Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s
by Onater

My Top 10 songs of the 80s:
10. Joy Division - Atmosphere (Single, 1980)
9. Tom Waits - Downtown Train (Rain Dogs, 1985)
8. The Replacements - Androgynous (Let It Be, 1984)
7. Sonic Youth - Teen Age Riot (Daydream Nation, 1988)
6. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - The Mercy Seat (Tender Prey, 1988)
5. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart (Single, 1980)
4. The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (The Queen Is Dead, 1986)
3. The Smiths - Reel Around The Fountain (The Smiths, 1984)
2. Laurie Anderson - O Superman (Big Science, 1982)
1. Talking Heads- This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) (Speaking In Tongues, 1983)

• Chart updated: 01/15/2019 07:45
• (Created: 10/25/2016 00:24).
• Chart size: 100 albums.

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1. (3) 2

Big Science 

 Laurie Anderson

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"'Cause when love is gone, there's always justice. And when justice is gone, there's always force."

Favourite Tracks: O Superman, From The Air, Big Science, Born Never Asked [First added to this chart: 02/09/2018]

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

244 charts

Rank Score:

1,640

Rank in 1982:

15

Rank in 1980s:

163

Overall Rank:

1,057

Average Rating:

 78 (235 votes)

Comments:

10

2. (1) 1

Daydream Nation 

 Sonic Youth

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"It's an anthem in a vacuum on a hyperstation, daydreaming days in a daydream nation."

Noisy, heavy, and dissonant, yet thoroughly beautiful. It's like the crumbling remains of a post-apocalyptic city where all that remains are the kids and their guitars.

Favourite Tracks: Teen Age Riot, The Sprawl, Trilogy, 'Cross The Breeze, Candle, Total Trash [First added to this chart: 10/25/2016]

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,584 charts

Rank Score:

15,550

Rank in 1988:

1

Rank in 1980s:

10

Overall Rank:

75

Average Rating:

 84 (1,868 votes)

Comments:

147

3. (4) 1

Spirit Of Eden 

 Talk Talk

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"Everybody needs someone to live by. Everybody will need someone."

This is what I think it would sound like if the earth itself were to release an album. Also I don't understand a word that he's saying, and looking up the lyrics just makes them even more incomprehensible.

Favourite Tracks: The Rainbow, Wealth, Eden, I Believe In You [First added to this chart: 11/26/2016]

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

924 charts

Rank Score:

10,218

Rank in 1988:

3

Rank in 1980s:

17

Overall Rank:

132

Average Rating:

 84 (1,003 votes)

Comments:

69

4. (10) 6

Rain Dogs 

 Tom Waits

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"Well, I don't need anybody, because I learned, I learned to be alone. And I said anywhere, anywhere, anywhere I lay my head, boys, I will call my home."

Favourite Tracks: Anywhere I Lay My Head, Hang Down Your Head, Downtown Train, Tango 'Til They're Sore, Clap Hands, Singapore [First added to this chart: 10/25/2016]

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,142 charts

Rank Score:

11,683

Rank in 1985:

2

Rank in 1980s:

14

Overall Rank:

111

Average Rating:

 84 (1,339 votes)

Comments:

87

5. (2) 3

Remain In Light 

 Talking Heads

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"Time isn't holding up, time isn't after us, same as it ever was, same as it ever was."

I like to imagine this album as waking up in a dark room tied to a chair without knowing how you got there as a weird man in a big suit yells at you about his hands and the properties of facts and shapeshifting faces while awkwardly flailing his arms around in an attempt to dance.

Favourite Tracks: Once In A Lifetime, Born Under Punches, The Great Curve, Crosseyed And Painless [First added to this chart: 03/17/2017]

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

2,037 charts

Rank Score:

27,565

Rank in 1980:

1

Rank in 1980s:

3

Overall Rank:

26

Average Rating:

 87 (2,298 votes)

Comments:

196

6. (5) 1

The Queen Is Dead 

 The Smiths

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"And if a double-decker bus crashes in to us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die."

Morrisey is such a wanker and I love him for it.

Favourite tracks: There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, I Know It's Over, Cemetry Gates, Bigmouth Strikes Again, The Queen Is Dead, The Boy With A Thorn In His Side [First added to this chart: 10/25/2016]

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,494 charts

Rank Score:

33,874

Rank in 1986:

1

Rank in 1980s:

1

Overall Rank:

16

Average Rating:

 88 (2,917 votes)

Comments:

265

7. (13) 6

Hounds Of Love 

 Kate Bush

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"But every time it rains, you're here in my head."

Favourite Tracks: Cloudbusting, Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God), Hello Earth, Hounds Of Love, Waking The Witch [First added to this chart: 05/28/2017]

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,413 charts

Rank Score:

18,148

Rank in 1985:

1

Rank in 1980s:

7

Overall Rank:

53

Average Rating:

 85 (1,408 votes)

Comments:

103

8. (6) 2

Closer 

 Joy Division

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"Mother I tried please believe me, I'm doing the best that I can. I'm ashamed of the things I've been put through, I'm ashamed of the person I am."

Favourite Tracks: Decades, Atrocity Exhibition, Twenty-Four Hours, The Eternal, Isolation [First added to this chart: 10/25/2016]

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,519 charts

Rank Score:

15,222

Rank in 1980:

2

Rank in 1980s:

11

Overall Rank:

79

Average Rating:

 85 (1,924 votes)

Comments:

126

9. (8) 1

Let It Be 

 The Replacements

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"Look me in the eye and tell me that I'm satisfied. Were you satisfied?"

Favourite Tracks: Androgynous, Answering Machine, Sixteen Blue, Unsatisfied, I Will Dare [First added to this chart: 03/05/2017]

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

835 charts

Rank Score:

7,485

Rank in 1984:

5

Rank in 1980s:

26

Overall Rank:

208

Average Rating:

 82 (940 votes)

Comments:

74

10. (15) 5

Deceit 

 This Heat

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"She says you're only as good as the words you understand, and you, you don't understand a word."

Favourite Tracks: Makeshift Swahili, Sleep, Paper Hats, A New Kind Of Water [First added to this chart: 09/17/2017]

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

260 charts

Rank Score:

1,868

Rank in 1981:

10

Rank in 1980s:

140

Overall Rank:

921

Average Rating:

 78 (263 votes)

Comments:

18

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Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10

Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s composition

Country	Albums	%
	44	44%
	43	43%
	5	5%
	3	3%
	2	2%
	2	2%
	1	1%

Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s chart changes

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s ratings

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
100/100  !	07/23/2020 19:06	jnfbn	310	96/100
70/100  !	02/06/2018 22:51	ruquito124	2	73/100
90/100  !	09/15/2017 09:56	TheSmiths82-87	1,831	83/100

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