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: 39 minutes ago).
"They absolutely nail Sweet Thing...it's a good album but a little too inconsistent to be great." Reply
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,296
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I like Phil Collins but like many in the 80's got sick of seeing him as he inundated the album charts with solo albums, Genesis work, on other artists records, movies (Buster), Live Aid (both UK and US), etc. you get the drift. I haven't recovered from this saturation decades later. I only own th..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,290
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The only noteworthy thing in the previous comment is : "it's possibly their best"." Reply
- 
CellarDoor | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (6 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:
Rank Score:
1,286
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"For about two years in the early 80s the only two albums I listened to were "Private Parts" by Robert Ashley and this album "Colossal Youth" by Young Marble Giants. Alison's voice was so sublimely melancoly and her pristine voice was the perfect musical vehicle for Stuart's dark existential lyric..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,285
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The Cult was one of my favorite rock bands of the eighties, with Ian Astbury's Jim Morrison-like persona and Billy Duffy's scorching work on the guitar leading the charge. The Cult managed to weave together New Wave eighties vocal stylings, the loudness and grittiness of metal, and the New Age my..." [+] Reply
- 
buzzdainer | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 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:
1,281
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Sylvian, surrounded by a wealth of musical talent, makes his most accomplished album. Top quality." Reply
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,262
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Like most of the albums of Genesis' pop phase, this one is quite inconsistent. The good songs can stand up to the band's prog staples, but the bad songs are lightyears behind even the worst songs on Nursery Crime through A Trick of the Tail. "Mama" is one of Genesis' best tracks. It's eerie, ener..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,259
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"just listen to "Rags And Bones" and "Oh No! Bruno!" , then you will understand why you should listened to this brilliant punk album." Reply
- 
cartoken | 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:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,258
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Why is this album so influential? A lot of reasons. It certainly didn't invent electronic music, and it certainly didn't even popularize it. What it did do, in the same way that Silver Apples molded electronics with rock music, was produce a new genre of music which helped popularize electronica ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,246
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Solid pop fluff of the highest quality. The light and breezy production really makes those synths and sharp beats sing, but it's real talent is found in just how classy this well-made record is. Delivers absolute classics like What Have I Done To Deserve This? and It's A Sin, but isn't afraid to ..." [+] Reply
- 
DeusExMackia | 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:
1,245
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 22 of 100
Best Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 119 | 12% | |
| 1981 | 119 | 12% | |
| 1982 | 107 | 11% | |
| 1983 | 97 | 10% | |
| 1984 | 100 | 10% | |
| 1985 | 87 | 9% | |
| 1986 | 92 | 9% | |
| 1987 | 88 | 9% | |
| 1988 | 98 | 10% | |
| 1989 | 95 | 10% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Cure | 10 | 1% | |
| Iron Maiden | 8 | 1% | |
| Depeche Mode | 8 | 1% | |
| The Smiths | 8 | 1% | |
| Rush | 8 | 1% | |
| R.E.M. | 7 | 1% | |
| Talking Heads | 7 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
414 | 41% | |
 |
392 | 39% | |
 |
41 | 4% | |
 |
27 | 3% | |
 |
22 | 2% | |
 |
20 | 2% | |
 |
12 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.
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.
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.
