Best Albums of the 1980s

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Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

1980s decade summary

Year	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts.	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year)	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart.
1980	2,129	194,108	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,163	120,442	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,135	148,622	Thriller (75th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,131	135,689	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,144	171,181	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,146	143,883	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,277	170,319	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,473	162,558	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,562	151,917	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,586	197,493	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,746	1,596,212

The best artists of the 1980s were The Smiths, Prince, Pixies, The Cure, Talking Heads, U2, Metallica, Kate Bush, R.E.M. and The Stone Roses.

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The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,424 charts

Rank Score:

38,589

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,846 votes)

Comments:

265

Doolittle

Pixies

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,495 charts

Rank Score:

37,048

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,967 charts

Rank Score:

30,573

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,768 charts

Rank Score:

27,721

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,973 votes)

Comments:

151

The Stone Roses

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,976 charts

Rank Score:

25,666

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,233 votes)

Comments:

202

The Joshua Tree

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,818 charts

Rank Score:

19,872

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,350 charts

Rank Score:

19,242

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,343 votes)

Comments:

Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,543 charts

Rank Score:

17,578

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

1,581 charts

Rank Score:

17,118

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

82 (2,106 votes)

Comments:

160

10.

Closer

Joy Division

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,456 charts

Rank Score:

16,629

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,873 votes)

Comments:

123

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	94	9%
1987	86	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Rush	8	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	415	42%
	386	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	967	97%
Yes	33	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	987	99%
Yes	13	1%

« View best albums of the 1970sView best albums of the 1990s »

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