10 Perfect Rock Albums Of The 1980s

Along with all of the hairsprayed rockers strutting their stuff across MTV, there were a lot more avenues to explore in the '80s. Around the same time that people like Duran Duran were climbing up the charts, a little genre known as alternative rock was starting to see the light of day as well, with bands like The Pixies and REM getting played on college radio stations. While most of these bands didn't hit their stride until the '90s, The Smiths beat them to the punch on The Queen is Dead.

Having been the darlings of the British rock scene for a while, Morrissey and Johnny Marr finally hit upon some of the greatest songs of their career on this album, crafting tales of people who are as bold and brash as they are broken inside. Even though you could call it a bit overdramatic in spots, tracks like The Boy With the Thorn In His Side and There is a Light That Never Goes Out tap into that inner emotional side of ourselves that we try to keep under wraps in our day to day lives.

That's not to discount Marr's guitar playing either, who puts every single note where it needs to be on songs like Bigmouth Strikes Again. While some Smiths would argue that this was the beginning of the end for the group, only a handful of alternative bands can hope to make a record this pristine.