Best Albums of the 1980s

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

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	2,134	193,595	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,176	120,391	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,140	148,030	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,154	135,426	Murmur (144th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,155	170,577	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,167	144,008	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,284	169,869	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,489	162,134	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,569	151,537	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,595	197,370	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,863	1,592,936

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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991.

Beat Happening

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

61 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

991

Overall Rank:

6,732

Average Rating:

73 (75 votes)

Comments:

992.

Don't Tell A Soul

The Replacements

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

56 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

992

Overall Rank:

6,734

Average Rating:

71 (98 votes)

Comments:

993.

Skyscraper

David Lee Roth

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

42 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

993

Overall Rank:

6,735

Average Rating:

73 (56 votes)

Comments:

994.

Theatre Of Pain

Mötley Crüe

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

55 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

994

Overall Rank:

6,737

Average Rating:

64 (108 votes)

Comments:

995.

Blue Blood

X Japan

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

17 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

995

Overall Rank:

6,741

Average Rating:

74 (30 votes)

Comments:

996.

The New Order

Testament

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

60 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

996

Overall Rank:

6,755

Average Rating:

77 (68 votes)

Comments:

997.

Tonight

David Bowie

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

102 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

998.

Batman™ (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack

Prince

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

74 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

998

Overall Rank:

6,767

Average Rating:

68 (116 votes)

Comments:

999.

Twitch

Ministry

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

29 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

999

Overall Rank:

6,769

Average Rating:

72 (41 votes)

Comments:

1000.

Jimi Plays Monterey (Original Motion Picture Sound Track)
Live soundtrack

Jimi Hendrix

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

1,000

Overall Rank:

6,771

Average Rating:

81 (56 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 100 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	103	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	94	9%
1987	86	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	101	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	416	41%
	387	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	972	97%
Yes	32	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	981	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	991	99%
Yes	13	1%

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