Best Albums of 1981
Listed below are the best albums of 1981 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 5 hours ago).
"Architecture and morality, OMD's second album, is by far their best. It's a stunning electro pop record that still sounds absolutely fantastic today. The beautiful, souvenir, and, Joan of arc, are the most famous and accessible tracks, but there is a lot more interesting and challenging music to ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,061
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Quite easily the best album of 1981 and second best Journey album. They were so full of confidence here and the songs just explode with energy. Steve Perry is one of the best ever rock singers and he is absolutely on fire here. The last two songs will give you goosebumps since Steve's singing is ..." [+] Reply
- 
Daydreamer | 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:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,041
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Certainly one of the greatest ever post-punk albums. An under rated gem!" Reply
- 
Secondsoul | 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:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,014
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"RIP OZZY! You helped many people over the years through your music..." Reply
- 
MetalMan67 | 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:
921
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"A sleazy electro pop album. The record cover says it all with Marc Almond suspiciously half hiding something obviously very naughty. As for the music, tainted love, is one of the great singles of the eighties, and, bedsitter, a good follow up. The closing track, say hello, wave goodbye, is beauti..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
908
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Barely in the top 500 of the 80s, 42nd in 1981 and not even top 2500+ all time?? This album is criminally underrated..." Reply
- 
elo269megv | 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:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
869
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Funny how some claim this album is a "guilty pleasure" I disagree, it's just a legit great album. It's catchy and delightful and the hits are freaking nostalgic. I love it." Reply
- 
ExTeaSea | 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:
867
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I thibk this is one of the best albums from 1981 and from the 80s. This was the culminate point of them carreer. There's no album sounding like this. They had a sound witch combine New Romantic and Synth-Pop with oriental music. David Sylvian's voice and compositions are amazing, Mike Karn was th..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
845
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Worth a listen, If you like Fleetwood Mac then you should listen to this." Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
801
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I still think this 1981 record is one of the great pop albums ever." Reply
- 
swhaze | 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:
796
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 3 of 100
Best Albums of 1981 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Various Artists | 15 | 2% | |
| Frank Zappa | 5 | 1% | |
| 喜多郎 [Kitarō] | 3 | 0% | |
| Simple Minds | 3 | 0% | |
| Gary Numan | 3 | 0% | |
| Scientist | 3 | 0% | |
| Tangerine Dream | 3 | 0% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
314 | 31% | |
 |
270 | 27% | |
 |
61 | 6% | |
 |
41 | 4% | |
 |
35 | 4% | |
 |
35 | 4% | |
 |
28 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
| Email Address | |
|---|---|
| Forgotten passwords and other site notifications are sent to the email address saved on your profile. If you've changed your email address recently, please remember to update it on your profile page. (If you can't remember your password, and your email address is out of date, please contact us for assistance getting back into your account). |
