Fist that comes to mind for me is Yes' 90215. They had broken up two years prior, and the market for their style of progressive rock music was fading. When 90215 hit the airwaves, it was a lot more commercially accessible and it got tons of radio airplay and garnered a new generation of fans.
I don't know that there was a particular album but Roy Orbison's return to the limelight in the 1980s warmed my heart. AC/DC, Back in Black, Green Day, Santana, even Elvis . . . so many . . . must . . . stop . . . myself