3 Classic Rock Greatest Hits Albums From the 1980s That Are Mandatory Listening

When you want to put an album on and just let it play, what do you select? When you’re on a road trip, or you’re painting your house, or maybe you’re making an elaborate dinner—what records do you think to put on the stereo to run from top to bottom?

For us, a greatest hits album is an easy choice in a moment like this. Here below, we wanted to highlight three greatest hits records that provide just what they promise. Indeed, these are three mandatory classic rock greatest hits albums from the 1980s.

‘Legend’ by Bob Marley And The Wailers (1984)

For millions, this album was an introduction not only to great music but also to Bob Marley and even reggae, itself. Indeed, it is the best-selling reggae album of all time, with some 25 million copies sold around the world. Thanks to Legend, suddenly Bob Marley was just that in the eyes of so many. From the feeling the songs gave their listeners to the words of wisdom Marley passed on, there was so much to bite off and chew. For evidence, just check out songs like “Is This Love”, “No Woman, No Cry”, “Get Up, Stand Up”, and “Redemption Song”, among so many others.

‘Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II’ by Billy Joel (1985)

Most of the time, when you see a piano, you likely think about classical music. That big, hefty songbook your parents probably wanted you to learn as a young person. But it was all so boring at the time, right? Well, not every piano-driven tune is a snore. Enter: New York City-born rocker Billy Joel, who could turn the 88 keys into a party. For more on this, see: his 1985 LP, Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II, which includes songs like “Piano Man”, “New York State Of Mind”, and “Only The Good Die Young”.

‘The Great Twenty-Eight’ by Chuck Berry (1982)

Rock music wouldn’t exist today if it weren’t for Chuck Berry. Not only was he groundbreaking songwriter and performer, but he helped to make the then-burgeoning genre blossom before it was mainstream. And Berry’s 1982 greatest hits album, The Great Twenty-Eight, proves that. Featuring tracks like “Maybellene”, “Roll Over Beethoven”, and “Johnny B. Goode”, the LP is an easy reminder of just how great the artist was.

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