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

861.

Wings Of Tomorrow

Europe

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

228

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

861

Overall Rank:

5,788

Average Rating:

72 (38 votes)

Comments:

862.

Arc Of A Diver

Steve Winwood

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

94 charts

Rank Score:

228

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

863.

Bedtime For Democracy

Dead Kennedys

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

39 charts

Rank Score:

228

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

863

Overall Rank:

5,794

Average Rating:

71 (60 votes)

Comments:

864.

Seven And The Ragged Tiger

Duran Duran

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

87 charts

Rank Score:

228

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

864

Overall Rank:

5,798

Average Rating:

69 (138 votes)

Comments:

865.

Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics

Jon Hassell & Brian Eno

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

41 charts

Rank Score:

227

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

866.

Live Dates Volume Two
Live

Wishbone Ash

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

227

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

867.

VIVISectVI

Skinny Puppy

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

36 charts

Rank Score:

225

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

867

Overall Rank:

5,846

Average Rating:

73 (51 votes)

Comments:

868.

Hypnotised

The Undertones

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

78 charts

Rank Score:

225

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

869.

Creatures Of The Night

Kiss

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

59 charts

Rank Score:

224

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

869

Overall Rank:

5,864

Average Rating:

73 (104 votes)

Comments:

870.

Up For A Bit With The Pastels

The Pastels

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

53 charts

Rank Score:

224

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

870

Overall Rank:

5,877

Average Rating:

76 (44 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
...
86
87
88
...
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 87 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.

Recognised Year Charts (2023)
1. Top 10 Albums of the Year 2023 by Bleep (2023)
2. Top 40 Albums of 2023 by Decibel (2023)
3. The Needle Drop's Top 50 Albums of 2023 by The Needle Drop (2023)
4. KCRW's Best Albums of 2023 by KCRW (2023)
5. Albums Of The Year 2023 by Rough Trade (2023)
6. Best Albums of 2023 by Norman Records (2023)
7. Exclaim!'s 50 Best Albums of 2023 by Exclaim! (2023)
8. Louder Than War Albums Of 2023 by Louder Than War (2023)
9. The Best Albums of 2023 by The Ringer (2023)
10. Top 50 Albums Of 2023 by Rock Sound (2023)
11. The 20 best albums of 2023 by Dazed (2023)
12. 30 Best Albums of 2023 by Revolver (2023)
13. NME Albums Of The Year 2023 by New Music Express (2023)
14. The 20 Best Albums of 2023 by Esquire (2023)
15. The Best Albums of 2023 by FLOOD Magazine (2023)
16. Quietus Albums Of The Year 2023 by The Quietus (2023)
17. The 100 Best Albums of 2023 by Rolling Stone (2023)
18. BrooklynVegan's Top 55 Albums of 2023 by BrooklynVegan (2023)
19. Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2023 by Under The Radar by Under The Radar (2023)
20. The 10 Best Global Music Albums Of 2023 by PopMatters (2023)