This is a really hard question to answer. I spent most of my life in love with 80s music. I'm going to go by the question and not pick a solo artist, so that helps me by eliminating choices like Michael Jackson, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, David Bowie and Billy Idol. That still leaves a ton of great artists that released albums in the 80s.

Alright, there are some bands who I really dig and came out with at least one really good album, which includes: Pixies with Doolittle, The Smiths with The Queen Is Dead, Guns N' Roses with Appetite for Destruction, AC/DC with Back in Black, Starship with Knee Deep In The Hoopla, that last one is a little embarrassing. But, there were bands that came out with great album after great album in the 80s, and that's who I'm going to have to choose from.

Bauhaus recently released their first studio album since the 80s - Go Away White. But, before that every studio album was released in the 80s, including: In The Flat Field (80), Mask (81), The Sky's Gone Out (82), and Burning From the Inside (83). It's impressive the amount of good music they produced in 4 albums in 4 years.

INXS is another band that released their first studio album in 1980 and recently reemerged. Their reemergence had much more hoopla, though, with the picking of a new singer on national television. Their 80s albums were: INXS (80), Underneath the Colours (81), Shabooh Shoobah (82), The Swing (84), Listen Like Thieves (85), Kick (87). They've gone on to release another five albums and are planning on releasing their 12th album this year. My favorite INXS album is Kick.

The Cure's first studio album came out my birth year 1979, but the bulk of their recordings occurred in the 80s. Their 80s albums were: Seventeen Seconds (80), Faith (81), Pornography (82), The Top (84), The Head on the Door (85), Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (87), and Disintegration (89). My favorite album of theirs continues to be Disintegration, which oddly as well as the INXS one is their last 80s album.

U2 released their first album in 1980 and haven't stopped yet. Their 80s albums were: Boy (80), October (81), War (83), The Unforgettable Fire (84), The Joshua Tree (87), Rattle and Hum (88). Oddly enough all these bands would make my all time favorite bands lists, but U2 honestly is the one band that I can't truly say peaked in the 80s. October, War and The Joshua Tree are amongst my favorite albums by them but All That You Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb are really good as well.

Queen is the last band I will mention. They were well into their careers with already 7 albums released in the 70s, but they released a number of albums in the 80s, releasing only two after that. Their 80s albums were: The Game (80), Flash Gordon (80), Hot Space (82), The Works (84), A Kind of Magic (86), and The Miracle (89). It's very hard to pinpoint Queens best album, but I think their best 80s album is A Kind of Magic.

For me The Cure, INXS and The Smiths epitomize the 80s. Bands I'd pay to see now: Bauhaus, The Cure, U2. U2 astound me with their staying power and the fact that year after year they can write fantastic modern music. The band that I'd say deserves to be recognized as the best band of the 80s, though, would have to be Queen. Their influence is astounding. Their music was larger than life. They were irreplaceable.

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