Best Albums of the 1980s

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 3 hours ago).
Best albums by year or decade
Decade:
Year:
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.
View chart at point in time
 Show this chart as it was on the following date
Share this chart
Collector's summary (top 1,000) 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!
Sort Sort by
"Solid pop fluff of the highest quality. The light and breezy production really makes those synths and sharp beats sing, but it's real talent is found in just how classy this well-made record is. Delivers absolute classics like What Have I Done To Deserve This? and It's A Sin, but isn't afraid to ..."  [+]  Reply
- DeusExMackia | 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:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,241
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Why is this album so influential? A lot of reasons. It certainly didn't invent electronic music, and it certainly didn't even popularize it. What it did do, in the same way that Silver Apples molded electronics with rock music, was produce a new genre of music which helped popularize electronica ..."  [+]  Reply
- zonrod | 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:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,238
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,211
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Pump, is Aerosmith's best album. It's a vibrant, confident, and energetic classic. The whole band is on the top of their game here, especially Steven Tyler who is singing better than ever. From the opening duo of, young lust/F.I.N.E., the album never lets up, it's a one after the other, in your f..."  [+]  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:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,201
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,174
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,164
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,159
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Have you ever heard an album that is nearly a "Greatest Hits" in its own? Well, THIS is one of those very few albums that have to be honoured that way. In fact this album has an impressive record: 6 singles made the top 15 in the US, a record only equalled with Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. How c..."  [+]  Reply
- ponkine | 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:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,156
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Another step up from the debut by what was to become the world's greatest heavy metal band. Does not contain any track as strong as Running Free from the previous outing, but the general quality has improved. Best tracks: Wrathchild and Killers. A couple more months of songwriting and a new singe..."  [+]  Reply
- Bork | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 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:
1,153
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,150
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 23 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Best Albums of the 2010s
1. To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar
2. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West
3. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City by Kendrick Lamar
4. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
5. Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens
6. A Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead
7. Lonerism by Tame Impala
8. ★ [Blackstar] by David Bowie
9. Blond by Frank Ocean
10. High Violet by The National