The 44 Greatest Albums of the 1980s
The 1980s contribute 44 of the music canon's all-time entries, led by Thriller (1982). Rankings aggregate 9 authoritative lists; every entry links to its full evidence.
1. Thriller
Thriller is the sixth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released on November 29, 1982, through Epic Records. It was produced by Quincy Jones, who previously worked with Jackson on his album Off the Wall (1979).
2. Purple Rain
Purple Rain is the sixth studio album by American musician Prince, featuring his backing band the Revolution. It was released on June 25, 1984, by Warner Bros. Records as the soundtrack album to the 1984 film of the same name.
3. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is the second studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on June 28, 1988, by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. It was recorded from 1987 to 1988 in sessions at Chung King Studios, Greene St. Recording, and Sabella Studios in New York.
4. Remain in Light
Remain in Light is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released on October 8, 1980, by Sire Records. The band's third and final album to be produced by Brian Eno, Remain in Light was recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and Sigma Sound Studios in New York in July and August 1980.
5. Appetite for Destruction
Appetite for Destruction is a 1987 album by Guns N' Roses.
6. Paul's Boutique
Paul's Boutique is the second album by the American hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989, by Capitol Records. Produced by the Beastie Boys and the Dust Brothers, it makes extensive use of samples drawn from genres including funk, soul, rock and jazz. It was recorded over two years in Los Angeles at Matt Dike's apartment and the Record Plant studio.
7. The Joshua Tree
The Joshua Tree is the fifth studio album by the Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 by Island Records. In contrast to the ambient experimentation of their 1984 album The Unforgettable Fire, for The Joshua Tree the band aimed for a harder-hitting sound within the limitation of conventional song structures.
8. Straight Outta Compton
Straight Outta Compton is the debut studio album by American hip-hop group N.W.A, released on January 25, 1989, through Priority and Ruthless Records. It was produced by N.W.A members Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, and Arabian Prince, with lyrics written by Eazy-E, Ice Cube and MC Ren, alongside contributions from Ruthless rapper and N.W.A affiliate the D.O.C.
9. Graceland
Graceland is the seventh solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was produced by Simon, engineered by Roy Halee, and released on August 25, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records.
10. Back in Black
Back in Black is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 25 July 1980, by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature Brian Johnson as lead singer, following the death of their previous vocalist Bon Scott.
11. The Queen Is Dead
The Queen Is Dead is the third studio album by the English rock band the Smiths, released on 16 June 1986 by Rough Trade Records.
12. Hounds of Love
Hounds of Love is the fifth studio album by the English musician Kate Bush, released on 16 September 1985 by EMI Records. It was a commercial and artistic success and marked a return to the public eye for Bush after the relatively low sales of her previous album, 1982's The Dreaming. The album's lead single, "Running Up That Hill", became Bush's biggest hit, initially peaking at no.
13. Sign O' the Times
Sign of the Times, A Sign of the Times, or Signs of the Times may refer to…
14. Disintegration
Disintegration or disintegrate may refer to…
15. Doolittle
Doolittle is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released on April 17, 1989, on 4AD. The album was an instant critical success and became the band's breakthrough album. Doolittle was especially well received in Europe, where the British music weeklies Melody Maker and Sounds named it their album of the year.
16. Master of Puppets
Master of Puppets is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on March 3, 1986, by Elektra Records. Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark, at Sweet Silence Studios with producer Flemming Rasmussen, it is the band's final album to feature bassist Cliff Burton.
17. Nebraska
Nebraska is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on September 30, 1982, through Columbia Records. Springsteen recorded the songs unaccompanied on a four-track recorder in the bedroom of his home in Colts Neck, New Jersey.
18. Daydream Nation
Daydream Nation is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released on October 18, 1988. The band recorded the album between July and August 1988 at Greene St. Recording in New York City, and it was released by Enigma Records as a double album.
19. Closer
Closer or Closers may refer to…
20. 1999
1999 was the last year of the 1990s as well as the penultimate year of the 20th century and the 2nd millennium.
21. Paid in Full
Paid in Full is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, released on July 7, 1987, by Island-subsidiary label 4th & B'way Records. The duo recorded the album at hip-hop producer Marley Marl's home studio and Power Play Studios in New York City, following Rakim's response to Eric B.'s search for a rapper to complement his disc jockey work in 1985. The album peaked at No.
22. Pretenders
Pretenders is the debut studio album by British-American band the Pretenders, released in January 1980. A combination of rock and roll, punk and new wave music, it was an immediate success. The album features the singles "Stop Your Sobbing" (a cover of the 1964 Kinks deep cut), "Kid" and "Brass in Pocket".
23. Bad
Bad is the seventh studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987, by Epic Records. Highly anticipated, the album took two years to produce between 1985 and 1987, and was Jackson's third and final collaboration with producer Quincy Jones.
24. Unknown Pleasures
Unknown Pleasures is the debut studio album by the English rock band Joy Division. It was released on 15 June 1979 through Factory Records. The album was recorded and mixed over three successive weekends at Stockport's Strawberry Studios in April 1979, with producer Martin Hannett contributing a number of unconventional recording techniques to the group's sound.
25. Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 4, 1984, through Columbia Records. It was produced by Springsteen, Jon Landau, Steven Van Zandt, and Chuck Plotkin, and recorded in New York City with the E Street Band over two years between January 1982 and March 1984.
26. The Great Twenty-Eight
The Great Twenty-Eight is a compilation album by American musician Chuck Berry, released in 1982 on Chess Records. In 2003, the album was ranked number 21 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list, the second-highest ranking compilation on the list after The Sun Sessions by Elvis Presley.
27. The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Stone Roses, released on 2 May 1989 by Silvertone Records. It was recorded mostly at Battery Studios in London with producer John Leckie from June 1988 to February 1989. Despite not being an immediate success, The Stone Roses has now sold over four million copies worldwide.
28. Legend
A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief.
29. Let It Be
Let It Be is the twelfth and final studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 8 May 1970, nearly a month after the official announcement of the group's public break-up, in tandem with the documentary of the same name.
30. Raising Hell
Raising Hell is the third studio album by American hip-hop group Run-D.M.C., released on May 15, 1986, by Profile Records. The album was produced by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. Raising Hell is notable for being the first Platinum and multi-Platinum hip-hop record.
31. Murmur
Murmur is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on April 12, 1983, by I.R.S. Records. The album was recorded in the winter of 1983 at Reflection Sound Studios in Charlotte, North Carolina, with musicians Don Dixon and Mitch Easter serving as producers.
32. Surfer Rosa
Surfer Rosa is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band Pixies, released in March 1988 on the British label 4AD. It was produced by Steve Albini. Surfer Rosa contains many of the elements of the Pixies' earlier output, including Spanish lyrics and references to Puerto Rico.
33. Rain Dogs
Rain Dogs is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1985 on Island Records. A loose concept album about "the urban dispossessed" of New York City, Rain Dogs is generally considered the middle album of a trilogy that includes Swordfishtrombones and Franks Wild Years.
34. Green
Green is a color.
35. 3 Feet High and Rising
3 Feet High and Rising is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group De La Soul, released on February 6, 1989, by Tommy Boy Records. It is the first of three collaborations with the producer Prince Paul, and was the critical and commercial peak of both parties. The album title comes from the Johnny Cash song "Five Feet High and Rising".
36. Licensed to Ill
Licensed to Ill is the debut studio album by the American hip-hop group Beastie Boys, released on November 15, 1986, by Def Jam and Columbia Records. The album became the first rap LP to top the Billboard 200 chart, and was the second rap album to be certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
37. Like a Prayer
Like a Prayer is the fourth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 20, 1989, by Sire Records. It saw Madonna continue to work with the producers Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, with whom she had collaborated on her previous album True Blue (1986), and the soundtrack for the 1987 film Who's That Girl.
38. Live at the Harlem Square Club
Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 is the second live album by the American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. The album was recorded at the Harlem Square Club in Miami and released in June 1985 in the United States by RCA Records. Initially recorded on January 12, 1963, to be released as a live album titled One Night Stand, the concert album was not released until 1985.
39. Synchronicity
Synchronicity is a concept first introduced by analytical psychologist Carl G. Jung "to describe circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection."…
40. Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a particular religious belief system.
41. So
So is the fifth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, released on 19 May 1986 by Charisma Records, Virgin Records and Geffen Records. After working on the soundtrack to the film Birdy (1984), producer Daniel Lanois was invited to remain at Gabriel's Somerset home during 1985 to work on his next solo project.
42. Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is the debut album by the American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, released on April 5, 1988, by Elektra Records. The album was recorded at the Powertrax studio in Hollywood, California. In 1987, Chapman was discovered by fellow Tufts University student Brian Koppelman.
43. Psychocandy
Psychocandy is the debut studio album by Scottish rock band the Jesus and Mary Chain. It was released on 18 November 1985 by Blanco y Negro Records. The album is considered a landmark recording: its combination of guitar feedback and noise with traditional pop melody and structure proved influential on the forthcoming shoegaze genre and alternative rock in general.
44. She's So Unusual
She's So Unusual is the debut solo studio album by American pop singer Cyndi Lauper, released on October 13, 1983, by Portrait Records. It stands out for its commercial success, achieving four top-five singles—a pioneering achievement for a female artist's first album.