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: 1 hour ago).
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1980s decade summaryThe best artists of the 1980s were The Smiths, Prince, The Cure, Pixies, Talking Heads, U2, Metallica, Kate Bush, R.E.M. and The Stone Roses.
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"Excellent solo album from former band member Robbie Robertson. Excellent song writing, playing, and production create a fantastic album that takes the listener on a terrific journey. Transports the listener to a tranquil place of robertsons creation. Standout tracks: Broken Arrow, somewhere down ..."  [+]  Reply
- glynspsa | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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
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Rank Score:
518
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"A true gem of an album that is very underrated. From the opening bass of Street Fighting Years to the haunting and magical guitar rifts, creative percussions, atmospheric keyboards and orchestral sounds of all the tracks, this is a great listen. It has strong political, human rights and emotional..."  [+]  Reply
- TerryTezza | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
517
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"Book of Brilliant Things, Waterfront and Up on the Catwalk are all excellent tracks but there are some more forgettable tracks on this release compared with New Gold Dream and Once Upon a Time. I still class this one a part of the 80's trilogy of Simple Minds at their most creative."  Reply
- Junomoogmello | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
517
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"Bragg paints a wonderfully gloomy and politically desolate picture of 80s Britain, whilst advancing his simple singer-songwriter style excellently. It's an essential piece of political music, that doesn't shy from being brilliantly honest, and delivers itself via the humble charm of Bragg's voice."  Reply
- DeusExMackia | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
516
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"A criminally underrated album on these charts! I know that Los Angeles is a better album but I’ve always connected better with Wild Gift. Favorites: Adult Books, Once Over Twice, White Girl, We’re Desperate, Universal Corner"  Reply
- MaxStorm98 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
516
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Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
511
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"This must be one of the most underrated albums of all time. Apart from Bob Marley, I had never been that struck on reggae before I bought this album. 'Signing off' is like nothing else in my collection. There is a lot of saxophone on it, which I've not really heard on other reggae records. The pr..."  [+]  Reply
- Ahabmann | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
510
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"An absolute masterpiece of mediterranean? music. An orgy of sounds, instruments, vocals (genoa dialectal)and genius. Fabrizio De André ¡what name! is a fabulous singer-songwriter but here is beyond any label or way at his best. (Also a favorite of Wim Wenders)."  Reply
- carneham | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
509
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"A stop gap release between, appetite for destruction, and the, use your illusion, albums. It consists of the, like a suicide, e.p, a four track live recording featuring a cover of Aerosmith's, mama kin, Rose Tattoo's, nice boys, and originals, reckless life, and, move to the city. The album also ..."  [+]  Reply
- garycottier | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
507
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"Released between Suffer and Against the Grain, this string of albums, along with Stranger Than Fiction are all Punk Rock CLASSICS. This may not be as consistent as Against the Grain or Suffer but it's not far behind, and contains a lot of Bad Religion staple songs like I Want to Conquer the World..."  [+]  Reply
- Larcx13 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help 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:
505
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Total albums: 1,000. Page 45 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

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