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The Best Albums Of 1987
Celebrate 30 years of R.E.M.'s document album with a trip back to the year of Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, The Joshua Tree, Sign 'O' The Times and True Faith...
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1. September: R.E.M. - Document
The band from Athens, GA bade farewell to their indie roots with their biggest hit in the UK to date. Tracks from the LP included It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine), The One I Love and Finest Worksong.
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2. January: Husker Du - Warehouse (Songs And Stories)
The pioneering indie punk trio - who had a huge influence on the Pixies and Nirvana - released their final, double album… before splitting later in the year.
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3. March: Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician
The insane psychedelic rockers from Texas - fronted by sweating lunatic Gibby Haynes - released their third album. The opening track, Sweat Loaf, was later sampled by Orbital for their track Satan.
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4. March: Julian Cope - St Julian
The former frontman with The Teardrop Explodes released his third solo album. Singles included World Shut Your Mouth and Trampolene.
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5. March: Prince - Sign 'O' The Times
The Purple Prince of Minneapolis released his ninth album - and it was a double. Highlights included the memorable title track, U Got The Look and If I Was Your Girlfriend.
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6. March: U2 - The Joshua Tree
The Irish band hit enormodome status in '87 with their fifth album, which featured With Or Without You, Where The Streets Have No Name and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.
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7. April: Happy Mondays - Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People
The debut album from Salford's finest, produced by former Velvet Underground man John Cale and featuring the memorable title track.
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8. April: Public Enemy - Yo! Bum Rush The Show
The ground-breaking hip hop collective released their debut album in '87.
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9. May: The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
Robert Smith's creepies from Crawley released their seventh album, which featured the singles Just Like Heaven, Catch and Why Can't I Be You?
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10. July: Guns N'Roses - Appetite For Destruction
Axl, Slash, Duff and the others released their classic debut LP this year (in this bad taste cover), which spawned the huge hits Welcome To The Jungle, Paradise City and Sweet Child O'Mine.
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11. August: New Order - Substance
The legendary Manchester band released a double-album compilation called Substance, which featured all their singles to date… plus the excellent new track, True Faith.
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12. September: The Smiths - Strangeways, Here We Come
The legendary Manchester band split in 1987 and released their fourth and final album. Top tracks included Girlfriend In A Coma, Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before and I Started Something I Couldn't Finish.
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13. September: Pixies - Come On Pilgrim
The Boston-based alt-rockers opened their recording account on trendy label 4AD in 1987, with this 8-track mini-LP featuring songs from their original demo tape.
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14. September: Depeche Mode - Music For The Masses
The Basildon synth-rock band's sixth album saw them begin to make waves in the US. Hits included Never Let Me Down Again, Strangelove and Behind The Wheel.
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15. October: The Wedding Present - George Best
The Leeds indie band released their debut album, which featured the classic Anyone Can Make A Mistake.
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16. October: Pop Will Eat Itself - Box Frenzy
Stourbridge grebos PWEI released their debut album, which feature the anthems Beaver Patrol, Love Missile F1-11 and There Is No Love Between Us Anymore.
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17. October: The Jesus And Mary Chain - Darklands
The Reid brothers released the follow-up to the classic Psychocandy and began to have chart hits, including April Skies and Happy When It Rains.
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18. November: Sisters Of Mercy - Floodland
Andrew Eldritch returned with a new line-up of his old band, plus production from Meat Loaf's man Jim Steinman. The epic This Corrosion was the standout track from the resulting album.
