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Updated May 1, 2026The best albums of 1979
1979 is one of the great transitional years in music. Punk had detonated three years earlier and the shrapnel was still landing: Joy Division took punk's aggression and turned it inward to produce Unknown Pleasures, one of the founding documents of post-punk. The Clash took punk's politics and expanded the scope to reggae, ska, and rockabilly on London Calling. Talking Heads took punk's urgency and turned it into something cerebral and groove-based with Fear of Music. Michael Jackson released Off the Wall and began the process of becoming Michael Jackson.
The Wall arrived late in the year and became the decade's most commercially dominant album. Elvis Costello, The B-52's, Gang of Four, Knack, Blondie — every one of these bands was making their best work in 1979. The year that punk became post-punk is also the year pop music found its commercial ceiling before the MTV era.
01#1 · 1979
London Calling
The ClashGoat avg 99/100
“Expanded punk's three-chord vocabulary into nine genres simultaneously.”
A double album priced as a single, expanding punk's three-chord vocabulary into reggae, ska, rockabilly, New Orleans R&B, and pop. Joe Strummer and Mick Jones wrote 19 songs across 65 minutes and none of them are filler. The title track is the decade's best opening song; "Train in Vain," "Lost in the Supermarket," and "The Card Cheat" are the deep-cut arguments for the record's greatness. The Clash made the best case for what punk could become.
02#2 · 1979
Unknown Pleasures
Joy DivisionGoat avg 98/100
“The founding document of goth, shoegaze, and post-punk revival.”
Martin Hannett recorded Joy Division in a studio that gave every instrument its own space and then flooded the space with reverb. Ian Curtis's baritone sits at the front of a mix that sounds simultaneously cold and claustrophobic. "She's Lost Control," "Shadowplay," and "New Dawn Fades" are three of post-punk's defining tracks. The pulsar graphic on the cover is the most-reproduced band image in rock. Ian Curtis was 22 when this was recorded; he was dead a year after it was released.
03#3 · 1979
Fear of Music
Talking HeadsGoat avg 95/100
“The album where Talking Heads found their fully realized sound.”
Brian Eno's production and David Byrne's neurotic precision align perfectly on Fear of Music — the album where Talking Heads found their fully realized sound. "Life During Wartime," "Memories Can't Wait," and "Cities" are three very different experiments in groove. The African polyrhythm influence is more present here than on More Songs About Buildings and Food; Remain in Light (1980) would take it to its conclusion. Fear of Music is the pivot point.
04#4 · 1979
Off the Wall
Michael JacksonGoat avg 96/100
“The record where a child star becomes an artist.”
Quincy Jones produced and Michael Jackson sang and the combination produced a record that redefined what a pop album could be in 1979. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Rock with You," and "She's Out of My Life" are three radio-ready songs that also happen to be among the best-produced recordings of the decade. Thriller is more famous; Off the Wall is the better coherent album. The record where a child star becomes an artist.
05#5 · 1979
The Wall
Pink FloydGoat avg 93/100
The second-best-selling rock album of all time, which is either a recommendation or a warning. "Comfortably Numb," "Hey You," and "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2" are three of the decade's best tracks. Roger Waters' concept about isolation and fame is occasionally heavy-handed but earns its ambition by the end. The album is too long; the songs that aren't The Wall's best are still Pink Floyd operating at a very high level. A genuine achievement overdue a fair hearing.
06#6 · 1979
Entertainment!
Gang of FourGoat avg 94/100
“The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Franz Ferdinand cite this as direct influence.”
Leeds University Marxists playing angular, groove-based post-punk with the spaces between the notes as important as the notes themselves. Andy Gill's guitar jabs rather than strums; Jon King's vocals are declarative rather than melodic; the rhythm section swings despite everything. "Damaged Goods," "I Found That Essence Rare," and "At Home He's a Tourist" are the singles. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Franz Ferdinand, and a hundred other bands cite this as direct influence. One of the most important albums in post-punk.
07#7 · 1978
Parallel Lines
BlondieGoat avg 91/100
Technically 1978 but its commercial dominance extended well into 1979. "Heart of Glass" brought disco to a new wave audience in a way that initially alienated punk fans and retrospectively looks like brilliant genre synthesis. "Hanging on the Telephone," "One Way or Another," and "Picture This" are three distinct registers — and all four of those singles are on the same album with no obvious thread except Debbie Harry's voice and Mike Chapman's production. The pop-punk crossover album.
08#8 · 1979
154
WireGoat avg 90/100
Wire's third album was also their last for a decade — the band broke up in 1980 and the record felt like a conclusion to an argument. The production is more layered than Pink Flag or Chairs Missing; the songs are more varied. "Map Ref 41°N 93°W," "The 15th," and "A Touching Display" are Wire at their most accessible. 154 is the Wire album for people who want to enter their catalogue through something that rewards attention over multiple listens.
09#9 · 1979
The B-52's
The B-52'sGoat avg 88/100
New wave outsider art from Athens, Georgia. "Rock Lobster" is the most joyfully weird song on radio in 1979; "Planet Claire" and "52 Girls" are built on the same ironic enthusiasm but with more arrangement. The B-52's took new wave's detachment and made it fun — a combination no one had attempted at this level of commitment. They looked ridiculous and played exactly as well as the music required.
10#10 · 1979
Singles Going Steady
BuzzcocksGoat avg 92/100
“The door that opened for everything indie rock would eventually become.”
A compilation of singles that functions as the best Buzzcocks album because Pete Shelley's three-minute love songs are better as singles than albums. "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)," "What Do I Get?," and "Orgasm Addict" cover anxiety, heartbreak, and desire in under 10 minutes. The Buzzcocks took punk and wrote songs about the interior emotional life — an approach that opened the door for everything indie rock would eventually become.
1979 is the year you study if you want to understand where the next 20 years of rock music came from. Post-punk didn't end in 1979 — it was just getting started — but the founding documents were mostly in by the time The Wall arrived in November. Unknown Pleasures, Entertainment!, Fear of Music, and London Calling together cover more musical ground than any single decade of music before them.
Rate the ones you know on Goat Music. The year holds up.
Questions.
What is considered the best album of 1979?
London Calling by The Clash has the strongest critical consensus — a double album that expanded the vocabulary of rock in 15 directions simultaneously. Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures is the more important historical document. This list places London Calling first on breadth and ambition; Unknown Pleasures at second on originality and influence.
What is post-punk and why did it emerge in 1979?
Post-punk is what happened when musicians who'd absorbed punk's DIY ethos and anti-commercial attitude decided that three chords and shouting wasn't enough. Joy Division added electronic texture and psychological weight. Talking Heads added African rhythms and intellectual self-consciousness. Gang of Four added Marxist theory. Wire added minimalism. All of them launched in 1977-78 and made their definitive records in 1979.
How important is Unknown Pleasures?
Joy Division's debut is one of the most influential records in post-punk history. The Joy Division shirt (the pulsar graphic from the album's back cover) is arguably the most-printed band image in rock history. The production — Martin Hannett's approach to space and reverb, the bass-forward mix, Ian Curtis's baritone — became the template for goth, shoegaze, and post-punk revival bands from The Cure through Interpol.
Is The Wall overrated?
The Wall is the second-best-selling rock album of all time and the subject of enormous critical debate. The long answer is: it's genuinely excellent as a concept album, contains Pink Floyd's three or four best individual songs ("Comfortably Numb," "Hey You," "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2"), and was overproduced and overlong in ways that a good editor would have caught. The short answer: no, it's not overrated for what it is. The ranking here at #5 reflects that it's the album's fifth-best, not that it's not great.
What is Off the Wall's place in Michael Jackson's catalogue?
Off the Wall is the album where Michael Jackson became an artist rather than a child star. Quincy Jones' production and Jackson's own development as a singer — the confidence, the range, the emotional specificity he brought at 21 — are both extraordinary. Thriller (1982) is bigger and more famous; Off the Wall is more intimate and arguably better as a coherent album experience.
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