Classic Rock Review of the Year 1981
1981 was a transitional year in rock n roll, from the traditional rock sounds of the seventies and the more synth-present sounds of the eighties. It was a year when New Wave was at a pinnacle, Punk had all but burned out and Prog Rock had faded away.
It was also the first year where all hopes of a Beatles reunion had faded due to the assassination of John Lennon in December, 1980, the same month that Led Zeppelin announced their disbandment after the death of John Bonham in September.
| Reviews from 1981 | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
             More Info on 1981 Album Reviews |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Final 1981 Poll Results | |||||||||||||||||||||
Q: What is the best album of 1981?
Conducted on our site, March-April, 2011 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Other 1981 Albums of Note | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
1981 contained many important albums of note, beyond the dozen that we’ve reviewed. Foreigner reached their commercial pinnacle with their fourth album 4, while Genesis made the full transition from prog to pop with Abacab. Eric Clapton scored the hit “I Can’t Stand It” from the album Another Ticket, while Van Halen put out their fourth strong album in as many years with Fair Warning. Sixties icons Santana and The Moody Blues each made a comeback of sorts by releasing strong and successful albums, while George Harrison song “All Those Years Ago”, off his album Somewhere In England, reminsced about that era while it paid tribute to his fallen bandmate, John Lennon.
|
More On 1981 All Reviews |
