We recently compiled a rundown of the best albums of 1994 celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, and if that made you worried that you were getting a little long in the tooth, this list may end up making you feel positively geriatric. 1984 was another stellar year for music, and while many of us are still labouring under the illusion that the ‘80s were only 20 years ago, the classic titles below celebrated, or will celebrate, their fortieth birthday at some point during 2024.
From Prince to Queen, Metallica to Tina Turner, these are the 10 iconic albums celebrating their 40th anniversary that will get your hi-fi firing and your headphones purring. Hairspray at the ready…
Spinal Tap – This Is Spinal Tap
"It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black."
An American mockumentary film spoofing and skewering heavy metal bands of the '80s and the concert films about them, This Is Spinal Tap – which follows "one of England's loudest bands" on an ill-fated tour – is a devilishly clever, hilarious and endlessly quotable cult film that you must see if you haven't already. It follows fictional group Spinal Tap (played by comedians and writers Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer, who also write and sing all the songs on the accompanying soundtrack) as they make music, go on tour, have creative differences, lose a series of drummers in increasingly ridiculous fatal accidents and, with inspiration from real-life stories, carry on being utter buffoons and pretentious rock stars.
The soundtrack album may parody the era's hair-rock/glam-rock/heavy-metal sound, but the fictional band created some genuine bangers here. Stonehenge, Big Bottom, and Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight are proper singalong anthemic rock tunes, while the 'early' skiffle era of Gimme Some Money is a surprisingly endearing if brainless earworm.
The album is great fun; turn your amp up to eleven and rock out.
Words by Kashfia Kabir
Listen to This Is Spinal Tap on Tidal
Metallica – Ride the Lightning
To Metallica, there was no such thing as a ‘tricky second album’. The band’s debut a year earlier in the form of Kill ‘Em All received moderate acclaim, yet the two records that followed – Ride The Lightning and 1986’s Master Of Puppets – have ensured that Hetfield, Ulrich and co will live forever in the sacred halls of heavy metal Valhalla.
Bigger, bolder and more hell-firey than its predecessor, Ride The Lightning barrels and blisters from one anthemic thrash workout to the next, thrilling listeners not only with its ambition and scale but also with its technical flair and compositional mastery. Devoted metal maniacs owe a lot to Ride The Lightning – from Avenged Sevenfold to Ghost, Rage Against The Machine to Trivium, today's heavy rock landscape would look very different without it.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to Ride The Lightning on Tidal
Stevie Ray Vaughan – Couldn't Stand the Weather
Stevie Ray Vaughan is an icon in guitar, blues and rock’n'roll circles for good reason, with his energetic guitar style effectively melding various styles ranging from Hendrix-inspired psychedelic rock to traditional 12-bar blues. His 1984 album Couldn’t Stand The Weather isn't even his most famous record, often finding itself overshadowed by his 1983 debut Texas Flood, mainly because the latter features Pride And Joy, one of Vaughan's most famous songs.
Yet you’d be a fool not to take a listen to Couldn’t Stand The Weather. Filled to the brim with incredible tracks ranging from Vaughan's cover of Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Child (Slight Return) to Honey Bee (one of his best traditional blues tracks), it's a masterwork from start to finish. If you want a masterclass in how to make the guitar sing, you’ll struggle to do better.
Words by Alastair Stevenson
Listen to Couldn't Stand The Weather on Tidal
Tina Turner – Private Dancer
1984’s Private Dancer represented the birth, or perhaps rebirth, of an icon. With her divorce from Ike Turner behind her, this album was a chance for Tina to begin anew, turning to Capitol Records’ producer and A&R man John Carter to orchestrate this mini-renaissance. Turner was breaking from her past both personally and professionally, a happy fact reflected heavily in her superb fifth album.
Ditching the upbeat funk rock straps of Nutbush City Limits and the traditional soul roots of River Deep – Mountain High, Private Dancer turns the spotlight inwards to shine on the singer herself, making for a revealing, intimate but no less thrilling record which proved that Turner’s vocal talents went far beyond belting out funk and soul standards. What’s Love Got to Do With It is near-perfect pop rock, while Turner’s versions of Let’s Stay Together and Private Dancer are nothing short of definitive.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to Private Dancer on Tidal
Van Halen – 1984
Many people forget quite how much of a big deal Van Halen were when the band released their debut self-titled album. The record's second track, Eruption, was the first time music fans of the time had heard anyone play guitar in such a way, with Eddie’s frantic picking and rapid tapping being a musical revolution on a par with Jimi Hendrix's wild vibrato and virtuoso use of the whammy bar. For many of the team at What Hi-Fi? towers, the group's sixth album is an equally important piece of music history and a great purchase for any hi-fi fan for two main reasons.
Firstly, because it was the start of a shift in style for the band, with songs such as the keyboard-heavy Jump and I’ll Wait seeing Eddie and co. focus more on melodic ballads than pure rock. If you prefer the latter, then Panama is every bit as good as Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love.
Second, it was the last full album from the band’s golden era with original singer David Lee Roth at the mic. Afterwards, due to friction between members, he went solo and Van Halen recruited Sammy Hagar, giving the band an entirely different sound.
Words by Alastair Stevenson
Listen to 1984 on Tidal
Queen – The Works
It’s incredible to think that by 1984, Queen were setting to work on their eleventh studio album. Accused by some as being a little too safe or derivative of the group’s earlier work, it isn’t the shining apex of A Night At The Opera or News Of The World. In fairness, very little could be.
Still, does it really matter if the finest ever purveyors of anthemic rock end up becoming derivative if they’re following in the footsteps of the greatness that came before? Can you really criticise an album which houses such belting hits as Radio Ga Ga, It’s A Hard Life, I Want To Break Free and, most notably, the irresistible Hammer To Fall? And can you find another album from the same year that can boast that kind of inevitable hit rate as seen on The Works? Proof positive that even 'mediocre' Queen is streets ahead of almost anything else.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to The Works on Tidal
Echo and the Bunnymen – Ocean Rain
When it debuted in 1984, Ocean Rain wasn't exactly buried under a wave of acclaim and good will. Rolling Stones' Parke Puterbaugh was particularly scathing, claiming that the album was "too often a monochromatic dirge of banal existential imagery cloaked around the mere skeleton of a musical idea". That's music critics for you.
Retrospective assessments have been far more sympathetic, with professionals and punters alike recognising the magisterial beauty of the record's themes, the spectacular, lush nature of its production and the group's knack for poetic, grandiose arrangements. As a test record it's ideal, stretching any decent system's capacity to deal with sweeping strings, complex orchestral numbers and the album's many oddball musical quirks.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to Ocean Rain on Tidal
The Cars – Heartbeat City
At a time when there were creeping rumours that The Cars had run out of gas and were set to be left waylaid by the roadside or unceremoniously consigned to the scrapheap, along came Heartbeat City. The group's fifth official studio album, it's a record that pulls off the rare trick of propelling an act back into the spotlight by representing the very best of their creative capabilities.
For wallowing in that unmistakable '80s sound, filled with echoing soundscapes, retro-futuristic synths and smooth, earnest vocals, Heartbeat City is pretty much the new wave blueprint. Spawning such hits as Drive, You Might Think and Magic, it's a shimmering, gleaming collection of tunes that has only grown in acclaim and admiration. Perfect for an '80s-inspired listening session.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to Heartbeat City on Tidal
Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain
Does it get much more iconic (in the original, non-Gen Z sense of the word) than Prince's Purple Rain? A song, an album and even a delightfully ludicrous rock opera movie starring the man himself in all of his campy, big-haired glory, Purple Rain is the summit of a quite astonishingly diverse and dense career from one of the 20th century's most profoundly talented artists.
That talent is showcased to its most cohesive and rewarding degree on what has to be Prince's most acclaimed and popular release (and there are a lot to choose from). Grabbing ingredients and flavours seemingly from whichever genres and styles took his fancy and then somehow melding them together to produce something utterly delicious, Purple Rain remains the definitive testament to the late, great talents of Mr Rogers Nelson.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to Purple Rain on Tidal
Lloyd Cold and the Commotions – Rattlesnakes
You don't get many artists who hit the ground running in the same way that Lloyd Cole managed with the support of his Commotions. Influenced by guitar-and-mic singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan but fused with the soul, funk and prog flavours that had been gestating during the '70s, not to mention high-brow literary debts to Simone de Beauvoir and Truman Capote, Rattlesnakes was one of those rare debuts that ended up arriving pretty much fully formed.
Fun, fresh, intelligent and often quietly perceptive, it's one of those peculiar albums that is adored by some and completely unknown to others. It should be familiar to all, with hits such as Perfect Skin, Forest Fire and Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?, not to mention the album's title track, standing out as particular high points.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Listen to Rattlesnakes on Tidal
MORE:
10 iconic albums celebrating their 30th anniversary this year
11 of the best instrumental test tracks to give your hi-fi a vocal-free workout
Björk's best album is possibly my favourite test record ever – it should be yours, too
