Best Albums of the 1980s

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11.

Closer 

 Joy Division

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"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...""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 something intensely powerful, a oppressive sadness runs through every fiber of the album. Martin Hannett's production is spacious, and feels like it's being played from within a giant empty cathedral, yet still feels claustrophobic at the same time. There's nowhere to run or hide from the bleak nihilism, it washes over you and through you with every track. A truly sad masterpiece."  [+]  Reply

- 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:

1,518 charts

Rank Score:

14,685

Rank in 1980:

2

Rank in 1980s:

11

Overall Rank:

81

Average Rating:

 85 (1,928 votes)

Comments:

126

12.

Master Of Puppets 

 Metallica

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"What an incredible album this is! The emotion and power that is driven across to the listener is mesmerising and the sheer talent on display is fantastic. The energy never slows throughout the whole record and it is extremely powerful and can so easily dominate you. This is mainly due to the inst...""What an incredible album this is! The emotion and power that is driven across to the listener is mesmerising and the sheer talent on display is fantastic. The energy never slows throughout the whole record and it is extremely powerful and can so easily dominate you. This is mainly due to the instrumental performances we get which are just astounding. The highlight of this is the guitar work with the incredible riffs and phenomenal solos we get on tracks like Battery, Orion and of course Master Of Puppets with this being the best song on the album. It is 8 minutes of pure energy and emotion that stuns me every time I listen to it both in the context of the album and outside of it. Then there is the drum work which is brilliantly frantic yet controlled at the same time and make all songs pack that extra punch behind them. I am also a massive fan of the vocal work on this record and it is one of the best metal voices I have ever heard. However, for me I do have to be in a certain mood to listen to an hour worth of metal music as it is difficult to keep up with the intensity. Also, the second half isn't as memorable as the first and it does feel a little bit slower in comparison. Overall, this is one of, if not the best, metal album ever made and it is a must listen for any music fan regardless of whether you like the genre or not. "  [+]  Reply

- Untitled | 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:

1986

Appears in:

1,290 charts

Rank Score:

12,490

Rank in 1986:

2

Rank in 1980s:

12

Overall Rank:

93

Average Rating:

 83 (1,849 votes)

Comments:

119

13.

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Surfer Rosa 

 Pixies

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"This album really underwhelmed, especially when compared to Doolittle. The album runs 13 tracks, but most of those seem like song fragments more than songs (only 3 tracks really clock in at over 3 minutes). The fragments aren't really memorable or interesting andleave no impact, ending before the...""This album really underwhelmed, especially when compared to Doolittle. The album runs 13 tracks, but most of those seem like song fragments more than songs (only 3 tracks really clock in at over 3 minutes). The fragments aren't really memorable or interesting andleave no impact, ending before they've had any chance to be noticed or differentiated. This album feels pretty overhyped to me."  [+]  Reply

- souplipton | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +9 votes (10 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:

1988

Appears in:

1,318 charts

Rank Score:

12,025

Rank in 1988:

2

Rank in 1980s:

13

Overall Rank:

102

Average Rating:

 84 (1,883 votes)

Comments:

113

14.

Rain Dogs 

 Tom Waits

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"Well, I'm listening to it right now. I was expecting a nice heartfelt acoustic/folk album, since Tom Waits is the whitest name ever and the album cover looked relatively harmless. HOLY GOD WHAT IS THIS"  Reply

- makerofbuckets | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +35 votes (35 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:

1,149 charts

Rank Score:

11,460

Rank in 1985:

2

Rank in 1980s:

14

Overall Rank:

112

Average Rating:

 84 (1,353 votes)

Comments:

89

15.

Appetite For Destruction 

 Guns N' Roses

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"I get that there are reasons people dislike Guns n Roses and that Axl is an ass, but I do not understand people who listen to this and say it's boring or a ripoff. In a way I find criticisms of GnR similar to criticisms of Aerosmith (7os era Aerosmith that is) - it's blues based rock music, of co...""I get that there are reasons people dislike Guns n Roses and that Axl is an ass, but I do not understand people who listen to this and say it's boring or a ripoff. In a way I find criticisms of GnR similar to criticisms of Aerosmith (7os era Aerosmith that is) - it's blues based rock music, of course it doesn't sound entirely new or original. But like Aerosmith, GnR simply did it better than anyone else around. Both bands had a very distinctive lead singer with a huge stage presence (and personally I think both Steven Tyler and Axl were good lyricists for what they were trying to accomplish). Both bands had solid rhythm sections. And both bands had excellent dual guitar work. In a way these bands are the progression of bands like the Rolling Stones, who also had the five piece, two guitar setup, and a very distinctive lead singer. Apart from that, I think it's important when rating music to try and judge it as if it wasn't totally played out. Yes, I'm not necessarily going to search out Welcome to the Jungle or Sweet Child to hear them for the millionth time, but the fact I've heard them so often is entirely separate from whether the songs are actually good. And I defy any fan of rock music to tell me with a straight face that they don't understand why Welcome to the Jungle is played at every sporting event - it's because it's an incredibly exciting song that gets you amped, with one of the most memorable intros of any song I can think of. That said, this isn't a perfect album. In particular, I think the second (roses) side is noticeably weaker than the first (guns) side. But I think the first side contains, at worst, high energy rock songs (It's So Easy and Out Ta Get Me) and at best, two of the most anthemic rock songs ever. Lyrically, these songs do a great job of capturing where GnR and Axl specifically were at while they were recording. Mr. Brownstone and Nighttrain capture the essence of an active drug addiction very well. Mr. Brownstone specifically I think is one of GnR's absolute best tracks, and grievously underrated. I suppose there are some who simply dislike GnR's sound - for me, the first six tracks on this album sound like rock music is supposed to sound like. A real shame that the band was already fracturing (for a multitude of reasons) by the time this album was released, but for this one album, they sound like the greatest rock band in the world."  [+]  Reply

- 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:

1987

Appears in:

1,401 charts

Rank Score:

10,945

Rank in 1987:

2

Rank in 1980s:

15

Overall Rank:

117

Average Rating:

 79 (1,964 votes)

Comments:

169

16.

Graceland 

 Paul Simon

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"Not just a wondrous fusion of South African and World music, but truly some of the best song writing ever. There's a certain magic to this album - I'm not exactly sure where it comes from, perhaps from Simon's voice, the gentle and bright sound of the album, or perhaps just the warmth that seems ...""Not just a wondrous fusion of South African and World music, but truly some of the best song writing ever. There's a certain magic to this album - I'm not exactly sure where it comes from, perhaps from Simon's voice, the gentle and bright sound of the album, or perhaps just the warmth that seems to emanate from every track on the album. If you ever need an album to accompany a summer's evening or set a chilled, laid back move, this is the album that'll do it. I should spend some time covering just what an incredible achievement this album was back in its day - the fact that South African culture was being featured on an American release was quite something, and the exposure it gave to these artists and attention it brought to South African culture was huge. Not only is Graceland a excellent album musically, it's excellent for what it achieved. You could, as I have, spend a long time analysing the many fascinating lyrics found throughout the album, but somehow, I don't think that's the point. This albums real power is the warmth of its sound and its incredible ability to relax you and captivate you. It elicits perhaps the most positive emotional response of any piece of music I've ever heard. Every song seems only to build and build on this feeling, and the result is a genuinely magical record. Undoubtedly one of the best albums ever released, perhaps simply for its emotional power, but more so for its wonderful fusion of sounds, feelings and words. "  [+]  Reply

- DeusExMackia | 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:

1986

Appears in:

1,147 charts

Rank Score:

10,667

Rank in 1986:

3

Rank in 1980s:

16

Overall Rank:

120

Average Rating:

 81 (1,366 votes)

Comments:

82

17.

Spirit Of Eden 

 Talk Talk

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"When most guitar based music was embracing dance music or marketing their angst as Grunge anthems, Talk Talk release this little album of deconstructed intimacy. Spirit Of Eden may have seemed foreign but it made perfect sense to the Talk Talk evolution, that had been slowly progressing over thre..."" When most guitar based music was embracing dance music or marketing their angst as Grunge anthems, Talk Talk release this little album of deconstructed intimacy. Spirit Of Eden may have seemed foreign but it made perfect sense to the Talk Talk evolution, that had been slowly progressing over three previous albums. Album number 4 arrived like a frozen winter, the fourth and final season to complete the growth cycle. Upon its arrival it now become obvious that we'd actually arrived back at the beginning. Eden was invisible to the outside world, so far removed that it seemed completely out of place. The result was a revelation. In retrospect this was a vision of the current world, re-imagined as a protected place .A place where even the quietest voice is heard. Without distraction we discover Eden, a place where our inner child lives and In choosing to become a witness we accepted an invitation to walk inside anothers spiritual journey, where truth can finally speak freely. Our commitment is one of complete meditation. A clear mind is needed to hear. The Voice of vulnerability sings candidly into the open. Beautiful formations escape from the wandering cries and whispers. Somehow this album still sounds accidental and unrehearsed. It is a moment of time passing, that never becomes captured. Strength is born from sadness and loss, expressed with all the innocence of childhood. Honest confessions are not without doubt, but, never once is self pity indulged. Spirit Of Eden requires your care. It isn't somewhere to escape. It is the declaration of an inner voice. It returns us to the essence our ourselves. "  [+]  Reply

- maitredj | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +13 votes (14 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:

1988

Appears in:

926 charts

Rank Score:

10,107

Rank in 1988:

3

Rank in 1980s:

17

Overall Rank:

128

Average Rating:

 84 (1,012 votes)

Comments:

69

18.

Back In Black 

 AC/DC

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"-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...""-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 night long, shook me all night long, shook me all night long". -Wow, you're a genius. What about "Back in black"? -Well, we can say "I'm back, yeah, I'm back, well, I'm back, yes, I'm back, back, back in black". -Damn! That's deep. Joking aside, if I'm hanging out with my friends and we're half drunk and someone plays Highway to hell, we will sing our lungs out, but it's not an album I would normally return to. I mean, I find Back in black kind of fun and catchy, but also insubstantial, repetitive and unambitious. I don't hate it, but it doesn't speak to me too much either, to be honest."  [+]  Reply

- 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:

1,285 charts

Rank Score:

10,001

Rank in 1980:

3

Rank in 1980s:

18

Overall Rank:

133

Average Rating:

 80 (1,888 votes)

Comments:

142

19.

Murmur 

 R.E.M.

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"Probably the most 'atmospheric' album I've ever heard in that sense. Completely transports you to some sunny old town in the American south sometime circa 1983. Stunningly good tunes and, well, I like Stipe's voice.."  Reply

- telefunker | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +10 votes (10 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:

1983

Appears in:

1,154 charts

Rank Score:

9,807

Rank in 1983:

1

Rank in 1980s:

19

Overall Rank:

139

Average Rating:

 83 (1,428 votes)

Comments:

99

20.

Ride The Lightning 

 Metallica

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"This record is just pure power and energy right from the start. Metallica never really give you any time to rest on their releases and that is very true on their two best records which is this album and Master Of Puppets. They just go from banger to banger on here with every song feeling unique a...""This record is just pure power and energy right from the start. Metallica never really give you any time to rest on their releases and that is very true on their two best records which is this album and Master Of Puppets. They just go from banger to banger on here with every song feeling unique and they all have a high level of quality to them. There is absolutely no filler on this record at all in my opinion. The instrumentation is just electric with the guitar work feeling like it is truly harnessing the power of lightning. It is tough to not get completely lost in the guitar on here as well with the closing track always managing to almost put me in a trance like state with how good it is. Then there is the drum work which is phenomenal and is some of the greatest I have heard on a thrash metal album. To add to this, there is the passion and emotion that drives these tracks that are so easily conveyed to the listener and I can't help but fall in love with their energy and power. You have to play this album loud to truly appreciate the masterpiece that is on display though and I can only imagine how mesmerising it would be to hear this live. This is especially true for For Whom The Bell Tolls as that just perfectly encapsulates their sound for me and is a stunning piece of music. Overall, this is peak Metallica with basically every song being elite which makes it their most consistent release and it feels like the album where they held nothing back and we are rewarded greatly because of that. "  [+]  Reply

- Untitled | 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:

1984

Appears in:

930 charts

Rank Score:

9,144

Rank in 1984:

2

Rank in 1980s:

20

Overall Rank:

152

Average Rating:

 84 (1,388 votes)

Comments:

80

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Top 1,000 Top 500 Top 250 Top 100

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

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	966	97%
Yes	35	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	980	98%
Yes	21	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	989	99%
Yes	12	1%