# List of UK top-ten albums in 1986

The UK Albums Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling albums of the week in the United Kingdom. Before 2004, the chart was only based on the sales of physical albums. This list shows albums that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart during 1986, as well as albums which peaked in 1985 and 1987 but were in the top 10 in 1986. The entry date is when the album appeared in the top ten for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).
The first new number-one album of the year was the compilation album Hits 4. Overall, twelve different albums peaked at number-one in 1986.

## Top-ten albums
### Key

| Symbol | Meaning |
| ‡ | Album peaked in 1985 but still in chart in 1986. |
| ♦ | Album released in 1986 but peaked in 1987. |
| Entered | The date that the album first appeared in the chart. |
| Peak | Highest position that the album reached in the UK Albums Chart. |
| Entered (week ending) | Weeks in top 10 | Single | Artist | Peak | Peak reached (week ending) | Weeks at peak |
| Albums in 1985 |||||||
| 2 March 1985 | 36 | No Jacket Required ‡ | Phil Collins | 1 | 2 March 1985 | 5 |
| 9 March 1985 | 30 | Songs from the Big Chair ‡ | Tears for Fears | 2 | 9 March 1985 | 3 |
| 16 March 1985 | 30 | Like a Virgin ‡ | Madonna | 1 | 21 September 1985 | 2 |
| 13 April 1985 | 10 | Bangs & Crashes | Go West | 8 | 8 March 1986 | 2 |
| 11 May 1985 | 21 | Be Yourself Tonight ‡ | Eurythmics | 3 | 18 May 1985 | 5 |
| 25 May 1985 | 65 | Brothers in Arms ‡ | Dire Straits | 1 | 25 May 1985 | 14 |
| 29 June 1985 | 9 | The Dream of the Blue Turtles ‡ | Sting | 3 | 29 June 1985 | 1 |
| 29 June 1985 | 2 | Little Creatures ‡ | Talking Heads | 10 | 29 June 1985 | 2 |
| 28 September 1985 | 11 | Hounds of Love ‡ | Kate Bush | 1 | 28 September 1985 | 3 |
| 19 October 1985 | 12 | The Love Songs ‡ | George Benson | 1 | 26 October 1985 | 2 |
| 26 October 1985 | 14 | World Machine | Level 42 | 3 | 8 February 1986 | 2 |
| 2 November 1985 | 10 | Once Upon a Time ‡ | Simple Minds | 1 | 2 November 1985 | 1 |
| 16 November 1985 | 10 | Promise ‡ | Sade | 1 | 16 November 1985 | 2 |
| 16 November 1985 | 9 | The Singles Collection ‡ | Spandau Ballet | 3 | 7 December 1985 | 1 |
| 23 November 1985 | 8 | The Greatest Hits of 1985 ‡ | Various artists | 1 | 30 November 1985 | 1 |
| 30 November 1985 | 5 | The Love Album: 16 Classic Love Songs ‡ | Various artists | 7 | 30 November 1985 | 1 |
| 30 November 1985 | 8 | Now – The Christmas Album ‡ | Various artists | 1 | 21 December 1985 | 2 |
| 7 December 1985 | 8 | Now That's What I Call Music! 6 ‡ | Various artists | 1 | 7 December 1985 | 4 |
| 7 December 1985 | 6 | Hits 3 ‡ | Various artists | 2 | 7 December 1985 | 2 |
| Albums in 1986 |||||||
| 11 January 1986 | 7 | Island Life | Grace Jones | 4 | 15 February 1986 | 1 |
| 18 January 1986 | 18 | Hunting High and Low | A-ha | 2 | 18 January 1986 | 5 |
| 18 January 1986 | 8 | The Broadway Album | Barbra Streisand | 3 | 25 January 1986 | 2 |
| 18 January 1986 | 22 | Whitney Houston | Whitney Houston | 2 | 1 March 1986 | 3 |
| 15 February 1986 | 8 | Rocky IV | Various artists | 3 | 1 March 1986 | 1 |
| 15 February 1986 | 2 | The Disco Hits Album | Various artists | 10 | 15 February 1986 | 2 |
| 22 February 1986 | 1 | The Ultimate Sin | Ozzy Osbourne | 8 | 22 February 1986 | 1 |
| 1 March 1986 | 3 | Jonathan King Presents The Very Best of Entertainment from the USA | Various artists | 6 | 8 March 1986 | 1 |
| 1 March 1986 | 1 | The Colour of Spring | Talk Talk | 8 | 1 March 1986 | 1 |
| 8 March 1986 | 6 | Hits For Lovers | Various artists | 2 | 22 March 1986 | 1 |
| 22 March 1986 | 1 | Night Beat II | Various artists | 7 | 22 March 1986 | 1 |
| 22 March 1986 | 1 | Balance of Power | Electric Light Orchestra | 9 | 22 March 1986 | 1 |
| 22 March 1986 | 3 | The Hymns Album | Huddersfield Choral Society | 8 | 5 April 1986 | 1 |
| 29 March 1986 | 9 | Hits 4 | Various artists | 1 | 29 March 1986 | 4 |
| 29 March 1986 | 1 | Black Celebration | Depeche Mode | 4 | 29 March 1986 | 1 |
| 29 March 1986 | 4 | Welcome to the Real World | Mr. Mister | 6 | 29 March 1986 | 2 |
| 5 April 1986 | 5 | Please | Pet Shop Boys | 3 | 5 April 1986 | 2 |
| 5 April 1986 | 2 | Dirty Work | The Rolling Stones | 4 | 5 April 1986 | 1 |
| 12 April 1986 | 2 | Parade | Prince and The Revolution | 4 | 12 April 1986 | 1 |
| 12 April 1986 | 1 | From Luxury to Heartache | Culture Club | 10 | 12 April 1986 | 1 |
| 26 April 1986 | 11 | Street Life: 20 Great Hits | Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music | 1 | 26 April 1986 | 5 |
| 26 April 1986 | 2 | Heart to Heart: 24 Tender Romantic Duets | Various artists | 8 | 26 April 1986 | 2 |
| 26 April 1986 | 4 | The Greatest Hits | Shalamar | 5 | 10 May 1986 | 1 |
| 26 April 1986 | 1 | Victorialand | Cocteau Twins | 10 | 26 April 1986 | 1 |
| 3 May 1986 | 4 | The Man and His Music | Sam Cooke | 8 | 14 June 1986 | 2 |
| 3 May 1986 | 2 | Rendez-Vous | Jean-Michel Jarre | 9 | 23 August 1986 | 1 |
| 10 May 1986 | 4 | The Collection | Earth, Wind & Fire | 5 | 17 May 1986 | 2 |
| 10 May 1986 | 2 | Comic Relief Presents Utterly Utterly Live! | Various artists | 10 | 10 May 1986 | 2 |
| 17 May 1986 | 5 | Love Zone | Billy Ocean | 2 | 17 May 1986 | 2 |
| 17 May 1986 | 1 | Home and Abroad | The Style Council | 8 | 17 May 1986 | 1 |
| 31 May 1986 | 10 | So | Peter Gabriel | 1 | 31 May 1986 | 2 |
| 31 May 1986 | 3 | Standing on a Beach – The Singles | The Cure | 4 | 31 May 1986 | 1 |
| 31 May 1986 | 19 | Picture Book | Simply Red | 2 | 7 June 1986 | 1 |
| 7 June 1986 | 10 | Into the Light | Chris de Burgh | 2 | 9 August 1986 | 2 |
| 14 June 1986 | 14 | A Kind of Magic | Queen | 1 | 14 June 1986 | 1 |
| 21 June 1986 | 18 | Invisible Touch | Genesis | 1 | 21 June 1986 | 3 |
| 21 June 1986 | 2 | Moonlight Shadows | The Shadows | 6 | 21 June 1986 | 1 |
| 28 June 1986 | 2 | The Queen Is Dead | The Smiths | 2 | 28 June 1986 | 1 |
| 5 July 1986 | 3 | London 0 Hull 4 | The Housemartins | 3 | 5 July 1986 | 1 |
| 5 July 1986 | 5 | Every Beat of My Heart | Rod Stewart | 5 | 19 July 1986 | 1 |
| 12 July 1986 | 36 | True Blue | Madonna | 1 | 12 July 1986 | 6 |
| 12 July 1986 | 2 | The Seer | Big Country | 2 | 12 July 1986 | 1 |
| 12 July 1986 | 21 | Revenge | Eurythmics | 3 | 12 July 1986 | 4 |
| 12 July 1986 | 4 | Back in the High Life | Steve Winwood | 8 | 19 July 1986 | 2 |
| 19 July 1986 | 7 | The Final | Wham! | 2 | 19 July 1986 | 3 |
| 19 July 1986 | 2 | Now – The Summer Album | Various artists | 7 | 19 July 1986 | 2 |
| 2 August 1986 | 4 | Riptide | Robert Palmer | 5 | 16 August 1986 | 1 |
| 9 August 1986 | 2 | Rat in the Kitchen | UB40 | 8 | 9 August 1986 | 1 |
| 9 August 1986 | 1 | Flaunt It | Sigue Sigue Sputnik | 10 | 9 August 1986 | 1 |
| 23 August 1986 | 9 | Now That's What I Call Music! 7 | Various artists | 1 | 23 August 1986 | 5 |
| 23 August 1986 | 5 | Dancing on the Ceiling | Lionel Richie | 2 | 23 August 1986 | 3 |
| 30 August 1986 | 28 | Silk & Steel | Five Star | 1 | 27 September 1986 | 1 |
| 30 August 1986 | 3 | The Heat is On | Various artists | 9 | 30 August 1986 | 1 |
| 6 September 1986 | 1 | In the Army Now | Status Quo | 7 | 6 September 1986 | 1 |
| 13 September 1986 | 33 | Graceland | Paul Simon | 1 | 4 October 1986 | 8 |
| 13 September 1986 | 1 | Press to Play | Paul McCartney | 8 | 13 September 1986 | 1 |
| 20 September 1986 | 4 | Break Every Rule | Tina Turner | 2 | 20 September 1986 | 1 |
| 20 September 1986 | 1 | Crash | The Human League | 7 | 20 September 1986 | 1 |
| 20 September 1986 | 10 | Slippery When Wet | Bon Jovi | 6 | 29 November 1986 | 2 |
| 27 September 1986 | 2 | True Stories | Talking Heads | 7 | 27 September 1986 | 1 |
| 27 September 1986 | 3 | Fore! | Huey Lewis and the News | 8 | 27 September 1986 | 1 |
| 27 September 1986 | 4 | Communards | The Communards | 7 | 27 September 1986 | 1 |
| 4 October 1986 | 1 | Talking with the Taxman About Poetry | Billy Bragg | 8 | 4 October 1986 | 1 |
| 11 October 1986 | 2 | Somewhere in Time | Iron Maiden | 3 | 11 October 1986 | 1 |
| 11 October 1986 | 3 | South Pacific | Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Sarah Vaughan and Mandy Patinkin | 5 | 18 October 1986 | 1 |
| 11 October 1986 | 1 | Brotherhood | New Order | 9 | 11 October 1986 | 1 |
| 18 October 1986 | 4 | Scoundrel Days | A-ha | 2 | 18 October 1986 | 2 |
| 18 October 1986 | 1 | Word Up! | Cameo | 7 | 18 October 1986 | 1 |
| 25 October 1986 | 2 | The Chart/The Chart '86 | Various artists | 6 | 25 October 1986 | 1 |
| 25 October 1986 | 1 | U-Vox | Ultravox | 9 | 25 October 1986 | 1 |
| 25 October 1986 | 1 | One to One | Howard Jones | 10 | 25 October 1986 | 1 |
| 1 November 1986 | 1 | Between Two Fires | Paul Young | 4 | 1 November 1986 | 1 |
| 1 November 1986 | 1 | Liverpool | Frankie Goes to Hollywood | 5 | 1 November 1986 | 1 |
| 1 November 1986 | 7 | Top Gun | Various artists | 4 | 15 November 1986 | 2 |
| 1 November 1986 | 2 | Whiplash Smile | Billy Idol | 8 | 8 November 1986 | 1 |
| 8 November 1986 | 11 | Every Breath You Take: The Singles | The Police | 1 | 8 November 1986 | 2 |
| 8 November 1986 | 4 | Now Dance '86: The 12" Mixes | Various artists | 2 | 15 November 1986 | 1 |
| 8 November 1986 | 4 | Get Close ♦ | The Pretenders | 6 | 31 January 1987 | 1 |
| 15 November 1986 | 2 | The Greatest Hits of 1986 | Various artists | 8 | 15 November 1986 | 1 |
| 15 November 1986 | 1 | The Autobiography of Supertramp | Supertramp | 9 | 15 November 1986 | 1 |
| 15 November 1986 | 1 | Hit Mix '86 | Various artists | 10 | 15 November 1986 | 1 |
| 22 November 1986 | 8 | Hits 5 | Various artists | 1 | 22 November 1986 | 2 |
| 22 November 1986 | 14 | The Whole Story ♦ | Kate Bush | 1 | 17 January 1987 | 2 |
| 22 November 1986 | 1 | Live 1975-85 | Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band | 4 | 22 November 1986 | 1 |
| 29 November 1986 | 2 | Through the Barricades | Spandau Ballet | 7 | 29 November 1986 | 1 |
| 6 December 1986 | 9 | Now That's What I Call Music! 8 | Various artists | 1 | 6 December 1986 | 6 |
| 13 December 1986 | 16 | Live Magic ♦ | Queen | 3 | 24 January 1987 | 1 |