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: 4 hours ago).
"the first time i heard this, i had absolutely no idea what to make of it. i imagine it's an acquired taste for most people, but even on first listen there was something in it that really caught my attention, and kristin hersh ended up becoming one of my all-time favorite musicians through her wor..." [+] Reply
- 
philbutrin | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 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.
"I don't like slick, safe pop. That said, Whitney Houston's voice was unbelievable. It's too bad she never had interesting songs to sing." Reply
- 
junodog4 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (5 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:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
398
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The sessions could have been album takes and the live recordings are powerful and exciting. Essential Joy Division material. And yes, that is a Sister Ray cover (!)" Reply
- 
CellarDoor | 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.
"Happy Mondays doing what they do best. The Mondays were always the sleaziest band ever :-) This was great, along with their Hallelujah EP and the Madchester VHS video spawned a drug fuelled teenage rebellion from me and the rest is history." Reply
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
396
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"It becomes obvious with the first track "What You Need" that INXS was shooting for international superstardom with Listen Like Thieves. "What You Need" was after all their first American Top 10 Hit in 1986, peaking at #6 on the Billboard charts. The title track and "Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down th..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
396
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Massively influential, and a fantastic raw sound. Great stuff." Reply
- junodog4 | 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:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
396
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The album that brought Aerosmith back into the big league. Permanent vacation, is a thoroughly enjoyable rock'n'roll record. Obviously designed to be successful, it saw the band employing professional songwriters, such as Desmond Child, to work alongside them to bring a more commercial edge to th..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
394
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The Chili's never rocked harder than this, and sounded so much fun while doing it. The chemistry between the band is amazing, and the sound is infectious (you can't help but bounce off the walls to these songs). While most bands were making cheese-metal in 1987, these guys were rocking harder and..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
393
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Starts out strong with three great tracks, but then does not manage to get back up there for the remainder. Still a good mainstream midtempo rocker." Reply
- 
Bork | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 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:
390
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"One of their better "later albums " Siouxsie & the Banshees had been making music for years when they released this last great album its right up there with "The Scream" & Juju. Other albums followed but this was their last classic album." Reply
- 
Tamthebam | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 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:
389
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 56 of 100
Best Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 119 | 12% | |
| 1981 | 119 | 12% | |
| 1982 | 107 | 11% | |
| 1983 | 96 | 10% | |
| 1984 | 100 | 10% | |
| 1985 | 87 | 9% | |
| 1986 | 92 | 9% | |
| 1987 | 87 | 9% | |
| 1988 | 98 | 10% | |
| 1989 | 96 | 10% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Cure | 10 | 1% | |
| Iron Maiden | 8 | 1% | |
| Depeche Mode | 8 | 1% | |
| The Smiths | 8 | 1% | |
| Rush | 8 | 1% | |
| U2 | 7 | 1% | |
| The Fall | 7 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
414 | 41% | |
 |
392 | 39% | |
 |
40 | 4% | |
 |
27 | 3% | |
 |
22 | 2% | |
 |
20 | 2% | |
 |
12 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
| Best Artists of 1970 | |
|---|---|
| 1. Black Sabbath | |
| 2. Neil Young | |
| 3. George Harrison | |
| 4. Simon & Garfunkel | |
| 5. John Lennon | |
| 6. Miles Davis | |
| 7. Van Morrison | |
| 8. Creedence Clearwater Revival | |
| 9. Led Zeppelin | |
| 10. The Beatles | |
| 11. The Stooges | |
| 12. The Velvet Underground | |
| 13. Grateful Dead | |
| 14. Derek & The Dominos | |
| 15. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young | |
| 16. Crosby, Stills & Nash | |
| 17. Santana | |
| 18. Carlos Santana | |
| 19. Deep Purple | |
| 20. Cat Stevens |
