I would say 1982 is one of the better years. The deeper we get into the eighties, generally the worse the music gets, and the decline starts to accelerate more rapidly by around 1984. 1988 and 89, may appear to be the worst, although perhaps i may just have a preference for 1989, over 88, because Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Van Morrison, all released some interesting material. It was the first time in many years, where i felt there was a chink, or a small speck of light, appearing, which indicated that there was definitely an alternative to the overproduced and manufactured sounds of the day. It may be true to say both Prince and U2 had proved that a little in 1987 with the success of both Sign Of The Times and The Joshua Tree, but they had managed their success from a position of already being commercially at their peak. When Lou and Bob, especially, scored critical acclaim and more success than they had achieved for many years in the album charts, i could definitely see a slight turning of the tide. Both albums, and especially Lou's 'New York' seem grossly overrated from the perspective of today, in my opinion, but nevertheless it was good to see more traditional instrumentation, and more subtle song structure and lyrics being met enthusiastically. I felt that marked the first alternative to the belief that an eighties sound was all important (outside of the more alternative Indie type acts). It didn't all have to be about glossy manufactured pop, dance and bloated power ballads. Of course if we are talking of the singles chart specifically, that may prove a different matter. Tracy Chapman may have proved another notable late eighties artist, too, who managed to buck the trend.