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: 4 hours ago).
"I like this album better than Three Imaginary Boys. The added tracks really do the album good. And some lesser tracks are dropped. I don't regard this as a compilation.." Reply
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wooolf | 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:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
891
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The Pet Shop Boys greatest lp, introducing their minimalist techno-pop to the world. Featuring the classic singles West End Girls and Opportunities, it's precision pop is both lovelorn and despairing." Reply
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johnner | 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:
Rank Score:
888
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
293.
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Surfer Rosa & Come On Pilgrim
Compilation
Compilation
"I can't rank Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa separately, because that's not how I know them. I find that it doesn't sound like two separate works; there is a congruency between both, it's almost seamless. While most will speak of Where is My Mind (it is epic, after all), my favorite track is Cari..." [+] Reply
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junodog4 | 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.
"Legendary. I guess you get it or you don't, but this is a landmark punk album." Reply
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
878
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
295.
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"Don't lose your mind like that, you may now think this is one of the best records ever, but you'll look back at this comment in one or two years and you'll be like "Oh God, why?" The more you listen to music, the more music has to be special to satisfy you. And this is actually nothing really spe..." [+] Reply
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drakonium | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 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:
Rank Score:
874
Rank in 1984:
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
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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:
871
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
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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:
871
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The tone of this album is a melancholic and meditational mixture of Western and Eastern existentialism allied with a sense of Christian piety and exotic detachment. Gabriel's masterpiece is first and foremost an ethereal and evocative study in 'sound' which acts as a kind of catalyst for the semi..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
871
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"It's alright. Happy hour, is fantastic, easily the Housemartin's best song, but the rest is a bit dull and ordinary. They just don't have that raw edge that contemporaries like The Smiths and The Cure had. Still, it's not bad." Reply
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
870
Rank in 1986:
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:
855
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 30 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 | |||
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