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: 5 hours ago).
"Dirty Back Road, Private Idaho, (the madness of) Quiche Lorraine and Devil In My Car are the best of a pretty consistent bunch of tracks. Enjoyable album that I think I'm more inclined to pick up and listen to than their self-titled first. Nothing outstanding but good B-52s none the less." Reply
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
663
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Comments:
"Check out this album with an open mind, whether you think you may like Van Halen or not. "Fair Warning" isn't a party like "Van Halen" and doesn't have something for everyone like "1984." It has a cynical, streetwise, skateboard punk attitude, and funk grooves in almost every song. It's been only..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
661
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Trust, tends to be overlooked and certainly underrated, it includes some of Costello's best songs of the eighties. Clubland, is one of his best opening tracks, and it's followed by the brilliant, lovers walk. The highlights on the record though are, the excellent, new lace sleeves, the duet with ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
657
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"I used to own this album back in the day as a kid who listened to hair metal. I don't think I played it much as I don't remember too much about it, maybe the odd thing, bringing on the headache and the great instrumental track. It does sound decent now though, a good nwobhm record, I guess I woul..." [+] Reply
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Graeme2 | 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:
651
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Probably A-ha’s best album although Hunting High and Low runs it close. As a follow up to that Album A-ha took a slightly different turn with style. A far heavier and more serious sound compared to their debut, but it worked really well. All songs are decent except Maybe Maybe with Manhattan Skyl..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
647
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"Not good as Back In Black yes, but it's still a fine album. The title track, Inject The Venom, and Evil Walks are my favorites." Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
647
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Comments:
"Unfairly judged as Queen's worst album quite often, when in actuality, this is probably their best album since 1980s the Game. Full of wonderful tunes, and only a few corny sidetrackers. The Miracle, I Want it All, Scandal, Hang on in There and Was it all Worth it are all primo Queen songs, and t..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
646
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"Title track provided an inkling to his genius and would've fit in well with any of his later 80s albums. Controversy weaves through this synth-funk delight climaxing with the final track, "jack u off"." Reply
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paladisiac | 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:
642
Rank in 1981:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Take the hits away and there aint much left to shout about best track here 'Planet Earth'" Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
642
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Robert Forster has gone on record to say that his favourite Go-Betweens albums from the 1980s were the even numbered ones, so fourth album Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express is one of the good ones by his reckoning. Forster who dominates this record with the singles ‘Head Full Of Steam’ ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
639
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 37 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 | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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|||
| 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 | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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414 | 41% | |
 |
392 | 39% | |
 |
41 | 4% | |
 |
27 | 3% | |
 |
22 | 2% | |
 |
20 | 2% | |
 |
12 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
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