Last Updated on February 18, 2026 by Christian Adams
If 1985-1986 was a dead zone for Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, then 1987–1988 is a black hole. Mainstream popular music was more about hairspray and pastel colors than artistic achievement. It was Michael Jackson’s Bad.
But was it all bad? Didn’t certain alternative and indie bands make several must-hear albums? Weren’t a select number of rap and hip-hop artists allowed to cross over into the mainstream? Wasn’t the heart of rock n’ roll still beating in Cleveland?
The most successful and important rock record of this era is Appetite for Destruction by Guns N’ Roses, but the rock record you don’t want to miss is Nothing’s Shocking by Jane’s Addiction. Either way, there’s still a lot of good music to hear from this period, just not quite as much as we’re used to.
1001 Albums 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
Albums You Must Hear Before You Die…Or Not (1987)
Note: Suggested alternatives are from the same year as the contested entry unless otherwise indicated.
Anthrax – Among The Living (1987)
When my son was a toddler, he used to play and socialize at a local park. We were familiar with a rotating crew of kids and parents. One father’s uniform consisted of a t-shirt, shorts, black socks, and blue Crocs. My wife didn’t understand why he would wear black socks with shorts and sandals. I shrugged and said, “It’s free comedy.” Like dudes who tuck their shirts into their slacks, which are pulled halfway up their torsos. I call ‘em High Riders. That shit is fucking hilarious.
Anthrax is the black socks and blue Crocs of rock music. They played some of the most fashionably unfashionable thrash metal with the same number of fucks given by the guy at the kid’s park: Zero.
Suggested Alternative:
King Diamond – Abigail
King Diamond is a genius and you love his whole shtick, or Abigail is going to be some of the most terrible shit you’ve ever heard in your life.
Astor Piazzolla & Gary Burton – The New Tango (1987)
Think of one good reason you’re interested in tango music and write it down on a piece of paper. This reason has to be capital-G Good. Like, “I grew up a couple of miles from Ástor Piazzolla International Airport (MDQ) in Mar del Plata, Argentina, a city 200 km south of Buenos Aires. Tango… it is in my blood!”
Or, “I studied vibraphone at Juilliard and met Gary Burton. I have all his albums.”
Suggested Alternative:
Wendy O. Williams and the Plasmatics – Maggots: The Record
Easily one of the most out-of-its-everlovin’-mind albums I’ve ever heard. Considered the first thrash metal opera, Maggots is a concept album set 25 years in the future, where environmental abuse and the burning of fossil fuels have created a greenhouse effect, leading to an end-of-the-world scenario.
The album features various scenes of the White Family over three days. The family is devoured while watching a TV game show. Valerie, the girlfriend of hot-shot television reporter Bruce, is devoured by three massive maggots while lying in her boyfriend’s bed. The final scene of the record shows that the entire human population is headed for imminent annihilation.
You snooze, you lose on this one, kids.
Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician (1987)
Brace yourself for probably the first grunge album, which gets tedious after a while. I wouldn’t blame you for bailing out after 20 minutes, precisely because that’s how far I’ve ever gotten.
Def Leppard – Hysteria (1987)
I’m not even gonna talk about the one-armed drummer situation. This record was manufactured like a Hostess snack cake, not recorded.
Depeche Mode – Music for the Masses (1987)
This one has several nice tracks, but their next album, Violator (1990), is the must-hear album.
Dinosaur Jr. – You’re Living All Over Me (1987)
One of the classic alternative rock albums. Post-punk noise pop with gnarly guitars and whining vocals. The 1987 garage band version of Neil Young and Crazy Horse. I don’t know how or why these guys ever became such a big deal, but they did. I like them now more than I used to.
My friend Bobby dragged me kicking and screaming to Cabaret Metro to see Dinosaur Jr. on the Bug tour (1989). Bobby wanted to be right up front, within arm’s reach of J. Mascis, where the mosh pit was unhinged. At the time, it was the most offensively loud musical performance I had ever attended. I spent the night cursing at J. Mascis for his assault on my senses.
Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris – Trio (1987)
I’ve changed my stance on this record too many times. Sometimes, I think it’s fantastic, and sometimes, Trio is like putting Buffalo chicken wings on a birthday cake, frosted with a salmon icing and sprinkled with Flintstone Chewables.
George Michael – Faith (1987)
Faith won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1989 and sold 11 million copies in the U.S. alone.
Faith stayed in the top 10 for 51 weeks, spent 12 weeks at #1, and produced five #1 singles. I feel that recommending this album as a must-hear is like encouraging someone to eat nothing but Hostess Twinkies for a week straight. Just do heroin.
Suggested Alternative:
Minutemen – 3-Way Tie For Last
Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction (1987)
Music with mass appeal generally speaks to the lowest common denominator. Despite featuring one of the greatest opening tracks in rock music, “Welcome to the Jungle”, Appetite for Destruction contains three good songs, a shitload of cowbell, and a bunch of Aerosmith B-sides. And Aerosmith was interesting for brief periods in their long and illustrious career. But they were done after Rocks (1976).
Moreover, I consider Guns N’ Roses one of the most overrated bands of all time, in any subgenre of rock. No band has gone farther with less than GN’R. They are even-steven with Oasis on the scale of rock n’ roll mediocrity.
To be fair, I have never owned any GN’R records, played one of their tracks in a jukebox, or seen them live. But hang out in dive bars for 20 years and you’ll be as familiar with their work as any diehard fan.
Hüsker Dü – Warehouse: Songs and Stories (1987)
Warehouse is one of the rare double LPs worth a contiguous listen, i.e., almost every track is killer.
John Zorn – Spy Vs Spy: The Music Of Ornette Coleman (1987)
You should know everything this record represents: avant-garde free noise jazz. But I don’t know if you’re gonna make it through this album, or even the first two minutes of track 1: “WRU”.
Zorn and the music of Ornette Coleman is a favorable match-up, but it’s a tough sell.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Shaka Zulu (1987)
There isn’t going to be another must-hear a cappella album, and these guys nail it.
Laibach – Opus Dei (1987)
Martial industrial is a lonely flank of post-industrial noise, dark ambient, neo folk, darkwave, and neoclassical orchestrations mixed with military marches, historical speeches, and political, apolitical, or metapolitical lyrics.
Unlike other post-industrial genres, martial industrial is more interested in propagandizing a worldview or philosophy than pure experimentalism, i.e., making music. Does that sound like some shit you want to sit through?
Suggested Alternative:
Ministry – The Land of Rape and Honey (1988)
Remember Einstürzende Neubauten’s Kollaps from back in 1982? And remember how I said they would spawn a phalanx of industrial bands? This is the fruit of their loins. Former dance party circus chimp Al Jourgensen fell back in love with rock and heavy metal guitar riffage.
Michael Jackson – Bad (1987)
Here’s a whole bunch of NO. N-O. “Is this even decent dance pop music?” No, it’s calculated, mechanical, recycled bullshit, and an embarrassing, stale artifact of the time. Just look at the album cover.
I don’t care that Allmusic gives it 4.5 out of 5 stars. It makes no difference whether Robert Christgau calls Bad “the strongest and most consistent black pop album in years.” Christgau has never been the final arbiter of good taste, and the answer is still no. It came out in 1987, and frankly, 1987 sucked.
Like Jackson’s previous effort, Thriller, the value of this album has been gauged by record sales instead of artistic merit. And thanks to a relentless promotional media campaign, it wasn’t a record you could ignore. Only the record label wonks know how much money they spent jamming this “Who’s Bad?” nonsense down our throats.
If anybody other than MJ put out Bad, it wouldn’t have made a dent in the charts. Lionel Ritchie made this record, and his career is over.
Suggested Alternatives:
John Cougar Mellencamp – The Lonesome Jubilee
A couple of rock-solid heartland toe-tappers on here. And kudos to the Coog for staying true to his rock n’ roll roots; unlike Springsteen, the Coog avoided the trendy ruts of mainstream modern rock. There isn’t a synthesizer within a country mile of this LP.
That said, Lonesome Jubilee deliberately employed traditional folk and country instruments to dog-whistle his audience with the “once-familiar social landscape” of folk music. Anyway, The Lonesome Jubilee is a far more genuine example of artistic expression than anything Michael Jackson ever did.
Napalm Death – Scum (1987)
Before you drop the needle on Scum, ask yourself a question. “How interested am I in sub-genres of 80s extreme metal?” Napalm Death is fairly deep down the punk thrash death grindcore metal rabbit hole. And Scum is another one of those albums you can look at and think, “I’ve got a pretty good idea what these cats sound like.”
The really neat thing about Napalm Death is that they didn’t linger over the jam. Half of the 28 tracks on Scum clock in at less than one minute. One minute! That’s insane. The best thing about this record is that as soon as you get bored with a riff, it’s over.
Pet Shop Boys – Actually (1987)
Look, if you’re into the Pet Shop Boys, then you aren’t going to be interested in 98 percent of the albums on this list, and have no intention of joining us on the quest to reveal a definitive catalog of must-hear albums. You’re wasting your time here. Go away.
For everybody else, you know what’s up with this crap. It’s disco by another name. Even the guy on the album cover is yawning.
Suggested Alternative:
fIREHOSE – If’n
Punk, funk, and free jazz, all in one place.
Prince – Sign ‘O’ The Times (1987)
There’s a lot to like about this record because there are 80 minutes of music, at least half of which is as good as anything Prince ever did. There’s also some stuff not to like. That said, we’ll threaten to invoke the curse of the Double LP Syndrome on one of my favorites, but we won’t follow through with it. There is one phenomenal album here. And for the record, “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” is my all-time favorite Prince jam.
R.E.M. – Document (1987)
R.E.M. had a long crawl to the mainstream—six years or so. Five LPs. “Finest Worksong” might be the culmination of all great R.E.M. songs. You must be familiar with “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”. Bonus points if you can recite the lyrics from start to finish.
Sonic Youth – Sister (1987)
Mmmmm. [Chewing noises] Very Joy Division/New Order clatter, slashing, and jumble [swallowing sound] that never really comes together as a transcendent listening experience.
Talk Talk – The Colour Of Spring (1987)
Maybe. There’s an underground-type legend that Talk Talk made a couple of the most incredible modern progressive art rock albums of all time. Is this one of them? You tell me. I dunno.
Terence Trent D’Arby – Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D’Arby (1987)
This is a very insubstantial and polished soul pop record from one of the more narcissistic artists to make the list. You should hear “Wishing Well” and “Sign Your Name” and that’s it.
The Cult – Electric (1987)
Not a true must-hear, but wait. Filling the void created by AC/DC’s inability to make entertaining records, the Cult evolved into a dependably mainstream hard rock outfit. Four on the floor, ham-fisted riffage. Delusional lead vocalist. Songs about women, fire, and smokestack lightning, whatever that is. Nobody saw the irony in this record’s biggest hit: a cover of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild.”
The Jesus & Mary Chain – Darklands (1987)
Nope. Nuh-uh, no way. I gave you Psycocandy already. That’s plenty.
The Sisters Of Mercy – Floodland (1987)
If you needed to hear one of their records, it would have been First Last and Always (1985). Floodland is everything mundane about gothic rock: Gregorian choir arrangements and walls of Wagnerian synthesizer. I barely even know what that means.
The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)
Nope. I love the Smiths, and fanatics will huff and puff and threaten to blow the house down, but my gut tells me that we’ve heard enough of this band.
Fun fact: Strangeways was a prison in Manchester, England. Three years after the release of this album, a violent prison riot broke out, killing one person and injuring more than 200 guards and convicts. Most of the prison was trashed. Subsequently, Strangeways was rebuilt and renamed.
Suggested Alternative:
Suzanne Vega – Solitude Standing
Making good on an earlier promise to get some Suzie V. on the turntable, Solitude contains both of her must-hear hits, “Tom’s Diner” and “Luka”. [Please note that it’s not the DNA remix of “Tom’s Diner” (1990).]
The Triffids – Calenture (1987)
I was 19 years old in 1987. If somebody made a great record, I would have heard about it one way or the other. There are very few hidden gems from the 1980s forward. So it doesn’t matter that the Triffids are one of Australia’s most loved post-punk outfits. Eh, post-punk is taking things a bit too far.
As I listen with my eyes closed to the opening track of Calenture, “Bury Me Deep in Love”, I hear a well-produced alternative Christian jangle pop rock song with a chump-change chorus. The rest of this record is either adult contemporary folk rock for the evangelical set or very poor imitations of U2 and R.E.M.
Suggested Alternative:
Midnight Oil – Diesel and Dust
This suggested alternative is an apology for what some may perceive as a lack of respect for Aussie rock that isn’t AC/DC. I could toss a Hoodoo Gurus LP in the shopping cart if we weren’t on such a tight budget.
U2 – The Joshua Tree (1987)
Enjoy it while you can. Joshua Tree is the last record they made that matters.
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Albums You Must Hear Before You Die…Or Not (1988)
Note: Suggested alternatives are from the same year as the contested entry unless otherwise indicated.
American Music Club – California (1988)
In the past, I have unfavorably compared AMC to Hootie and the Blowfish, but that’s unfair to Hootie.
After several spins of California, I finally found what I had been missing. This is American slowcore, characterized by bleak lyrics, downbeat melodies, slower tempos, and minimalist arrangements. Of the standout moments, “Laughingstock” is sublime elegance, and “Bad Liquor” actually threatens to rock. Fans of Galaxie 500, Low, Grandaddy, Iron and Wine, Palace Brothers, Red House Painters, and Sun Kil Moon will love this. But then, you already knew that.
Is California worth a listen? That’s up to you.
Cowboy Junkies – Trinity Session (1988)
This record is at least remarkable because it was recorded live in a church with one stereo microphone, direct-to-tape—a single Calrec Ambisonic microphone to 2-track RDAT. That’s bold. The music might crawl at a snail’s pace, and the mood might take you to places you aren’t interested in visiting, but this album has an undeniable character that I believe you must hear.
Dagmar Krause – Tank Battles (1988)
I really didn’t know what to expect. I try to do a little bit of homework before I sit down to listen to an album for the first time. So I knew that Ms. Krause was a prominent figure on the German avant-rock scene, best known for her work with Henry Cow and Slapp Happy. Raise your hand if you’ve heard a note of Henry Cow.
Tank Battles is a collection of 26 songs by German composer Hanns Eisler sung by Krause in English. Hanns Eisler (1898–1962) was an Austrian composer, best known for composing the national anthem of the German Democratic Republic, and also notable for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht.
If you wanted to cross an aforementioned military march with a Broadway show tune, then Tank Battles is not a bad record at all, but it’s not something for the average listener.
Dinosaur Jr. – Bug (1988)
My friend Bobby (1969–2015) made me attend three Dinosaur Jr. shows between 1987–1993. It wasn’t that he threatened bodily harm if I refused to go, but he would say, in his infamous and inimitable way, “Come on, chief! You gotta come to the show with us.” While I hated every minute of the band’s set, these concert excursions were always a drug and alcohol-fuelled mating ball of trouble. Something crazy went down, guaranteed. Good and bad times were had by some and not by others.
At the same time, seeing the band live gave me something to stand on when I would say to people, “I’ve seen Dinosaur Jr. live, and they are legitimately terrible.”
From my best recollection, “The Post” was Bobby’s favorite jam from Bug, and I can see us flying down I-55 with the sunroof open, singing along.
Dwight Yoakam – Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room (1988)
One of my all-time favorite quotes is from actress Sharon Stone, who said, “Even a dirt sandwich is better than Dwight Yoakam.”
Everything But The Girl – Idlewild (1988)
Sophisti-pop (aka ethereal wave) is a subgenre term retrospectively applied to pop that flourished in the UK between the mid-1980s and early 1990s, incorporating elements of soft rock, jazz, new wave, and blue-eyed soul. Music so-classified often used electronic keyboards, synthesizers, and polished arrangements, particularly horn sections. Acts were influenced by the work of Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry’s solo work.
According to Allmusic, major artists included Sade, The Style Council, Basia, Swing Out Sister, Prefab Sprout, and the early work of Everything but the Girl.
Completely irrelevant.
Fishbone – Truth And Soul (1988)
We haven’t heard the new breed of alternative funk rock yet, e.g., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Theolonius Monster, 24-7 Spyz. Fishbone has to be the first.
Happy Mondays – Bummed (1988)
The Mondays might have been massive in the U.K. and Europe, but this stuff wouldn’t find an American audience for years. In terms of the Manchester sound, the Stone Roses won’t make sense if you haven’t heard Bummed.
Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking (1988)
This was Appetite for Destruction for the alternative crowd.
KD Lang – Shadowland (1988)
In full disclosure, I’ve heard this album at least a hundred times. In the mid-90s, I waited tables in a joint that played Shadowland and Harry Connick Jr.’s She on permanent rotation. At some point, I experienced a Stockholm Syndrome-type of affection for both records. However, this is not the KD Lang album you need to hear.
Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man (1988)
Granted, it’s been 20 years since The Songs of Leonard Cohen, and we missed Various Positions (1984) which contains Cohen’s crowning achievement “Hallelujah”, and the album that inspired a quote from Columbia Record boss Walter Yetnikoff, who told Cohen, “Look, Leonard; we know you’re great, but we don’t know if you’re any good.”
There are several best-of Leonard Cohen collections. Get one.
Living Colour – Vivid (1988)
Not the first African-American metal band, but the first and last African-American metal band to achieve mainstream platinum success. They’re really good, but they don’t explain why there’s never been another African-American metal band.
Metallica – … And Justice For All (1988)
Man, it must have been tough. They lost Cliff Burton, and they had to follow Master of Puppets. That’s a tall challenge. And they almost kind of met the challenge, too. But they didn’t. This album is marred by poor production, stale riffs, and predictable songwriting. The trauma of Burton’s loss stunted this band’s growth. They never made another metal record. They did, however, make one more must-hear Album.
You could live 1,000 lifetimes and never hear …And Justice For All, and you will have still lived a full and rewarding life.
Suggested Alternative:
Death – Scream Bloody Gore
Yikes!
Morrissey – Viva Hate (1988)
Nuh-uh. You’ve heard the Smiths. Morrissey didn’t do anything with his solo career that he didn’t do with the Smiths. And his public persona makes it difficult for “fans” like me to separate the artist from the art. I don’t know him, but he seems insufferable. Case closed.
Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff (1988)
Mudhoney was way ahead of the grunge curve. I think about Mudhoney when I think about grunge, which isn’t often.
My Bloody Valentine – Isn’t Anything (1988)
This record made people jump out of their skin. In one shot, My Bloody Valentine launched two new alternative sub-genres: dream pop and shoegaze, while maintaining a solid guitar-driven alternative rock sound.
NWA – Straight Outta Compton (1988)
An album you must hear before you die.
Pixies – Surfer Rosa (1988)
Another album you must hear before you die.
Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988)
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (1988)
Their first release on Enigma Records, Daydream Nation didn’t hit the charts, but it sold 162,000 copies, more than double their previous release on SST, Sister (1987). So, I’d say things were looking up for Sonic Youth. There may be some late-night television appearances in their future.
The Go-Betweens – 16 Lovers Lane (1988)
If you’re going to get a full bug of jangle pop, it isn’t going to be from these cats.
Suggested Alternative:
Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians – Globe of Frogs
Nowhere near Robyn Hitchcock’s most popular or acclaimed record, he did have one minor college radio hit with “Balloon Man”.
The Pogues – If I Should Fall From Grace With God (1988)
Few bands could juxtapose “happy” sounding music with desperate lyrics. The Pogues were one of them.
The Sugarcubes – Life’s Too Good (1988)
Their debut album with Bjork. It’s not bad. Kinda quirky post-punk.
The Waterboys – Fisherman’s Blues (1988)
Anthemic Celtic rock bands have a habit of taking themselves too seriously.
Tracy Chapman – Tracy Chapman (1988)
A most unlikely breakout artist.
What did you think of our reviews? Did we satisfy your craving for must hear albums? Let us know in the comments!
