Best Albums of the 1980s

« View best albums of the 1970sView best albums of the 1990s »

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 56,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

summaryThe best artists of the 1980s were The Smiths, Prince, Pixies, The Cure, Talking Heads, U2, Metallica, Kate Bush, R.E.M. and The Stone Roses.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

321.

October

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

209 charts

Rank Score:

776

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

321

Overall Rank:

2,127

Average Rating:

72 (428 votes)

Comments:

322.

Rebel Yell

Billy Idol

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

188 charts

Rank Score:

775

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

322

Overall Rank:

2,131

Average Rating:

74 (203 votes)

Comments:

323.

Strange Times

The Chameleons

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

119 charts

Rank Score:

768

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

323

Overall Rank:

2,141

Average Rating:

79 (141 votes)

Comments:

324.

Lincoln

They Might Be Giants

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

138 charts

Rank Score:

768

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

324

Overall Rank:

2,143

Average Rating:

77 (161 votes)

Comments:

325.

Grace Under Pressure

Rush

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

163 charts

Rank Score:

764

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

325

Overall Rank:

2,151

Average Rating:

77 (259 votes)

Comments:

326.

Fugazi

Marillion

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

117 charts

Rank Score:

762

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

326

Overall Rank:

2,154

Average Rating:

76 (158 votes)

Comments:

327.

Music For A New Society

John Cale

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

114 charts

Rank Score:

762

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

327

Overall Rank:

2,156

Average Rating:

77 (111 votes)

Comments:

328.

Killing Joke

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

191 charts

Rank Score:

761

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

328

Overall Rank:

2,159

Average Rating:

77 (213 votes)

Comments:

329.

The Turn Of A Friendly Card

The Alan Parsons Project

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

138 charts

Rank Score:

759

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

329

Overall Rank:

2,162

Average Rating:

76 (195 votes)

Comments:

330.

Ambient 4: On Land

Brian Eno

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

161 charts

Rank Score:

759

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

330

Overall Rank:

2,163

Average Rating:

78 (203 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
...
32
33
34
...
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 33 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	119	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	99	10%
1984	101	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	97	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	95	10%
1989	94	9%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
The Smiths	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
Depeche Mode	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	418	42%
	389	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	966	97%
Yes	34	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	22	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	12	1%

« View best albums of the 1970sView best albums of the 1990s »

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Email Address
Forgotten passwords and other site notifications are sent to the email address saved on your profile. If you've changed your email address recently, please remember to update it on your profile page. (If you can't remember your password, and your email address is out of date, please contact us for assistance getting back into your account).