10 Greatest Final Rock Albums Of The 1980s
The 1980s saw some huge bands say goodbye, but not before putting out one last banger.
The career of a rock band is like eating an ice cream; some last longer than others, some get a bit sticky, but no matter how good they are, they always come to an end.
Nothing lasts forever and, for various reasons, all bands must say their goodbyes at some point or other. Some make the unfortunate decision to go on well past their sell-by date in desperate attempt to wring more money out of a rapidly aging fanbase, whilst others see the writing on the wall and choose to disband with the legacies still intact.
Any recording artist must have a final album, which can really range in quality. Sometimes they're a sad reminder of why the act fell apart, but there are also a large number of swansongs worthy of the most famous musicians on the planet.
This list will examine ten groups who all bid farewell by releasing their last studio albums between 1980 and 1989. Whilst some of them have come back together for reunion tours or one-off specials, these are the final recorded pieces of evidence of their time in the sun.
10. Guilty As Charged! - Culprit
Though this list won't be full of them, it will contain a few examples of albums that were a band's last, first, and only.
Is that cheating? Maybe a little bit, but it's still technically counts, so shush.
Culprit were formed in Seattle, Washington in 1981 and got a taste of success when their song Players made its way onto a compilation CD made by Shrapnel Records.
Shrapnel are probably most notable for introducing American audiences to Yngwie Malmsteen, but, alas, not much else.
Culprit's one and only studio album, Guilty as Charged!, was released in 1983 and, alas, failed to make a splash. Just two years later, the group went their separate ways, and that was the end of that.
Or was it?
Since then, the album has undergone somewhat of a renaissance, with AllMusic calling it "a lost gem of American metal from the 1980s".
The positive reception to Guilty as Charged! led to the band reforming in 2010 and recording a live version of the record in 2019. Apparently, a second album is in the works, but, for now at least, this remains their only studio release.