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).
"The Queen is Dead has an allure that no other album can match, what other lp can you reach for, when to put it simpy, no other will do? Who else in the music industry but Morrissey could dare to write a love song as suicidally but as beautifully pessimistic as 'I Know It's Over'? And this is the ..." [+] Reply
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johnner | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +18 votes (19 helpful | 1 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:
32,579
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Their are albums and artists who I struggle with - My Bloody Valentine, Bob Dylan, and this band the Pixies. I have played this album over and over and over trying to understand its greatness just like MBV’s Loveless and I just don’t get it. I’ve tried my best and concede that it’s not for me, I ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
30,857
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
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"David Byrne set out to do the extreme with Eno as producer in '80 when post punk and new wave magically intertwined with obscure funk, which was the foundation for the amazing "Remain In Light". Polyrhytmics and samples all over the place is the key to musical fragmentation here. Actually, litera..." [+] Reply
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calsper | 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.
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
27,238
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Comments:
"Robert Smith wanted something for he to be remembered, because in his opinion, before this album, he never really achieved his potencial. On with I actually agree with him. If he wanted to make a masterpiece, well, he made It. I couldn't describe how much this album describes my sense for music, ..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
26,070
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Not many albums can be said to have created a generation. This did. From the opening bass of I wanna be adored not a single thing could be improved upon. utter absolute perfection." Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
22,194
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The Joshua Tree is often a very controversial chart pick because of the sheer amount of hate it receives from our forum regulars. And yes, I can see where the hate is coming from. But every time I listen to this album, I completely forget the constant lashings that the members here give this albu..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
18,214
Rank in 1987:
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Comments:
"Eccentric, sensual, a true feast for the ears; Bush does music narrative like no one else, all the while pushing the boundaries of the genre she's built for herself. The idea shouldn't make sense: two smaller albums in one normal length album. And yet its pulled off with brilliant tenacity. The o..." [+] Reply
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DeusExMackia | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +11 votes (11 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:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
18,030
Rank in 1985:
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"you know, i've realised how utterly pointless it is arguing the toss over what has value and what doesn't with regard to music.. nothing is intrinsically worthless. before stumbling upon this site i knew of otherwise respectable people who would be genuinely moved by listening to happy-hardcore t..." [+] Reply
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telefunker | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (9 helpful | 2 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:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,177
Rank in 1982:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"it took me til my 30s before I learned of prince’s virtuosity, but the dude was absolutely electric and it feels like he’s sometimes overlooked on all-time lists for best guitarists/musicians/artists. Even As a lifelong rock music audiophile his music eluded me until i saw a super fun prince cove..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
15,628
Rank in 1984:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Sonic Youth changed the way I saw rock music. I used to perceive it as a steady rhythm, with verses and a chorus. I used to play music in a very structured way during jam sessions that I had with friends, and to be honest that bored me, but I never thought to do anything differently because it wa..." [+] Reply
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slurpdurp | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +19 votes (19 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:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
15,142
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100
Best Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 121 | 12% | |
| 1981 | 119 | 12% | |
| 1982 | 107 | 11% | |
| 1983 | 96 | 10% | |
| 1984 | 101 | 10% | |
| 1985 | 88 | 9% | |
| 1986 | 91 | 9% | |
| 1987 | 89 | 9% | |
| 1988 | 97 | 10% | |
| 1989 | 91 | 9% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Cure | 10 | 1% | |
| Iron Maiden | 8 | 1% | |
| The Smiths | 8 | 1% | |
| Rush | 8 | 1% | |
| U2 | 7 | 1% | |
| The Fall | 7 | 1% | |
| Depeche Mode | 7 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
412 | 41% | |
 |
391 | 39% | |
 |
40 | 4% | |
 |
29 | 3% | |
 |
22 | 2% | |
 |
20 | 2% | |
 |
12 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Best Artists of the 2010s | |
|---|---|
| 1. Kendrick Lamar | |
| 2. Kanye West | |
| 3. Tame Impala | |
| 4. Arcade Fire | |
| 5. Beach House | |
| 6. Frank Ocean | |
| 7. Sufjan Stevens | |
| 8. The National | |
| 9. Radiohead | |
| 10. Nick Cave |
