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: 3 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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Collector's summary (top 1,000) (filtered) 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!
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"The Joshua Tree is often a very controversial chart pick because of the sheer amount of hate it receives from our forum regulars. And yes, I can see where the hate is coming from. But every time I listen to this album, I completely forget the constant lashings that the members here give this albu..."  [More]  Reply  
- | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 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:
18,245
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
42.
War 
Ireland U2
"Look, I can't stand lots of what U2 have put out and bono gets on my tits but I can't deny this record. It contains some of the best singles of the 80s. This and achtung baby are just quality. Sunday bloody Sunday...wash the car, mow the lawn. Cheers Alan."  Reply  
- Graeme2 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,398
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"This album confuses me. Sometimes I feel like it is pretty good, but not quite great. Other times I feel like it is my favorite album of all time. Tracks 1-7 are some of my favorite U2 songs except for the instrumental 4th of July. After that there isn't too much going on. I like this album more ..."  [More]  Reply  
- Ben4 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 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:
3,622
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Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
128.
Boy 
Ireland U2
"One of the great rock debuts, boy, is full of energy, grit and ambition. It's an album from a band hungry for success, and they give it their all on this excellent record. The opener, I Wii follow, is fantastic, it's the first song of many that manages to blend the power of rock with an atmospher..."  [More]  Reply  
- garycottier | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,088
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Comments:
"Rattle and hum, is U2 taking us on a journey of the history of rock. There's covers of The Beatles and Dylan, Hendrix appears on the record, and the band record a handful of songs at sun studios where Elvis recorded his earliest songs. Elsewhere, there's songs about Billie Holiday, references to ..."  [More]  Reply  
- garycottier | 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:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,413
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Average Rating:
Comments:
328.
Ireland U2
"U2 were not really ready to record a follow up to, boy, as they had no songs, but since they had to, they winged it. It was written on the fly, in the studio, and although there is a lot of energy, is does sound a little short on something. Gloria, is a great opener, and, I fall down, is fine, bu..."  [More]  Reply  
- garycottier | 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:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
755
Rank in 1981:
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"I think this took U2 to a new level... more the event than the album, but this album captured U2 as a live band... what they are amazing at. Their studio albums are good, but 10 times better live."  Reply  
- RoundTheBend | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 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:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
561
Rank in 1983:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 7. Page 1 of 1

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Recognised  Year Charts (2025)
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