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: 2 hours ago).
"Listening to this is like entering one of those weird antique shops that smells of incense and it's full of religious imagery and wooden statues and there's some creepy old hippy woman at the counter." Reply
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Onater | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 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:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,480
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"There is no doubt that this is their most accomplished album, in my mind, and as has been said already the track flow seems almost, if not, perfect. Individually all the tracks are 85-95, apart from "Dying", but as a whole it comes into its own and is an album everyone should try. Having said tha..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,463
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The Special Edition, which includes more live versions, is amazing! I would recommend listening to that one" Reply
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lleon79 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 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:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,338
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Another Part of Me is his best song." Reply
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joannajewsom | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (6 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:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,267
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Because, Timtooky, it's a little more cerebral than your beloved Toy Dolls LP. I hope you didn't read that it was a concept album and were expecting another Dark Side... And yes, having looked at your chart, your music taste is disastrous. Maybe giving this album more than 3 minutes would help ad..." [+] Reply
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Jimmy Dread | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 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:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,127
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"My favorite PG album without doubt. Fair enough to those who prefer So but PGIII is much more my style, reminiscent of contemporaries like Talking Heads but you're never going to mistake Peter Gabriel for anyone else, and this album has his mark all over it. Intruder opens things in what can only..." [+] Reply
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Caesar01 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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:
4,084
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This 1984 album laid the groundwork for the development of post-rock electronica for the next 25 years and you can hear the Cocteau Twin's influence on nearly every contemporary electronica/dance band. The atmospheric sound, crafted around Robin Guthrie's creative use of distorted guitars, tape l..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,039
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This album still sounds great today, it currently sits at BEA 501 Overall and 100% deserves to sit inside the top 500 I recall seeing Tracy Chapman live at the zenith of this albums mass popularity. It was at a large many thousand venue & we sat waiting for TC to appear & when she did it was just..." [+] Reply
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Brad1770 | 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:
4,031
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I put it on and the first track I was all like "Oh it's all like synthpop" but then this jangly guitar shit started bursting out with all this stand up bass and I was like "WWWWOOOOAAAHHHH" then all these kids started singing out of tune and I was like "WUT THEY OUT OF TUNE" but then I realized T..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,989
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Several other Bruce Springsteen records--Nebraska, Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and Born in the U.S.A.--are all candidates for my favorite from his catalog. But I'm going with The River because I think it is the album where his artistic vision is most fully realized. Here Springstee..." [+] Reply
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buzzdainer | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (4 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:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,985
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 6 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 | |||
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