Best Albums of the 1980s

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 56,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade
Decade:
Year:
summaryThe best artists of the 1980s were The Smiths, Prince, Pixies, The Cure, Talking Heads, U2, Metallica, Kate Bush, R.E.M. and The Stone Roses.
View chart at point in time
 Show this chart as it was on the following date
Share this chart
Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!
Sort by
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
188
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
188
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
187
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
187
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
187
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
996.
All The Best! 
Compilation
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
186
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
186
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
186
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
186
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
185
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 100 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 119 12%
1981 119 12%
1982 108 11%
1983 97 10%
1984 101 10%
1985 82 8%
1986 97 10%
1987 87 9%
1988 96 10%
1989 94 9%
Artist Albums %


The Cure 10 1%
Iron Maiden 8 1%
Depeche Mode 8 1%
The Smiths 8 1%
Rush 8 1%
R.E.M. 7 1%
Talking Heads 7 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 418 42%
United States 390 39%
Australia 40 4%
Mixed Nationality 27 3%
Germany 23 2%
Canada 23 2%
Ireland 11 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 964 96%
Yes 36 4%
Live? Albums %
No 978 98%
Yes 22 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 988 99%
Yes 12 1%
Recent Member  Charts
1. Top 17 Music Albums of 2025 by johnner (2025)
2. Top 100 Music Albums of 1993 by zags7000 (2025)
3. Top 40 Music Albums of 1998 by AAL2014 (2025)
4. 901-1000 by Rivera (2025)
5. Best of Rest by Rivera (2025)
6. Top 100 Music Albums of 1977 by Hayden (2025)
7. Top 100 Music Albums of 2025 by Hayden (2025)
8. Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by martinjaa (2025)
9. Top 53 Music Albums of 1995 by AAL2014 (2025)
10. Top 15 Music Albums of 2020 by brent13 (2025)
11. Top 10 Music Albums of the 2020s by C0NB9NN (2025)
12. Top 10 Music Albums of 2022 by brent13 (2025)
13. Top 10 Music Albums of 2024 by brent13 (2025)
14. Top 2 Music Albums of 2025 by brent13 (2025)
15. Top 20 Music Albums of the 2000s by C0NB9NN (2025)
16. Top 40 Music Albums of the 1990s by C0NB9NN (2025)
17. Top 15 Music Albums of 1978 by Fritz (2025)
18. Top 20 Music Albums of the 2010s by C0NB9NN (2025)
19. Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s by AwaitingAndrew (2025)
20. Top 62 Music Albums of the 2020s by brent13 (2025)
Back to Top