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	2,115	193,942	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,155	120,135	Moving Pictures (153rd)by Rush
1982	2,129	148,326	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,128	135,535	Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
1984	2,132	170,880	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,134	143,469	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,259	171,129	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,461	162,622	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,544	152,041	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,566	197,332	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,623	1,595,411

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.

Filigree & Shadow

This Mortal Coil

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

62 charts

Rank Score:

192

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

991

Overall Rank:

6,703

Average Rating:

75 (66 votes)

Comments:

992.

Vun Drinne Noh Drusse

BAP

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

17 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

993.

The New Order

Testament

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

59 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

993

Overall Rank:

6,714

Average Rating:

77 (67 votes)

Comments:

994.

Squirrel And G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)

Happy Mondays

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

44 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

994

Overall Rank:

6,726

Average Rating:

73 (50 votes)

Comments:

995.

The Pink Opaque
Compilation

Cocteau Twins

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

41 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

995

Overall Rank:

6,730

Average Rating:

78 (69 votes)

Comments:

996.

By All Means Necessary

Boogie Down Productions

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

74 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

996

Overall Rank:

6,734

Average Rating:

77 (59 votes)

Comments:

997.

Famous Blue Raincoat

Jennifer Warnes

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

25 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

997

Overall Rank:

6,737

Average Rating:

69 (31 votes)

Comments:

998.

Death Church

Rudimentary Peni

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

26 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

998

Overall Rank:

6,746

Average Rating:

75 (30 votes)

Comments:

999.

All Over The Place

The Bangles

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

54 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

1000.

Back To Basics
Compilation

Billy Bragg

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

16 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

1,000

Overall Rank:

6,749

Average Rating:

72 (37 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 100 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	116	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	79	8%
1986	96	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	97	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Rush	8	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
U2	7	1%
The Fall	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	418	42%
	385	39%
	39	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	965	97%
Yes	35	4%

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

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

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