⇦ 1985

1987 ⇨

The Best Music of 1986

Here is a selection of the best albums and songs from 1986. Hall of Famers are highlighted in orange.

For a list of the top artists who made their debut recording in 1986, check out this list.

Albums (?)		Wikipedia
AC/DC	Who Made Who	☆
Anita Baker	Rapture	☆
Bad Brains	I Against I	☆
Beastie Boys	Licensed To Ill	☆
Billy Bragg	Talking with the Taxman About Poetry	☆
Billy Idol	Whiplash Smile	☆
Bon Jovi	Slippery When Wet	☆
Boston	Third Stage	☆
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band	Live/1975-85	☆
Candlemass	Epicus Doomicus Metallicus	☆
Cinderella	Night Songs	☆
Cocteau Twins	Victorialand	☆
Crowded House	Crowded House	☆
Cyndi Lauper	True Colors	☆
David Bowie and Trevor Jones	Labyrinth	☆
Depeche Mode	Black Celebration	☆
Dwight Yoakam	Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.	☆
Elvis Costello	King of America	☆
Elvis Costello and the Attractions	Blood and Chocolate	☆
Eurythmics	Revenge	☆
Genesis	Invisible Touch	☆
Hüsker Dü	Candy Apple Grey	☆
Huey Lewis and the News	Fore!	☆
Iron Maiden	Somewhere In Time	☆
Janet Jackson	Control	☆
Joe Cocker	Cocker	☆
Joe Satriani	Not of This Earth	☆
Journey	Raised on Radio	☆
Judas Priest	Turbo	☆
Kraftwerk	Electric Cafe	☆
Lionel Richie	Dancing on the Ceiling	☆
Madonna	True Blue	☆
Megadeth	Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?	☆
Metallica	Master of Puppets	☆
Miles Davis	Tutu	☆
Motörhead	Orgasmatron	☆
New Order	Brotherhood	☆
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds	Your Funeral...My Trial	☆
Ozzy Osbourne	The Ultimate Sin	☆
Paul Simon	Graceland	☆
Pet Shop Boys	Please	☆
Peter Gabriel	So	☆
Prince & the Revolution	Parade	☆
Queen	A Kind of Magic	☆
Queensryche	Rage for Order	☆
R.E.M.	Life's Rich Pageant	☆
Randy Travis	Storms of Life	☆
Robert Cray	Strong Persuader	☆
Robin Williams	A Night at the Met	☆
Run-D.M.C.	Raising Hell	☆
Salt-N-Pepa	Hot, Cool & Vicious	☆
Siouxsie & the Banshees	Tinderbox	☆
Slayer	Reign In Blood	☆
Soda Stereo	Signos	☆
Sonic Youth	Evol	☆
Steve Earle	Guitar Town	☆
Steve Winwood	Back In The High Life	☆
Stryper	To Hell With The Devil	☆
Talk Talk	The Colour of Spring	☆
The Bangles	Different Light	☆
The Fixx	Walkabout	☆
The Georgia Satellites	Georgia Satellites	☆
The Smithereens	Especially for You	☆
The Smiths	The Queen is Dead	☆
Tina Turner	Break Every Rule	☆
Tommy Keene	Songs from the Film	☆
Van Halen	5150	☆
Various Artists	Pretty in Pink (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)	☆
Various Artists	Top Gun: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack	☆
World Party	Private Revolution	☆
XTC	Skylarking	☆
Yanni	Keys to Imagination	☆

---

Songs (?)		Wikipedia
AC/DC	Who Made Who	☆
Alice Cooper	Teenage Frankenstein	☆
Anita Baker	Sweet Love	☆
Anita Baker	Caught Up in the Rapture	☆
Aretha Franklin feat. George Michael	I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)	☆
Bad Brains	I Against I	☆
Bananarama	Venus	☆
Beastie Boys	(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)	☆
Beastie Boys	No Sleep Till Brooklyn	☆
Beastie Boys	Brass Monkey	☆
Beastie Boys	Paul Revere	☆
Beastie Boys	Girls	☆
Berlin	Take My Breath Away	☆
Billy Idol	To Be a Lover	☆
Billy Idol	Sweet Sixteen	☆
Billy Joel	A Matter of Trust	☆
Billy Joel	This is the Time	☆
Billy Ocean	When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going	☆
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band	Like a Rock	☆
Bon Jovi	Livin' On A Prayer	☆
Bon Jovi	You Give Love A Bad Name	☆
Bon Jovi	Wanted Dead or Alive	☆
Bon Jovi	Never Say Goodbye	☆
Boston	Amanda	☆
Bruce Hornsby & the Range	The Way It Is	☆
Bruce Hornsby and the Range	Mandolin Rain	☆
Bruce Willis	Respect Yourself	☆
Cameo	Word Up!	☆
Carly Simon	Coming Around Again	☆
Cheap Trick	Mighty Wings	☆
Chris de Burgh	The Lady in Red	☆
Cinderella	Nobody's Fool	☆
Cocteau Twins	Fluffy Tufts	☆
Crowded House	Don't Dream It's Over	☆
Crowded House	Something So Strong	☆
Cutting Crew	(I Just) Died in Your Arms	☆
Cyndi Lauper	True Colors	☆
David Bowie	Magic Dance	☆
Depeche Mode	A Question of Time	☆
Depeche Mode	Stripped	☆
Don Johnson	Heartbeat	☆
Duran Duran	Notorious	☆
Dwight Yoakam	Guitars, Cadillacs	☆
Dwight Yoakam	Honky Tonk Man	☆
Eddie Money	Take Me Home Tonight	☆
Electric Light Orchestra	Calling America	☆
Ellen Greene	Somewhere That's Green	☆
Erasure	Sometimes	☆
Eric Clapton	It's In The Way That You Use It	☆
Europe	The Final Countdown	☆
Eurythmics	Thorn In My Side	☆
Eurythmics	Missionary Man	☆
Genesis	Invisible Touch	☆
Genesis	Land Of Confusion	☆
Genesis	Tonight, Tonight, Tonight	☆
Genesis	Throwing It All Away	☆
Genesis	In Too Deep	☆
Glass Tiger	Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)	☆
Hüsker Dü	Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely	☆
Huey Lewis & the News	Stuck With You	☆
Huey Lewis & the News	Doing It All For My Baby	☆
Huey Lewis and the News	Hip to Be Square	☆
Iggy Pop	Real Wild Child (Wild One)	☆
Iron Maiden	Wasted Years	☆
James Brown	Living in America	☆
Janet Jackson	Nasty	☆
Janet Jackson	What Have You Done For Me Lately	☆
Janet Jackson	The Pleasure Principle	☆
Janet Jackson	Control	☆
Janet Jackson	When I Think Of You	☆
Joe Cocker	You Can Leave Your Hat On	☆
John Farnham	You're the Voice	☆
Judas Priest	Turbo Lover	☆
Kenny Loggins	Danger Zone	☆
Kim Wilde	You Keep Me Hangin' On	☆
Koji Kondo	Overworld (The Legend of Zelda)	☆
Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram	Somewhere Out There	☆
Lionel Richie	Dancing on the Ceiling	☆
LL Cool J	Rock The Bells	☆
Madonna	Papa Don't Preach	☆
Madonna	Open Your Heart	☆
Madonna	La Isla Bonita	☆
Madonna	Live to Tell	☆
Madonna	True Blue	☆
Marshall Jefferson	Move Your Body (House Music Anthem)	☆
Megadeth	Peace Sells	☆
Metallica	Master of Puppets	☆
Metallica	Battery	☆
Metallica	Welcome Home (Sanitarium)	☆
Metallica	Orion	☆
Metallica	The Thing That Should Not Be	☆
Michael McDonald	Sweet Freedom (Theme from Running Scared)	☆
Midnight Oil	The Dead Heart	☆
Motörhead	Built for Speed	☆
Najee	Sweet Love	☆
New Order	Bizarre Love Triangle	☆
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	If You Leave	☆
Ozzy Osbourne	Shot in the Dark	☆
Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald	On My Own	☆
Paul Simon	You Can Call Me Al	☆
Paul Simon	Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes	☆
Paul Simon	Graceland	☆
Pet Shop Boys	Love Comes Quickly	☆
Pet Shop Boys	Suburbia	☆
Peter Cetera	Glory of Love	☆
Peter Cetera with Amy Grant	The Next Time I Fall	☆
Peter Gabriel	Sledgehammer	☆
Peter Gabriel	In Your Eyes	☆
Peter Gabriel	Big Time	☆
Peter Gabriel	Red Rain	☆
Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush	Don't Give Up	☆
Prince	Sometimes It Snows in April	☆
Prince & the Revolution	Kiss	☆
Public Image Ltd.	Rise	☆
Queen	Who Wants to Live Forever	☆
Queen	A Kind of Magic	☆
Queen	Princes of the Universe	☆
Queensrÿche	Walk in the Shadows	☆
R.E.M.	Fall on Me	☆
R.E.M.	Superman	☆
Reba McEntire	Whoever's in New England	☆
Ric Ocasek	Emotion in Motion	☆
Run D.M.C.	My Adidas	☆
Run-D.M.C.	It's Tricky	☆
Run-D.M.C. feat. Aerosmith	Walk This Way	☆
Salt N Pepa	Push It	☆
Salt N Pepa	I'll Take Your Man	☆
Siouxsie and the Banshees	Cities in Dust	☆
Skinny Puppy	Dig It	☆
Slayer	Raining Blood	☆
Slayer	Angel of Death	☆
Sonic Youth	Starpower	☆
Spacemen 3	Losing Touch With My Mind	☆
Spectre General	Nothin's Gonna Stand In Our Way	☆
Stacey Q	Two of Hearts	☆
Steve Earle	Guitar Town	☆
Steve Winwood	Higher Love	☆
Steve Winwood	Back in the High Life Again	☆
Suzanne Vega feat. Joe Jackson	Left of Center	☆
Swing Out Sister	Breakout	☆
Talking Heads	Wild Wild Life	☆
The Bangles	Walk Like an Egyptian	☆
The Bangles	Manic Monday	☆
The Bangles	If She Knew What She Wants	☆
The Fabulous Thunderbirds	Tuff Enuff	☆
The Georgia Satellites	Keep Your Hands to Yourself	☆
The Human League	Human	☆
The Monkees	That Was Then, This Is Now	☆
The Moody Blues	Your Wildest Dreams	☆
The Pogues	A Rainy Night in Soho	☆
The Pretenders	Don't Get Me Wrong	☆
The Smithereens	Blood & Roses	☆
The Smiths	There Is A Light That Never Goes Out	☆
The Smiths	I Know It's Over	☆
The Smiths	Bigmouth Strikes Again	☆
The Smiths	Panic	☆
They Might Be Giants	Don't Let's Start	☆
Timbuk 3	The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades	☆
Tina Turner	Typical Male	☆
Van Halen	Why Can't This Be Love	☆
Van Halen	Dreams	☆
Wang Chung	Everybody Have Fun Tonight	☆
Willie Dixon	Don't You Tell Me Nothin'	☆
XTC	Dear God	☆
XTC	Grass	☆
XTC	Earn Enough for Us	☆
Yngwie Malmsteen	You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget	☆

⇦ 1985

1987 ⇨