Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s
by chriskarman

• Chart updated: 10/29/2022 03:45
• (Created: 04/12/2015 01:55).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 3 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s has an average rating of 89 out of 100 (from 8 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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1. (=)

The Joshua Tree 

 U2

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[First added to this chart: 05/09/2015]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,858 charts

Rank Score:

18,420

Rank in 1987:

1

Rank in 1980s:

6

Overall Rank:

52

Average Rating:

 83 (2,452 votes)

Comments:

228

2. (=)

The Queen Is Dead 

 The Smiths

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[First added to this chart: 05/09/2015]

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,488 charts

Rank Score:

34,419

Rank in 1986:

1

Rank in 1980s:

1

Overall Rank:

16

Average Rating:

 88 (2,913 votes)

Comments:

265

3. (=)

Murmur 

 R.E.M.

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[First added to this chart: 05/09/2015]

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

1,139 charts

Rank Score:

10,197

Rank in 1983:

1

Rank in 1980s:

19

Overall Rank:

137

Average Rating:

 83 (1,416 votes)

Comments:

99

4. (=)

Purple Rain 
Soundtrack

 Prince And The Revolution

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[First added to this chart: 05/09/2015]

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

1,437 charts

Rank Score:

16,069

Rank in 1984:

1

Rank in 1980s:

9

Overall Rank:

72

Average Rating:

 83 (1,657 votes)

Comments:

130

5. (=)

Strangeways, Here We Come 

 The Smiths

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[First added to this chart: 05/09/2015]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

747 charts

Rank Score:

5,798

Rank in 1987:

4

Rank in 1980s:

38

Overall Rank:

291

Average Rating:

 81 (1,130 votes)

Comments:

64

6. (=)

Skylarking 

 XTC

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[First added to this chart: 05/09/2015]

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

588 charts

Rank Score:

4,473

Rank in 1986:

5

Rank in 1980s:

52

Overall Rank:

381

Average Rating:

 80 (635 votes)

Comments:

38

7. (=)

Closer 

 Joy Division

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[First added to this chart: 05/09/2015]

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,518 charts

Rank Score:

15,392

Rank in 1980:

2

Rank in 1980s:

11

Overall Rank:

78

Average Rating:

 85 (1,921 votes)

Comments:

126

8. (=)

The Stone Roses 

 The Stone Roses

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[First added to this chart: 05/09/2015]

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,016 charts

Rank Score:

23,359

Rank in 1989:

3

Rank in 1980s:

5

Overall Rank:

33

Average Rating:

 86 (2,293 votes)

Comments:

203

9. (=)

16 Lovers Lane 

 The Go-Betweens

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[First added to this chart: 05/09/2015]

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

269 charts

Rank Score:

1,671

Rank in 1988:

16

Rank in 1980s:

161

Overall Rank:

1,039

Average Rating:

 79 (264 votes)

Comments:

16

10. (21) 11

Hounds Of Love 

 Kate Bush

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[First added to this chart: 05/09/2015]

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,407 charts

Rank Score:

18,380

Rank in 1985:

1

Rank in 1980s:

7

Overall Rank:

53

Average Rating:

 85 (1,404 votes)

Comments:

103

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Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%
1980	12	12%
1981	11	11%
1982	7	7%
1983	7	7%
1984	11	11%
1985	12	12%
1986	9	9%
1987	9	9%
1988	11	11%
1989	11	11%

Artist	Albums	%
U2	5	5%
The Smiths	5	5%
R.E.M.	5	5%
The Cure	3	3%
Sonic Youth	3	3%
Depeche Mode	3	3%
Spacemen 3	2	2%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	49	49%
	40	40%
	5	5%
	3	3%
	2	2%
	1	1%

Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s chart changes

Biggest climbers
Up 11 from 21st to 10th Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush

Biggest fallers
Down 2 from 19th to 21st Rain Dogs by Tom Waits
Down 1 from 10th to 11th Playing With Fire by Spacemen 3
Down 1 from 11th to 12th Psychocandy by The Jesus And Mary Chain

Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s similar charts

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s	dwils0891	1980s decade chart	2012
Pitchfork: The 100 Best Albums Of The 1980s (2002)	WayneMC	Custom chart	2020
Top 100 Albums of the 1980s	Pitchfork	1980s decade chart	2002
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s	Madrocker	1980s decade chart	2019
Los 100 mejores discos de los años 80	Diariocrítico	1980s decade chart	2023
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s	covecove	1980s decade chart	2021
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s	iamthewalrus	1980s decade chart	2022
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s	eclab	1980s decade chart	2025
Best Albums of the 1980s	Slant Magazine	1980s decade chart	2012
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s	WayneMC	1980s decade chart	2025

Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s similarity to your chart(s)

Other decade charts by chriskarman

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s	chriskarman	2010s decade chart	2016
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s	chriskarman	2000s decade chart	2024
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s	chriskarman	1990s decade chart	2022
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s	chriskarman	1980s decade chart	2022
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s	chriskarman	1970s decade chart	2020
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s	chriskarman	1960s decade chart	2025

Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s ratings

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 8 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
100/100	10/30/2022 20:52	DJENNY	4,365	100/100
90/100	08/21/2022 14:33	zsolti	17	91/100
95/100	02/15/2017 02:22	Kuzh69	68	90/100
90/100	11/03/2016 20:18	WayneMC	53	80/100
100/100	06/06/2016 14:24	buzzdainer	669	90/100

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s comments

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Rating:  

95/100

From Kuzh69 02/15/2017 02:23

Great chart.... a whopping 40 albums in common. I don't think I've ever
Seen that before. But you do have a few that I'll have to give a listen to,
That I haven't before.

#185603 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

90/100

From WayneMC 11/03/2016 20:18

Excellent chart, with one or two I'll check out

#177934 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

100/100

From buzzdainer 06/06/2016 14:26

I love this chart! Always good to see Doolittle and Purple Rain getting love, but I also enjoy your rankings of less familiar material such as Playing with Fire. Thanks for giving me some new albums to discover!

#168024 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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