1984

Van Halen – 1984 (American heavy metal/hard rock)

Prince – Purple Rain (American pop/rock/r and b, soundtrack to the film of the same name)

Meat Puppets – Meat Puppets II (American cowpunk)

Metallica – Ride The Lightning (American heavy metal)

Weird Al Yankovic – In 3D (American comedy music)

Spinal Tap – This Is Spinal Tap (American comedy rock/ heavy metal, soundtrack to the mockumentary of the same name)

Neil – Neil’s Heavy Concept Album (English comedy rock/psychedelic rock, performed by actor Nigel Planer in-character as Neil, his character from comedy series The Young Ones)

The Cure – The Top (English post-punk/gothic rock)

Skinny Puppy – Remission (Canadian electro-industrial, 12 inch EP later expanded to album length in 1985)

Cocteau Twins – Treasure (Scottish dream pop)

Dead Can Dance – Dead Can Dance (Australian post-punk/gothic rock, debut album)

Ray Lynch – Deep Breakfast (American electronic music/new age)

The Fall – The Wonderful And Frightening World Of The Fall (English post-punk)

Devo – Shout (American new wave/synth pop)

R.E.M. – Reckoning (American alternative rock/folk rock)

The Smiths – The Smiths (English alternative rock, debut)

Run-DMC – Run-DMC (American hip hop, debut)

Whodini – Escape (American hip hop)

Black Flag – My War (American hardcore punk/sludge metal)

The Cars – Heartbeat City (American new wave)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band– Born In The USA (American rock)

Echo And The Bunnymen – Ocean Rain (English post-punk/neo-psychedelia)

XTC – The Big Express (English new wave)

Minutemen – Double Nickels On The Dime (American punk rock/funk punk)

The Replacements – Let It Be (American alternative rock)

Art Of Noise – Who’s Afraid Of The Art Of Noise (English experimental electronic/dance music)

Ramones – Too Tough To Die (American punk rock)

Husker Du – Zen Arcade (American hardcore punk/post punk)

David Bowie – Tonight (English pop/rock)

Iron Maiden – Powerslave (English heavy metal)

Black Flag – Family Man (American instrumental post-punk/spoken word)

Black Flag – Slip It In (American hardcore punk)

Saint Vitus – Saint Vitus (American doom metal, debut)

Wham! – Make It Big (English pop/blue-eyed soul)

Depeche Mode – Some Great Reward (English synth pop)

Frank Zappa – Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger (American classical/electronic, Pierre Boulez's Ensemble InterContemporain peforms three pieces composed by Frank Zappa, with the rest of the album arranged by Zappa for synclavier)

Frank Zappa – Francesco Zappa (electronic chamber music, pieces composed by (unrelated) 18^th century Italian composer Francesco Zappa and arranged by Frank Zappa for synclavier)

Frank Zappa – Them or Us (American progressive rock)

Frank Zappa – Thing-Fish (American progressive rock/rock opera, mostly re-recorded versions of earlier songs with new lyrical additions)

Minutemen – The Politics Of Time (American punk rock/funk punk, compilation of previously unreleased studio and live recordings)

Madonna – Like A Virgin (American dance pop)

Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome To The Pleasuredome (English new wave, debut)

Paul McCartney – Give My Regards To Broad Street (English rock, soundtrack to musical drama of the same name)

John Lennon and Yoko Ono – Milk And Honey (English/Japanese rock, posthumously released John Lennon songs from 1980 coupled with Yoko Ono songs recorded in 1983, follow-up to Double Fantasy, which also alternated between Lennon and Ono material)

Talk Talk – It’s My Life (English new wave/synth pop)

The Smiths – Hatful Of Hollow (English alternative rock, compilation of singles, b-sides and Peel Sessions)

U2 – The Unforgettable Fire (Irish alternative rock/post-punk)

Judas Priest – Defenders Of The Faith (English heavy metal)

Extra Credit Concert Film: Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense. I initially was going to listen to the soundtrack album but decided I needed the visuals.

Notes: 

I think I initially wanted to listen to more "top 40" albums than this - there was just too much going on in new wave, punk, post-punk, and other pet favorite genres. I at least got a few blockbuster albums in (Prince, Wham, Madonna). Projected followups to "1984 In Comedy Music" I thought of but didn't get around to: "1984 In SST" (Black Flag, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Husker Du, St. Vitus), "1984 In Frank Zappa" (self-explanatory), "1984 In Goth/Industrial" (Skinny Puppy, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, The Cure).

I got to most applicable "must listen" artists (Weird Al, David Bowie, The Fall, Beatles or anyone who was a Beatle (in this case John and Paul). Bob Dylan is usually in there, but in 1984 all he released was a live album (and not a well-received one), so it wasn't a priority.