1) I would have to vote Michael Jackson, Thriller album.

2) I'm with Niki on this one, but add a few: Prince, Purple Rain; U2, The Joshua Tree; ACDC, Back in Black; Madonna, Like A Virgin; Metallica, Master of Puppets; Rush, Moving Pictures; and Van Halen, 1984. Can you tell I'm an adolescent of the 80s??

3) The Joshua Tree....by far.

4) Janet Jackson: Rhythm Nation
Cindi Lauper: She's So Unusual
Whitney Houston: Whitney (Pre-Bobby Brown Days)
Anything Madonna
I think Abba had an album in there.
Michael Jackson: Thriller, Bad, and Off the Wall (I think it was called that?)
Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet
Def Leppard: Pyromania
Guns N' Roses: Appetite for Destruction
I could go on for days....

5) My responses are based purely on what albums, 45's and tapes got played the most in my bedroom (and later on my boombox).
I'll definitely have to agree with MJ's Thriller, Prince's Purple Rain, Madonna's Like a Virgin and Van Halen's 1984.

I'll also add:
Appetite for Destruction, Guns N Roses
Control, Janet Jackson
She's so Unusual, Cyndi Lauper

6) Soundchick! I think we were answering at the same time. Looks like we had the same taste in 80's music. How could I forget Slippery When Wet?

7) Just adding to the suggestions above...

Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads
Sports - Huey Lewis and the News
Licensed to Ill - Beastie Boys
Raising Hell - Run DMC
Kick - INXS
Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits
Murmer - REM

And it goes without saying....True, by Spandau Ballet.

8) How could I have forgotton License to Ill by the Beastie Boys? I fell silly now....Thanks Russ.

9) I can't imagine even picking! Great suggestions so far, though. I guess it depends a little on what you define as "best".

10) I can't believe I forgot Hugh! I was in love with those guys - oh, and Stray Cats; Brian Setzer and Lee rock Rockabilly!!

11) Thriller all the way!

12) We can't forget Rick Astley either!

13) We can and will forget Rick Astley.

14) Great call on "Synchronicity" - that may be the best one-off album of the 80's. But if you want a streak of great albums, Billy Joel released 6 albums in the 80's, beginning with Glass Houses and ending with Storm Front.

Also, Hall & Oates released two albums in '81 and '82 that were pretty amazing - "Private Eyes" and "H2O." And INXS' "Kick" was stacked from the first to last song, as was Living Colour's "Vivid." And for the fellow jambanders out there, Phish's "Junta" was released in '88 I think. It doesn't get much better than that.

- Jim

15) My mom called the other day to tell me that Huey Lewis and the News will be playing on the National Mall over Memorial Day weekend.

She sounded very excited about it. Is "The Power of Love" worth a 20 minute walk? Maybe.

Top album of the 80s? Probably not - but if anyone's in the area, there's your 80s music tip.

16) My Vote: Styx's 1983 Album Kilroy was Here:

"Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto for helping me escape just when I needed you"

Here is the album's synopsis via Wikipedia:
A rock and roll performer who was placed in a futuristic prison for "rock and roll misfits" by the anti-rock-and-roll group the Majority for Musical Morality (MMM) and its founder Dr. Everett Righteous (played by guitarist James Young). The Roboto is a model robot which does menial jobs in the prison. Kilroy escapes the prison by overtaking a Roboto prison guard and hiding inside the emptied-out metal shell.


Glorious!

17) I don't have any authority whatsoever to comment on 80s albums, but The Joshua Tree is one of my all-time favorites. I have XM radio and listen to Ethel 47 pretty much all day, and it claims to play modern alternative (like Vampire Weekend, Silversun Pickup, Death Cab, stuff like that), but I'll hear at least one song a day from The Joshua Tree because the music on that album transcends time.