Best Albums of 1980
Listed below are the best albums of 1980 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 58,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 5 hours ago).
"David Byrne set out to do the extreme with Eno as producer in '80 when post punk and new wave magically intertwined with obscure funk, which was the foundation for the amazing "Remain In Light". Polyrhytmics and samples all over the place is the key to musical fragmentation here. Actually, litera..." [+] Reply
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calsper | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +9 votes (9 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
27,235
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Ian Curtis didn't live to see the release of Joy Division's second album, but the music he made on those two records will live forever. I think great music has to have the ability to make you feel something, and Closer definitely has that. It's impossible to listen to Closer and not feel somethin..." [+] Reply
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souplipton | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 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:
14,666
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"-Hey, we need a chorus for "Highway to hell". -Ok. What about "I'm on a highway to hell, highway to hell, highway to hell, highway to hell"? -Cool. We also need a chorus for "You shook me all night long". -I've got it. We could say, you know, "you shook me all night long, yeah, you shook me all n..." [+] Reply
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9999 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 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:
10,004
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"A slightly underrated record. 'It's No game (no. 1)' sticks out to me because of how completely unhinged and deranged it is." Reply
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,527
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"While Dead Kennedys get lauded for their incisive lyrics (rightfully so) the musicianship and tunes on this album are simple, aggressive, and cutting. Appropriate for the music. For me, they are as influential as the Sex Pistols or the Ramones." Reply
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junodog4 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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:
4,663
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"My favorite PG album without doubt. Fair enough to those who prefer So but PGIII is much more my style, reminiscent of contemporaries like Talking Heads but you're never going to mistake Peter Gabriel for anyone else, and this album has his mark all over it. Intruder opens things in what can only..." [+] Reply
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Caesar01 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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:
4,084
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Several other Bruce Springsteen records--Nebraska, Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and Born in the U.S.A.--are all candidates for my favorite from his catalog. But I'm going with The River because I think it is the album where his artistic vision is most fully realized. Here Springstee..." [+] Reply
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buzzdainer | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (4 helpful | 1 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:
3,985
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This is one of Rush's most consistent . . . and best ... albums. Along with the "hits" (Spirit of Radio, Freewill), there is the concise but brilliant 'Entre Nous,' and possibly the group's most intelligent and greatest epic length cut, 'Natural Science.'" Reply
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Fischman | 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:
2,962
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Excellent debut album. It's still The Pretenders greatest record with some fantastic songwriting on show. Chrissie Hynde was never more better than she was here on tracks such as, precious, kid, and, brass in pocket. There were many fine debut albums around the late seventies/early eighties, this..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,916
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"My favourite album by The Cure. It's one of those albums perfect for a dreary rainy day. Feels very minimal as if Smith produced the whole thing in his basement, it all builds up momentum to "A Forest" which is probably their best song. "Play for Today", "In Your House", and "M" are other highlig..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,776
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100
Best Albums of 1980 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Various Artists | 24 | 2% | |
| Cabaret Voltaire | 4 | 0% | |
| Joseph Keilberth / Bayreuth Festival Choir & Orchestra | 3 | 0% | |
| Boz Scaggs | 2 | 0% | |
| Teena Marie | 2 | 0% | |
| Cameo | 2 | 0% | |
| Black Sabbath | 2 | 0% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
306 | 31% | |
 |
292 | 29% | |
 |
49 | 5% | |
 |
48 | 5% | |
 |
38 | 4% | |
 |
32 | 3% | |
 |
31 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
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A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
| Best Artists of the 1970s | |
|---|---|
| 1. Pink Floyd | |
| 2. David Bowie | |
| 3. Led Zeppelin | |
| 4. Neil Young | |
| 5. The Rolling Stones | |
| 6. The Clash | |
| 7. Black Sabbath | |
| 8. Fleetwood Mac | |
| 9. Stevie Wonder | |
| 10. The Who | |
| 11. Genesis | |
| 12. Brian Eno | |
| 13. Joni Mitchell | |
| 14. Paul McCartney | |
| 15. Yes | |
| 16. Bob Dylan | |
| 17. Bob Marley | |
| 18. Bruce Springsteen | |
| 19. Nick Drake | |
| 20. Marvin Gaye |
