostalgic illustrated trip through the 1980s' most influential albums across all genres.
In 501 Essential Albums of the '80s, Gary Graff leads a cast of fellow music journalists in presenting the music of one of the most pivotal decades in the history of recorded music...the decade that gave us some of the most monstrous-selling albums ever and introduced more and more listeners to emergent genres like indie rock and hip-hop.
With lively descriptions of the releases and nearly 600 images, this hefty volume curates 501 albums spanning genres and subgenres-pop, rock, hip-hop, R&B, metal, country, college and indie rock, and more-and features:
Year-by-year organization
Knowledgeable rundowns of every album featured
Album art for each selection
Artist imagery
Record label, release date, and producer(s) for each
Soundtracks and compilation releases
The journalists detail the circumstances of the releases, notable singles from each, their influence on contemporary and later artists...in short, why each is considered one of the best of the decade.
Madonna or Michael, Prince or the Police, Bruce or Black Flag, Men at Work or Moetley Cruee-whatever your tastes, you will relish this ultimate retrospective of the decade's music.
In 501 Essential Albums of the '80s, Gary Graff leads a cast of fellow music journalists in presenting the music of one of the most pivotal decades in the history of recorded music...the decade that gave us some of the most monstrous-selling albums ever and introduced more and more listeners to emergent genres like indie rock and hip-hop.
With lively descriptions of the releases and nearly 600 images, this hefty volume curates 501 albums spanning genres and subgenres-pop, rock, hip-hop, R&B, metal, country, college and indie rock, and more-and features:
Year-by-year organization
Knowledgeable rundowns of every album featured
Album art for each selection
Artist imagery
Record label, release date, and producer(s) for each
Soundtracks and compilation releases
The journalists detail the circumstances of the releases, notable singles from each, their influence on contemporary and later artists...in short, why each is considered one of the best of the decade.
Madonna or Michael, Prince or the Police, Bruce or Black Flag, Men at Work or Moetley Cruee-whatever your tastes, you will relish this ultimate retrospective of the decade's music.
Reviews / Votes
"Sure the titans of the decade are all there...but Graff and his crew go deeper (in some cases, way deeper), with nods of essentialness to releases by artists like Fugazi, Killing Joke, John Hiatt, James Blood Ulmer, the db's, Branford Marsalis, Cocteau Twins, the Winans and even George Jones." -- Bob Ruggiero * Houston Press * "501 Essential Albums of the 80s, edited by Gary Graff, is more than just a book-it's a time machine for music lovers. Along with a crew of seasoned music journalists, Graff takes readers on a trip into one of the most groundbreaking, genre-bending, and flat-out fun decades in music history. This isn't just a book-it's your VIP pass to the ultimate '80s sound explosion." -- Tony Medeiros * Sandbox World * "Naturally, with any sort of book like this, everyone will point to albums that should be in there but aren't. That said, this is damned extensive. All the appropriate new wave, new romantic, pop, and hair metal albums from that decade are present and correct. But Graff makes sure that gospel, country, jazz, punk, hip-hop, soul, and just about everything else gets a fair shake too. Essential reading for anyone with even a passing interest in that decade." -- Brett Callwood * Music Connection * "If you're a record collector and you love the 80s, you'll get a lot out of The 501 Essential Albums of the 80s by Gary Graff." -- Alan Cross * A Journal of Musical Things * "This is a great trip down musical memory lane, reminding me why music has always mattered, no matter what the decade." * Shelf Life Magazine *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc
Illustrations
color & b-w photos
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 185 mm
Thickness: 38 mm
Weight
1236 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7603-9336-9 (9780760393369)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2025
Motorbooks
€33.99
Available for download
Person
Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist based in Detroit. He is a regular contributor to Billboard, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Media News Group, Ultimate Classic Rock, Consequence, and other publications, as well as to radio stations in Detroit and Milwaukee. He is the author of Alice Cooper at 75; co-author of Neil Young: Long May You Run, Rock 'n' Roll Myths: The True Stories Behind the Most Famous Legends, and Travelin' Man: On the Road and Behind the Scenes with Bob Seger; and the series editor of the MusicHound Essential Album Guides. He is also co-founder and co-producer of the Emmy Award-winning Detroit Music Awards. Graff lives in Beverly Hills, Michigan.