Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s
by 
dihansse 
After the Nineties, the Eighties were for me the 10 years with the most classic albums with especially after the mainly UK punk years in the seventies the start of mainly US Indie music of Dinosaur Jr, Husker Du, Sonic Youth, Pavement, and so on. But there of course also the mainstream classics from Dire Straits, Lloyd Cole...; + I feel to add some more typical eighties bands like Spandau Ballet or Human League (and I already did with Fischer-Z). And don't forget the metal with Metallica's best albums, Iron Maiden and Motörhead.
- Chart updated: 02/13/2025 21:45
- (Created: 11/06/2015 05:50).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 7 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s has an average rating of 90 out of 100 (from 17 votes). Please log in or create an account to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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[First added to this chart: 11/20/2015]
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,955
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 11/20/2015]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
649
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 11/27/2015]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,157
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
4. (=)
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[First added to this chart: 11/20/2015]
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,129
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 11/29/2015]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
30,045
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 11/20/2015]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,864
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 11/11/2019]
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,062
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
8. (=)
Safe Mode: On Certain images on this site may contain sensitive content and are flagged as 'unsafe'. BestEverAlbums.com does not display these images by default, but you may choose to show or hide these images from your profile page. If you choose to hide these images, you'll see an image with a warning message instead of the actual image. If you choose to show them, you'll see these images no differently than regular (safe) images.
[First added to this chart: 11/11/2019]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,834
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 11/20/2015]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
26,577
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 11/20/2015]
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,716
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1981 | 9 | 9% | |
| 1982 | 6 | 6% | |
| 1983 | 12 | 12% | |
| 1984 | 7 | 7% | |
| 1985 | 7 | 7% | |
| 1986 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1987 | 16 | 16% | |
| 1988 | 12 | 12% | |
| 1989 | 11 | 11% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| R.E.M. | 6 | 6% | |
| Hüsker Dü | 6 | 6% | |
| Iron Maiden | 5 | 5% | |
| Metallica | 4 | 4% | |
| Screaming Trees | 4 | 4% | |
| The Smiths | 3 | 3% | |
| The Dream Syndicate | 3 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
Up 1 from 23rd to 22nd |
Up 1 from 22nd to 21st |
Up 1 from 21st to 20th |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
Down 6 from 17th to 23rd |
Down 1 from 60th to 61st |
Down 1 from 61st to 62nd |
| Leavers |
|---|
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | pdapperens | 1980s decade chart | 2014 |  |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | Kettwig | 1980s decade chart | 2019 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | Manso | 1980s decade chart | 2021 |  |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  flyingcitrus | 1980s decade chart | 2018 |  |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | TheNowhereGuy | 1980s decade chart | 2020 |  |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  Mattdup279 | 1980s decade chart | 2020 |  |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | dougcummings | 1980s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | Siromynian | 1980s decade chart | 2026 | |
| My Overall Top 1000: 1-100 | dihansse | Custom chart | 2024 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | cronadigallina | 1980s decade chart | 2025 |  |
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Other decade charts by dihansse
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s | dihansse | 2020s decade chart | 2026 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | dihansse | 2010s decade chart | 2026 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | dihansse | 2000s decade chart | 2025 | |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 17 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 04/02/2025 17:37 |  SomethingSpecial | 1,089 | 86/100 |
| ! | 04/02/2025 13:50 |  Tamthebam | 653 | 85/100 |
| ! | 04/02/2025 12:53 |  Repo | 586 | 100/100 |
| ! | 08/31/2023 17:22 |  Goliath | 352 | 86/100 |
| ! | 08/31/2023 09:06 | Johnnyo | 2,682 | 80/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some charts can have several thousand ratings)
This chart is rated in the top 3% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 89.8/100, a mean average of 92.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 92.1/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.3.
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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s comments
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From
Johnnyo 08/31/2023 09:06 | #298926
Great chart
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
Moondance 08/31/2023 08:56 | #298925
Cool chart - love seeing the appreciation for Australian artists/albums.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
jlinville 07/27/2020 02:48 | #256253
I am blown away by not only how many albums we both list as favorites (Soul Mining, New York, War, Imperial Bedroom, Reckoning, New Day Rising, Buffalo Tom, Wild Planet etc.), but by albums on your list I wouldn't normally consider listening to with a gun to my head (Iron Maiden, Metallica). Strange how tastes intertwine and meander apart.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
bobbyb5 05/20/2017 21:03 | #191139
bobbyb5 05/20/2017 21:03 | #191139
I just knew it. 6 Husker Du's. Heh heh. I only had 2. Oh well.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
buzzdainer 06/23/2016 02:14 | #169527
buzzdainer 06/23/2016 02:14 | #169527
Excellent chart! I especially like the enthusiastic rankings for Zen Arcade and Murmur.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
RoundTheBend 04/22/2016 05:41 | #164268
RoundTheBend 04/22/2016 05:41 | #164268
29 albums in common :)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
sssvnnn 12/12/2015 15:01 | #154428
sssvnnn 12/12/2015 15:01 | #154428
Good chart.
(no need to put it in alphabetical order: the higher the rating the more points an album gets)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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