Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by RoundTheBend

Listened to 279 albums of the 80s. Mostly happy, but after 90 I'm not too sure about how they compare with each other.

Yes... I love U2 and this is ranked by what I like most. Just ignore them altogether if you want to see more from the 80s. I really tried to go beyond my comfort zone on this and it was quite the rewarding experience.

Also were there other bands in the 80s besides U2 and R.E.M.? hehe just kidding... they just totally dominate that decade for me. Not a metal or butt rock fan. Only a few punk bands really got me and then there's Madonna... so yeah... totally happy with my U2 and R.E.M. :).

There are 8 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s has an average rating of 85 out of 100 (from 12 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

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100 [First added to this chart: 01/26/2012]
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
19,874
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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100 [First added to this chart: 04/04/2012]
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,811
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
3. (=)
Buy album United States
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100 [First added to this chart: 01/26/2012]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,479
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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97.8 [First added to this chart: 04/09/2012]
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,757
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
5. (=)
War 
Ireland U2
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94 [First added to this chart: 01/26/2012]
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,529
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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93.75
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
605
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • #Sponsored
93.6 [First added to this chart: 04/09/2012]
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
254
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
8. (6) Down2
Boy 
Ireland U2
Buy album United States
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93.6 [First added to this chart: 01/26/2012]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,215
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
9. (7) Down2
Ireland U2
Buy album United States
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92.9 [First added to this chart: 04/21/2016]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,466
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
10. (8) Down2
Eponymous 
Compilation
Buy album United States
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92.5 [First added to this chart: 01/26/2012]
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
132
Rank in 1988:
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 9 9%
1981 8 8%
1982 9 9%
1983 10 10%
1984 9 9%
1985 8 8%
1986 10 10%
1987 8 8%
1988 14 14%
1989 15 15%
Artist Albums %


R.E.M. 8 8%
U2 7 7%
The Cure 3 3%
Red Hot Chili Peppers 3 3%
Talking Heads 3 3%
Paul Simon 3 3%
Joy Division 2 2%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 53 53%
United Kingdom 25 25%
Ireland 8 8%
Mixed Nationality 6 6%
Germany 2 2%
Australia 2 2%
Canada 2 2%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 91 91%
Yes 9 9%
Live? Albums %
No 98 98%
Yes 2 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 98 98%
Yes 2 2%

Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s chart changes

Biggest climbers
Climber Up 13 from 48th to 35th
Doolittle
by Pixies
Biggest fallers
Faller Down 18 from 67th to 85th
13 Songs
by Fugazi
Faller Down 18 from 77th to 95th
Closer
by Joy Division
Faller Down 18 from 78th to 96th
Brothers In Arms
by Dire Straits

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s ratings

Average Rating: 
85/100 (from 12 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
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).
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100/100
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12/08/2020 22:55 Rhyner  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,38299/100
 
90/100
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06/29/2017 03:58 Kuzh69  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 6890/100
 
90/100
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01/22/2017 14:53 Daydreamer  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1891/100
 
90/100
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08/22/2016 10:24 Leonard  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 31988/100
 
85/100
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05/04/2016 08:12 Grzywa  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2673/100

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This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 85.2/100, a mean average of 84.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 84.6/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 6.9.

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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s comments

Showing all 8 comments |
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From 09/06/2017 04:32
25% of the top 20 belong to U2! Can't wait to be able to do a whole one hundred - then maybe I could do the same!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 06/29/2017 04:03
Do not apologize for the top heavy U2 & R.E.M. They deserve it.
As a matter of fact, I saw R.E.M. In a field in Athens Georgia for FREE,
as they were just starting as unknowns playing some of their future
Murmur songs. Nice detail in all of your charts.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 01/22/2017 14:53
Good chart. Dominated by U2 but that's not bad. They were killing it in the 80's.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 08/22/2016 10:25
nice to see ELO-Time in your chart
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 05/02/2016 08:07
Totally happy with whatever makes you happy:) What I do like about your chart is: if you fancy U2 and REM, you just don't give a shit about 'variety' and let them dominate.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 05/02/2016 05:10
Hehe... were there other bands in the 80s besides U2 and R.E.M.? hehe just kidding... they just totally dominate that decade for me. Not a metal or butt rock fan. Only a few punk bands really got me and then there's Madonna... so yeah... totally happy with my U2 and R.E.M. :).
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 05/02/2016 04:55
Too much U2 and REM for me, but a good chart overall. Some of these picks were pretty odd though, like Sun City and The Message.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 04/09/2012 21:28
Why yes, that is how I would rank U2's 80's albums, as well.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1966
1. Revolver by The Beatles
2. Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
3. Blonde On Blonde by Bob Dylan
4. Sounds Of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel
5. Aftermath by The Rolling Stones
6. Freak Out! by The Mothers Of Invention
7. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme by Simon & Garfunkel
8. Face To Face by The Kinks
9. Wild Is The Wind by Nina Simone
10. The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators by 13th Floor Elevators
11. Ascension by John Coltrane
12. Fresh Cream by Cream
13. If You Can Believe Your Eyes And Ears by The Mamas And The Papas
14. Black Monk Time by Monks (US)
15. Fifth Dimension by The Byrds
16. Speak No Evil by Wayne Shorter
17. Sunshine Superman by Donovan
18. Blues Breakers by John Mayall & Eric Clapton
19. Da Capo by Love
20. Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo [The Good, The Bad & The Ugly] by Ennio Morricone
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