The chart of the 25 best indie rock records of 1986 according to Radio X magazine

Forty-year-old masterpieces. The online magazine Radio X has gone back to dig up what it considers the most important indie-rock records released in 1986, set to turn 40 this year, 2026. The list ranges from typically alternative acts like Big Black and Sonic Youth to bigger names such as Depeche Mode, Smiths, Pretenders, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and Talk Talk.

Here, then, is the ranking of the 25 best indie rock albums of 1986 according to Radio X magazine (full feature here).

1. Big Black – “Atomizer”
2. Public Image Ltd – "Album"
3. Talk Talk – “The Colour Of Spring”
4. Hüsker Dü – "Candy Apple Grey"
5. Depeche Mode – "Black Celebration"
6. Cocteau Twins – "Victorialand"
7. Siouxsie & The Banshees – "Tinderbox"
8. Sonic Youth – "Evol"
9. The Smiths – “The Queen Is Dead”
10. The Housemartins – "London 0, Hull 4"
11. James – "Stutter"
12. R.E.M. – "Lifes Rich Pageant"
13. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds – “Kicking Against The Pricks”
14. The Chameleons – "Strange Times"
15. Talking Heads – "True Stories"
16. Billy Bragg – “Talking With The Taxman About Poetry”
17. New Order – "Brotherhood"
18. Iggy Pop – "Blah Blah Blah"
19. The Fall – "Bend Sinister"
20. The Pretenders – "Get Close"
21. Beastie Boys – – "Licensed To Ill" 
22. Kraftwerk – "Electric Café"
23. The Mission – "God's Own Medicine"
24. The The – "Infected"
25. The Damned – "Anything"

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