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).
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:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
274
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The title song reminds me of a trip I made from Las Vegas to Yosemite to San Fran...I remember hearing this song on the radio as I came out of the foothills of the Sierras (going west to SF) and hit the beautiful countryside of northern California..this was in 1989 when this song was out...just a..."  [+]  Reply
- ffudnebbuh | 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:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
273
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
272
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:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
272
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Despite its messy gestation and indifference to it on its release, this is BOCs lost classic. If only we could have had the 3 volume complete Soft Doctrines of Imaginos as Albert Bouchard envisaged."  Reply
- magpie1862 | 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:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
272
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Not quite the Kinks' most consistent album, but it has no shortage of outstanding cuts. There were minor hits in 'Destrooyer,' 'Around the Dial' and the title cut, but also look for great deep cuts in 'Add it Up,' 'Back to Front,' and the wonderful closer 'Better Things.'"  Reply
- Fischman | 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:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
272
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
272
Rank in 1983:
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:
270
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Everyone loves In My Darkest Hour and Set the World Afire, but I think Mary Jane and Hook In Mouth deserve some recognition as well. It's no Peace Sells, but it's good thrash."  Reply
- TheSmithsAreDead | 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:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
269
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"'84:i Kissing Stick Aka "What Tastes Great But Adds No Weight?!" “Back then, Eddie was sort of the apex of a new direction for guitarists of my generation. If you were just getting in the game like me, he was the guy to look up to. He made it all seem so exciting. Everybody wanted to play like hi..."
- Repo | 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:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
269
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 75 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Best Artists of 2024
1. Magdalena Bay
2. Charli XCX
3. The Cure
4. Vampire Weekend
5. The Smile
6. Fontaines D.C.
7. Kendrick Lamar
8. The Last Dinner Party
9. Geordie Greep
10. Tyler, The Creator
11. Billie Eilish
12. Waxahatchee
13. Adrianne Lenker
14. Cindy Lee
15. Beth Gibbons
16. Father John Misty
17. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
18. Nick Cave
19. MJ Lenderman
20. Beyoncé