And it all comes down to this: After 1o months of voting in our year-by-year Best of the ’80s polls to determine the best albums of each year of the 1980s, we wrap it all up with the grandaddy of them all, the big all-decade poll designed to crown, once and for all, Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers overall favorite records of the entire 1980s.

For this last albums poll, we got an expected spike in voting, with more than 120,000 votes cast, in large part because participants could pick 25 albums, up from the usual 10.

As you can see below, The Cure’s Disintegration — winner of the 1989 poll — came out on top. But it just barely edged out The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead, winning by a mere 9 votes (out of a combined 4,375 cast for the two records). Robert Smith and Co., perhaps not surprisingly, dominated, with four entries landing in the Top 10, and three more elsewhere in the poll.

If you’re interested, for comparison’s sake, we’ve also ranked the Top 100 albums based on the total number of votes each received in the individual year-by-year polls, but there are some important caveats.

Also, a reminder: This ballot was comprised of the Top 50 results from each of the year-by-year polls.

So, once again, thank you all for voting and sharing your thoughts. Take a look at the Top 100 list below — and feel free to offer your own take on the results, good or bad, in the comments below.

And yes, as promised, the polls will continue, first with EPs and compilations, although probably not before February. And we’re open to suggestions, too, on what kinds of polls you’d like to vote in this year.

PAST RESULTS: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989

READERS POLL: TOP 100 ALBUMS OF THE 1980s

1. The Cure, Disintegration



BACKSTORY: On their eighth album, Robert Smith and Co. sank back into darkness, delivering a moody, textured and largely pop-free record that remains the band’s commercial and artistic peak.

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1989

SINGLES: “Fascination Street,” “Lullaby,” “Lovesong,” “Pictures of You”

BAND: Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Roger O’Donnell, Lol Tolhurst

PRODUCER: David M. Allen, Robert Smith

BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

2. The Smiths, The Queen Is Dead



BACKSTORY: The band’s third album is seen as its masterwork by many fans, managing to balance the silly (“Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others”) with the sublime (“There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”).

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1986

SINGLES: “The Boy With the Thorn In His Side,” “Bigmouth Strikes Again”

BAND: Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke, Mike Joyce

PRODUCER: Morrissey and Johnny Marr

BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

3. Pixies, Doolittle



BACKSTORY: With their second full-length, the Pixies perfected their loud-quiet-loud pop blast, offering up a key blueprint for Nirvana’s looming commercial breakthrough Nevermind.

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1989

SINGLES: “Monkey Gone to Heaven,” “Here Comes Your Man”

BAND: Black Francis, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago, David Lovering

PRODUCER: Gil Norton

BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

4. Joy Division, Closer

BACKSTORY: The second and final Joy Division studio album, released two months to the day after the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. The band recruited Gillian Gilbert and continued on as New Order.

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1980

SINGLES: None

BAND: Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris

PRODUCER: Martin Hannett

BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

5. Depeche Mode, Music For the Masses



BACKSTORY: Depeche Mode’s sixth album helped cement the band’s breakthrough popularity in the U.S., with three charting singles and a huge tour that peaked with the famous ‘101’ concert at the Rose Bowl.

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1987

SINGLES: “Strangelove,” “Never Let Me Down Again,” “Behind the Wheel,” “Little 15”

BAND: Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher, Alan Wilder

PRODUCER: Depeche Mode and David Bascombe

BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

6. The Cure, The Head on the Door



BACKSTORY: On the band’s sixth album, Robert Smith delivered one of his more diverse sets of songs, ranging from pop hits (“Close To Me”) to darker, more brooding cuts like “A Night Like This” and “Sinking.”

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1985

SINGLES: “Inbetween Days,” “Close To Me”

BAND: Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst, Porl Thompson, Simon Gallup, Boris Williams

PRODUCER: Robert Smith and David M. Allen

BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

7. The Cure, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me



BACKSTORY: With their seventh studio album, Robert Smith and Co. cracked the American Top 40 with a sprawling double album that dabbled in both pure pop and dark, goth-flavored soundscapes.

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1987

SINGLES: “Why Can’t I Be You?,” “Catch,” “Just Like Heaven,” “Hot Hot Hot!!!”

BAND: Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Lol Tolhurst, Boris Williams

PRODUCER: David M. Allen and Robert Smith

BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

8. U2, The Joshua Tree



BACKSTORY: Fueled by three huge singles and a massive stadium tour, U2’s fifth album cemented the Irish rockers’ ascent to the status of being the biggest band in the world.

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1987

SINGLES: “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “In God’s Country”

BAND: Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr.

PRODUCER: Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno

BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

9. Depeche Mode, Black Celebration



BACKSTORY: With their fifth album, Depeche Mode continued to darken their sound (most noticeably on the title track) while still churning out classic singles and offering Martin Gore an unusual four lead vocals.

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1986

SINGLES: “Stripped,” “A Question of Lust,” “A Question of Time”

BAND: Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher, Alan Wilder

PRODUCER: Depeche Mode, Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones

BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

10. The Cure, Pornography



BACKSTORY: The fourth album from Robert Smith and Co. ends the band’s early dark phase, and later would be declared part of a trilogy with 1989’s Disintegration and 2000’s Bloodflowers.

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1982

SINGLES: “The Hanging Garden”

BAND: Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Lol Tolhurst

PRODUCER: Phil Thornalley and The Cure

BUY IT: Amazon.com (CD, digital, vinyl), iTunes (Digital)

11. New Order, Power, Corruption & Lies

12. R.E.M., Murmur

13. Pixies, Surfer Rosa

14. The Smiths, Meat is Murder

15. The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses

16. The Jesus and Mary Chain, Psychocandy

17. Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine

18. Duran Duran, Rio

19. The Smiths, Strangeways, Here We Come

20. Violent Femmes, Violent Femmes

21. Echo & The Bunnymen, Ocean Rain

22. Peter Gabriel, So

23. The Smiths, The Smiths

24. Morrissey, Viva Hate

25. Jane’s Addiction, Nothing’s Shocking

26. R.E.M., Lifes Rich Pageant

27. New Order, Low-Life

28. INXS, Kick

29. The Replacements, Let It Be

30. Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation

31. U2, The Unforgettable Fire

32. R.E.M., Document

33. The Police, Synchronicity

34. The Cure, Seventeen Seconds

35. The Cure, Faith

36. Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique

37. The Cult, Love

38. The Clash, Combat Rock (TIE)

38. Talking Heads, Remain in Light (TIE)

40. Kate Bush, Hounds of Love

41. New Order, Technique

42. Guns N’ Roses, Appetite for Destruction

43. The Church, Starfish

44. U2, War

45. R.E.M., Green

46. The Replacements, Tim

47. Tears For Fears, Songs From the Big Chair

48. The Replacements, Pleased To Meet Me

49. R.E.M., Reckoning

50. Roxy Music, Avalon

51. Tears For Fears, The Hurting

52. The Sisters of Mercy, Floodland

53. David Bowie, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

54. Pretenders, Pretenders

55. Depeche Mode, Some Great Reward

56. The Clash, Sandinista!

57. Yazoo, Upstairs at Eric’s

58. The Jesus and Mary Chain, Darklands

59. David Bowie, Let’s Dance

60. The Human League, Dare

61. Sinead O’Connor, The Lion and the Cobra

62. Peter Murphy, Deep

63. Duran Duran, Duran Duran (TIE)

63. R.E.M., Fables of the Reconstruction (TIE)

65. Cocteau Twins, Treasure

66. Dead Kennedys, Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

67. Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

68. New Order, Brotherhood

69. The Sisters of Mercy, First and Last and Always

70. The Cure, The Top

71. Bauhaus, In the Flat Field (TIE)

71. New Order, Movement (TIE)

71. XTC, Skylarking (TIE)

74. My Bloody Valentine, Isn’t Anything (TIE)

74. Prince, Sign O the Times (TIE)

76. Simple Minds, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)

77. Love and Rockets, Express

78. Hüsker Dü, Zen Arcade

79. Siouxsie and the Banshees, Juju

80. Echo & The Bunnymen, Echo & The Bunnymen

81. Midnight Oil, Diesel and Dust

82. Cocteau Twins, Blue Bell Knoll (TIE)

82. The Cult, Electric (TIE)

84. Kraftwerk, Computer World (TIE)

84. Nirvana, Bleach (TIE)

84. U2, Boy (TIE)

87. Tom Waits, Rain Dogs

88. Minutemen, Double Nickels on the Dime

89. The The, Soul Mining

90. The Pogues, Rum Sodomy & The Lash

91. Talking Heads, Speaking in Tongues

92. Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Rattlesnakes (TIE)

92. X, Los Angeles (TIE)

94. Hüsker Dü, New Day Rising

95. Siouxsie and the Banshees, Peepshow

96. ABC, The Lexicon of Love

97. INXS, Listen Like Thieves (TIE)

97. The Jesus and Mary Chain, Automatic (TIE)

99. Echo & The Bunnymen, Crocodiles

100. The B-52s, Cosmic Thing

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