Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s
by New Music Express (1990)

New Musical Express is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. These are their best albums of 1980s.
(Official website: https://www.nme.com)

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1.

The Stone Roses 

 The Stone Roses

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Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,026 charts

Rank Score:

23,026

Rank in 1989:

3

Rank in 1980s:

5

Overall Rank:

33

Average Rating:

 86 (2,300 votes)

Comments:

203

2.

The Queen Is Dead 

 The Smiths

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Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,495 charts

Rank Score:

33,933

Rank in 1986:

1

Rank in 1980s:

1

Overall Rank:

16

Average Rating:

 88 (2,918 votes)

Comments:

265

3.

3 Feet High And Rising 

 De La Soul

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Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

562 charts

Rank Score:

3,990

Rank in 1989:

6

Rank in 1980s:

60

Overall Rank:

424

Average Rating:

 78 (608 votes)

Comments:

37

4.

Sign "O" The Times 

 Prince

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Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

887 charts

Rank Score:

8,783

Rank in 1987:

3

Rank in 1980s:

22

Overall Rank:

168

Average Rating:

 81 (947 votes)

Comments:

56

5.

It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back 

 Public Enemy

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Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

861 charts

Rank Score:

7,001

Rank in 1988:

4

Rank in 1980s:

29

Overall Rank:

229

Average Rating:

 80 (1,011 votes)

Comments:

60

6.

Psychocandy 

 The Jesus And Mary Chain

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Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

763 charts

Rank Score:

5,581

Rank in 1985:

5

Rank in 1980s:

40

Overall Rank:

301

Average Rating:

 79 (924 votes)

Comments:

68

7.

Hatful Of Hollow 

 The Smiths

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Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

630 charts

Rank Score:

5,981

Rank in 1984:

6

Rank in 1980s:

35

Overall Rank:

278

Average Rating:

 85 (1,047 votes)

Comments:

48

8.

Closer 

 Joy Division

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Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,518 charts

Rank Score:

15,209

Rank in 1980:

2

Rank in 1980s:

11

Overall Rank:

79

Average Rating:

 85 (1,924 votes)

Comments:

126

9.

Sound Affects 

 The Jam

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Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

311 charts

Rank Score:

1,820

Rank in 1980:

20

Rank in 1980s:

146

Overall Rank:

950

Average Rating:

 78 (391 votes)

Comments:

16

10.

Low-Life 

 New Order

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Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

411 charts

Rank Score:

2,691

Rank in 1985:

12

Rank in 1980s:

101

Overall Rank:

642

Average Rating:

 80 (493 votes)

Comments:

19

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Total albums: 50. Page 1 of 5

Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s composition

Country	Albums	%
	28	56%
	19	38%
	1	2%
	1	2%
	1	2%

Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s similar charts

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
250 Meisterwerke aus 5 Jahrzehnten - 80er	Sounds (DE)	1980s decade chart	2009
Die 50 besten Alben der 80er	Musikexpress.de	1980s decade chart	2003
Top 50 Music Albums of the 1980s	marleykeys	1980s decade chart	2023
Top 50 Music Albums of the 1980s	F1Aaron	1980s decade chart	2021
Los 50 Mejores Discos de los 80	Indie Hoy	1980s decade chart	2014
Top 50 Music Albums of the 1980s	RevolverCB72	1980s decade chart	2023
Top 50 Music Albums of the 1980s	C0NB9NN	1980s decade chart	2025
Top 50 Music Albums of the 1980s	BurndenAce	1980s decade chart	2025
Die besten Alben der 80er	laut	1980s decade chart	2014
Top 50 Music Albums of the 1980s	willowen9	1980s decade chart	2021

Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s similarity to your chart(s)

Other 1980s decade charts

There are 25 charts from recognised sources for 1980s (3 are listed below). There are also 801 user submitted charts covering this period.

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
The 500 Greatest Albums Of The 1980s	Uncut	1980s decade chart	2024
Greatest albums of the 1980s	Ultimate Record Collection (Magazine)	1980s decade chart	2024
Los 100 mejores discos de los años 80	Diariocrítico	1980s decade chart	2023

Other charts by New Music Express

Title	Source	Type	Published	Country
NME's Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s	New Music Express	2010s decade chart	2019
Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 2000s	New Music Express	2000s decade chart	2009
Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s	New Music Express	1980s decade chart	1990
Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1970s	New Music Express	1970s decade chart	1980
Top 50 Greatest Albums of the 1960s	New Music Express	1960s decade chart	1993

View all 61 charts here from New Music Express.

Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s ratings

Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 10 ratings for this chart.

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Chart ratings	Avg. chart rating
85/100  !	05/19/2022 15:47	BenCatania1	1	85/100
85/100  !	12/11/2020 07:57	pjohnsongolf	272	89/100
70/100  !	11/11/2020 13:04	Larcx13	1,145	86/100
80/100  !	08/17/2020 20:12	Chrispeater	138	82/100
100/100  !	07/27/2020 14:38	Timestarter	114	90/100

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 79.9/100, a mean average of 74.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.5/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 18.9.

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Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s comments

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From Gavin Cook 11/30/2021 21:59 | #276924

It's a shame so many charts I see these days insist on being trendy and cool. For example, U2 are not considered a cool band these days. But is it really fair to say all the albums in this list are better than Unforgettable Fire and Joshua Tree?

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

70/100

From FloydMJ 07/09/2019 21:56 | #239230

Pretty good but clearly missing Pixies and Metallica.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:  

35/100

From mianfei 04/04/2019 10:26 | #234490

Although this is better than NME’s later lists – reflecting their origins as a leftist promoter of punk and post-punk music – it still very much hints at later flaws that would ruin the magazine’s effectiveness in later decades.

No metal – at a time when that genre was transforming Enriched World culture in exactly the direction NME’s original editors stood for – is the worst of these blindnesses. There are too many mediocre new wave pop bands, too.

Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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