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).
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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.
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Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
289
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
288
Rank in 1983:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This album is completely underrated in the VM canon and has some very poorly thought out out ratings here. Go back and listen again, people! Spanish Steps opens the album... leading into The Mystery which can be thought of as Van's mature revisitation of Into the Mystic. Queen of the Slipstream i..."  [+]  Reply
- jhuik | 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:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
288
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Comments:
"Incredible indie pop album from the early 80s that still stands up today. Unfortunately it seems this record is really overlooked; many songs are immediately catchy and unique for the time. Admittedly, the ending few songs don't speak to me much, but this album caught me off guard with how fun it..."  [+]  Reply
- DoctorPayne | 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:
287
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Love & Rockets is made up of all of the former members of Bauhaus except for lead singer Peter Murphy. Generally Daniel Ash took over vocals though David J sings at times. If anyone worried whether they'd still be creative, this album laid those worries to rest. Express is one of the best post pu..."  [+]  Reply
- vesander | 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:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
287
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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:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
286
Rank in 1982:
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:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
286
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Pick out an individual track apart from the singles and they don't rank too highly or in fact make a lot of sense, but listen to the whole thing, for me for the first time in 1984, and it was something totally different. An album I still love to listen to now.....although I don't feel so strongly..."  [+]  Reply
- Rich150 | 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:
285
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"After Going deaf for Living, this album was way darker, also because the new input of the keyboards. But their direct statements were much more meaningful and founded the success for the band of John Watts in europe. Side A is an absolute classic. And B with Cruise Missiles and Luton to Lisbon a ..."  [+]  Reply
- cronadigallina | 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:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
285
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Comments:
"Not as good as her debut but a good album nonetheless. The best tracks are the first 2 and the last 2. Be Careful Of My Heart & Subcity are the next best. The only track I would skip is Material World the rest of the album is good."  Reply
- Tamthebam | 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:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
284
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Total albums: 1,000. Page 72 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Best Albums of the 1990s
1. OK Computer by Radiohead
2. Nevermind by Nirvana
3. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
4. The Bends by Radiohead
5. Loveless by My Bloody Valentine
6. Automatic For The People by R.E.M.
7. Ten by Pearl Jam
8. Grace by Jeff Buckley
9. Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins
10. (What's The Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis
11. In Utero by Nirvana
12. Dummy by Portishead
13. Illmatic by Nas
14. Ágætis Byrjun by Sigur Rós
15. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins
16. Weezer (Blue Album) by Weezer
17. Homogenic by Björk
18. Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan
19. Violator by Depeche Mode
20. Spiderland by Slint