Top 23 Music Albums of 1981
by mrmcrook 
Fucking great year. Usually the last few albums in a year list are duds. Not this year. All top notch. Hard to put in a definitive order. Compilations, greatest hits etc ranked after studio albums. Only fair in a year list.
My top 10 favorite songs from 1981
1. Def Leppard - Let it Go
2. Def Leppard - You got me Runnin'
3. Black Sabbath - Falling off the Edge of the World
4. Grace Jones - Walking in the Rain
5. Rose Tattoo - Magnum Maid
6. Saxon - Princess of the Night
7. Dead Kennedys - Hyperactive Child
8. Def Leppard - No No No
9. Split Enz - One Step Ahead
10. AC/DC - Any song from the album. They're all great
- Chart updated: 11/12/2025 01:15
- (Created: 10/02/2020 21:56).
- Chart size: 23 albums.
There is 1 comment for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 23 Music Albums of 1981 has an average rating of 88 out of 100 (from 2 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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94.50 By far Leppard's best album. This rocks right through. One of the greatest albums from the NWOBHM heyday. An absolute classic. All downhill after this as they went more commercial.
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
660
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90.00* Massively underrated. Every song great earworm and catchy. Great follow up to 'Back in Black'. It gave me a bit of faith in Brian. Then it turned a bit shit and was all downhill after this. No weak tracks on this at all. Worthy to have in a collection 03/25
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
633
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87.50 Rediscovered this after 30 years lost. Raw hard pub rock. If the production was better this would be an ultimate classic. Every song a gem.
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
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87.22 Not up to the caliber of 'Heaven and Hell' but not far off. Dio's second effort still produces a solid bit of work. Goes up and down in the pace and tempo of the songs making it a bit of a mish mash as far as flow goes. But still a great album. I rate this above any of Dio's solo albums except for 'Holy Diver' 03/24
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
795
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85.750* Short, fast, furious with the majority of songs just topping the minute mark. Try singing along to them. Not a shit show. How Jello can verbalize at the speed he does is beyond me. This is probably more one for the fanatic DK fans. Wouldn't be the one to introduce them to newcomers. Favorite line is from 'Moral Majority' - "Masturbating with a flag and a bible." Hilarious as ever.
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
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85.00 This is an massively under rated Split Enz album. I rate it on level par with True Colours. Great from start to finish. Even the unknown tracks you'd deem as filler, aren't. Fucking fantastic album. Love it. 06/24
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
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85.00 Not as strong as there debut but still with a lot of great songs. A few of them have a bit of a same feel about them and Di'Anno's vocals aren't quite up to par as with the first album. But still a great album which deserves to be about where it seems to be placed in the rankings of Maiden albums. There's a few that are better, there are more that are worse. 02/24
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,192
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Average Rating:
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84.44 Great album. One of the staples within the NWOBHM era. A lot of classic killer tracks. Worthy in any metal collection. Some cheesy lyrics but we can look past that. 03/24
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
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80.333* A style and sound of her own makes Grace Jones one you pull out regularly and this is the album with her two most well known songs on it. Having Sly & Robbie in your rhythm section helps 11/25
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,126
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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80.00
[First added to this chart: 10/02/2020]
Total albums: 23. Page 1 of 3
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Top 23 Music Albums of 1981 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Split Enz | 1 | 4% | |
| Joe Jackson | 1 | 4% | |
| Iron Maiden | 1 | 4% | |
| ABBA | 1 | 4% | |
| Saxon | 1 | 4% | |
| Ted Nugent | 1 | 4% | |
| Grace Jones | 1 | 4% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 23 Music Albums of 1981 chart changes
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Top 23 Music Albums of 1981 ratings
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Showing all 2 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 03/16/2024 23:05 |  Repo | 561 | 100/100 |
| ! | 07/09/2021 20:13 |  Rhyner | 1,456 | 99/100 |
Top 23 Music Albums of 1981 favourites
Top 23 Music Albums of 1981 comments
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From Repo 03/16/2024 23:08 | #302561
Repo 03/16/2024 23:08 | #302561
Rose Tattoo are sooo underrated and glad you have it ahead of For Those About To.... I actually like Flick of The Switch better than it.
Great call! High N' Dry is easily my fave too but man do I have a soft spot for Pyromania.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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