At NUMBER 5 on our Countdown:



The best band in history... ABBA with their final studio album, 1981's "THE VISITORS"! Any of their studio albums could easily have made this list, but it's this one - which sadly turned out to be their "swan song" - which stands out to me the most.
Abba had matured in their musical style, and still only went from strength to strength - their amazing melodic ability showing no sign of abating... this one also showed the first signs of longer, musical-esque songs (which Bjorn and Benny explored further with the "Chess" musical which followed a few years later).

This album is full of unforgettable masterpieces... from the huge hit "One Of Us", to the chirpy "Head Over Heels", the more serious "The Visitors" and "When All Is Said And Done", the playfull "Two For The Price Of One" (about a guy replying to a newspaper ad for a hooker), the touching "Slipping Through My Fingers", the peaceful "Like An Angel Passing Through My Room", and possibly one of the BEST songs ever written: "I Let The Music Speak".
The remastered version of this CD adds a few tracks, and makes an already incredible album even more mindblowing!
Their last two singles "Under Attack" and "The Day Before You Came" (the latter arguably the best song they ever recorded - one of the most emotional pieces you would ever hear), and the rare single B-side - the beautiful "Cassandra"...
WOW...!

will be interesting to see if "talk" by ColdPlay will eventually make it to the top on the single charts

At NUMBER 6:



Fast forward to 1991, which brings us to the Swedish duo ROXETTE... They had burst unto the scene in 1989 with hits like "The Look" and "Listen To Your Heart", followed it up with the BIGGEST movie hit at the time with "It Must Have Been Love" from 'Pretty Woman', and by 1991 they were on top of the world! This year brought the release of their 3rd album "JOYRIDE", which has also become their biggest to date. The title track became a HUGE hit (also becoming their fourth US #1), and would be heard everywhere on the radio and dance halls at the time...
Other hit singles followed, like the classic "Fading Like A Flower", and also "Spending My Time", "The Big L" and "Church Of Your Heart". This has to be one of the warmest pop records of all time!

Ok - we've been postponing this for TOO LONG again! So let's get to it... continuing without our Countdown of The Top 30 Albums Of All Time...! (scroll down to see the rest)

At NUMBER 7:



1987 was clearly a year of many important releases, of which this was another good example: DEF LEPPARD released their definitive album: "HYSTERIA", and in my book this has been the best rock/hard rock album in history!
It's also been described as "pop metal" - due to its very commercial sound - surely the catchiest melodies, riffs, etc. to ever surface on a rock album.
The album delivered a STRING of hit singles (and classics!): "Animal", "Pour Some Sugar On Me" (yummy for the last two!), "Love Bites" (one of the few enduring "rock ballads" over the years), "Rocket", "Armageddon It", "Hysteria" and "Women"...

And not one filler on the rest of the album; what makes this album so good is any one of the other tracks not chosen as singles could easily have become hit singles in their own right - as they're all that good!
No doubt about it - forget their 'greatest hits' albums - if you buy only one Def Leppard album, it should be this one!

just been wondering - what happened with the daily countdown on the Albums?