Last Updated on January 10, 2026 by Christian Adams
1985–86 is a disappointing period of must-hear albums. As I perused the unofficial list of selections from this period, half the time I was thinking, “Christ, nobody should have to listen to that.”
1001 Albums Rating Key:
- Strikethrough indicates what you probably think it does
- Green indicates highly recommended listening
- Underlined indicates questionable but ultimately acceptable record
- Blue bold italic indicates ABSOLUTELY MUST HEAR BEFORE YOU DIE
- Also, anything in Red generally indicates hazardous material
Note: Suggested alternatives are from the same year as the contested entry unless otherwise indicated
Abdullah Ibrahim – Water From An Ancient Well (1985)
I can’t be the only one who’d never heard of this South African pianist and composer until today. His music reflects influences ranging from traditional African songs to gospel, ragas, modern jazz, and other Western styles. Maybe we need some of that right now.
A-ha – Hunting High and Low (1985)
A-ha. That’s exactly what I said when I saw this album at the top of the list. Zero chance.
Suggested Alternative: Hüsker Dü – New Day Rising
The Monkees meet Black Flag. What a breath of fresh air.
Dexys Midnight Runners – Don’t Stand Me Down (1985)
You have a finite amount of time in this life. Remember that. And seriously, this is like the third or fourth Dexy’s Midnight Runners album to make the book, and it’s absolute nonsense to say that anything other than their smash hit single “Come On Eileen” is must-hear music.
Suggested Alternative: Meat Puppets – Up on the Sun
Psychedelic cowpunk that still sounds fresh 40 years later.
Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms (1985)
No matter what I say about this album, if you like Dire Straits, you’ll keep listening to them, come hell or high water. And I can take my snotty opinion and stuff it. Well, that’s fine. But let’s get something straight.
Mark Knopfler did not write a song that name-checks MTV, release it on a major label, and thought nobody would notice. The wonks at MTV went bananas when they heard “Money For Nothing”, especially when it featured a cameo from Sting, who just so happens to be reciting the MTV slogan (“I want my MTV”) to the tune of “Don’t Stand So Close to Me.” That sound you hear is money being printed with several snaps of several fingers.
And I couldn’t care less about the video, but according to various sources, Knopfler was “anti-video” and thought that “videos would destroy the purity of songwriters and performers.” And yet, what happened? They made a video. And it was a huge success. If you didn’t have a reason to dislike Sting, you do now.
Jingles for NASCAR
When an artist essentially writes a jingle for the very same company that’s going to help sell 15 million copies of their latest album, it should be released with a disclaimer on the cover. Sponsored by MTV, Coca-Cola, Nike, etc. Make musicians wear NASCAR jumpsuits with the logo patches of every sponsor. You can talk about songwriting and musicianship all you want. There’s selling out, and then there’s what Dire Straits did with “Money For Nothing”.
Now, the rest of Brothers In Arms exemplifies and contains everything I hate about modern rock-based choogle in four-minute servings. Dire Straits are everything that sucks about music and the music industry. Brothers in Arms is the most generic, banal, zero-sum, ambitionless, disposable product since rock music had a name.
Suggested Alternative: Celtic Frost – To Mega Therion
Having shared practice spaces with death metal bands, I’ve often wondered what kind of nut you could crack by playing in a death metal band. It’s exhaustive shit. On one hand, it’s nice that these Swiss kids in Celtic Frost took a serious interest in what they were doing and weren’t fucking around. Kudos. On the other hand, there’s not much you can do with it.
If you’ve ever played in a band with a practice space, odds are pretty good that you’ve had a death metal band in the building. I’ve had them as upstairs, downstairs, next door, and across-the-hall neighbors, and those downstairs cats generally played at jet engine levels and rarely took breaks. It was an incredibly unpleasant tsunami of sound. There were times when we couldn’t hear ourselves with everybody’s amps on 11 and the drummer using the butt end of his sticks.
Eventually, we figured out their practice schedule and stopped coming in on Tuesday nights. It just wasn’t worth the effort to battle against them. And what’s funny is that we talked to other bands in the building, and they did the same thing. From that point forward, I always assumed that the main ambition of the average death metal band is to play so unbearably loud that you get the whole building to yourself.
Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love (1985)
I’m wired to dislike things that I don’t understand. Only when I understand something can I have an opinion. When Kate Bush is considered art pop, I’m dumbstruck. There’s a quality of emotion in her music that I just. Don’t. Get.
Frank Zappa (among others) once said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture.
That’s wrong. If listening to music is an experience, then writing about said experience is just as valid as writing about a trip to India. You can write about anything you want. More to the point, Zappa was responding to criticism of his work, and the real gist of what he said is that music critics just don’t get it. “It” is his latest album of guitar solos and nothing but guitar solos.
Dancing About Architecture
On a certain level, the incongruity of dancing about architecture may be relevant in this context. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of records on the 1001 Albums list that I just don’t get, and thus, there is very little I can write except to acknowledge the fact that their essence escapes me, very much like the appeal of every boy band since Menudo.
It’s impossible to estimate how many of my favorite artists were discovered by first reading about them. There are several records from 1985-86 that I wouldn’t have heard if not for reading an album review in Rolling Stone.
Hounds of Love contains Bush’s signature cut, “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”, which may or may not be the gist of my problem with this music. Perhaps it contains a smidgen of art rock. It doesn’t exactly follow a traditional song pattern. But this is adult contemporary music with a new wave edge, and I object to lumping this beautifully tortured-soul music into the same genre as King Crimson, Genesis, and Yes. Let’s call this what it is: Soccer Mom Boogie.
Suggested Alternative: Prince and the Revolution – Around the World in a Day
Around the World in a Day is my second favorite Prince record (Sign O’ the Times is #1), and probably the Purple One’s only foray into deep psychedelic rock. Anyway, the big hit from this record is the ’60s psych-pop gem “Raspberry Beret”, but “Pop Life” is the true hot jam. “Condition of the Heart” is very Bitches Brew meets Pet Sounds with Sherman Hemsley and Peabo Bryson, if you’re into that kind of thing.
Mekons – Fear And Whiskey (1985)
Fear and Whiskey is considered one of the first alternative country albums.
New Order – Low-Life (1985)
Low-Life is considered one of the first post-punk alternative dance albums.
Prefab Sprout – Steve McQueen (1985)
Steve McQueen is considered the second Prefab Sprout album, and sounds like 1985 is jumping out of the speakers.
Scritti Politti – Cupid And Psyche 85 (1985)
Scritti Politti is negligible synthpop at best. AT BEST!
Suggested Alternative: The Cult – Love
I was tempted to suggest The Breakfast Club soundtrack. Just for snicks. But seriously, Love is a solid hard rock recording and IMHO more of a must-hear than their next album (Electric, 1987). The Cult deserves props for finding their groove and sticking to it.
Simply Red – Picture Book (1985)
Simply Red is adult contemporary, easy listening rubbish.
Suggested Alternative: R.E.M. – Fables of the Reconstruction
Suzanne Vega – Suzanne Vega (1985)
Suzie V. does make a decent singer-songwriter album or two in her time. Her debut isn’t it. Besides, it doesn’t contain her two signature songs, “Tom’s Diner” and “Luka”, both of which are on a record that came out in 1987 and we’ll get to it in due time. This one? No. Nope.
Suggested Alternative: The Cure – The Head on the Door
It’s unconscionable that they left this record off the 1001 Albums list.
Tears For Fears – Songs From The Big Chair (1985)
Shout, let it all out. These are the things I can do without. Come on, I’m talking to you. Come on.
I loved The Hurting (1983), but I choked on this record. “Shout” was OK, but “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and “Head Over Heels” both crossed the fruity line for me.
The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace (1985)
Eh, I listen to it every so often. I like some of it. Mostly, I feel obligated to listen. The Fall represents everything endearing and repulsive about the post-punk genre.
The Jesus & Mary Chain – Psychocandy (1985)
I can’t stand the Jesus & Mary Chain, but… Psychocandy is exceedingly capable pre-shoegazing noise pop. You should hear some of it.
The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy & The Lash (1985)
The Pogues are an acquired taste, but Rum is a good place to drop a dime.
The Smiths – Meat Is Murder (1985)
I have serious reservations about Meat Is Murder being a must-hear album, unless…you’re talking about the American version that contains “How Soon Is Now?” which appeared as a B-side to “William, Was It Really Nothing?” (which isn’t on this album, either).
The problem with the Smiths is Morrissey. Everything sounds great until he starts warbling. Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass), and Mike Joyce (drums) are working miracles as a trio. But the songs are one-dimensional. You know exactly what’s going to happen when Morrissey opens his mouth.
Meat Is Murder is where they almost lost me. I was a huge fan of the debut album. “How Soon Is Now?” is the best thing they ever did. But it’s not on here.
Suggested Alternative: The Dukes of Stratosphear – 25 O’Clock
The psychedelic, avant-pop alter-ego of English post-punk darlings, XTC. It’s fuckin’ amazing! Unfortunately, it’s also hard to find. Here’s just a taste.
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs (1985)
If I could only recommend one Tom Waits record, Rain Dogs would be a nice choice.
Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force – Planet Rock: The Album (1986)
Extremely influential record in hip-hop. In case there’s ever a time in your life when you wonder, “What are some of the most influential albums in hip-hop?”
Anita Baker – Rapture (1986)
A Quiet Storm is the title of Smokey Robinson’s third solo album, released in 1975. It’s a laid-back, soulful jam that inspired a radio station intern in Washington, D.C. to pioneer the quiet storm radio format.
According to music journalist Jason King, quiet storm developed as a subgenre analogous to adult contemporary and/ or soft rock because it emphasized the more tender qualities of R&B:
“Sensuous and pensive, quiet storm is seductive R&B, marked by jazz flourishes, ‘smooth grooves,’ and tasteful lyrics about intimate subjects. As disco gave way to the ‘urban contemporary’ format at the outset of the 1980s, quiet storm expanded beyond radio to emerge as a broad catchall super-genre.”
Ben Fong-Torres of Rolling Stone called the genre a “blend of pop, jazz fusion, and R&B ballads—all elegant and easy-flowing, like a flute of Veuve Clicquot champagne”.
And I don’t know about you, but I don’t need that kind of aggravation.
Bad Brains – I Against I (1986)
You’ve been on the Bad Brains tip since Rock for Light (1982), so you might sleep on I Against I. Don’t do that. Produced by Ron Saint Germain.
Beastie Boys – Licensed To Ill (1986)
Most aficionados will pooh-pooh Licensed to Ill as a juvenile appropriation of rap, but you cannot underestimate its cultural influence and role in hip-hop’s crossover to white, middle-class America.
Big Black – Atomizer (1986)
Big Black is a seminal post-punk noise rock band, and Atomizer is probably their most “fun” record. It will be one of the most influential albums of the decade. Ever heard of the Pixies? Nirvana? You will. And speaking of dancing about architecture, Steve Albini did his fair share of it.
Billy Bragg – Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986)
They don’t make must-hear albums with “poetry” in the title.
Bon Jovi – Slippery When Wet (1986)
Bon Jovi is just one more reason to avoid mainstream hard-ish rock in this era. They were merely a symptom of a much larger problem in rock: aiming for the lowest common denominator. However, to paraphrase Rob Tyner of the MC5, “You’re either part of the problem or part of the solution.”
Suggested Alternative: David Lee Roth – Eat ‘Em and Smile
First, I was heartbroken when David Lee Roth left Van Halen. Next, I was devastated when they recruited Sammy Hagar to replace Dave. Third, I was horrified by Van Halen’s first album with Sammy, 5150 (1986). And finally, I was thrilled when Dave released his first solo album, Eat ‘Em and Smile.
Say what you want about DLR as a performer and personality, he never did anything half-ass or halfway. For this record, he put together a supergroup of the hottest hired guns in rock: Steve Vai (guitar), Billy Sheehan (bass), and Greg Bissonette (drums). The result is a rollicking good time of a hard rock listening experience.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Blood And Chocolate (1986)
I dunno. I don’t feel like I needed to hear this. I’ll tune in when he does that record with Paul McCartney. I’m thinking that might be a good time.
Suggested Alternative: They Might Be Giants – They Might Be Giants
The cool kids were listening to They Might Be Giants in 1986, not Elvis Costello, who might as well put out easy listening records for all we cared.
Megadeth – Peace Sells … But Who’s Buying? (1986)
Riffs. Riffage. Violence. Death. Fast. Djent-djent-djent-djent. Yeah. Screaming. Sounds like shit went in sour in your life, son. Changes. Changes. Three-note riffs. Capital-R Riffs. Abundant. Solos. Modes. Yikes. How many guitar solos can you fit into one song?
Metallica – Master Of Puppets (1986)
The moment thrash metal went mainstream.
Nanci Griffith – The Last Of The True Believers (1986)
Country music. Sure, why not?
Paul Simon – Graceland (1986)
People loved this record when it came out. I passed. No thanks. I’ll stick with Simon & Garfunkel and maybe the first two Paul Simon solo albums. Graceland is not what I signed up for.
Peter Gabriel – So (1986)
Kate Bush sings on “Don’t Give Up”.
Run-DMC – Raising Hell (1986)
Even without the game-changing collaboration with Aerosmith on “Walk This Way”, Raising Hell is a classic 1980s hip hop record. But it’s on here, don’t worry. Track 4.
Slayer – Reign In Blood (1986)
I have news for the aphorism overlords. You can judge an album by its cover, and Reign In Blood is proof.
Sonic Youth – Evol (1986)
This record was my introduction to Sonic Youth, so there’s nostalgia involved. Evol (“love” spelled backwards) is a noisy, dissonant good time, but I would Evol and Sister (1987), and wait for Daydream Nation (1988).
Steve Earle – Guitar Town (1986)
Hmm. Guitar Town. I wonder what kind of activities take place in Guitar Town? A lot of zzzz’s and hammer-downs? It only figures that the sheriff and his deputy will be involved. We’ve reached the Can You Blame Him? stage of singer-songwriters. Dude puts the cunt in country music, while taking the ock out of rock.
The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead (1986)
The debut album and The Queen Is Dead are the Smiths’ bookends on a brief but magical career. Yes, I know there’s another record coming (Strangeways, Here We Come, 1987).
The The – Infected (1986)
Considering the AIDS epidemic, this is an unfortunate album title. It’s an interesting record with excellent production values, yet a negligible exercise in post-punk.
Suggested Alternative: Love & Rockets – Express
You were ten times more likely to hear Love & Rockets blasting from college dorm rooms than The The.
Throwing Muses – Throwing Muses (1986)
Not yet with these kids.
XTC – Skylarking (1986)
Another gorgeous, simply phenomenal record You Must Hear Before You Die… Produced by Todd Rundgren.
Did you discover any hidden gems in our review of the must-hear albums from 1985–1986? Let us know in the comments!
