Best Albums of the 1980s
Explore the best albums of the 1980s, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 charts
Click to see how the rankings are calculated
.
Last updated: 4 hours ago
This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from 1989. (Remove this filter)
Available from 
"When I first listened to this album, I was both very attracted to its musicality and, at the same repelled by its harsh style. Finally, once I was able to see the style the Pixies were going for, any sort of repulsion was long gone. After hearing this album two or three times, I was hooked and fo..." Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
29,816
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
"Joy Division's "Atmosphere" stretched over 70 minutes. So yeah, it sounds good." Reply
- 
CellarDoor | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 10
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:
25,382
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
"This album stirs up so many emotions in me and always transports me back to the wonderful summer of 1989 and the joys of being 18 again. I have listened to thousands of times over the last 22 years and have never tired of it. It is a defining masterpiece..." Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
21,896
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
"They just don't make albums like this anymore. This would be IMPOSSIBLE to make today, what with all this controversy over sampling and whatnot. THIS is what sampling should sound like: Artists taking bits of found sound from various sources and incorporating them into their own unique creations." Reply
- 
swhaze | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 3
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:
6,236
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
"Seems like every time I run across a highly-rated album on here that I've never heard of before from someone I've never heard of before, I get the same thing... 1. Emo rock "indie" band more often than not comprised of members "rebelling" against their awful upper middle class lives and Ivy Leagu..." Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,965
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
"Maybe this is a 'you had to have been there' album. Cause this just seems like a poor hip-hop album :/. I do like the cover though." Reply
- 
Hayden | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 5
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:
3,932
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
"Good debut from Nirvana. Musically, there's a couple great songs, but the rest I don't find too impressive. However, what I love about Bleach is the passion that went into it. Whenever Kurt sings, I get chills cause of how into it he is and how much it seems like he wants to keep singing. I love ..." Reply
- 
Space-Dementia | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 3
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:
3,451
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
"One of my all time favorite albums. I'm biased in the sense that I went to a lot of warehouse clubs in Detroit around the time this came out and several of these tracks got a lot of play time. This and Ministry's A Land of Rape and Honey the year prior really put their stamp on industrial music f..." Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,385
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
"This one was on continuous spin when it first came out - everybody had. Two decades later, I find it hasn't lost any of its charm. Great music from the start; I think it's Petty's finest effort." Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,306
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Available from
"Lou Reed's not quite love letter to New York. This is a stunning record as Reed rants about unscrupulous landlords, pollution, and, AIDS, and that's just three. Lou touches on about everything here and is on top form throughout. There are some fantastic songs including, dirty Blvd ., strawman, an..." Reply
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,442
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 92. Page 1 of 10
Best Albums of the 1980s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 118 | 12% | |
| 1981 | 120 | 12% | |
| 1982 | 108 | 11% | |
| 1983 | 96 | 10% | |
| 1984 | 100 | 10% | |
| 1985 | 87 | 9% | |
| 1986 | 93 | 9% | |
| 1987 | 87 | 9% | |
| 1988 | 99 | 10% | |
| 1989 | 92 | 9% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Cure | 10 | 1% | |
| Prince | 8 | 1% | |
| Iron Maiden | 8 | 1% | |
| Depeche Mode | 8 | 1% | |
| Elvis Costello | 8 | 1% | |
| The Smiths | 8 | 1% | |
| Rush | 8 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
411 | 41% | |
| |
391 | 39% | |
 |
40 | 4% | |
 |
28 | 3% | |
 |
23 | 2% | |
 |
21 | 2% | |
 |
11 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Best Albums of the 1980s chart changes
| Biggest climbers Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Up 4 from 70th to 66th |
Up 4 from 62nd to 58th |
Up 2 from 102nd to 100th |
| Biggest fallers Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 4 from 57th to 61st |
Down 2 from 33rd to 35th |
Down 2 from 38th to 40th |
| New entries New entries in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Up 2 from 102nd to 100th |
| Leavers Leavers from top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 1 from 100th to 101st |
