Top 20 Albums Of 1981 (Nos. 11-15)

For this week's Ranked!, we decided to compile our favorite albums from 1981. Did your favorite make the cut? Did we get it right? Let us know in the comments!

Here are numbers 11-15:

15. Olivia Newton-John, Physical

Every girl in my grade school had this cassette. We dressed up in leg warmers and headbands and danced. We loved that the girl from Grease had a big hit.--Archphoenix

14. Van Halen, Fair Warning

I sometimes feel that Fair Warning was the last album of Van Halen Mark One. After this album, they slipped into a succession of covers, synths, and Hagars that were never quite up to par with their earlier work (with some glaring exceptions). Yet Fair Warning is often overlooked, despite having some of their strongest work. I think you could teach a master class on guitarmanship (if that's a word) based solely on the first 33 seconds of "Mean Street." "Unchained" and "So This Is Love?" are still on heavy rotation on classic rock stations, rightfully. It's such a perfect album to slip into the cassette deck of your '67 Mustang convertible and head up the PCH on a sunny day. And shouldn't we all have days like that?--CroutonBoy

13. Phil Collins, Face Value

Four words: "In The Air Tonight." You air drummed to this album. Repeatedly. As did we all.--Archphoenix

12. Billy Idol, Don't Stop

This four-track EP, which featured "Dancing With Myself" and "Mony Mony" (which wouldn't become a hit until six years later), served as a rocking introduction to Billy Idol, the bleached and spiked blonde former lead singer of Generation X.--Chris

11. Rick Springfield, Working Class Dog

In 1981, my parents told my sister and me we could each pick a concert to attend that summer. My sister picked Rick Springfield. Working Class Dog had come out and the uber-catchy "Jessie's Girl" was everywhere. Even though I liked the song, I didn't want to go. Though I didn't have a choice. I sat there in the amphitheater and at first tried to be cranky. But soon Springfield took the stage and the music started and it wasn't long before I was standing on my seat, dancing next to my family. I went out and bought the album the next day.--Daddy Geek Boy