Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s
by 
Purplepash 
My favourite decade of music is 86-95 so the last half of this decade dominates this chart
- Chart updated: 10/08/2025 09:15
- (Created: 06/05/2017 01:10).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
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"With your feet in the air and your head on the ground"
My desert island disc. If I had only one album I could listen to ever again I would choose this. After over 25 years of listening to this album I still regularly play it and love it every time with no sign of ever tiring of it. My favourite band ever...I even have a Pixies tattoo.
Vamos is my beloved track, closely followed by Where Is My Mind?. Gigantic is a classic, Cactus is a favourite, and the 1-2 punch of Bone Machine and Break My Body is an awesome start to the album. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
My desert island disc. If I had only one album I could listen to ever again I would choose this. After over 25 years of listening to this album I still regularly play it and love it every time with no sign of ever tiring of it. My favourite band ever...I even have a Pixies tattoo.
Vamos is my beloved track, closely followed by Where Is My Mind?. Gigantic is a classic, Cactus is a favourite, and the 1-2 punch of Bone Machine and Break My Body is an awesome start to the album. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,008
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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"I was trying so hard to please myself,
I was turning into somebody else.
I was trying so hard to be myself
I was turning into somebody else."
This is one of those records that I just don't get how everyone doesn't see it's greatness. It is powerful and passionate, with fantastic emotive vocals and interesting post punky but accessible music. The songs are all constructed so well and the album flows like a story. Speaking of which there is a story being told here on both a personal and a political level, and if you get the chance to see the music videos that were made for every song on this album, in order, it all becomes so clear. It is a mixed media masterpiece. (music, video, short movies, long film). Great lyrics throughout.
10/10 songs: Seriously the first six songs are all perfect. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
I was turning into somebody else.
I was trying so hard to be myself
I was turning into somebody else."
This is one of those records that I just don't get how everyone doesn't see it's greatness. It is powerful and passionate, with fantastic emotive vocals and interesting post punky but accessible music. The songs are all constructed so well and the album flows like a story. Speaking of which there is a story being told here on both a personal and a political level, and if you get the chance to see the music videos that were made for every song on this album, in order, it all becomes so clear. It is a mixed media masterpiece. (music, video, short movies, long film). Great lyrics throughout.
10/10 songs: Seriously the first six songs are all perfect. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,031
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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"I hope you know that this will go down
On your permanent record"
A near perfect collection of teenage angst songs that are honest and relatable but a whole lot of fun at the same time. I was a teenager in the eighties when I first started listening to this sing along album and it always left me in a great mood.
Favourite tracks: Literally all of them, however I've seen them live a few times, and the first time in the early nineties they finished their show with Good Feeling and that was a perfect way to finish and one of my most memorable live musical moments ever. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
On your permanent record"
A near perfect collection of teenage angst songs that are honest and relatable but a whole lot of fun at the same time. I was a teenager in the eighties when I first started listening to this sing along album and it always left me in a great mood.
Favourite tracks: Literally all of them, however I've seen them live a few times, and the first time in the early nineties they finished their show with Good Feeling and that was a perfect way to finish and one of my most memorable live musical moments ever. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,053
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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"Got me a movie
I want you to know
Slicing up eyeballs
I want you to know
Girlie so groovy
I want you to know
Don't know about you
But I am un chien andalusia"
Quality album from beginning to end. I remember the summer of 89/90 my mate copied this album and Surfer Rosa on each side of a tape. I hardly listened to anything else that summer and played to everyone who would listen.
10/10"songs: A third of the album! Hey, Debaser, Wave of Mutilation, Tame, and Monkey Gone To Heaven [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
I want you to know
Slicing up eyeballs
I want you to know
Girlie so groovy
I want you to know
Don't know about you
But I am un chien andalusia"
Quality album from beginning to end. I remember the summer of 89/90 my mate copied this album and Surfer Rosa on each side of a tape. I hardly listened to anything else that summer and played to everyone who would listen.
10/10"songs: A third of the album! Hey, Debaser, Wave of Mutilation, Tame, and Monkey Gone To Heaven [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31,548
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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"Last night I dreamt
That somebody loved me
No hope, no harm
Just another false alarm"
Oh the feelings I get from these lines, and from the music, the whole song. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loves Me is one of my favourite songs. Nearly all of The Smiths albums have been my favourite of theirs at some stage...they are all that good...but with the passing of time this is now the one I seem enjoy the most. Although I loved it from first listening when my mate bought it the day it came out.
Favourite songs: As well as Last Night... I love the emotional music, and the sadness of the lyrics, of Death of a Disco Dancer. Girlfriend In A Coma, is a brilliantly dark but bubbly pop song. I love the scathing attack on the music industry machinations in Paint A Vulgar Picture. A Rush and a Push... and Stop Me... are just such fun songs to listen and singalong to. And finishing with the moving I Won't Share You it's an album full of favourite songs. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
That somebody loved me
No hope, no harm
Just another false alarm"
Oh the feelings I get from these lines, and from the music, the whole song. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loves Me is one of my favourite songs. Nearly all of The Smiths albums have been my favourite of theirs at some stage...they are all that good...but with the passing of time this is now the one I seem enjoy the most. Although I loved it from first listening when my mate bought it the day it came out.
Favourite songs: As well as Last Night... I love the emotional music, and the sadness of the lyrics, of Death of a Disco Dancer. Girlfriend In A Coma, is a brilliantly dark but bubbly pop song. I love the scathing attack on the music industry machinations in Paint A Vulgar Picture. A Rush and a Push... and Stop Me... are just such fun songs to listen and singalong to. And finishing with the moving I Won't Share You it's an album full of favourite songs. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,730
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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"And when I'm lying in my
"And when I'm lying in my bed
I think about life
and I think about death
and neither one particularly appeals to me"
The Smiths were probably my first serious obsession, and one of, if not the most, influential band in the early days of my musical journey. I still listen to them regularly and doubt I'll ever stop.
10/10 songs: That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, Barbarism Begins At Home, The Headmaster Ritual, Rusholme Ruffians. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
"And when I'm lying in my bed
I think about life
and I think about death
and neither one particularly appeals to me"
The Smiths were probably my first serious obsession, and one of, if not the most, influential band in the early days of my musical journey. I still listen to them regularly and doubt I'll ever stop.
10/10 songs: That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore, Barbarism Begins At Home, The Headmaster Ritual, Rusholme Ruffians. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,360
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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"t's so easy to laugh
It's so easy to hate
It takes strength to be gentle and kind
Over, over, over, over
It's so easy to laugh
It's so easy to hate
It takes guts to be gentle and kind"
The above lines are my favourite lyrics by anyone ever. They have had a lifelong impact on me. From an album full of great lyrics. I sing along to the whole album...every song.
10/10 songs: I Know It's Over, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, The Queen Is Dead, Bigmouth Strikes Again, & The Boy With The Thorn In His Side. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
It's so easy to hate
It takes strength to be gentle and kind
Over, over, over, over
It's so easy to laugh
It's so easy to hate
It takes guts to be gentle and kind"
The above lines are my favourite lyrics by anyone ever. They have had a lifelong impact on me. From an album full of great lyrics. I sing along to the whole album...every song.
10/10 songs: I Know It's Over, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, The Queen Is Dead, Bigmouth Strikes Again, & The Boy With The Thorn In His Side. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
33,887
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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"I'm very scared for this world, I'm very scared for me"
Document was my first favourite REM album, then for a long time it was Automatic For The People. But now this the one I enjoy revisiting the most, despite Stand ;) Actually Stand is not that bad for what is, a feel good upbeat song. But it's the fragile beauty of You Are The Everything, and the emotionally powerful The Wrong Child (such a sad song and a real grower) that keep me coming back. As well as the classic Orange Crush and all the other great songs.
10/10 songs: You Are The Everything, The Wrong Child, Orange Crush, World Leader Pretend, and Pop Song 89. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
Document was my first favourite REM album, then for a long time it was Automatic For The People. But now this the one I enjoy revisiting the most, despite Stand ;) Actually Stand is not that bad for what is, a feel good upbeat song. But it's the fragile beauty of You Are The Everything, and the emotionally powerful The Wrong Child (such a sad song and a real grower) that keep me coming back. As well as the classic Orange Crush and all the other great songs.
10/10 songs: You Are The Everything, The Wrong Child, Orange Crush, World Leader Pretend, and Pop Song 89. [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,523
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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"Well, come on and let it happen to you
You gotta open up your mind and let everything come through"
Not their lyrics but they sum up the album. Two covers on this seven song album but both of them are arguably better than the originals. One of my most listened to albums of the late 80s that I still lose myself in every time.
10/10 songs: O.D. Catastrophe, Little Doll, Losing Touch With My Mind [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
You gotta open up your mind and let everything come through"
Not their lyrics but they sum up the album. Two covers on this seven song album but both of them are arguably better than the originals. One of my most listened to albums of the late 80s that I still lose myself in every time.
10/10 songs: O.D. Catastrophe, Little Doll, Losing Touch With My Mind [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
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"Does the body rule the mind
Or does the mind rule the body?
I don't know"
I was a teenager in the 80s listening to alternative music so it sort of goes without saying how impactful on me, and how influential this album was. To this day I still try to get my mind to rule my body. The power of positive thinking.
10/10 songs: Still Ill, Reel Around The Fountain, Hand In Glove, What Difference Does It Make? [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
Or does the mind rule the body?
I don't know"
I was a teenager in the 80s listening to alternative music so it sort of goes without saying how impactful on me, and how influential this album was. To this day I still try to get my mind to rule my body. The power of positive thinking.
10/10 songs: Still Ill, Reel Around The Fountain, Hand In Glove, What Difference Does It Make? [First added to this chart: 06/04/2017]
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,948
Rank in 1984:
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 | 5 | 5% | |
| 1982 | 3 | 3% | |
| 1983 | 5 | 5% | |
| 1984 | 11 | 11% | |
| 1985 | 6 | 6% | |
| 1986 | 17 | 17% | |
| 1987 | 13 | 13% | |
| 1988 | 19 | 19% | |
| 1989 | 11 | 11% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Smiths | 8 | 8% | |
| Pixies | 4 | 4% | |
| The Cure | 4 | 4% | |
| Prince And The Revolution | 3 | 3% | |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 3 | 3% | |
| The Jesus And Mary Chain | 3 | 3% | |
| R.E.M. | 3 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 1 from 83rd to 82nd From Her To Eternity by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds |
| Up 1 from 82nd to 81st Substance by Joy Division |
| Up 1 from 81st to 80th Standing On A Beach - The Singles by The Cure |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 34 from 49th to 83rd London 0 Hull 4 by The Housemartins |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s similar charts
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  flyingcitrus | 1980s decade chart | 2018 |  |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  Grzywa | 1980s decade chart | 2016 |  |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | chriskarman | 1980s decade chart | 2022 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  MrFrogger | 1980s decade chart | 2015 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  badseed | 1980s decade chart | 2016 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  infinitejester | 1980s decade chart | 2020 | |
| Top 82 Music Albums of the 1980s | LosWochos | 1980s decade chart | 2020 |  |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  ssteve | 1980s decade chart | 2023 |  |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  eclab | 1980s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  Onater | 1980s decade chart | 2019 |  |
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Other decade charts by Purplepash
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s | Purplepash | 2020s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | Purplepash | 2010s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | Purplepash | 2000s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | Purplepash | 1990s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | Purplepash | 1980s decade chart | 2025 | |
Purplepash has created 4 other 1980s decade charts - click here to explore them all.
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 14 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 03/28/2025 17:01 | Johnnyo | 2,557 | 80/100 |
| ! | 01/28/2025 01:20 | matterhornrider | 97 | 93/100 |
| ! | 05/08/2024 11:57 |  Leonard | 341 | 88/100 |
| ! | 12/14/2020 17:52 | TheKing | 78 | 90/100 |
| ! | 11/25/2020 17:53 |  desh79 | 1,278 | 93/100 |
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 10% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 87.9/100, a mean average of 89.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 89.3/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 8.4.
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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s comments
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From Johnnyo 03/28/2025 17:02 | #308234
Great chart. Love it. Like you I also love the last 80’s / early 90’s.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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