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: 4 hours ago).
"This is definitely the Residents album to start with if you're new to the group. It's a parody of popular music, with 40 "commercial friendly" condensed one minute songs. The songs are all great due to unique arrangements and great sounding synthesizers. Even non-fans should check this one out......" [+] Reply
812.
"Easy to bash because the movie was a coke-inducted disco nightmare (though its fun for its camp value) but the soundtrack is another story. Both ELO and Olivia were in their prime when this album was made and I personally love both halves of the album." Reply
"I am still stunned that this album didn't change the landscape of popular rock in the mid eighties. It was so much more catchy and lycically important than REM; less self righteous than U2; and just plain better than what other trash was being heaped onto non-college airways." Reply
"Screw what the haters say, I loved this!" Reply
"This has always been one of my favorite ska albums and its top two songs received significant airplay on MTV (I confess / save it for later). Surprised this album isn't ranked higher" Reply
"Seems like it would be a dream combination - and the truth is - It IS a dream combination! Morrison has never sounded more comfortable and the band has never sounded more capable. A Masterpiece of Celtic traditional music." Reply
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TheDude85 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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"Sure, it's just a live album from The Smiths, and it cannot be considered their best record. Still, it's a great live LP, showing how The Smiths could rock on stage so much more than on album format. Check out their punkish version of "London" for instance." Reply
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Norman Bates | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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.
"While Belladona instantly makes this band much better by being here, it's not just his addition to the group that marks large improvements from the debut. The writing is stronger, the riffs sharper, and the playing tighter. Everything just instantly has more of that Anthrax identity, even when th..." [+] Reply
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AAL2014 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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.
"A solid debut - slightly above average overall. It's pretty consistent, but there are only a few "wow" moments. The first three songs are particularly good, and The Killing Hand and Light Fuse and Get Away show flashes. Only a Matter of Time only got worse with age - it's not a good live song." Reply
"Incredible album, quality of songs and musicians is mind-blowing. I can now see why this album is number 4 in the best AOR albums ever recorded chart. In my opinion it's joint number one." Reply
Total albums: 1,000. Page 82 of 100
Best Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 119 | 12% | |
| 1981 | 119 | 12% | |
| 1982 | 107 | 11% | |
| 1983 | 97 | 10% | |
| 1984 | 100 | 10% | |
| 1985 | 87 | 9% | |
| 1986 | 92 | 9% | |
| 1987 | 88 | 9% | |
| 1988 | 98 | 10% | |
| 1989 | 95 | 10% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| 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 | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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414 | 41% | |
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392 | 39% | |
 |
41 | 4% | |
 |
27 | 3% | |
 |
22 | 2% | |
 |
20 | 2% | |
 |
12 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
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