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: 5 hours ago).
"Somewhere in time, is always thought of as the weakest of the Bruce Dickinson eighties albums, and yes, Alexander the great, is terrible, but the rest, especially the first side, is great. Caught somewhere in time, is a great opening track, and, wasted years, is a great pop metal anthem. Sea of m..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,503
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"New Romantic was almost over. Martin Fry used to say that he never was "a Blitz kid" but that he wanted this album to be seen as influenced by Punk. Which I can understand quite well, Punk was so over in 1982, but this was the new way to say "No!" though it sounded like a "Yes!". The lyrics of "D..." [+] Reply
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O.T. | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 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:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,494
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"I really like this album, sometimes I prefer British Steel and the main reason is consistency, while some tracks like Riding On The Wind, Electric Eye, You've Got Another Thing Comin are great and are top tier metal songs, there are some stinkers here (Fever, Pain & Pleasure, Take These Chains). ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,493
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"This is an easy album to not take seriously, partially thanks to the videos. But george michael was a very good singer-songwriter, who shows it not just on "father figure" and "one more try", but also lesser known songs like the desperate urgency of "hand to mouth" and the beautifully-plaintive p..." [+] Reply
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paladisiac | 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:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,492
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Yet another great Nick Cave album, and really the last of the more darker earlier records. After this, Cave wouldn't exactly turn into Elton John, but his music would become more accessible, although still not exactly commercial. The tender prey kicks off with, the mercy seat, another classic Cav..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,491
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Comments:
"Oh so sorry Jimmy dread, but my 'review' wasn't actually a 'review' it was 'comment', hence the 'showing all 11 comments', it would have been slightly different else. Your 'reveiw' wasn't particularly constructive either. By the way, good luck with the parallel timeline." Reply
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,491
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Very much the most underrated Springsteen album. This was a mature answer to all the success of BitUSA, a reckoning of the price of too much fame with some of the most introspective, personal tracks he's written, like Walk Like a Man, Two Faces and Brilliant Disguise. Spare Parts and Cautious Man..." [+] Reply
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jhuik | 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:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,489
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Overall Rank:
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:
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Comments:
"Sting is excellent for his voice and his message. Consistently reflective and sometimes haunting he makes interesting music. I prefer the debut and Ten Summoners Tales over this, but I rank Nothing Like the Sun 3rd or 4th in his Catalogue Fragile is a fantastic song. Englishman in New York is a f..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,484
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The talking heads were still experimenting in david byrne's latter years with the band, here incorporating a country flare working the steel guitar often." Reply
- paladisiac | 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:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,482
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Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 19 of 100
Best Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 122 | 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 | 91 | 9% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Cure | 10 | 1% | |
| Iron Maiden | 8 | 1% | |
| The Smiths | 8 | 1% | |
| Rush | 8 | 1% | |
| U2 | 7 | 1% | |
| The Fall | 7 | 1% | |
| Depeche Mode | 7 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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|||
 |
413 | 41% | |
 |
391 | 39% | |
 |
40 | 4% | |
 |
29 | 3% | |
 |
22 | 2% | |
 |
20 | 2% | |
 |
12 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
