1. REM Document [IRS]
Life’s Rich Pageant had already seen the Georgians learn how to write in capital letters, but Document was an even more explicitly political album. Motivated by a growing rancour brought on by two terms of Reaganomics (‘Exhuming McCarthy’ ‘Welcome To The Occupation’), and fired by Berry and Buck’s powerhouse engine, it featured their first US Top 10 hit, ‘The One I Love’ a bitter kiss-off frequently mistaken for a romantic madrigal.
2. Prince – Sign O’ The Times [Paisley Park]
3. U2 – The Joshua Tree [Island]
4. Robbie Robertson – Robbie Robertson [Geffen]
5. Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel Of Love [CBS]