NME albums list

Joy Division : Heart And Soul

[Purchase]

Joy Division's Closer tops the 1980 NME album list, edging out Elvis Costello's R+B tribute Get Happy!!, The Beat's debut I Just Can't Stop It and Black Uhuru's Sinsemilla. Over the years, critics have changed their minds about quite a few of the albums on this list: PIL's Printemps Au Paris, Lou Reed's Growing Up In Public, Iggy Pop's Soldier and Aerosmith's Night In The Ruts don't hold up with the best of what these artists have achieved. The same goes for Ry Cooder's Borderline and Ian Dury's Laughter. And some of those also-rans deserve to be higher up in the chart. That said, this list will be closer to my Top 40 which I will reveal next week. 

1980 NME Albums 

1. Closer - Joy Division 

2. Get Happy - Elvis Costello 

3. I Just Can't Stop It - The Beat 

4. Sinsemilla - Black Uhuru 

5. Movies - Holger Czukay 

6. Remain In Light - Talking Heads 

7. Crocodiles - Echo And The Bunnymen 

8. Borderline - Ry Cooder 

9. Scary Monsters - David Bowie 

10. Searching For The Young Soul Rebels - Dexys Midnight Runners 

11. Sound Affects - The Jam 

12. The River - Bruce Springsteen 

13. Signing Off - Ub40 

14. The Correct Use Of Soap - Magazine 

15. Songs The Lord Taught Us - The Cramps 

16. Laughter - Ian Dury & The Blockheads 

17. Night Passage - Weather Report 

18. Grace And Danger - John Martyn 

19. Empires And Dance - Simple Minds 

20. Suicide - Suicide 

21. Uprising - Bob Marley & The Wailers 

22. Warm Thoughts - Smokey Robinson 

23. Colossal Youth - Young Marble Giants 

24. Printemps Au Paris - Public Image Ltd. 

25. Voice Of America - Cabaret Voltaire 

26. Warm Leatherette - Grace Jones 

27. Die Kleinen Und Die Bosen - D.A.F. 

28. Soldier - Iggy Pop 

29. Toots Live - Toots And The Maytals 

30. Growing Up In Public - Lou Reed 

31. Doc At The Radar Station - Captain Beefheart 

32. More Specials - The Specials 

33. Cultosaurus Erectus - Blue Oyster Cult 

34. Kilimanjaro - The Teardrop Explodes 

35. Blues For The Fisherman - Milcho Leviev & Art Pepper 

36. Shiny Beast - Captain Beefheart 

37. Nobody’s Perfect -Stiff Little Fingers

38. Hotter Than July - Stevie Wonder 

39. Snap Crackle & Bop - John Cooper Clarke 

40. Bass Culture - Linton Kwesi Johnson 

41. Organisation - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark 

42. Countrymen - The Twinkle Brothers 

43. Freedom Of Choice - Devo 

44. Are You Glad To Be In America - James Blood Ulmer 

45. Diana - Diana Ross 

46. Shadows And Light - Joni Mitchell 

47. Kaleidoscope - Siouxsie And The Banshees 

48. Waiting For A Miracle - Comsat Angels 

49. Heartattack And Vine - Tom Waits 

50. Changes - Etta James 

 Also Mentioned • 

Real People - Chic • 

Gyrate - Pylon • 

Off The Coast Of Me - Kid Creole And The Coconuts • 

Absolutely Madness - Madness • 

Black Sea - Xtc • 

Travelogue - The Human League • 

Return Of The Durutti Column - Durutti Column • 

In Performance - Donny Hathaway • 

Phantom Tracks - Roy Loney • 

The Long Riders - Ry Cooder • 

Deguello - Zz Top • 

The Art Of Walking - Pere Ubu • 

Night In The Ruts - Aerosmith • 

Jeopardy - The Sound • 

Rev Up - The Revillos • 

Betrayal - Jah Wobble • 

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Same • 

Cristina - Same • 

Do Animals Believe In God - Pink Military • 

Boy - U2 • 

Peter Gabriel - (3) • 

Argybargy - Squeeze • 

Taking Liberties - Elvis Costello • 

Commercial Album - The Residents