Ranking the Follow-Ups of Best-Selling '80s Albums by 25 Rock Bands

The 1980s were a golden era for album sales with rock music thriving at the forefront. In this feature, we've found 25 big rock bands who had their biggest selling album in the '80s and then taken a closer look at how they followed up those career-defining moments.

There are bands, such as Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and Journey, who followed their biggest-selling albums with yet another smash success story and kept the momentum of their careers going stronger than ever.

But on the flip side, there are groups that caved to the record label pressure to strike while the iron is hot, such as Quiet Riot and REO Speedwagon, who saw less that satisfactory results on their first new music after reaching their commercial heights.

And there's even one ultimate bummer that's not on this list. We're talking about The Police, who set their album sales high mark with Synchronicity only to split up before doing another original album. It's hard to rank a follow-up when there isn't one.

READ MORE: 10 Nearly Perfect '80s Rock Albums (+ the Song That Should Be Removed)

So let's take it back to the 1980s, the decade that brought us E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark and Back to the Future, and acknowledge the best-selling albums. Then let's see how each of the follow-ups did in terms of continuing or hurting each band's career trajectory.

While you're at it, be sure to check out how the follow-up to the best-selling albums of '90s rock bands did.