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).
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:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
313
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"In a similar vein to This Nations Saving Grace, Bend Sinister is probably their most commercial album, it is high on melody and has an indie-pop feeling to it. Still plenty of lyrical gems can be found and things still venture off the beaten path as you would expect. Included here is Mr Pharmacis..."  [+]  Reply
- TheSmiths82-87 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 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:
313
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The Triffids are one of those Aussie bands that receive recognition in sacred circles and not the mainstream populus. 'Unmade Love' is a great track that holds up today in an underrated album."  Reply
- videoheadcleaner | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 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:
313
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"A Flock of Seagulls were clever musicians who produced some timeless classic eighties songs. One of the differences with Flock of Seagulls to many of the eighties new wave synth bands was their use of a real drummer rather than opting for Roland TR808 or Linn Drum. It is the driving and interesti..."  [+]  Reply
- Junomoogmello | 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:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
312
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This is an angry monster of politics,disease and oppression...Lydon has the best musicians and a great set of songs for this collection...I think "Home" is a battle cry and possibly the best song of the decade...a great statement!"  Reply
- jojoexile | 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:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
312
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Share your opinion and help others discover this album. The top-voted comments are showcased in our aggregate charts!
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
311
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"3rd highest rated... 9th highest ranked... same era as the 2 highest ranked which are also the 2 highest rated.... hmmm.... explanation: if you have a fall record in your charts it's either hex enduction or this nation's saving grace, and there just isn't enough room for more records by the fall...."  [+]  Reply
- jackbrown8786 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 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:
311
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"One of my favorite new wave albums of the early 80s and all time. Blinded me with Science was issued on subsequent releases to this album so I do consider it part of Golden Age of Wireless"  Reply
- | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 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:
311
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Great lyrical content and production value. How can you go wrong with P.E? I am not one of those guys who say that Old School Rap is better than what is out now. But no current rapper can hold a candle to these guys. This album was made in the late 80s and still hold up strongly. I highly recomme..."  [+]  Reply
- swhaze | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 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:
310
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
310
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 66 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition