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: 1 hour ago).
"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:
1,503
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:
1,502
Rank in 1987:
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:
1,499
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
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:
1,497
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Wow how has no one commented on this and how is this rated so low? My favorite Fugazi album." Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,495
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Released in 1980, 'Underwater Moonlight' is an album that has stood the test of time remarkably well and still sounds fresh and inventive. Reminscent of the work of Television and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, the band manage to straddle the early new-wave of the former and the psychedlic whimsy of..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,486
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Morrissey's solo debut pretty much carried on where the Smiths left off, it was certainly on a par with Strangeways Here We Come, which had appeared only 6 months prior. This was a very nostalgic collection of songs for Morrissey which very clearly reached back into the early 70's. Viva Hate was ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,481
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
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:
1,476
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"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:
1,474
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
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:
1,470
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 19 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.
