Best Albums of 1981

Listed below are the best albums of 1981 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade
Decade:
Year:
1981 year summaryThe best artists of 1981 were Rush, Kraftwerk, King Crimson, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Brian Eno & David Byrne, Electric Light Orchestra, The Cure, The Human League, Black Flag and This Heat.
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Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
102
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
102
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
101
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
100
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
98
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
98
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
97
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
95
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
94
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
94
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 18 of 100

Best Albums of 1981 composition

Artist Albums %


Various Artists 16 2%
Frank Zappa 5 1%
Scientist 3 0%
Simple Minds 3 0%
Gary Numan 3 0%
Kitarō 3 0%
David Bowie 3 0%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 303 30%
United Kingdom 284 28%
Germany 58 6%
Mixed Nationality 41 4%
Australia 36 4%
France 29 3%
Japan 27 3%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 938 94%
Yes 62 6%
Live? Albums %
No 970 97%
Yes 30 3%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 990 99%
Yes 10 1%
Popular  Charts
1. The Top 100 Albums by VH1 (2001)
2. The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time by New Music Express (2013)
3. 200 Greatest Albums of All Time by Uncut (2016)
4. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (2020)
5. The Definitive 200 by National Association of Recording Merchandisers (2007)
6. Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums by Virgin (2000)
7. Top 100 Albums by ABC (2006)
8. Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Melody Maker (2000)
9. The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time by Consequence of Sound (2022)
10. Mojo Readers: The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made by Mojo (1996)
11. Greatest 100 Albums of All Time by The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums with NME (2006)
12. The Greatest Rock Albums by uDiscoverMusic (2015)
13. Die 20 besten Alben der Geschichte by Musikexpress.de (2011)
14. Die 100 besten Alben der Musikgeschichte by radioeins (2019)
15. Die 100 Alben des Jahrhunderts by Spex (2000)
16. Die 100 besten Platten des Jahrhunderts by Wiener (1999)
17. The 100 Greatest Albums Of All Time by Absolute Radio (2012)
18. 100 Greatest Albums Ever by Q (2006)
19. Top 90.3 Listener Voted Albums by KEXP (2008)
20. 100 Greatest Albums Of All Time by The Sound (2018)
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