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	2,131	193,901	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,175	120,588	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,139	148,345	Thriller (76th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,149	135,646	Murmur (143rd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,152	170,975	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,167	144,165	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,281	170,109	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,479	162,514	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,567	151,875	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,590	197,530	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,830	1,595,647

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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961.

Adolescents

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

80 charts

Rank Score:

196

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

962.

Scum

Napalm Death

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

73 charts

Rank Score:

196

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

962

Overall Rank:

6,585

Average Rating:

70 (95 votes)

Comments:

963.

Stay On These Roads

a-ha

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

51 charts

Rank Score:

196

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

963

Overall Rank:

6,590

Average Rating:

70 (95 votes)

Comments:

964.

Seven Churches

Possessed

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

53 charts

Rank Score:

196

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

964

Overall Rank:

6,592

Average Rating:

74 (65 votes)

Comments:

965.

Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

42 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

965

Overall Rank:

6,597

Average Rating:

71 (50 votes)

Comments:

966.

Monotonprodukt 07

Monoton

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

34 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

967.

Yellow Moon

The Neville Brothers

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

59 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

967

Overall Rank:

6,607

Average Rating:

75 (52 votes)

Comments:

968.

Live... In The Heart Of The City
Live

Whitesnake

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

31 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

969.

Place Without A Postcard

Midnight Oil

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

32 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

970.

Faster Than The Speed Of Night

Bonnie Tyler

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

33 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

970

Overall Rank:

6,614

Average Rating:

68 (52 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 97 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	81	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	86	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
U2	7	1%
The Fall	7	1%
The Smiths	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	978	98%
Yes	22	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	12	1%

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

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