There was plenty of great music during the 1980s. My head says it was largely electronic, techno with drum beats, synths and keyboards all prevailing rather than blistering guitar solos and old-time rock and roll. But when I stop, look and listen, the guitars, rock and roll, and much more were all there.
We had plenty of variation on the techno beat too. Dance music was definitely in, though, one way or another. Thankfully, the fever for pure disco, at a height in the 1970s, was on its way out.
Some artists continued their success from the 1970s into the new decade. We also had lots of emerging artists with new music and big hits. Their albums in the 1980s added some big ticks to the list of their achievements from positive critics reviews, strong sales, and a cluster of nominations and awards.
Some albums were crazily overrated in the 1980s
At times a few of those apparent successes flattered to deceive, overrated to a great extent in terms of critical reviews or sales, and charted high on the Billboard 200. That doesn’t mean they were bad albums by any means. Some just weren’t as good as they were made out to be. Or were they a pale shadow of previous hits? They often had a really strong song or two on them, which at times carried the album.
So after previously looking at a list of underrated albums from the 1980s, it’s time to turn the focus the other way. See if you agree or disagree with this list of five albums that have been overrated during that decade, in my view anyway.