Best Albums of the 1980s
Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 58,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 5 hours ago).
"Absolutely adore this album. Def Leppard's best. Perfect mix of pop, heavy metal and hard rock. It sounds dated in comparison to Hysteria, but has a more rawer sound to that pop masterpiece. Each song is killer. Favourites include "Photograph", "Rock Rock Till You Drop", "Rock of Ages", "Comin' U..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,660
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Released in the same year Black Sabbath released Heaven and Hell and Saxon released Wheels of Steel. The metal scene at the time was sizzling with new talent and this album with its iconic timeless cover was timed perfectly. Rob Halford's voice has taken me a while to gravitate to but there is no..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,628
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Best Punk album I ever heard." Reply
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alelsupreme | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +9 votes (9 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:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,621
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Why are all the track ratings on this so low? Normally only interludes and tracks that are actually offensively bad get as low as 73, but that's the average for The Devil's Eye, and Love Goes On, the best song on the album, only has a 77." Reply
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Onater | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 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:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,618
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This album is definitely one of Janet's best. It's one of those rare albums that is fantastic from start to finish. "Rhythm Nation 1814" was quite a contrast to her mega breakthrough album, "Control." "Rhythm Nation 1814" would spawn a jaw dropping SEVEN top 5 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. A rec..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,593
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Laurie Anderson is not just a musician, but also a performance artist. Now, while I have no trouble defending the music on Big Science, I am well aware that it was originally presented (and arguably is meant to be presented) as a full performance piece, with the music only being a portion. Just t..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,589
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This is a very solid record in terms of music. 10 solid songs, with good melodies, and interesting instrumentation. The problem lies in the lack of stand out material. Everything here is very simple, and in many ways very 50s. Tracks like Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Save Me, Play the Game, ar..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,589
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Even if he doesn't seem to realize it to this day, being thrown out of Metallica was undoubtedly the best thing that could have happened to Mustaine, not least because, well, it eventually paved the way for this - a distinctive, punkish, scorching and urgent beast of an album further elevated by ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,587
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"It is all about the music. In this case there are no clever lyrics to distract. For me it works grand, just to sing along and feel good. The Police were a really good band. This is actually my favourite." Reply
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,585
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Exemplifies, more than any other XTC album, why I sometimes describe them as the band the Beatles would have been if they'd had to challenge themselves to expand the range of pop music beyond the range already established, before them, by the Beatles. Dense, layered, fussy, but exuberant songs as..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,585
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 17 of 100
Best Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 119 | 12% | |
| 1981 | 119 | 12% | |
| 1982 | 107 | 11% | |
| 1983 | 96 | 10% | |
| 1984 | 100 | 10% | |
| 1985 | 87 | 9% | |
| 1986 | 92 | 9% | |
| 1987 | 87 | 9% | |
| 1988 | 98 | 10% | |
| 1989 | 96 | 10% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Cure | 10 | 1% | |
| Iron Maiden | 8 | 1% | |
| Depeche Mode | 8 | 1% | |
| The Smiths | 8 | 1% | |
| Rush | 8 | 1% | |
| U2 | 7 | 1% | |
| The Fall | 7 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
414 | 41% | |
 |
392 | 39% | |
 |
40 | 4% | |
 |
27 | 3% | |
 |
22 | 2% | |
 |
20 | 2% | |
 |
12 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
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We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
