Best Albums of the 1980s
Explore the best albums of the 1980s, based on over 2 million album rankings across 61,000 charts
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"A significant album in the history of music that is an extremely smooth and relaxing listen. The whole record comes together very nicely with each song matching in tone, style and environment. The music still sounds fresh to this day as well and has aged beautifully. This is really helped by the ..." Reply
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,917
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"I'll admit an agree, in general this album is too long and there are too many songs on it which are simply not that good/not good enough. But even though, I really like the cheerful vibe in some songs and Just Like Heaven really is a masterpiece. And don't forget, their best work (Disintegration)..." Reply
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,882
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"This is not on the level of his 1970s albums. First 3 songs are great, but then it goes downhill with a little highlight (Criminal World, Cat People)." Reply
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,848
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"The Pretenders were a real shot in the arm in the eighties. Great debut. The last five songs on the record are terrific." Reply
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,806
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"Not sure why there's so little love for this album here. For me, it's a great listen with lots of enjoyable tracks. Stand out song for me is Never Tear Us Apart." Reply
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albummaster | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 5
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Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,798
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"I kid you not , this is the 51st highest selling album of all time !!!!! Sweet mother of god , there's no accounting for peoples taste with lyrics like: "I don't want to touch you too much, baby 'Cause making love to you might drive me crazy"(Love Bites) Yikes !" Reply
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Brad1770 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 3
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Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,752
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"Possibly The Cure's best effort, and, retrospectively, the one that stands on its own best. Amazingly coherent." Reply
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Norman Bates | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 2
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Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,733
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"Rarely does a prog band put out an album that reaches the masses, but is still among their best artistically. Marillion accomplishes that unusual feat right here." Reply
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Fischman | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 4
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Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,713
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"This is the album where Depeche Mode really started to discover their sound and start to experiment with a darker undertone. While it would be executed better on later releases, this early dive into more harsh and tense sounds makes for fantastic listening as you really can feel the raw nature of..." Reply
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,684
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"Easily my favorite Dire Straits album. Telegraph Road is one of the greatest songs of all time, in any genre. Industrial Disease is wonderfully witty, and the rest is worthy as well." Reply
- Fischman | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 3
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,683
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Total albums: 1,000. Page 10 of 100
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 3 from 94th to 91st |
| 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 |
