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: 5 hours ago).
Best albums by year or decade
Decade:
Year:
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.
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) Help The maximum rank used by the Collector's Summary is configurable from your profile (top 1,000 is currently selected). Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!
Sort Sort by
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,956
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I diagree with others that this album has lots of filler. This is far and away my favorite Maiden album, and the "filler" tracks, like Back in the Village, are some of my favorites on the record."  Reply
- spoon836 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,954
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The year is 1989 . What was I doing in 1989 ? I was taking copious drugs whilst listening to the likes of Pixies , Material & The Jesus and Mary Chain . I was NOT listening to Galaxy 500 On Fire . Fast forward 28 years & I'm reading another best of list & note this Album has a 97% all time review..."  [+]  Reply
- Brad1770 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,929
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This album is at times sloppy. The production sounds strangely out of wack. There are some complaints that can be levied against this album. The thing is that this album is So Goddamn Good despite any of that bullshit that it doesn't really matter! The lyrics of Paul Westerberg stand tall on here..."  [+]  Reply
- Mercury | 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:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,909
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Their masterpiece, every single track on this album is great. This whole album has a similar sound to the best track from their last album ‘The Cutter’ due to the rich instrumentation, which is a great thing in my book. The best of the best include ‘Silver’, ‘Seven Seas’, ‘Ocean Rain’ and, of cou..."  [+]  Reply
- Crumpet | 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:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,809
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I feel like I should explain my last comment. When most people people think of emotional 80's music, their mind usually jumps to The Smiths. And while I really enjoy The Smiths, their music, and their lyrics, I don't feel like they're describing problems I've had or things I've thunk, so it's har..."  [+]  Reply
- sageamagoo | 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:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,661
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Oh this album is so much fun. I'm being totally serious. It's heavy, loud, and fast. I have no idea how they can play and sing so fast but it really takes me by storm and makes my adrenaline pump. The high-pitched tales of the terrors of hell are awesomely hilarious. Completely over the top lyric..."  [+]  Reply
- dmercado | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 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:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,649
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"When people think of Prince's best album, usually people point to either Purple Rain or Sign O' The Times. For me personally, I point to 1999 as his best album. It includes 3 classic hits (1999, Little Red Corvette, Delirious) and it includes hands down the best fusion of rock, funk, R&B, & new w..."  [+]  Reply
- joedec | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 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:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,646
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"DM's best album and the one that saw them finally enter stadium land. Tough and uncompromising, Masses was a further evolution of their sound - revisiting some of their favourite themes i.e. love, sex, death, and religion."  Reply
- johnner | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 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:
3,638
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This album confuses me. Sometimes I feel like it is pretty good, but not quite great. Other times I feel like it is my favorite album of all time. Tracks 1-7 are some of my favorite U2 songs except for the instrumental 4th of July. After that there isn't too much going on. I like this album more ..."  [+]  Reply
- Ben4 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 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:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,619
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 7 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Member  Levels
Cassper1 Level 6
Cheddar Level 6
CjHubb117 Level 5
Liks_on_music Level 3
alsk1029 Level 2
Pavloss Level 2
redforyou Level 2
regsandthelike Level 2
suzukikai Level 2
New levels achieved over the last 7 days. Well done to all :)