And the best album of 1982 is… Elvis Costello’s Imperial Bedroom.
Over the next two weeks I’ll feature albums unfamiliar to me that topped critics lists in 1982. When searching for those titles, I often came across Costello’s baroque pop masterpiece, knowing full well that it would top my own list. The album topped the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll that year. It’s the record that really cemented Costello as a critical favorite.
My #2 album of 1982 may well have been the #1, were it not for a classic record by a personal favorite. But Michael Jackson’s Thriller will have to settle for being the world’s all-time top selling album.
All these years later, after Jackson’s many scandals and unseemly death, it’s hard to recall what a fresh and dominating presence he was in the music world. Taylor Swift could only wish for his level of cultural dominance.
My third favorite album of 1992 is The Nylon Curtain, Billy Joel’s eighth studio album and the one he has called his personal favorite.
I’d likely give that title to The Stranger or 52nd Street, but this one would round out the top three.
The album, running just nine songs long, featured Joel’s most ambitious studio work. It’s his Beatles album.
My fourth favorite album of 1982 is Bruce Springsteen’s spare, unflinching acoustic record, Nebraska.
Springsteen originally recorded this batch of songs as demos on a 4-track recorder as a template for later E Street Band renditions. But Springsteen and his producers ultimately decided that the demo recordings captured the spirit of the record better and released them as the official album.
A couple of months back I took a look at my birth year, 1972, counting down my favorite album releases and then featuring songs from acclaimed ’72 albums I haven’t heard.
I liked the yearly snapshot thing enough to make it a regular feature on the blog. But rather than move on to 1973, I’m going to jump around the decades a bit. For the next few weeks I’ll focus on 1982.
Meet Me In Montauk 