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	2,127	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.

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91.

Hysteria

Def Leppard

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

396 charts

Rank Score:

2,994

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

593

Average Rating:

72 (543 votes)

Comments:

92.

Making Movies

Dire Straits

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

420 charts

Rank Score:

2,954

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

601

Average Rating:

78 (572 votes)

Comments:

93.

Love Over Gold

Dire Straits

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

379 charts

Rank Score:

2,935

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

605

Average Rating:

79 (520 votes)

Comments:

94.

Low-Life

New Order

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

388 charts

Rank Score:

2,928

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

607

Average Rating:

80 (471 votes)

Comments:

95.

The Nightfly

Donald Fagen

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

325 charts

Rank Score:

2,921

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

610

Average Rating:

77 (365 votes)

Comments:

96.

Substance 1987
Compilation

New Order

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

310 charts

Rank Score:

2,889

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

616

Average Rating:

83 (461 votes)

Comments:

97.

Juju

Siouxsie And The Banshees

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

380 charts

Rank Score:

2,858

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

620

Average Rating:

80 (421 votes)

Comments:

98.

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

The Cure

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

480 charts

Rank Score:

2,822

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

626

Average Rating:

78 (664 votes)

Comments:

99.

Seventeen Seconds

The Cure

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

439 charts

Rank Score:

2,814

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

631

Average Rating:

78 (659 votes)

Comments:

100.

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Brian Eno & David Byrne

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

369 charts

Rank Score:

2,789

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

100

Overall Rank:

642

Average Rating:

77 (418 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 10 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 »

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