So by popular demand, here’s my list of the Best Albums of 1986! Of course, I think they are objectively the best as well as being favourites --my taste is that good! Nostalgia plays a part in this list, I’m sure, but I discovered large chunks of the records here long after the 80s ended. Some of the records I listened to hundreds of times in 1986 and since. Some I discovered for the first time last week. The ranking is based on not just how good the record is, but also how likely I am to listen to it again and/or how tired I am of the record. The list reflects my stunted taste for dumb, post-punk, and garage-flavoured sounds, and really gives a wide berth to most of the bestselling discs of the day. There are innovative pop and rock records from 1986 that were massive crossover hits and are considered classics by huge swaths of the population but I am heartily sick of them (and was likely sick of them in 1986, so don’t come at me with your Paul Simons and Peter Gabriels, etc). There are a few cheats, and a few anachronisms, mostly in the anthology/compilation category, but most of the stuff here was actually released in 1986 for the first time (it’s largely confined to Anglophonia as well, meaning UK/USA/Canada, so no South Africa, no Zimbabwe, no Japan). What else is not on this list? There are only a handful of country-adjacent records here and I really dropped the ball in the 1986 reggae department. Jazz? I’m a dilettante. Miles released “Tutu” in 1986, and it is a *very* 80s-sounding record. Is it even in the top 40 Miles records? I really don’t know. Not for me. John Zorn is on the list because he’s really more of a punk, isn’t he? And because I feel I could actually listen to those records again at some point. What else did I miss, jazz-wise? A bunch of fusion-y and synth-y noodly stuff it sounds like, for the most part. I mean, let me know how wrong I am. When I’m not blasting angry punk I do sometimes listen to *some* of the more refined and civilized things. Tony Bennett released one of his better comeback albums in 1986, and it’s hard to find a bad Tony Bennett album, period, but should it be on this list? (Ditto the great Mel Torme!) What else? Soundtracks? Blue Velvet and The Mission are standouts, but I would rather rewatch the films, honestly. Laurie Anderson’s is a soundtrack that functions as a stand-alone album to me, and is on the list. No orchestral music, generally. This is a rockist’s rock list!
1. The Fall, Bend Sinister
2. Run-DMC, Raising Hell
3. Various, Back From the Grave Vol 3 + 4
4. Deja Voodoo, Swamp of Love
5. Gruesomes, Tyrants of Teen Trash
6. Various, It Came from Canada 2
7. Sonic Youth, Evol
8. Husker Du, Candy Apple Grey
9. Public Image Ltd, Album
10. Schoolly D, Schoolly D
11. Shop Assistants, Shop Assistants
12. Butthole Surfers, Rembrandt Pussyhorse
13. Dead Kennedys, Bedtime for Democracy
14. Jazz Butcher, Distressed Gentlefolk (tie)
14. Hasil Adkins, Out to Hunch (tie)
15. Bad Brains, I Against I
16. Suicide, Ghost Riders
17. Cocteau Twins, Victorialand
18. The Smiths, The Queen is Dead
19. XTC, Skylarking
20. Throwing Muses, Throwing Muses
21. R.E.M., Life’s Rich Pageant
22. Thee Mighty Caesars, Thee Caesars of Trash
23. Cramps, A Date with Elvis
24. New Order, Brotherhood
25. Big Black, Atomizer
26. Ministry, Twitch
27. Talking Heads, True Stories
28. Laurie Anderson, Home of the Brave
29. Billy Bragg, Talking With The Taxman About Poetry
30. Camper Van Beethoven, Camper Van Beethoven
31. Jr. Gone Wild, More Pop Less Art
32. Big Audio Dynamite, No. 10 Upping St.
33. Felt, Forever Breathes the Lonely Word
34. Spaceman 3, Sound of Confusion
35. The Housemartins, London 0 Hull 4
36. The Feelies, The Good Earth
37. Eugene Chadbourne, Corpses Of Foreign War
38. The Clean, Compilation
39. Dag Nasty, Can I Say
40. Descendents, Enjoy
41. The Leaving Trains, Kill Tunes
42. Nikki Sudden And The Jacobites, Texas/The Last Bandits in the World
43. The Pandoras, Stop Pretending
44. Salt n Pepa, Hot Cool and Vicious
45. Lyres, Lyres Lyres
46. Kool Moe Dee, s/t
47. Didjits, Fizzjob
48. John Zorn, The Big Gundown
49. This Mortal Coil, Filigree And Shadow
50. Ramones, Animal Boy
51. Razor, Malicious Intent
52. Robyn Hitchcock And The Egyptians, Element Of Light
53. Motorhead, Orgasmatron
54. Skinny Puppy, Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse
55. Lou Reed, Mistrial
56. Nick Cave, Kicking Against the Pricks
56. Nick Cave, Your Funeral My Trial
57. That Petrol Emotion, Manic Pop Thrill
58. Delmonas, The Delmonas 5
59. Violent Femmes, The Blind Leading The Naked
60. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force, Planet Rock: The Album
61. Youth of Today, Break Down the Walls
62. Killing Joke, Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
63. Swans, Holy Money
64. Iggy Pop, Blah Blah Blah
65. Go-Betweens, Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express
66. The Flaming Lips, Hear It Is
67. Siouxsie and the Banshees, Tinderbox
68. Ray Condo And His Hardrock Goners, Crazy Date
69. Art of Noise, In Visible Silence
70. Meat Puppets, Out My Way
71. Velvet Underground, Another VU
72. The No Comprendo, Les Rita Mitsouko
73. fIREHOSE, Ragin', Full-On
74. Dayglo Abortions, Feed Us A Fetus
75. NoMeansNo, Sex Mad
75. Revolting Cocks, Big Sexy Land
77. Prince, Parade
78. Stetsasonic, On Fire
79. Various, C86
80. Beastie Boys, Licensed to Ill
81. Stan Ridgway, The Big Heat
82. John Zorn, Cobra
83. The Chameleons, Strange Times
84. The Smithereens, Especially For You
85. Cowboy Junkies, Whites Off Earth Now!!
86. Talk Talk, The Colour of Spring
