Best Albums of the 1980s
Explore the best albums of the 1980s, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 charts.
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Last updated: 2 hours ago
Last updated: 2 hours ago
This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from The Smiths. (Remove this filter)
"The Smiths are my favorite band of the 80s hands down, and this is their true masterpiece. Not putting this at number 1 was a hard decision for me, because I literally cant count how many times I've hard all these songs. And they dont get old. Its weird, I literally cannont get tired of this albu..." [+] Reply
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micah88800 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
31,797
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"One of the greatest debut albums, The Smiths self-titled album is an instant classic. Standout tracks include "This Charming Man", "Reel Around The Fountain", "Still Ill"." Reply
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joedec | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,697
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Comments:
"The only Smiths album I find uneven. The U.S. version includes "How Soon Is Now", the quality of which dwarfs everything else and makes some songs sound particuarly mediocre. "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" is the only other highlight for me. "Barbarism Begins At Home" is quality but takes too lo..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,219
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Comments:
"This album is a ridiculously good collection of singles and b-sides recorded by The Smiths in the first couple years of their short existence. It is honestly my favorite Smiths album. Nearly every song is quality, with a few of the Smiths greatest songs on here. The album holds together with a re..." [+] Reply
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Caesar01 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,074
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"A very underrated Smiths album in my opinion. It's not quite The Queen is Dead but it's very ambition in its lyrical content and production, more so than their earliest work and is probably my 2nd favourite. Favourite songs: Girlfriend in a Coma, Paint a Vulgar Picture, Stop Me If You Think You'v..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,528
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Although the second side is weaker, the opening 12 songs could be album in their own right. And a damn good one at that." Reply
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DeusExMackia | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,321
Rank in 1987:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The album is basically the UK release of Louder Than Bombs and actually predates LTB by a couple of months. Both were collections of singles that didn't appear on any Smiths studio albums. The comp was released between studio releases to tide fans over in the meantime. The only difference between..." [+] Reply
"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.
Total albums: 8. Page 1 of 1
Best Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 120 | 12% | |
| 1981 | 120 | 12% | |
| 1982 | 107 | 11% | |
| 1983 | 95 | 10% | |
| 1984 | 100 | 10% | |
| 1985 | 87 | 9% | |
| 1986 | 92 | 9% | |
| 1987 | 88 | 9% | |
| 1988 | 98 | 10% | |
| 1989 | 93 | 9% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Cure | 10 | 1% | |
| The Smiths | 8 | 1% | |
| Rush | 8 | 1% | |
| XTC | 8 | 1% | |
| Prince | 8 | 1% | |
| Iron Maiden | 8 | 1% | |
| Elvis Costello | 8 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
412 | 41% | |
 |
395 | 40% | |
 |
40 | 4% | |
 |
29 | 3% | |
 |
22 | 2% | |
 |
19 | 2% | |
 |
11 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Best Albums of the 1980s chart changes
| Biggest climbers Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Up 5 from 61st to 56th |
Up 3 from 41st to 38th |
Up 2 from 99th to 97th |
| Biggest fallers Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 2 from 30th to 32nd |
Down 2 from 39th to 41st |
Down 2 from 47th to 49th |
