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)
View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
- #Sponsored
- #Sponsored
- #Sponsored
- #Sponsored
- #Sponsored
- #Sponsored
- #Sponsored
- #Sponsored
- #Sponsored
- #Sponsored
Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 6 | 12% | |
| 1981 | 3 | 6% | |
| 1982 | 7 | 14% | |
| 1983 | 1 | 2% | |
| 1984 | 3 | 6% | |
| 1985 | 7 | 14% | |
| 1986 | 6 | 12% | |
| 1987 | 5 | 10% | |
| 1988 | 8 | 16% | |
| 1989 | 4 | 8% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Smiths | 4 | 8% | |
| Dexys Midnight Runners | 2 | 4% | |
| Elvis Costello And The Attractions | 2 | 4% | |
| Echo & The Bunnymen | 2 | 4% | |
| Tom Waits | 2 | 4% | |
| Public Enemy | 2 | 4% | |
| Mary Margaret O'Hara | 1 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
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)
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greatest albums of the 1980s | Ultimate Record Collection (Magazine) | 1980s decade chart | 2024 | |
| The 500 Greatest Albums Of The 1980s | Uncut | 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
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 10 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 05/19/2022 15:47 | BenCatania1 | 1 | 85/100 |
| ! | 12/11/2020 07:57 |  pjohnsongolf | 272 | 89/100 |
| ! | 11/11/2020 13:04 |  Larcx13 | 1,145 | 86/100 |
| ! | 08/17/2020 20:12 | Chrispeater | 138 | 82/100 |
| ! | 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.
Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s favourites
Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s comments
Showing all 3 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)
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?
Pretty good but clearly missing Pixies and Metallica.
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.
Your feedback for Top 100 Greatest 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.
