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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"I love this album. It's really the follow up to his first album with that lo-fi home made feel. What makes this one different and unique in the McCartney catalogue is it's use of synths. The funky opener coming up is followed by the brilliant temporary secretary. This is really Paul experimenting..."  [+]  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:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
505
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"The Cult, similar to other bands like AC/DC, have a signature sound that makes a lot of their songs sound "samey", which can be good or bad, depending on whether you like them or not. And this album is mostly no exception. First 8 tracks are good, and 10 is decent too. But "Born to be Wild" is no..."  [+]  Reply
- culwin | 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:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
504
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"I got this album completely wrong the first time around. It took me a while to get into this because the album is mainly based on grooves and feel rather than out and out melody. The melodies themselves are discreet but repeated listens brings them to the fore. All in all, it's a beautiful record..."  [+]  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:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
504
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"No comments? Seriously? Great songs, very well produced, and catchy as hell. Girl U Want, Whip It, Gates of Steel, Don't You Know, Snowball, the whole thing is excellent."  Reply
- dlemond | 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:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
501
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"I stumbled upon a Butthole Surfer set at CBGB on YouTube and was pleasantly surprised. Really dug the set so I decided to check out some of their music. Interesting listen. The album hits a nice stride with Dum Dum Wolly Boly and Negro Observer. The rest is a little too hardcore punk or just plai..."  [+]  Reply
- Scoott | 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:
501
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Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
498
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"Most of these are tracks from the In Through the Out Door sessions. The songs didn’t make the final cut on a less-than-great album for a reason. Zeppelin had very few unreleased gems throughout their career. One exception is “We're Gonna Groove,” a great bluesy rocker from the glory years. Most o..."  [+]  Reply
- subtleman22 | 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:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
496
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"An energetic and enjoyable album from Magazine. It's a surprisingly overlooked record, but it's full of good songs. Maybe not as strong as, real life, but decent enough."  Reply
- garycottier | 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:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
496
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459.
United Kingdom Yes
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
495
Rank in 1980:
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Average Rating:
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
493
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Total albums: 1,000. Page 46 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Best Albums of the 1990s
1. OK Computer by Radiohead
2. Nevermind by Nirvana
3. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
4. The Bends by Radiohead
5. Loveless by My Bloody Valentine
6. Automatic For The People by R.E.M.
7. Ten by Pearl Jam
8. Grace by Jeff Buckley
9. Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins
10. (What's The Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis
11. In Utero by Nirvana
12. Dummy by Portishead
13. Illmatic by Nas
14. Ágætis Byrjun by Sigur Rós
15. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins
16. Weezer (Blue Album) by Weezer
17. Homogenic by Björk
18. Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan
19. Violator by Depeche Mode
20. Spiderland by Slint