The following lists the top 25 (end of year) charting albums on the Australian Album Charts, for the year of 1981. These were the best charting albums in Australia for 1981. The source for this year is the Kent Music Report

Kent Music Report

The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...

, known from 1987 onwards as the Australian Music Report.

#	Double Fantasy Double Fantasy Double Fantasy is an album released by John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, in 1980. Though initially poorly received, the album is notable for its association with Lennon's murder three weeks after its release, whereupon it become a worldwide commercial success, and went on to win the 1981 Album...	John Lennon John Lennon John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...  & Yoko Ono Yoko Ono is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...	1	10 (pkd #1 in 1980 & 81)
2.	Sirocco Sirocco (album) Sirocco is the second album from Australian rock band Australian Crawl. It was released in July 1981 and on 3 August, it topped the Australian charts where it remained for six weeks, the band's first of two albums to hit #1...	Australian Crawl Australian Crawl Australian Crawl were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne , Brad Robinson , Paul Williams , Simon Binks and David Reyne in 1978. David Reyne soon left and was replaced by Bill McDonough...	1	6
3.	Back in Black Back in Black Back in Black is an album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It is the seventh Australian and sixth internationally released studio album by the band....	AC/DC AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...	1	1
4.	Bad Habits Bad Habits (Billy Field album) Bad Habits was an album released by Australian artist Billy Field in 1981. It spent 2 weeks at the top of the Australian album charts in 1981.-Side one:#"Bad Habits" - 3:26#"Good Golly Me" - 2:58#"You Weren't in Love With Me" - 3:24...	Billy Field Billy Field Billy Field is an Australian singer and songwriter, best known for his hit singles "True Love" , "Bad Habits" and "You Weren't In Love with Me" . "You Weren't In Love with Me" also peaked at #67 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1982...	1	2
5.	Making Movies Making Movies Making Movies is the third album by English rock band Dire Straits, released in 1980.- History :The title of the album comes from a line in the song "Skateaway" and the unreleased song "Making Movies". Rolling Stone ranked the album #52 in their survey of the "100 Best Albums of the 80s"...	Dire Straits Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...	6
6.	Icehouse Icehouse (album) Icehouse was the debut album released by Australian rock Synthpop band Flowers, later known as Icehouse, on the independent label Regular Records in October 1980. The title and the artist are sometimes incorrectly swapped, because the band changed their name from Flowers into Icehouse after this...	Flowers Icehouse (band) Icehouse is an Australian rock band, formed as Flowers in 1977 in Sydney. Initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, they later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synthpop style music and attained Top Ten singles chart success in both Europe and the U.S...	4
7.	Face Value Face Value Face Value is the debut solo album by Genesis front man Phil Collins, released in February 1981 on the Virgin label internationally and Atlantic Records in North America. The album is notable for the hit single, "In the Air Tonight", whose dark mood was inspired by the fallout of Collins' first...	Phil Collins Phil Collins Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....	2
8.	Hotter Than July Hotter than July Hotter than July is the nineteenth album by Stevie Wonder, originally released on Motown's Tamla label on September 29, 1980. Despite the wide critical acclaim for Wonder's previous works such as Songs in the Key of Life and Innervisions, Hotter than July was his first album eligible for platinum...	Stevie Wonder Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...	3
9.	Christopher Cross Christopher Cross (album) Christopher Cross is the self-titled debut album by Christopher Cross, released in 1979 . In 1981, it won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year...	Christopher Cross Christopher Cross Christopher Cross is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. His debut album earned him five Grammys. He is perhaps best known for his Top Ten hit songs, "Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind", and "Arthur's Theme ", the last of which he performed for the film Arthur starring Dudley Moore...	6
10.	Corroboree	Split Enz Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand band of the 1970s and early 1980s featuring Phil Judd and brothers Tim Finn and Neil Finn. They achieved chart success in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada during the early 1980s ‒ most notably with the single "I Got You", and built a cult following elsewhere...	1	3
11.	Zenyatta Mondatta Zenyatta Mondatta Zenyattà Mondatta went to #5 in the U.S. and #1 in the UK and Australia, spurred by the success of the Sting-penned singles "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"...	The Police The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...	1	1
12.	Tattoo You Tattoo You Tattoo You is the 16th British and 18th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1981. The follow-up to Emotional Rescue, it proved to be a big critical and commercial success...	Rolling Stones	1	11
13.	Greatest Hits Greatest Hits (Dr. Hook album) Greatest Hits was a compilation album of hits by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show released in 1980. The album spent 4 weeks at the top of the Australian album charts in 1981...	Dr. Hook	1	4
14.	The Jazz Singer The Jazz Singer (soundtrack) The Jazz Singer is an album by Neil Diamond from 1980, which served as soundtrack album to the 1980 remake of the film The Jazz Singer. The soundtrack was released in November 1980 originally on Capitol Records. EMI Films produced the film...	Neil Diamond Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....	10
15.	Arc of a Diver Arc of a Diver Arc of a Diver is the second solo album by blue-eyed soulster Steve Winwood. The album was performed entirely by Winwood.Featuring Winwood's first solo hit, "While You See a Chance" , this was Winwood's true breakthrough album as a solo artist...	Steve Winwood Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...	5
16.	The Beatles Ballads The Beatles' Ballads The Beatles' Ballads is a compilation album featuring a selection of ballad songs by The Beatles. The album was not released in the United States, but in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany,Italy, India and Australia...	The Beatles The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...	1	7
17.	Bella Donna Bella Donna 'Bella Donna or Belladonna is a name or alias used by two fictional characters in the Marvel Comics universe....	Stevie Nicks Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...	1	1
18.	Time Time (Electric Light Orchestra album) Time is a concept album by Electric Light Orchestra released in 1981 through Jet Records. The album tells the story, through its songs and lyrics, about a man from the 1980's finding himself in the year 2095 and trying to come to terms with being unable to return and adjusting to his new...	Electric Light Orchestra Electric Light Orchestra Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...	3
19.	Stars on 45 Long Play Album Stars on Long Play Long Play Album was the first album by the Dutch soundalike studio group Stars on 45, released on the CNR Records label in The Netherlands in 1981. In the US the album was retitled Stars On Long Play, released on Atlantic Records' sublabel Radio Records and credited to 'Stars On'...	Stars on 45 Stars on 45 Stars on 45 was a Dutch novelty pop act that was briefly very popular in the United Kingdom, throughout Europe, the United States and Australia in the early 1980s. The group later shortened its name to Stars On in the U.S., while in the U.K. and Ireland it was known as Starsound...	1	2
20.	Devo Live (Mini LP) DEV-O Live DEV-O LIVE is a live EP by the New Wave band Devo. It was recorded during the Freedom of Choice tour of 1980, at The Fox Warfield Theatre. Initially only six songs from the show were released on an EP in 1981, intended for airplay use...	Devo Devo Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...	2
21.	Long Distance Voyager Long Distance Voyager Long Distance Voyager is the tenth album by the British rock band The Moody Blues, first released in May 1981. on the group's Threshold record label...	The Moody Blues The Moody Blues The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....	7
22.	Swingshift Swingshift Swingshift is a live album released by Australian band Cold Chisel in 1981. It was their first album to reach No. 1 on the Australian chart, debuting there in its first week.-Details:...	Cold Chisel Cold Chisel Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...	1	2
23.	Kings of the Wild Frontier Kings of the Wild Frontier Kings of the Wild Frontier is a New Wave album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1980 . This album introduced the new Burundi drum sound. After having his previous backing band wooed away by producer Malcolm McLaren, who used them to form Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant recorded Kings of the Wild Frontier...	Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...	2
24.	Chemistry	Mondo Rock Mondo Rock Mondo Rock is a rock band from Melbourne, Australia, most prominent in the early 1980s. The band was formed in late 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Ross Wilson.-Early years: 1976–1979:...	3
25.	Vienna Vienna (album) Vienna is the fourth studio LP by the synthpop band Ultravox, first released on 11 July 1980. The album peaked at #3 in the UK charts and was the first Ultravox release to enter the UK top ten. It was certified Platinum in the United Kingdom in July 1981 for 300,000 copies sold...	Ultravox Ultravox Ultravox is a British New Wave rock band. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the late 1970s/early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic and New Wave movements....	4

These charts are calculated by David Kent of the Kent Music Report

Kent Music Report

The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...

and they are based on the number of weeks and position the records reach within the top 100 albums for each week.

source: David Kent's Australian Chart Book 1970-1992