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If you were a kid in the eighties you may remember what some have considered to be one of the greatest decades in popular culture. The eighties had a way of encouraging popular culture through a medium that was often innocent of the humor and self-deprecation that often followed in the decades since. In the eighties, everything still was new, regardless of whether you are talking about rap music, top Hollywood movies or crossover material that simply took over everything and everyone by storm. This article will deal with some of the better albums of the eighties, in my own personal opinion. Many of these were top selling records, such as "Thriller"; while others, like the "Xanadu" soundtrack simply served to show how far companies were willing to go to market a product.

These are my essential album picks for the eighties. In no order of importance, but records that left an impression on me.

Thriller - Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones

This is the definitive album of the eighties - the greatest selling album of all time by a solo artist. Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones did not rely on a pop formula for this album but challenged the status quo and built on Michael's current success with albums like "Off The Wall" by creating a crossover record that defied definition and had everything for everyone. Most people do not know that "Thriller" was Michael's sixth studio album, as it is generally considered by most to be his second.

This album is generally considered to be an influential album because it rescued the recording industry from lackluster sales in a rather depressing period, sort of how Usher's "Confessions" album did in the year it was released. Other than Michael, the only other recording artist selling large units of albums at the time was Lionell Richie; but this album showed a new energy and a fresh approach to writing pop music than Lionell had employed. Lionell eventually went on to sell a lot of records as well, as he offered an approach to writing that was absent of the strong lyrical nature of the work Michael featured in his records but was eventually seen as a product of his time, while Michael went on to sell records well into the nineties.

The album claims to have sold over 100 million records worldwide, and was released in 1982. It also heralded a very prosperous and excessive time in music, as Prince's "Purple Rain" album was released just 2 years later, considered by many to be his most influential record and ironically, Prince's 6th studio release.

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