Best Albums of the 1980s

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 3 hours 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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"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
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Rank Score:
493
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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:
491
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Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
491
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
490
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"Amazing hairs stand up music. Only ever had a few of traks off this at the time and wish I'd had the full album as only had it couple of years. 88 man. Very efficient indeed."  Reply
- Graeme2 | 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:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
489
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"A little more gentle on the ear than the fire and brimstone of Hex, Brix's influence can be heard throughout adding a melodic touch to the preceedings. Garden is a particular favourite here, lyrically it baffles and impresses in equal measure like all the great Fall tracks. 'His veiled sex seeps ..."  [+]  Reply
- TheSmiths82-87 | 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:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
486
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"I'm suprised to see this album so low ranked compared to the rest of Bob Dylan's. You can find Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) solo guitars like in Sweetheart like you, Dylan's voice as strong as ever on Jokerman and other good songs like I an I or closing ballad Don't fall apart on me tonight. If y..."  [+]  Reply
- manurock | 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:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
486
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"Despite an awfully bad production quality, this 1989 East-Bay album is awesome. It's considered as THE first ska-punk record and I believe it will go down in history as one of the greatest album of the genre. But even if you're not a huge fan of that type of music, you can still enjoy the energy ..."  [+]  Reply
- Christo182 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (6 helpful | 1 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:
485
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"The best album of 1985 (the year sucked), and one of the best emo albums. The Rites' only studio record is one of the most visceral compilations of cerebral music there is, and probably one of the most influential albums on the decade. The general sound is very lo-fi but that doesn't mean it soun..."  [+]  Reply
- Lacobra | 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:
1985
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Rank Score:
485
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"In Canada, this is very comparable to Pearl Jam's Ten. Kids who grew up listening to tracks overplayed on the radio hate it. Those of us who were there when it came out remember very fondly how Gordo and company helped save rock and roll from the Brian Adamses of this world."  Reply
- jhuik | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (3 helpful | 1 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:
484
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Total albums: 1,000. Page 47 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Best Albums of the 1980s
1. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
2. Doolittle by Pixies
3. Remain In Light by Talking Heads
4. Disintegration by The Cure
5. The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses
6. The Joshua Tree by U2
7. Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush
8. Thriller by Michael Jackson
9. Purple Rain by Prince And The Revolution
10. Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth