Best Albums of 1988

Listed below are the best albums of 1988 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 56,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade
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Year:
summaryThe best artists of 1988 were Sonic Youth, Pixies, Talk Talk, Public Enemy, Metallica, My Bloody Valentine, Tracy Chapman, R.E.M., N.W.A and Iron Maiden.
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Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,324
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,249
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,207
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,992
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,744
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,730
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,560
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,537
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,522
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,453
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100

Best Albums of 1988 composition

Artist Albums %


Various Artists 22 2%
The Beatles 4 0%
Frank Zappa 4 0%
The Bevis Frond 3 0%
Philip Glass 3 0%
Die Ärzte 2 0%
The Fall 2 0%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 429 43%
United Kingdom 237 24%
Mixed Nationality 45 4%
Germany 42 4%
Australia 31 3%
Canada 29 3%
France 28 3%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 905 90%
Yes 98 10%
Live? Albums %
No 972 97%
Yes 31 3%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 987 98%
Yes 16 2%
Recognised  Decade Charts (2020s)
1. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks by Billboard (2019)
2. The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s by Pitchfork (2019)
3. BrooklynVegan's Top Albums of 2010s by BrooklynVegan (2020)
4. The A.V. Club's 50 best albums of the 2010s by The A.V. Club (2019)
5. All The Best Albums Of The 2010s, Ranked by Uproxx (2019)
6. Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of the 2010s by Gorilla vs. Bear (2019)
7. Top 100 Albums of the Decade by Crack Magazine (2019)
8. NME's Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s by New Music Express (2019)
9. Top 50 Albums of the 2010s by The Wild Honey Pie (2019)
10. The 50 best albums of the decade – 2010 to 2019 by Independent (2019)
11. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Rolling Stone (2019)
12. The Needle Drop's Top Albums Of The 2010s by The Needle Drop (2019)
13. The 50 Best Albums of the Decade by Deep Cuts (2019)
14. The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s by Stereogum (2019)
15. The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s by Spin (2020)
16. Top 100 Albums of the 2010s by Consequence of Sound (2019)
17. Die 100 besten Alben der 10er Jahre by Musikexpress.de (2020)
18. Die besten Platten 2010-2019 by Spex (2019)
19. The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Paste (2019)
20. Los 30 mejores discos de la década de 2010 by Esquire España (2023)
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