Best Albums of 1981
Listed below are the best albums of 1981 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 2 hours ago).
"This album is breathtaking. It's a kind of merging of the Cramps 'voodoobilly', Robert Johnson's Delta blues, Louisiana's swamp rhythms, Jim Morrison's dark and sensual dialectics, and California's hardcore scene. The end result is an hypnotic amphetaminic demonic rock'n'roll that bridged a fine ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,783
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Has anyone noticed, the three symbols are their heads? Misunderstood album. It is a dark, serious, album, other than "Everything she does is magic". I love "Darkness", no one else seems to." Reply
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ChrisPBacon | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,778
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Despite being largely an "odds and sods" collection of leftovers from previous albums, it works amazingly well as its own album and IMO is the last true classic Stones album before overpriced nostalgia tours and endless Greatest Hits recyclings became the norm." Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,777
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Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"correction: this album is not excellent.... it's PERFECT !" Reply
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cartoken | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,768
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Rank in 1980s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Fascinating and spellbinding instrumental music. I haven't listened to a lot of Swans, but I can hear their origins in the pounding drone-grooves that these compositions frequently settle into. All in all, this is a powerful listen, but I honestly can't see myself returning to it. Edit: I returne..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,524
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Not as good as Ocean Rain but getting there. Love the way it builds towards a climax towards the end of the 2nd side with a brace of brilliant songs." Reply
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johnner | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,487
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I like Phil Collins but like many in the 80's got sick of seeing him as he inundated the album charts with solo albums, Genesis work, on other artists records, movies (Buster), Live Aid (both UK and US), etc. you get the drift. I haven't recovered from this saturation decades later. I only own th..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,279
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Another step up from the debut by what was to become the world's greatest heavy metal band. Does not contain any track as strong as Running Free from the previous outing, but the general quality has improved. Best tracks: Wrathchild and Killers. A couple more months of songwriting and a new singe..." [+] Reply
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Bork | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,159
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"An essential piece of post-disco and art pop. For an album that is essentially a collection of covers, it feels incredibly personal and cohesive, combining excellent variation within its sound with brilliant execution and good structure. Jones cements herself here as one of the most interesting a..." [+] Reply
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DeusExMackia | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,130
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Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"First New Order album sounds just like Joy Division without Ian Curtis' voice and lyrics. It's still a really good record and it's understandable that it would sound like their last record(i.e.. Joy Division) but it can't help being weighed down by that great band. Still, a good album, just livin..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,089
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100
Best Albums of 1981 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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| Various Artists | 15 | 1% | |
| Frank Zappa | 5 | 0% | |
| Scientist | 4 | 0% | |
| David Bowie | 3 | 0% | |
| 喜多郎 [Kitarō] | 3 | 0% | |
| Simple Minds | 3 | 0% | |
| Gary Numan | 3 | 0% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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 |
314 | 31% | |
 |
272 | 27% | |
 |
61 | 6% | |
 |
41 | 4% | |
 |
35 | 3% | |
 |
30 | 3% | |
 |
29 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
