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	2,130	194,039	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,174	120,424	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,138	148,446	Thriller (76th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,147	135,691	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,147	171,046	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,148	143,896	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,277	170,118	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,475	162,441	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,564	151,806	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,586	197,486	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,786	1,595,392

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.

It's Only Right And Natural

The Frogs

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

29 charts

Rank Score:

192

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

991

Overall Rank:

6,718

Average Rating:

67 (39 votes)

Comments:

992.

Beat Happening

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

61 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

992

Overall Rank:

6,728

Average Rating:

73 (75 votes)

Comments:

993.

Caifanes

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

47 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

993

Overall Rank:

6,730

Average Rating:

79 (35 votes)

Comments:

994.

Don't Tell A Soul

The Replacements

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

56 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

994

Overall Rank:

6,733

Average Rating:

71 (97 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:

6,736

Average Rating:

74 (30 votes)

Comments:

996.

Skyscraper

David Lee Roth

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

42 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

996

Overall Rank:

6,737

Average Rating:

73 (56 votes)

Comments:

997.

Theatre Of Pain

Mötley Crüe

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

55 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

997

Overall Rank:

6,738

Average Rating:

64 (108 votes)

Comments:

998.

Tonight

David Bowie

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

102 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

999.

The New Order

Testament

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

60 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

999

Overall Rank:

6,757

Average Rating:

77 (68 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:

6,768

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	111	11%
1983	99	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	86	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	387	39%
	41	4%
	28	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	971	97%
Yes	33	3%

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

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

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