Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by
Romanelli 
- Chart updated: 06/13/2025 17:15
- (Created: 12/04/2011 20:38).
- 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 84 out of 100 (from 29 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
View the complete list of 56,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from 1982. (Remove this filter)
Produced By MARSHALL CRENSHAW & RICHARD GOTTEHRER
1. There She Goes Again
2. Someday, Someway
3. Girls...
4. I'll Do Anything
5. Rockin' Around In NYC
6. The Usual Thing
7. She Can't Dance
8. Cynical Girl
9. Mary Anne
10. Soldier Of Love
11. Not For Me
12. Brand New Lover
Bonus Tracks
13. Starlit Summer Sky (Demo 1979)
14. Whenever You're On My Mind (Demo 1979)
15. You're My Favorite Waste Of Time
16. Somebody Like You
17. Rave On (Live 1982)
18. The Usual Thing (Live 1982)
19. Stop Her On Sight (SOS) (Live 1982)
20. Look At What I Almost Missed (Live 1982)
21. I've Been Good To You (Live 1981)
It's pretty much impossible to say which is correct...was Marshall Crenshaw years too late, or was he years ahead of his time? Maybe he was both. Marshall Crenshaw was maybe the most critically loved debut album of all time...and for good reason. This was the resurgence of rock and roll, and the perfection of power pop all in one bespectacled package. This is a stunning album, and songs like "Someday, Someway" and the magical "Cynical Girl" make this pretty much the power pop bible. It was, however, 1982, and rock & roll was in a flux...New Wave was rushing in, born of punk, hair metal was pushing ourt what is now known as classic rock, and Marshall Crenshaw was out of place. Too bad, because this is a truly great album that was lost in the shuffle.
The 2000 reissue has some amazing bonus tracks...something bonus tracks usually are not. "Whenever You're On My Mind" is a demo, but it's still one of the great lost pop songs, and to have it here makes it even sweeter... and it saves you from having to get the much lesser follow up album Field Day. "You're My Favorite Waste Of Time" is just as good. And the live tracks are great as well, including the Buddy Holly track "Rave On". (Crenshaw is forever compared to Holly for his looks, his appearance as Holly in "La Bamba", and his music). Crenshaw never came close to his debut album, partly because he didn't want to be nailed down to one specific sound. But you should definitely have this record. Because 1982 was the year of Marshall Crenshaw, and it doesn't get much better than this. [First added to this chart: 12/10/2011]
Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s composition
Year | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
1980 | 14 | 14% | |
1981 | 7 | 7% | |
1982 | 11 | 11% | |
1983 | 7 | 7% | |
1984 | 8 | 8% | |
1985 | 5 | 5% | |
1986 | 10 | 10% | |
1987 | 11 | 11% | |
1988 | 13 | 13% | |
1989 | 14 | 14% |
Artist | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
U2 | 3 | 3% | |
R.E.M. | 3 | 3% | |
Bruce Springsteen | 3 | 3% | |
X (US) | 3 | 3% | |
The Jesus And Mary Chain | 2 | 2% | |
Hüsker Dü | 2 | 2% | |
Warren Zevon | 2 | 2% | |
Show all |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s chart changes
Biggest fallers |
---|
![]() Violent Femmes by Violent Femmes |
![]() So by Peter Gabriel |
![]() Guitar Town by Steve Earle |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s similar charts
Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | caseygow | 1980s decade chart | 2018 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | Finky | 1980s decade chart | 2025 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | ![]() | 1980s decade chart | 2022 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | edubs | 1980s decade chart | 2022 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | dmack | 1980s decade chart | 2016 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | matterhornrider | 1980s decade chart | 2025 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | ![]() | 1980s decade chart | 2015 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | ![]() | 1980s decade chart | 2023 | ![]() |
Die 100 besten Alben der 1980er Jahre | Popkultur.de | 1980s decade chart | 2022 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | Rivera | 1980s decade chart | 2025 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s similarity to your chart(s)
Not a member? Registering is quick, easy and FREE!
Why register?
Join a passionate community of over 50,000 music fans.
Create & share your own charts.
Have your say in the overall rankings.
Post comments in the forums and vote on polls.
Comment on or rate any album, artist, track or chart.
Discover new music & improve your music collection.
Customise the overall chart using a variety of different filters & metrics.
Create a wishlist of albums.
Help maintain the BEA database.
Earn member points and gain access to increasing levels of functionality!
- ... And lots more!
Register now - it only takes a moment!
Other decade charts by Romanelli
Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
Top 4 Music Albums of the 2020s | ![]() | 2020s decade chart | 2025 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | ![]() | 2010s decade chart | 2025 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | ![]() | 2000s decade chart | 2025 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | ![]() | 1990s decade chart | 2025 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | ![]() | 1980s decade chart | 2025 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | ![]() | 1970s decade chart | 2025 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s | ![]() | 1960s decade chart | 2025 | ![]() |
Top 24 Music Albums of the 1950s | ![]() | 1950s decade chart | 2025 | ![]() |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s ratings

where:
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 29 ratings for this chart.
Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
---|---|---|---|---|
80/100 ![]() | 02/06/2025 15:30 | BorderFreeAndrew | ![]() | 80/100 |
85/100 ![]() | 01/31/2025 14:12 | SomethingSpecial | ![]() | 85/100 |
70/100 ![]() | 01/23/2022 16:11 | ![]() | ![]() | 95/100 |
80/100 ![]() | 10/22/2020 01:13 | leniad | ![]() | 85/100 |
85/100 ![]() | 09/05/2020 14:13 | MasterOfPuppets | ![]() | 91/100 |
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 has a Bayesian average rating of 83.9/100, a mean average of 81.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.2/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 13.4.
Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s favourites
Showing all 3 members who have added this chart as a favourite
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s comments
Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 15 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First |
Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
Nice to see Adam Ant's "Friend or Foe" so high (a seriously underrated album), along with several other forgotten classics that tend to be ignored when most people make an 80's chart.
Respect
some solid picks m8.

It is nice to see an 80s chart as chart of the day for a change. And what a pathetic decade it was if even someone like you who obviously knows a lot of stuff cannot come up with better records than these. TW are okay but as no. 1? The first decent LP enters at place 23, in my opinion.

Really like your notes!!

I love your take on the eighties! I really appreciate your #1 pick, as supergroups tend to be written off as inferior to the works of their individual members--an assumption that the Traveling Wilburys blew out of the water. Full Moon Fever, Disintegration, Doolittle, and The River are all great albums, too. Also really nice to see Blue Earth in your top ten, as I've been a huge fan of the Jayhawks for many years and love that album. Excellent work overall, especially on your notes!
Great albums I guess some I wouldn't play so much. We have quite a few similar choices

Interesting number one pick.
Nice chart!
Good choice at #1.
Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment
Your feedback for Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.