Best albums of the 1980s
Cheap drum machines and the first affordable samplers changed who was allowed to make a record. Hip-hop moved from a party you had to be at to a 12-inch you could buy, and MTV made how a song looked part of the argument.
According to Riffiter listeners, the best album of the 1980s is Purple Rain by Prince, rated 4.7/5 by 21 listeners.
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Disagree with the ranking?
Rate these albums and the chart reshuffles around the community. Or collect your own pick of them into a list or tier.
Build a list or tier of your ownThe 1980s, year by year
Ten years, three records each. Every heading opens that year in full.
Best albums of 1980
1,190 albums
Best albums of 1981
1,233 albums
Best albums of 1982
1,309 albums
Best albums of 1983
1,380 albums
Best albums of 1984
1,393 albums
Best albums of 1985
1,524 albums
Best albums of 1986
1,597 albums
Best albums of 1987
1,830 albums
Best albums of 1988
1,979 albums
Best albums of the 1980s by genre
The genres that carried the period here, each with what listeners rate highest inside it.
Best Rock albums of the 1980s
3,581 albums from the 1980s
Best Classical albums of the 1980s
2,260 albums from the 1980s
Best Pop albums of the 1980s
2,093 albums from the 1980s
Best Electronic albums of the 1980s
1,610 albums from the 1980s
Best Jazz albums of the 1980s
1,464 albums from the 1980s
Best Pop Rock albums of the 1980s
1,097 albums from the 1980s
The artists of the 1980s
Everyone who put a record out then, ordered by how listeners rate their catalog rather than by that one release.
