100 Best Albums of the Eighties by Rolling Stone (1989)

Rolling Stone is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California. These are their best albums of 1980s.
(Official website: www.rollingstone.com | Original URL Warning: The address at the original source was valid at the time the chart was added, but may have changed afterwards. )

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I know we use the original release date of 1979 on this site, but in the US it wasn't released until January 1980 therefore qualifying for this list by Rolling Stone.
Year of Release:
1979*
Appears in:
Rank Score:
36,687
Rank in 1979:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,551
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • iTunes
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Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
19,994
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
30,956
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • eBay
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  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,911
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,314
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,068
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,724
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,067
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,616
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10

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100 Best Albums of the Eighties composition

Year Albums %


1980 14 14%
1981 5 5%
1982 10 10%
1983 15 15%
1984 10 10%
1985 9 9%
1986 10 10%
1987 11 11%
1988 7 7%
1989 5 5%
Country Albums %


United States 59 59%
United Kingdom 28 28%
Mixed Nationality 6 6%
Australia 2 2%
Ireland 2 2%
Canada 2 2%
Jamaica 1 1%
Compilation? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 99 99%
Yes 1 1%

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Listed below are 21 charts from recognised sources for 1980s. There are also 770 user submitted charts covering this period.

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[Rolling Stone was founded in 1967.]

100 Best Albums of the Eighties ratings

Average Rating: 
68/100 (from 150 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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40/100
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12/24/2023 09:02 Junomoogmello  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1587/100
 
90/100
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12/27/2022 15:06 Igtonumama  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1489/100
 
100/100
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10/29/2020 16:29 Tony58  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3977/100
 
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08/25/2020 11:31 Larcx13  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,07286/100
 
95/100
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08/17/2020 20:12 Chrispeater  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 13882/100

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This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 68.4/100, a mean average of 66.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 67.5/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 24.5.

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100 Best Albums of the Eighties comments

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Rating:  
40/100
From 12/24/2023 09:02
I think this is a pretty poor chart. It ignores some of the best artists and albums from the eighties.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 12/27/2022 15:08
Excellent selection of albums. Will give the ones I haven't listened to, a hearing too!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 06/18/2020 14:37
Embarrassing bad that they would leave out Talk Talk ...Color of Spring and The Smith's Queen is Dead. 2 of the best albums all time
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
50/100
From 07/09/2019 11:59
Top 4 is ok despite the Clash being a blatant 70s album.

The lack of Stone Roses, Doolittle, Disintegration and anything from New Order is bizarre.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 04/26/2019 23:21
That s a poor chart that ignores most of the typical 80`s acts.
It´s a chart like: What did my 60`s ad 70`s heroes do in the 80´s.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
30/100
From 11/12/2018 16:56
It's not that it doesn't respect some of the best records of the decade, it's that it seemingly ignores the outstanding innovation made by a whole host of records from across the world in one of the most diverse times for music, popular and underground. Too predictable for its own good.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
40/100
From 10/21/2018 19:12
Reading through the comments, there are several considerations here:

1. 'Double Fantasy' was released on November 17, 1980, so it is an 80s album.
2. London Calling was released on December, 14, 1979. So, it depends on how technical you want to get.
3. To their detriment, Rolling Stone couldn't give a shit about strength of composition or musicianship when ranking these albums. They've always catered to culture and relevance. So if you're interested in a musical list, then go elsewhere.
4. The exclusion of many well-deserving pop and metal albums on this list is a sham.
5. In the original 1989 article, RS had the audacity to state that there were no real musical revolutions in the 80s. I guess they had no clue about musical revolutions started by Eddie Van Halen, The Clash, or Run DMC. Like every decade in popular music, the 80s was a musical capsule filled with plenty of revolutions.
6. The fact that the original RS article was written in 1989 would lead me to believe that, if given another shot at it, RS would make quite a few changes. As was mentioned earlier, the attempt to bridge 60's hippie and psychadelic rock with 80's pop/new wave/ metal, is blatant.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 07/18/2018 06:38
Given their track record, I approached this Rolling Stone chart with great trepidation. To my relief, it's not 1/2 bad. rather predictable (as you'd expect) but a lot of essential choices here (& some awful picks).
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 05/04/2018 21:47
Just made a chart with my top 40 Albums, but it lacks 80’s albums. I’m definarely going to give lots of these a listen!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
30/100
From 05/03/2018 12:32
Not awful, but could be much, much better. For starters, it is ridiculous that London Calling is included, being that it was released in 1979. Doesn't really matter when it was released in the States. Second of all, some of the great alt rock classics of the decade (The Queen Is Dead, Doolittle, Document, Daydream Nation etc) should be close to the top just based solely on how much they would influence the next decade of rockers. Also, what in the world is Double Fantasy doing on this list???
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