Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s
by 
Norman Bates 
90-100/100 records only. Work in progress.
- Chart updated: 04/06/2025 05:45
- (Created: 12/05/2011 04:08).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 16 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 26 votes). Please log in or create an account to leave a comment or assign a rating.
View the complete list of 60,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
[First added to this chart: 04/29/2012]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31,417
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 04/29/2012]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,568
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 04/29/2012]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,261
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 04/29/2012]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,712
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 04/29/2012]
[First added to this chart: 04/29/2012]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,282
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 04/29/2012]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,793
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 04/29/2012]
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,811
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 04/29/2012]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,674
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 07/15/2015]
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
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 | 13 | 13% | |
| 1981 | 12 | 12% | |
| 1982 | 16 | 16% | |
| 1983 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1984 | 9 | 9% | |
| 1985 | 8 | 8% | |
| 1986 | 5 | 5% | |
| 1987 | 9 | 9% | |
| 1988 | 12 | 12% | |
| 1989 | 6 | 6% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Bruce Springsteen | 1 | 1% | |
| Butthole Surfers | 1 | 1% | |
| Nigger Kojak & Liza | 1 | 1% | |
| The Smiths | 1 | 1% | |
| Alan Vega | 1 | 1% | |
| The Pastels | 1 | 1% | |
| Dead Kennedys | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
45 | 45% | |
 |
32 | 32% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
4 | 4% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
| |
2 | 2% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
Up 47 from 85th to 38th |
Up 44 from 91st to 47th |
Up 43 from 89th to 46th |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
Down 55 from 45th to 100th |
Down 45 from 42nd to 87th |
Down 45 from 50th to 95th |
| New entries |
|---|
| Leavers |
|---|
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  SuedeSwede | 1980s decade chart | 2015 | |
| Pitchfork: The 100 Best Albums Of The 1980s (2002) | WayneMC | Custom chart | 2020 | |
| Top 100 Albums of the 1980s | Pitchfork | 1980s decade chart | 2002 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  Hanshiro | 1980s decade chart | 2019 |  |
| Top 99 Music Albums of the 1980s |  CellarDoor | 1980s decade chart | 2012 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | dwils0891 | 1980s decade chart | 2012 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | badger | 1980s decade chart | 2021 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | sonicdiscourse | 1980s decade chart | 2016 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  ssteve | 1980s decade chart | 2023 |  |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s |  covecove | 1980s decade chart | 2021 |  |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s similarity to your chart(s)
Not a member? Creating an account is quick, easy and FREE!
Join 50,000+ music fans
- Join a community of over 50,000 music fans.
- Create & share your own charts.
- Influence the overall album 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.
- Unlock Dark Mode and other member features.
- Help maintain the BEA database.
- Earn member points and gain access to increasing levels of functionality!
- And much more.
Join now It only takes a moment.
Other decade charts by Norman Bates
Norman Bates has shared 6 more decade charts with the community. Browse them all here.| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | Norman Bates | 2010s decade chart | 2017 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | Norman Bates | 2000s decade chart | 2017 | |
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 3 ratings for this chart. | Show all 26 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 04/20/2025 17:32 | Johnnyo | 2,687 | 80/100 |
| ! | 10/23/2019 11:12 | LankyLen | 45 | 85/100 |
| ! | 10/07/2018 10:19 |  phantom1305 | 290 | 92/100 |
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 89.5/100, a mean average of 90.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 91.0/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.3.
Please log in or create an account if you want to be able to leave a rating
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s favourites
Showing all 6 members who have added this chart as a favourite
Forum mentions
This chart has been referenced 3 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From 
BestEverAlbums 04/20/2025 08:00 in Chart of the day (#4925): By Norman Bates
BestEverAlbums 04/20/2025 08:00 in Chart of the day (#4925): By Norman Bates“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by Norman Bates () 1. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths (1986) 2. Crazy Rhythms by The Feelies (1980) 3. Colossal Youth by Young Marble Giants (1980) 4. Seventeen Seconds by The Cure (1980) 5. Yip/Jump Music by Daniel Johnston (1983) 6.…”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 02/03/2015 09:00 in Chart of the day (#1204): By Norman Bates
BestEverAlbums 02/03/2015 09:00 in Chart of the day (#1204): By Norman Bates“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by Norman Bates () 1. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths (1986) 2. Crazy Rhythms by The Feelies (1980) 3. Fire Of Love by The Gun Club (1981) 4. Colossal Youth by Young Marble Giants (1980) 5. Paid In Full by Eric B. & Rakim (1987) 6. Daydream…”
View forum post →From BestEverAlbums 08/06/2014 08:00 in Chart of the day (#1023): By Norman Bates
BestEverAlbums 08/06/2014 08:00 in Chart of the day (#1023): By Norman Bates“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by Norman Bates () 1. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths (1986) 2. Crazy Rhythms by The Feelies (1980) 3. Fire Of Love by The Gun Club (1981) 4. Colossal Youth by Young Marble Giants (1980) 5. Paid In Full by Eric B. & Rakim (1987) 6. Daydream…”
View forum post →Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s comments
Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 16 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
From
Johnnyo 04/20/2025 17:32 | #308630
Very good chart. (Edited)
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
LankyLen 10/23/2019 11:13 | #244037
Great chart! Not your typical 80s list, but not ignoring the classics either
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
rogue 02/04/2015 00:23 | #133900
rogue 02/04/2015 00:23 | #133900
There's a lot of feels here. Awesomely eclectic and I'm unaware of a startling number of these bands. Will definitely look into!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
Manigoldo90 02/03/2015 12:00 | #133825
Amazing chart man. Love to see Feelies, Gun Club, Arthur Russell, Minutemen, Meat Puppets and other artists I love in a single chart.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From
HoldenM 02/03/2015 09:02 | #133824
HoldenM 02/03/2015 09:02 | #133824
Eeeeeexcellent.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Please log in or create an account if you want to be able to add a comment
Your feedback for Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s
What do you think of this chart? Leave a comment or rate it below!
Log in or create an account to rate this chart, leave comments and join the discussion.
