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)
There are 3 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s has an average rating of 80 out of 100 (from 10 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
14,685
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,823
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Rank in 1980s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
27,285
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Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,506
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Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
574
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
978
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 6. Page 1 of 1
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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% | |
| Prince And The Revolution | 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 | C0NB9NN | 1980s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 50 Music Albums of the 1980s |  RevolverCB72 | 1980s decade chart | 2023 |  |
| 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 |  |
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Other 1980s decade charts
A total of 25 charts from recognised sources are available for 1980s, with the 3 most prominent highlighted below. Additionally, there are 806 user submitted charts covering this period.
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s | New Music Express | 1980s decade chart | 1990 | |
| The 500 Greatest Albums Of The 1980s | Uncut | 1980s decade chart | 2024 | |
| 100 Best Albums of the Eighties | Rolling Stone | 1980s decade chart | 1989 | |
Other charts by New Music Express
A total of 61charts from New Music Express are available; the 3 most recent of this type are highlighted below.
| 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 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 | 1,139 | 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
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From 
Gavin Cook 11/30/2021 21:59 | #276924
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)
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)
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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