Best Albums of the 1980s
Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 4 hours ago).
"Very under-rated album, the songs flow very well and there's some great songs here: specifically: Little Lies, Seven Wonders and Everywhere." Reply
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,697
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"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:
1,649
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"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:
1,627
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"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
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Rank Score:
1,612
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"I listen to this one on vinyl all the time since my uncle gave me an original copy along with Purple Rain. The sum is greater than it's parts for sure as it has a loose concept going on based on the horrible movie Prince directed (The one talent he didn't exactly shine in, though a decent actor)...." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,605
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"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:
1,586
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"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:
1,583
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"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:
1,580
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"This is definitely my favorite Kate Bush album, so I was surprised to find it so low. The words “too effiminate” for a moment made me lose all faith in humankind; will there ever be a day where feminine will not mean childish or dumb or... you know the drill. And the dislikes are nice, but I see ..." [+] Reply
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Boltzmann | 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:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,569
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"An excellent metal album which I have gotten into more with repeated listens. 'Holy Diver' and 'Don't Talk to Strangers' are awesome metal tracks, in fact the latter is one of my all time favourite metal tracks. A very underrated metal classic." Reply
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,563
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Total albums: 1,000. Page 17 of 100
Best Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 121 | 12% | |
| 1981 | 119 | 12% | |
| 1982 | 107 | 11% | |
| 1983 | 96 | 10% | |
| 1984 | 101 | 10% | |
| 1985 | 88 | 9% | |
| 1986 | 91 | 9% | |
| 1987 | 89 | 9% | |
| 1988 | 97 | 10% | |
| 1989 | 92 | 9% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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|||
| The Cure | 10 | 1% | |
| The Smiths | 8 | 1% | |
| Rush | 8 | 1% | |
| Iron Maiden | 8 | 1% | |
| R.E.M. | 7 | 1% | |
| Talking Heads | 7 | 1% | |
| U2 | 7 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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 |
412 | 41% | |
 |
392 | 39% | |
 |
40 | 4% | |
 |
29 | 3% | |
 |
22 | 2% | |
 |
20 | 2% | |
 |
12 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
