List of top 40 albums for 1980–1989 in Australia

The following lists the top 100 (end of decade) charting albums on the Australian Album Charts, for the 1980s. These were the best charting albums in Australia for the 1980s. The source for this decade is the Kent Music Report, known from 1987 onwards as the Australian Music Report.

# Title Artist Highest pos. reached Date reached 1. Whispering Jack John Farnham 1 November 1986 2. Brothers in Arms Dire Straits 1 May 1985 3. Thriller Michael Jackson 1 June 1983 4. Born in the U.S.A. Bruce Springsteen 1 October 1984 5. Whitney Houston Whitney Houston 1 June 1986 6. Can't Slow Down Lionel Richie 1 June 1984 7. Too Low for Zero Elton John 2 August 1983 8. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Midnight Oil 3 December 1982 9. Business as Usual Men at Work 1 December 1981 10. Kick INXS 1 October 1988 11. Graceland Paul Simon 1 October 1986 12. An Innocent Man Billy Joel 3 November 1983 13. Revenge Eurythmics 2 August 1986 14. Crowded House Crowded House 1 June 1987 15. Love over Gold Dire Straits 1 October 1982 16. Colour by Numbers Culture Club 1 October 1983 17. No Jacket Required Phil Collins 1 May 1985 18. Like a Virgin Madonna 2 January 1985 19. The Swing INXS 1 April 1984 20. The Joshua Tree U2 3 March 1987 21. Little Creatures Talking Heads 2 August 1985 22. Back in Black AC/DC 1 March 1981 23. Man of Colours Icehouse 1 October 1987 24. For the Working Class Man Jimmy Barnes 1 December 1985 25. Slippery When Wet Bon Jovi 1 July 1987 26. The Lonesome Jubilee John Cougar Mellencamp 2 May 1988 27. She's So Unusual Cyndi Lauper 3 February 1985 28. East Cold Chisel 2 June 1980 29. The Wall Pink Floyd 1 March 1980 30. Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman 3 June 1988 31. Chariots of Fire Vangelis 5 May 1982 32. The Dream of the Blue Turtles Sting 1 April 1986 33. Tango in the Night Fleetwood Mac 5 November 1987 34. Scarecrow John Cougar Mellencamp 2 July 1986 35. Sirocco Australian Crawl 1 August 1981 36. True Blue Madonna 1 August 1986 37. Dirty Dancing Original Soundtrack 1 October 1986 38. ...ish 1927 1 May 1989 39. Invisible Touch Genesis 3 July 1986 40. Volume One Traveling Wilburys 1 February 1989 41. Glass Houses Billy Joel 2 May 1980 42. Double Fantasy John Lennon & Yoko Ono 1 Dec 1980 43. The Bridge Billy Joel 2 Oct 1986 44. Be Yourself Tonight Eurythmics 1 Jul 1985 45. The Boys Light Up Australian Crawl 4 Sep 1980 46. Diesel and Dust Midnight Oil 1 Aug 1987 47. Reckless Bryan Adams 2 Oct 1985 48. Heavy Nova Robert Palmer 2 Feb 1989 49. Tattoo You The Rolling Stones 1 Sep 1981 50. True Colours Split Enz 1 Apr 1980 51. Listen Like Thieves INXS 1 Oct 1985 52. Introducing the Hardline According to Terrence Trent D'Arby Terrence Trent D'Arby 1 May 1988 53. Age of Reason John Farnham 1 Aug 1988 54. Let's Dance David Bowie 1 Apr 1983 55. Rattle and Hum U2 1 Oct 1988 56. Icehouse Flowers (Icehouse) 4 Nov 1980 57. Avalon Roxy Music 1 Jul 1982 58. Zenyatta Mondatta The Police 1 Mar 1981 59. Under a Blood Red Sky U2 2 Feb 1984 60. Appetite For Destruction Guns 'n' Roses 7 Oct 1988 61. Making Movies Dire Straits 6 Mar 1981 62. Days of Innocence Moving Pictures 1 Mar 1982 63. Synchronicity The Police 1 Jul 1983 64. Off The Wall Michael Jackson 1 Mar 1980 65. Greatest Hits Vols. I & II Billy Joel 2 Aug 1985 66. Kev's Back Kevin Bloody Wilson 8 Oct 1986 67. Whenever You Need Somebody Rick Astley 1 Apr 1988 68. Stardust Willie Nelson 5 Aug 1980 69. Private Dancer Tina Turner 7 Sep 1984 70. Hotter Than July Stevie Wonder 3 Dec 1980 71. Guilty Barbra Streisand 1 Nov 1980 72. Dare The Human League 3 Apr 1982 73. Open Up and Say...Ahh! Poison 11 Sep 1988 74. A Momentary Lapse of Reason Pink Floyd 4 Nov 1987 75. Faith George Michael 3 Mar 1988 76. Push Bros 4 Aug 1988 77. Songs From the Big Chair Tears For Fears 5 May 1985 78. Flashdance Original Soundtrack 1 Aug 1983 79. Freight Train Heart Jimmy Barnes 1 Dec 1987 80. Hysteria Def Leppard 4 Jul 1989 81. The Raw and the Cooked Fine Young Cannibals 2 May 1989 82. Melissa Etheridge Melissa Etheridge 2 Mar 1989 83. Stop Making Sense Talking Heads 9 Nov 1985 84. Dancing on the Ceiling Lionel Richie 2 Sep 1986 85. Whitney Whitney Houston 1 Jun 1987 86. Like a Prayer Madonna 2 Apr 1989 87. Face Value Phil Collins 2 Jun 1981 88. The Rose Soundtrack Bette Midler 3 May 1980 89. Edge Daryl Braithwaite 1 May 1989 90. Bad Habits Billy Field 1 Jul 1981 91. Christopher Cross Christopher Cross 6 May 1981 92. Union Toni Childs 7 Nov 1988 93. Spirit of Place Goanna 2 Jan 1983 94. Madonna Madonna 10 Aug 1984 95. Rock a Little Stevie Nicks 5 June 1986 96. Can't Stop the Music Soundtrack Village People 1 June 1980 97. Red Sails in the Sunset Midnight Oil 1 November 1984 98. Bad Michael Jackson 2 September 1987 99. 1100 Bel Air Place Julio Iglesias 2 October 1984 100. Circus Animals Cold Chisel 1 May 1982 Australian Music Report, No 805, 1 Jan 1990, David Kent, Turramurra, NSW, Australia These charts were calculated by David Kent of the Kent Music Report / Australian Music Report and they are based on the number of weeks and position the records reached within the top 100 albums for each week.

See also List of Top 40 singles for 1980–89 in Australia

References