Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by buzzdainer

These days, when people talk about "eighties music" as if it were a genre, mainly they're referring to Michael Jackson and Madonna and George Michael. Maybe some of the one-hit wonders like Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the Georgia Satellites. Or the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. Or hair metal, which ruled the musical culture of my hometown in Maine with bands such as AC/DC and the Scorpions. None of those things quite describes my own musical experience of the eighties. On the one hand, I definitely knew about the stuff that was popular; it was the water in which we all swam. On the other hand, as a teenager I actively sought out music that moved me differently--the things that felt a little edgier, a little riskier, a little more emotionally charged without being completely overwrought. Well, okay, and some of the overwrought stuff, too.

A representative moment I still remember well is from fall of my eighth grade year. My English teacher gave us an assignment to bring to class a cassette tape including a song we liked for its lyrics, and we had to distribute a transcription of the lyrics to our classmates and give them an interpretation of what we thought the lyrics meant. When you're a teenager, music is tied closely to identity, or at least it was for me, and I spent a lot of time thinking of what song I should bring. I eventually settled on Hüsker Dü's "Pink Turns to Blue," because I wanted something I figured nobody else had heard, something that felt more rebellious and badass than Def Leppard or Bon Jovi. My classmates, and my teacher, were visibly uncomfortable trying to listen to the opening lines, "Going out each day to score, she was no whore but for me / Celebrating every day the way she thought it should be." If my goal was to signal to my classmates that I wasn't to be messed with, mission accomplished. Which is funny to think about now, since I now think of music as a means for bringing people together, not alienating them. Nevertheless, and maybe paradoxically, I still love a lot of that same music I loved then--perhaps because it connects me to a past version of myself that I still have a certain affection for.

• Chart updated: 03/26/2024 14:45
• (Created: 02/16/2016 18:26).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

There are 15 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s has an average rating of 91 out of 100 (from 22 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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3. (=)

The Joshua Tree 

 U2

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It's actually a little gratifying to see The Joshua Tree sitting as the #1 album for 1987 here on BEA. When I was in high school, U2 were an indisputably cool band that was not only loved by people from my generation, but also my parents' generation. That's a rare thing. But then, over the past few decades, there's been a fairly intense backlash against U2, focusing mainly on Bono's cult of personality. I've always felt that such criticism was pretty off base when you consider the far worse things other celebrities have done compared to Bono's penchant for short-term political causes and wearing sunglasses indoors because he has glaucoma. Cut the dude some slack, I say. And if you need reminding, play the opening minute and a half of "Where the Streets Have No Name" really loud, and try to remember what it was like hearing the building intensity of that great rock song for the very first time. [First added to this chart: 05/11/2016]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,812 charts

Rank Score:

19,931

Rank in 1987:

1

Rank in 1980s:

6

Overall Rank:

52

Average Rating:

 83 (2,388 votes)

Comments:

226

4. (=)

Diesel And Dust 

 Midnight Oil

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I went through a period of loving Aussie rock so much back in the late eighties that I wound up spending my junior year of college in Perth. Of all those Australian bands that I loved back then, Midnight Oil was probably the best, and is the one that has had the most staying power for me. They made a number of good albums, but Diesel and Dust was their best. It brings together the guitar-driven, punk sensibilities of their earlier albums with the more meticulously produced, more obviously political, more mainstream later works. "Beds Are Burning" was the hit single from this album, but I think "The Dead Heart," also released as a single, is even better: a moving, beat-driven meditation on the theft of land from the continent's aboriginal people. [First added to this chart: 02/26/2016]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

282 charts

Rank Score:

1,828

Rank in 1987:

18

Rank in 1980s:

152

Overall Rank:

985

Average Rating:

 76 (318 votes)

Comments:

23

25. (=)

Sign 'O' The Times 

 Prince

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It's hard to overstate what a towering creative achievement Sign "O" The Times is. As much as I enjoy Purple Rain, and even though I have it ranked higher, in some ways this might be the better album. It never comes close to settling into complacency or formula, and because Prince was already a megastar when the album was made, he really had nothing to prove in order to garner attention or success. "Starfish and Coffee," Prince's profile of an odd elementary school classmate, is both great storytelling and exceptional melody making, and although few would consider it among Prince's signature songs, it's the highlight of this terrific album as far as I'm concerned. [First added to this chart: 04/24/2021]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

838 charts

Rank Score:

9,275

Rank in 1987:

3

Rank in 1980s:

21

Overall Rank:

171

Average Rating:

 81 (911 votes)

Comments:

54

27. (=)

Boylan Heights 

 The Connells

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Boylan Heights was the Connells' second album, a poppier, more accessible, and more lyrically adept than their debut album, Darker Days. Boylan Heights cemented the Connells' status as legends on the American college rock scene in the mid-1980s, and it also brought Chapel Hill's music scene to nationwide attention much in the way R.E.M. had done for Athens, Georgia, five years earlier. The album's opener, "Scotty's Lament," is a pretty good indicator of what you'll find here: Doug MacMillan's yearning vocals, murky guitars, and incredibly catchy melodies. Although the Connells never really caught on as much as I thought they would, this album remains one of my favorites from the eighties. [First added to this chart: 02/17/2016]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

10 charts

Rank Score:

79

Rank in 1987:

193

Rank in 1980s:

1,956

Overall Rank:

14,149

Average Rating:

 75 (9 votes)

Comments:

0

54. (=)

Document 

 R.E.M.

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[First added to this chart: 02/18/2016]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

673 charts

Rank Score:

4,786

Rank in 1987:

6

Rank in 1980s:

51

Overall Rank:

376

Average Rating:

 80 (900 votes)

Comments:

45

61. (=)

Franks Wild Years 

 Tom Waits

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[First added to this chart: 05/29/2016]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

211 charts

Rank Score:

983

Rank in 1987:

36

Rank in 1980s:

264

Overall Rank:

1,726

Average Rating:

 77 (261 votes)

Comments:

13

85. (=)

Dead Letter Office 
Compilation

 R.E.M.

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[First added to this chart: 03/27/2016]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

48 charts

Rank Score:

90

Rank in 1987:

166

Rank in 1980s:

1,766

Overall Rank:

12,677

Average Rating:

 72 (112 votes)

Comments:

6

94. (=)

Come On Pilgrim 

 Pixies

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[First added to this chart: 03/18/2018]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

297 charts

Rank Score:

2,106

Rank in 1987:

16

Rank in 1980s:

130

Overall Rank:

845

Average Rating:

 80 (540 votes)

Comments:

21

100. (=)

Pleased To Meet Me 

 The Replacements

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[First added to this chart: 05/19/2016]

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

243 charts

Rank Score:

1,467

Rank in 1987:

22

Rank in 1980s:

193

Overall Rank:

1,208

Average Rating:

 79 (314 votes)

Comments:

14

Total albums: 9. Page 1 of 1

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%
1980	7	7%
1981	7	7%
1982	8	8%
1983	9	9%
1984	7	7%
1985	12	12%
1986	9	9%
1987	9	9%
1988	15	15%
1989	17	17%

Artist	Albums	%
Talking Heads	6	6%
R.E.M.	5	5%
Hüsker Dü	4	4%
Pixies	3	3%
The Replacements	3	3%
U2	3	3%
Elvis Costello And The Attractions	3	3%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	65	65%
	20	20%
	6	6%
	4	4%
	3	3%
	2	2%

Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s chart changes

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s ratings

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 22 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
90/100	03/26/2024 13:14	Goliath	348	86/100
90/100	03/26/2024 09:06	Moondance	453	84/100
85/100	02/19/2023 13:31	Tamthebam	550	85/100
95/100	02/19/2023 11:01	MadhattanJack	155	84/100
90/100	02/19/2023 09:43	Johnnyo	2,011	79/100

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 2% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 91.1/100, a mean average of 93.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 93.4/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 5.7.

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s comments

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From buzzdainer 03/26/2024 14:37

Thank you, Moondance, for those suggestions. I've heard a couple of those albums, but the others are new to me. I do like that Robbie Robertson album quite a bit, and of course Dire Straits was a staple of my eighties music listening. I probably could have added a few more Australian bands to this list, since there was so much great Aussie rock from that period.

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Rating:  

90/100

From Moondance 02/19/2023 21:50

I always admire the thoughtful quality of charts & comments from buzzdainer and this is no exception. The inclusion of 6 Australian artists is quite excellent!
A couple of suggestions: ex The Band's Robbie Robertson - Robbie Robertson; Andy Pawlak - Shoebox Full of Secrets; Kauffamn & Caboor - Songs From Suicide Bridge; ex Talking Heads' Jerry Harrison's - Casual Gods; Dire Straits.

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Rating:  

90/100

From Johnnyo 02/19/2023 09:44

Great chart and love the descriptions that accompany the entries

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From buzzdainer 04/24/2021 20:49

Larcx13, I don't think you're at all off base to say Talking Heads were a strange band. For me that's part of their appeal. I think as a teenager I gravitated to them because I identified with their weirdness, their decidedly outside-the-mainstream aesthetic, because like most teenagers, I didn't feel like I fit into the mainstream. Nowadays I care less about that, and I just appreciate Talking Heads for fusing together elements of new wave and funk to create really well-made pop music. Although I have Remain in Light rated my favorite Talking Heads album, I might recommend starting with Little Creatures, which is a bit more accessible, or Stop Making Sense, which captures their live sound in a way that might enable a new listener to "get" them a bit better than their albums from the seventies and early eighties.

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Rating:  

95/100

From Larcx13 12/05/2020 15:56

I should give talking heads some time. What i heard up to now was quite strange.

Nice list.

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Rating:  

100/100

From emptysquares 08/30/2020 11:01

Love your chart and there's a few entries I need to check out. Special respect for getting Billy Bragg in there - I didn't think our Bill travelled that far!

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

From buzzdainer 07/18/2016 15:57

Thanks for the nice comment, pa! Doolittle is definitely worth checking out, especially given your appreciation for the likes of Fugazi, Meat Puppets, Yo La Tengo, Hüsker Dü, and others. It's plenty challenging and weird in its own way, but also melodic and likeable. Happy listening, and thanks for visiting my chart!

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Rating:  

100/100

From pa 07/18/2016 15:47

Hey there :)
I really like your chart too and I love the inclusion of Zen Arcade and California by AMC.
Doolittle is still on my wishlist...I'll check it out soon!

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Rating:  

95/100

From stangetzaway 07/17/2016 22:36

Excellent mix of headliners and blue collar alternative acts. Quite a few I haven't heard so will have to check out.

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From buzzdainer 07/17/2016 21:15

Thanks, garycottier, for rating and commenting on this chart! Greg Brown is a bluesy, nostalgic singer-songwriter from Iowa who sings about the midwestern landscapes of his youth and a wide range of other topics. He's funny and irreverent, and a great guitar player. I'd recommend starting with some of his albums from the nineties, especially Further In, Dream Café, and The Poet Game. And yes, I love The Trinity Session--such a languid, dreamy, haunting listening experience. Margo Timmins is, in my opinion, one of the great vocalists of her generation.

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