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	2,127	194,177	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,159	120,391	Moving Pictures (155th)by Rush
1982	2,134	148,467	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,130	135,737	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,142	171,184	Purple Rain (82nd)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,142	143,810	Hounds Of Love (59th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,268	170,224	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,472	162,359	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,562	151,772	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,583	197,435	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,719	1,595,555

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.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

431.

Swoon

Prefab Sprout

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

83 charts

Rank Score:

552

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

431

Overall Rank:

2,803

Average Rating:

74 (105 votes)

Comments:

432.

Energy

Operation Ivy

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

129 charts

Rank Score:

548

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

432

Overall Rank:

2,815

Average Rating:

75 (150 votes)

Comments:

433.

Horse Rotorvator

Coil

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

97 charts

Rank Score:

543

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

433

Overall Rank:

2,836

Average Rating:

77 (114 votes)

Comments:

434.

Standing On A Beach - The Singles
Compilation

The Cure

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

103 charts

Rank Score:

542

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

434

Overall Rank:

2,839

Average Rating:

83 (215 votes)

Comments:

435.

Album - Generic Flipper

Flipper

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

106 charts

Rank Score:

542

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

435

Overall Rank:

2,840

Average Rating:

76 (121 votes)

Comments:

436.

Perverted By Language

The Fall

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

98 charts

Rank Score:

541

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

436

Overall Rank:

2,841

Average Rating:

75 (117 votes)

Comments:

437.

A Secret Wish

Propaganda (DE)

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

89 charts

Rank Score:

540

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

437

Overall Rank:

2,846

Average Rating:

78 (77 votes)

Comments:

438.

The Correct Use Of Soap

Magazine

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

86 charts

Rank Score:

536

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

438

Overall Rank:

2,859

Average Rating:

76 (90 votes)

Comments:

439.

Telekon

Gary Numan

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

71 charts

Rank Score:

536

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

439

Overall Rank:

2,860

Average Rating:

74 (84 votes)

Comments:

440.

Follow The Leader

Eric B. & Rakim

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

123 charts

Rank Score:

533

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

440

Overall Rank:

2,871

Average Rating:

78 (123 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
...
43
44
45
...
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 44 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	94	9%
1989	98	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Recent Member Charts
1. Top 25 Music Albums of 2024 by joathome (2024)
2. Top 81 Music Albums of 2021 by joathome (2024)
3. Top 83 Music Albums of 2023 by jeremy9 (2024)
4. Best of The 90s Pt.2 (101-200) by Tamthebam (2024)
5. Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s by henriknaess (2024)
6. Top 15 Music Albums of 2024 by drstuey (2024)
7. Top 48 Music Albums of 2009 by ssteve (2024)
8. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s by culwin (2024)
9. Top 41 Music Albums of 1979 by amirmishali (2024)
10. Top 13 Music Albums of 1970 by culwin (2024)
11. Top 57 Music Albums of 2019 by MadhattanJack (2024)
12. Top 50 Music Albums of 2019 by PapaShiz86 (2024)
13. Top 60 Greatest Music Albums by dukeboxkool (2024)
14. Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s by AAL2014 (2024)
15. Top 26 Music Albums of 2003 by AAL2014 (2024)
16. Sleep: So Far by AAL2014 (2024)
17. 601-700 by Rivera (2024)
18. 701-800 by Rivera (2024)
19. Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s by Rivera (2024)
20. Top 94 Music Albums of 2023 by zags7000 (2024)