Greatest Hits/Compilation albums not valid as per OP…please send through another choice 
Also, I can see why you would have had a problem with 1981…from your overall votes, it looks like you’re a bit of a metal head…and the entire 80s sucked for metal.
Some good thrash/crossover though.
I’m actually not a metalhead, at least haven’t been since about 1990 when I discovered grunge and alt rock. Most of the 80s metal 
I’ve mentioned is purely nostalgia. Metallica were incredible though during that era and Maiden have some cred. The rest of it I wouldn’t bother listening to anymore. You’ll notice my 90s list has next to no metal (unless you count Tool).
But, even having said that, I’ve tried delving into other genres from the 80s and most of it is tinny synth, horrid sax and trumpet, pop dance, pub rock albums (with one or two real hits), and has-beens trying to hold on to their 60s and 70s status. It’s why I resorted to compilations 
Bands like The Pixies, Nick Cave (not great albums but loved the aesthetic), Violent Femmes, Stone Roses, and Nirvana were a breath of fresh air from an alternative perspective.
The 80s for me were a combination of Oz Rock and various English acts.
I do love me some metal but didn’t like most of the stuff that came out in the 80s…Metallica were ok, I hated Hair metal (whilst admitting that some bands had a good song or two), never really did Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Judas Priest etc.
And yes, grunge saved loud music…so much good stuff from that genre.
Compilations have been removed and replaced with other albums.
Hair metal was atrocious but I did have an early teens gravitation toward KISS, Crüe, Cinderella, Bon Jovi around ‘87 which I quickly got out of my system thankfully. However, I can put Metallica, Overkill, Maiden, Sepultura, Slayer, and Anthrax on my headphones while doing the dishes as a bit of a guilty pleasure from time to time. 
Formative years (musically) tend to stay with us I reckon.
I listen to music from the 60s through to current day…but my comfort music is always the 70s (currently listening to the masterpiece that is "Dark Side of The Moon).
I’ve got so many great albums from that decade that give me so much pleasure still when I listen to them.
I’m actually surprised I didn’t have a lot more trouble with this one… but I realised that a very huge chunk of 80s music in my catalog is one-hit wonders as well as contemporary artists (of the time) where I am not really a big fan but like one or two songs. I think if this had been a list of single 80s songs rather than albums, what I would have come up with would have been a lot more eclectic and eccentric.
Still waiting for (and hoping to get) lists from:
@carlosa
@frosty
@jonovdp
@Klawdy
@Preliminary_Point2
@saladin
@SeventeenthFlag
@Shahid_Afridi
@simmo41
@Sir_Joe
Added mine yesterday
Working on it still. Battling to fill the last three years of the decade.
Sorry mate…I did see them and add them to the spreadsheet
Double-up swoodassing
How’s your 60s list coming along punk boy 
Is that next? Deep in it right now, and having a great time. Discovered a couple of cool things.
Nah…I think 2000s will be next…should be easier for most people.
(and give them more time to research the 60s 
)
Sorry swoods I take these too seriously to meet the deadline (no easy discogs audit like some diligent Blitzers)
@swoodley
1980 (2 albums in my top 10 ever here)
3 - Remain In Light - Talking Heads
2 - Closer - Joy Division
1 - Scary Monsters - David Bowie
1981
3 - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts - Brain Eno + David Byrne
2 - Talk Talk Talk - The Psychedelic Furs
1 - Moving Pictures - Rush
1982
3 - Combat Rock - The Clash
2 - The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads - Talking Heads
1 - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Midnight Oil
1983
3 - Speaking In Tongues - Talking Heads
2 - Swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits
1 - Let’s Dance - David Bowie
1984
3 - Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads
2 - The Smiths - The Smiths
1 - Ocean Rain - Echo & The Bunnymen
1985
3 - Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
2 - Little Creatures - Talking Heads
1 - Psychocandy - The Jesus & Mary Chain
1986
3 - The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths
2 - Licensed To Ill - Beastie Boys
1 - Crowded House - Crowded House
1987
3 - Strangeways, Here We Come - The Smiths
2 - Frank’s Wild Years - Tom Waits
1 - Girls, Girls, Girls - Motley Crue
1988
3 - Isn’t Anything - My Bloody Valentine
2 - Starfish - The Church
1 - Surfer Rosa - The Pixies
1989
3 - On Fire - Galaxie 500
2 - The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
1 - Doolittle - The Pixies
Greatest Hits album do not qualify…please choose an alternative
edited - I remembered wrongly that it was a live album