Best Albums of 1981
Explore the best albums of 1981, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 charts.
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Last updated: 2 hours ago
Last updated: 2 hours ago
"My faves on this album are the non-hits: Camera Eye, Red Barchetta, And YYZ. I just love the imagery in Red Barchetta. I dug up the original short story that inspired that song, and I gotta say they improved on it greatly. (However, my mental video is much better than the one they showed in conce..." [+] Reply
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radiofreespike | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,712
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"There's a brilliant hook in every track with the most famous one being the one in "Computer Love" thanks to Coldplay. Ironic how an album aiming for something very futuristic ends up sounding this nostalgic. A compliment, not a complaint!" Reply
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Mother Nature's Son | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 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:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,375
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Comments:
"It's the most underrated and underappreciated album of its time. Once again, King Crimson draws the blueprint for about a half dozen subgenres of music with a mammoth release that takes a few cutting-edge musical ideas and runs with them. 1969's ITCOTCK forged a new genre out of The Moody Blues a..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,219
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Comments:
"The only album I'll practice witchcraft to" Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,047
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Comments:
"I bought the original "uncensored" version of this masterpiece with the "banned" track Qu'ran. Another exotic beauty." Reply
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CellarDoor | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,638
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Comments:
"This lp answers the question... Sgt. Pepper is to the the Beatles as TIME is to ELO. This is Jeff Lynne's masterpiece. A concept lp of a weary time traveler from 1981 to the year 2095 and back. Great rock n roll, fantastic ballads, this lp is a must have in any collection. its been my favorite al..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,315
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"One of their earliest albums, this may be their best. Not bloated and overlong like some of their later "masterpieces" (e.g. Disintegration, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me), this album reveals the genius of the band, and especially Robert Smith. Lovely and svelte, from front to back. Bravo!" Reply
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imimesis | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 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:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,079
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"I've never been more convinced I didn't like something after giving it 3 listens. It's even worse than punk. Somehow it got more childish, more outputting, less mature, and even less musically interesting than its predecessors in it's genre who it's not even worth my time to fully type out. Not f..." [+] Reply
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corenfro | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (8 helpful | 6 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:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,044
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"opening track The Things That Dreams Are Made Of and Love Action are good. Abba + Kraftwerk = Human League." Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,020
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I discovered this album much later that I should have. This is the greatest rock album of the 80s and does not get nearly enough recognition." Reply
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,894
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100
Best Albums of 1981 composition
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Various Artists | 14 | 1% | |
| Frank Zappa | 5 | 1% | |
| Scientist | 3 | 0% | |
| Fela Kuti | 3 | 0% | |
| Gary Numan | 3 | 0% | |
| 喜多郎 [Kitarō] | 3 | 0% | |
| Simple Minds | 3 | 0% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
312 | 31% | |
 |
270 | 27% | |
 |
61 | 6% | |
 |
40 | 4% | |
 |
36 | 4% | |
 |
35 | 4% | |
 |
28 | 3% | |
| Show all | |||
Best Albums of 1981 chart changes
| Biggest climbers Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Up 2 from 96th to 94th |
Up 2 from 64th to 62nd |
Up 2 from 51st to 49th |
| Biggest fallers Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 2 from 93rd to 95th |
Down 1 from 10th to 11th |
Down 1 from 26th to 27th |
Best Artists of
1997
1.
Radiohead
2.
Björk
4.
Modest Mouse
8.
The Verve
9.
Foo Fighters
10.
Nick Cave
