caught another one of these on social and thought it was an interesting exercise: what are 4 important albums (to you) from the year your turned 18?
1990 for me:
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I was 18 in 1975, these were big for me in my last year in high school. There were others that year, but these stand out.
the first Ritchie Blackmoreâs Rainbow LP
Physical Graffiti by Zeppelin
Toys in the Attic, Aerosmith
A Night at the Opera, Queen.
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Actually RELEASED that year? That was 1971 and it was kind of slim pickings from my viewpoint. Most of the really significant albums of that era had already been released in the previous five years or so. Except for #1; that would be on my all-time list regardless of the year.
- Who: Whoâs Next
- Mothers: Fillmore East - June 1971 (tied with the 200 Motels soundtrack released earlier that year)
- Pink Floyd: Meddle
- Jethro Tull: Aqualung
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Oh boy, well I turned 18 in December of 1984, graduated high school and went off to RIT that September.
This time period was my âawakeningâ to music, which, was very very sheltered and narrow up to that point, and, really blossomed the year after when I fully embraced WBER and the alternative scene.
So these were important but for mostly all the wrong reasons:
I have never owned this album, didnât have to.
The girls in the dorm room next to mine had it on infinite repeat (literally) and it drove me nuts!
Such a shame cause its a great album but I really canât listen to it still to this day.
The sad fact of 1985 is that when you walked anywhere inside or outside the dorms of RIT that fall, you couldnât not here âWe Built This Cityâ (unless you were in my room, in which you heard the above album). So, yeah, we all loved it - sorry not sorry. Since RIT is made up of all red brick buildings, the term Brick City was used, and this became a theme song of sorts (thankfully short lived).
Although this came out in 1984, this was the album of the day for what was at the time my favorite band of all time, KISS. It also marked what would be basically the last good thing they ever made, tumbling downhill ever since.
It was also the first tour I saw them on.
and a bright spotâŚ
This phenomenal soundtrack (and accompanying god awful movie) came out a few years prior, but my older step-sister came home with it in 1985. It really opened me up to the fact that there was a lot more music out there I had no idea about. I still listen to this to this day a lot, and if you havenât ever heard it - do it!
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I turned 18 in 1987, and it was a good year:
U2 - The Joshua Tree
Guns Nâ Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Sign Oâ the Times - Prince
Document - R.E.M.
Kick - INXS
Diesel and Dust - Midnight Oil
A Momentary Lapse of Reason - Pink Floyd
Tango in the Night - Fleetwood Mac
Floodland - Sisters of Mercy
Just to name a few. The list goes onâŚ
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My most important albums were probably when I was 16 rather than 18
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1979
In no order
London Calling - The Clash
Highway to Hell - AC/DC
Regatta de Blanc - The Police
The Wall - Pink Floyd
You can write a book on each of these artists, but their work stands for itself
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Itâs hard to cut it down to four but in 1986 I purchased, and became attached to:
The Housemartins â Hull 4 London 0
Peter Gabriel â So
The Smiths â The queen is dead
Paul Simon â Graceland
Greatest hits albums donât count but to emphasise what a great year it was, I give you Kate Bush â The whole story.
As a counterpoint to the purpose of this thread, and balance my assertion that 1986 was great year for music, it also saw the release of:
Europe - The final countdown
Billy Idol â Whiplash smile
Spandau Ballet â Through the barricades
and possibly the last compilation album I would be caught dead in the vicinity of, Wham â The final.
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excellent!! and i have never heard of times square but i found it on spotify - incredible soundtrack!
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Wow. I was 18 in 1987, my senior year in high school. My HS was very clique-y; the punks hung with the punks, the metalheads hung with the metalheads, and the new wavers hung with the new wavers. I was a new waver. But my senior year I was dating a metalhead and racing sanctioned BMX with metalheads, so I broke through a lot of musical barriers and expanded my tastes into genres a new waver shouldnât have been enjoying. 
- Beastie Boys, Licensed to Ill
- Led Zeppelin, In Through the Out Door
- The Smiths, The Queen is Dead
- The Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks, Hereâs The Sex Pistols
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@Mike_NL thatâs 4 not 9 
@JustTim from the year you turned 18. Led Zeppelin had probably split up before you were 18.
Read the original question people. Yes this will be in your end of term exam.
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Roxy Music - Flesh and Blood
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
REO Speedwagon - Hi infidelity
U2 - Boy
Cold Chisel - East
Fleetwood Mac- Live
To name a few,
Cheers Brian
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Yeah, I know Gun to my head, Iâd choose Joshua Tree, Appetite for Destruction, Momentary Lapse of Reason, and one more. Still love those three. Used to love Diesel and Dust back in those days, but I donât think it aged as well as the others. Iâd probably go for Tango in the Night.
I was 18 in 1982. Four albums which I bought that year are:
The Gift by The Jam
Rio by Duran Duran
Lexicon of Love by ABC
Night and Day by Joe Jackson
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1986 was a damned good year. Canât limit it to four so I will limit it to the four that were most important to me at the time.
The Cure, Standing on a Beach / Staring at the Sea compilation, one of the best compilation albums of all time, up there with New Orderâs Substance and Joy Divisionâs Heart and Soul box set.
New Order, Brotherhood. They kind of solidified on a direction away from post-punk and into electronic dance even more here; I prefer the earlier stuff a lot more but still a solid album.
Depeche Mode, Black Celebration. Lots of memories around this one. I think I knew the girls next door to @John_E, or ones just like them. Or many just like them. Good band for that.
Ministry, Twitch. Absolutely pioneering electro-industrial, helped kick off the genre along with Cabaret Voltaire and Front 242, both of which influenced this album (and I think Front 242 contributed). This is the album that set me down the electroindustrial path culbimating in stuff like Skinny Puppy and Thrill Kill Kult.
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