⇦ 1981

1983 ⇨

The Best Music of 1982

Here is a selection of the best albums and songs from 1982. Hall of Famers are highlighted in orange.

For a list of the top artists who made their debut recording in 1982, check out this list.

Albums (?)		Wikipedia
ABC	The Lexicon of Love	☆
Adam Ant	Friend or Foe	☆
Air Supply	Now and Forever	☆
Alabama	Mountain Music	☆
Amy Grant	Age to Age	☆
Asia	Asia	☆
Bad Brains	Bad Brains	☆
Bauhaus	The Sky's Gone Out	☆
Berlin	Pleasure Victim	☆
Billy Idol	Billy Idol	☆
Billy Joel	The Nylon Curtain	☆
Blade Runner	Soundtrack	☆
Bruce Springsteen	Nebraska	☆
Buckner & Garcia	Pac-Man Fever	☆
Casiopea	Mint Jams	☆
Christian Death	Only Theatre of Pain	☆
Culture Club	Kissing to Be Clever	☆
Descendents	Milo Goes to College	☆
Devo	Oh No, It's Devo	☆
Dexys Midnight Runners	Too-Rye-Ay	☆
Dire Straits	Love Over Gold	☆
Don Henley	I Can't Stand Still	☆
Donald Fagen	The Nightfly	☆
Duran Duran	Rio	☆
Elvis Costello & The Attractions	Imperial Bedroom	☆
Fear	The Record	☆
Fleetwood Mac	Mirage	☆
George Strait	Strait From The Heart	☆
George Thorogood and the Destroyers	Bad to the Bone	☆
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five	The Message	☆
Haircut One Hundred	Pelican West	☆
Hall & Oates	H20	☆
Huey Lewis and the News	Picture This	☆
Iron Maiden	The Number of the Beast	☆
James Horner	Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan	☆
Jean-Michel Jarre	Les Concerts En Chine	☆
Joe Jackson	Night and Day	☆
John "Cougar" Mellencamp	American Fool	☆
John Williams	E.T: The Extra Terrestrial: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack	☆
Judas Priest	Screaming For Vengeance	☆
Kansas	Vinyl Confessions	☆
Kate Bush	The Dreaming	☆
Kenny Loggins	High Adventure	☆
Killing Joke	Revelations	☆
King Crimson	Beat	☆
King Sunny Adé	Juju Music	☆
KISS	Creatures of the Night	☆
Laurie Anderson	Big Science	☆
Lionel Richie	Lionel Richie	☆
Lou Reed	The Blue Mask	☆
Luther Vandross	Forever, for Always, for Love	☆
Madness	The Rise and Fall	☆
Marshall Crenshaw	Marshall Crenshaw	☆
Marvin Gaye	Midnight Love	☆
Michael Jackson	Thriller	☆
Michael McDonald	If That's What It Takes	☆
Midnight Oil	10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1	☆
Missing Persons	Spring Session M	☆
Mission Of Burma	Vs.	☆
Motörhead	Iron Fist	☆
Nick Lowe	Nick the Knife	☆
Oingo Boingo	Nothing to Fear	☆
Original Broadway Cast	Dreamgirls	☆
Original Off-Broadway Cast	Little Shop of Horrors	☆
Pat Benatar	Get Nervous	☆
Paul McCartney	Tug Of War	☆
Peter Gabriel	Peter Gabriel (4) (Security)	☆
Phil Collins	Hello, I Must Be Going!	☆
Prince	1999	☆
Richard and Linda Thompson	Shoot Out the Lights	☆
Richard Pryor	Live on the Sunset Strip	☆
Roxy Music	Avalon	☆
Rush	Signals	☆
Scorpions	Blackout	☆
Shadowfax	Shadowfax	☆
Simon & Garfunkel	The Concert in Central Park	☆
Siouxsie & the Banshees	A Kiss In The Dreamhouse	☆
Sparks	Angst In My Pants	☆
Stray Cats	Built for Speed	☆
Survivor	Eye of the Tiger	☆
Takako Mamiya	Love Trip	☆
Talk Talk	The Party's Over	☆
Talking Heads	The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads	☆
Tatsuro Yamashita	For You	☆
The Alan Parsons Project	Eye in the Sky	☆
The Clash	Combat Rock	☆
The Cure	Pornography	☆
The Dead Kennedys	Plastic Surgery Disasters	☆
The Go-Go's	Beauty And The Beat	☆
The Go-Go's	Vacation	☆
The Misfits	Walk Among Us	☆
Thomas Dolby	The Golden Age of Wireless	☆
Tiger Okoshi	Mudd Cake	☆
Toto	Toto IV	☆
Van Halen	Diver Down	☆
Venom	Black Metal	☆
Willie Nelson	Always on My Mind	☆
X	Under the Big Black Sun	☆
XTC	English Settlement	☆
Yaz	Upstairs at Eric's	☆

---

Songs (?)		Wikipedia
38 Special	Caught Up In You	☆
A Flock Of Seagulls	I Ran (So Far Away)	☆
A Flock of Seagulls	Space Age Love Song	☆
ABC	Poison Arrow	☆
ABC	The Look Of Love (Part One)	☆
Adam Ant	Goody Two Shoes	☆
Afrika Bambaataa	Planet Rock	☆
Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force	Looking For The Perfect Beat	☆
After The Fire	Der Kommissar	☆
Air Supply	Even the Nights Are Better	☆
Alabama	Mountain Music	☆
Aldo Nova	Fantasy	☆
America	You Can Do Magic	☆
Asia	Heat of the Moment	☆
Asia	Only Time Will Tell	☆
Bad Brains	Banned in D.C.	☆
Bauhaus	All We Ever Wanted Was Everything	☆
Berlin	Masquerade	☆
Billy Idol	White Wedding	☆
Billy Idol	Hot in the City	☆
Billy Joel	Allentown	☆
Billy Joel	Goodnight Saigon	☆
Billy Joel	Pressure	☆
Billy Squier	Everybody Wants You	☆
Bing Crosby and David Bowie	Peace on Earth / The Little Drummer Boy	☆
Bow Wow Wow	I Want Candy	☆
Bruce Springsteen	Atlantic City	☆
Bruce Springsteen	Open All Night	☆
Bruce Springsteen	Nebraska	☆
Cheap Trick	She's Tight	☆
Chicago	Hard to Say I'm Sorry	☆
Chris De Burgh	Don't Pay the Ferryman	☆
Christian Death	Spiritual Cramp	☆
Cocteau Twins	Wax and Wane	☆
Crosby, Stills & Nash	Wasted on the Way	☆
Crosby, Stills and Nash	Southern Cross	☆
Culture Club	Do You Really Want to Hurt Me	☆
Culture Club	I'll Tumble 4 Ya	☆
Culture Club	Time (Clock of the Heart)	☆
Dan Hill	It's a Long Road (Theme from First Blood)	☆
Daryl Hall and John Oates	Maneater	☆
David Bowie	Cat People (Putting Out Fire)	☆
Dazz Band	Let It Whip	☆
Descendents	Jean is Dead	☆
Dexy's Midnight Runners	Come On Eileen	☆
Dionne Warwick	Heartbreaker	☆
Dire Straits	Industrial Disease	☆
Don Henley	Dirty Laundry	☆
Donald Fagen	I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)	☆
Donald Fagen	New Frontier	☆
Donna Summer	State of Independence	☆
Duran Duran	Hungry Like The Wolf	☆
Duran Duran	Rio	☆
Duran Duran	Save a Prayer	☆
Eddie Money	Shakin'	☆
Eddie Money	Think I'm in Love	☆
Eddie Rabbitt with Crystal Gayle	You and I	☆
Eddy Grant	Electric Avenue	☆
English Beat	Save It For Later	☆
Eurythmics	Love is a Stranger	☆
Evelyn "Champagne" King	Love Come Down	☆
Fleetwood Mac	Gypsy	☆
Fleetwood Mac	Hold Me	☆
Frank Zappa	Valley Girl	☆
Frida	I Know There's Something Going On	☆
Gang of Four	To Hell with Poverty!	☆
Gang of Four	I Love a Man in a Uniform	☆
George Clinton	Atomic Dog	☆
George Strait	Amarillo By Morning	☆
George Thorogood & the Destroyers	Bad to the Bone	☆
Golden Earring	Twilight Zone	☆
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five	The Message	☆
Haircut One Hundred	Love Plus One	☆
Hall & Oates	Family Man	☆
Hall and Oates	One on One	☆
Huey Lewis and the News	Do You Believe in Love	☆
Huey Lewis and the News	Workin' for a Livin'	☆
Icehouse	Great Southern Land	☆
INXS	The One Thing	☆
INXS	Don't Change	☆
Iron Maiden	Run To The Hills	☆
Iron Maiden	The Number Of The Beast	☆
Iron Maiden	Hallowed Be Thy Name	☆
Jackson Browne	Somebody's Baby	☆
Jeffrey Osborne	On the Wings of Love	☆
Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes	Up Where We Belong	☆
Joe Jackson	Steppin' Out	☆
Joe Jackson	Chinatown	☆
Joe Jackson	Breaking Us In Two	☆
John Mellencamp	Jack And Diane	☆
John Mellencamp	Hurts So Good	☆
John Williams	Flying Theme (E.T. The Extra Terrestrial)	☆
Judas Priest	You Got Another Thing Comin'	☆
Judas Priest	The Hellion/Electric Eye	☆
Judas Priest	Screaming for Vengeance	☆
Juice Newton	Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me	☆
Kate Bush	Suspended in Gaffa	☆
Kenny Loggins	Heart to Heart	☆
Laura Branigan	Gloria	☆
Lionel Richie	You Are	☆
Madness	Our House	☆
Madness	House of Fun	☆
Madonna	Everybody	☆
Marvin Gaye	Sexual Healing	☆
Melissa Manchester	You Should Hear How She Talks About You	☆
Men Without Hats	The Safety Dance	☆
Michael Jackson	Beat It	☆
Michael Jackson	Billie Jean	☆
Michael Jackson	Thriller	☆
Michael Jackson	Wanna Be Startin' Something	☆
Michael Jackson	Human Nature	☆
Michael Jackson	P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)	☆
Michael McDonald	I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)	☆
Michael McDonald	I Gotta Try	☆
Midnight Oil	Power and the Passion	☆
Missing Persons	Words	☆
Missing Persons	Walking in L.A.	☆
Modern English	I Melt With You	☆
Motorhead	Iron Fist	☆
New Order	Temptation	☆
Pat Benatar	Shadows Of The Night	☆
Patrice Rushen	Forget Me Nots	☆
Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder	Ebony and Ivory	☆
Peter Gabriel	Shock The Monkey	☆
Phil Collins	I Don't Care Anymore	☆
Phil Collins	You Can't Hurry Love	☆
Prince	1999	☆
Prince	Little Red Corvette	☆
Prince And The Revolution	Delirious	☆
Ray Parker Jr.	The Other Woman	☆
REO Speedwagon	Keep the Fire Burnin'	☆
Rick Springfield	Don't Talk to Strangers	☆
Roxy Music	More Than This	☆
Roxy Music	Avalon	☆
Rush	Subdivisions	☆
Rush	New World Man	☆
Scandal	Goodbye to You	☆
Scorpions	No One Like You	☆
Simple Minds	Promised You a Miracle	☆
Simple Minds	Someone Somewhere in Summertime	☆
Sparks	Angst in My Pants	☆
Squeeze	Black Coffee in Bed	☆
Steve Miller Band	Abracadabra	☆
Steve Winwood	Valerie	☆
Stevie Wonder	Do I Do	☆
Supertramp	It's Raining Again	☆
Survivor	Eye Of The Tiger	☆
Taco	Puttin' On the Ritz	☆
Talk Talk	Talk Talk	☆
The Alan Parsons Project	Sirius/Eye in the Sky	☆
The Clash	Rock The Casbah	☆
The Clash	Should I Stay Or Should I Go	☆
The Clash	Straight to Hell	☆
The Cure	Lets Go to Bed	☆
The Fall	The Classical	☆
The Fixx	Red Skies	☆
The Gap Band	You Dropped A Bomb On Me	☆
The Go-Go's	Vacation	☆
The Jam	Town Called Malice	☆
The Kinks	Come Dancing	☆
The Motels	Only the Lonely	☆
The Nails	88 Lines About 44 Women	☆
The Plimsouls	A Million Miles Away	☆
The Pointer Sisters	I'm So Excited	☆
The Pretenders	Back On The Chain Gang	☆
The Psychedelic Furs	Love My Way	☆
The Waitresses	I Know What Boys Like	☆
The Weather Girls	It's Raining Men	☆
The Who	Eminence Front	☆
Thomas Dolby	She Blinded Me With Science	☆
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers	You Got Lucky	☆
Toni Basil	Mickey	☆
Toto	Africa	☆
Toto	Rosanna	☆
Triumph	Lay it on the Line	☆
Vangelis	Blade Runner (End Titles)	☆
Wall of Voodoo	Mexican Radio	☆
Willie Nelson	Always On My Mind	☆
XTC	Senses Working Overtime	☆
XTC	Ball and Chain	☆
Yaz	Situation	☆
Yaz	Only You	☆
Yaz	Don't Go	☆

⇦ 1981

1983 ⇨