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).
This chart is currently filtered to only show compilation albums. (Remove this filter)
"Great Album ....but it is a best of package ... and compilations shouldn't count in a greatest album chart."
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~SMiLE~ | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 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.
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Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,278
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Let me try and put this into context: you have a band that changed the definition of what an indie rock/alternative band could be, pioneered the new wave genre, released a number of songs that become club classics and have since gone onto to define electronica and dance music. And then, you take ..." [More]
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DeusExMackia | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +11 votes (11 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.
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Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,884
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I typically don't like to consider compilations as proper albums and avoid putting them in my charts, but for this and Hatful of Hollow, I make an exception. Most of these tracks don't show up on any of the Smiths' studio releases, so might as well rate it as any other album."
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Onater | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 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.
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Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,387
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Wow how has no one commented on this and how is this rated so low? My favorite Fugazi album."
- iamthewalrus | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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.
- iamthewalrus | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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.
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,496
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"It's just as essential as Unknown Pleasures and Closer."
- LordMark | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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.
- LordMark | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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.
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,282
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I like this album better than Three Imaginary Boys. The added tracks really do the album good. And some lesser tracks are dropped. I don't regard this as a compilation.."
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wooolf | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 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.
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Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
892
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
291.
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Surfer Rosa & Come On Pilgrim
Compilation
Compilation
"I can't rank Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa separately, because that's not how I know them. I find that it doesn't sound like two separate works; there is a congruency between both, it's almost seamless. While most will speak of Where is My Mind (it is epic, after all), my favorite track is Cari..." [More]
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junodog4 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +10 votes (10 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.
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"These kids are no joke. This is some of the most powerful punk ever recorded."
- jstreets | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 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.
- jstreets | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 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.
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
735
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Logged as a compilation but how can a previously unreleased album of studio recordings be a compilation? Really good anyways. Possibly better than loaded but not the first 3."
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Graeme2 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 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.
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Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
607
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"A phenomenal compilation on par with Hatful of Hollow and Substance 1987. If you want to distill the first half of The Cure's career into one collection of songs, this is about as good as it gets, both as a review of their first six albums and as a collection of perhaps their best non-album singl..." [More]
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HoldenM | 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.
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
601
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 35. Page 1 of 4
Best Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 119 | 12% | |
| 1981 | 120 | 12% | |
| 1982 | 107 | 11% | |
| 1983 | 96 | 10% | |
| 1984 | 100 | 10% | |
| 1985 | 86 | 9% | |
| 1986 | 92 | 9% | |
| 1987 | 87 | 9% | |
| 1988 | 98 | 10% | |
| 1989 | 96 | 10% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| 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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|||
|
415 | 41% | |
|
392 | 39% | |
|
40 | 4% | |
|
27 | 3% | |
|
22 | 2% | |
|
20 | 2% | |
|
12 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
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