Best Albums of the 1980s : Best Ever Albums

Best Albums of the 1980s

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

Listed below are the greatest albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 9,700 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

View by decade:	1930s	1940s	1950s	1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s	2010s
View by year:	1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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	459	123,426	Closer (60th) by Joy Division
1981	499	64,835	Moving Pictures (153rd) by Rush
1982	484	84,035	Thriller (64th) by Michael Jackson
1983	443	72,561	Murmur (141st) by R.E.M.
1984	487	106,156	Purple Rain (115th) by Prince & The Revolution
1985	457	79,479	Rain Dogs (100th) by Tom Waits
1986	517	120,626	The Queen Is Dead (24th) by The Smiths
1987	548	124,550	The Joshua Tree (30th) by U2
1988	583	110,734	Daydream Nation (49th) by Sonic Youth
1989	637	152,855	Doolittle (21st) by Pixies
Total	5,114	1,039,257

The best bands of the 1980s were The Smiths, Pixies, U2, The Stone Roses, Metallica, The Cure, Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, Guns N' Roses and Michael Jackson.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Share | |

| RSS feed:

| Download CSV file: Log in / register
URL to this chart: |

Collector's summaryLog in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Rank

Album

Band

11.

Back In Black

AC/DC

Year of Release:	1980	Appears in:	413 charts
Rank in 1980:	3	Rank Score:	15,167
Rank in 1980s	11	Overall Rank:	73
Download / Buy Back In Black on MP3:
No MP3 preview available.

Buy album

12.

Master Of Puppets

Metallica

Year of Release:	1986	Appears in:	356 charts
Rank in 1986:	2	Rank Score:	14,951
Rank in 1980s	12	Overall Rank:	74
Download / Buy Master Of Puppets on MP3:

Buy album

13.

Surfer Rosa

Pixies

Year of Release:	1988	Appears in:	383 charts
Rank in 1988:	2	Rank Score:	14,436
Rank in 1980s	13	Overall Rank:	76
Download / Buy Surfer Rosa on MP3:

Buy album

14.

Rain Dogs

Tom Waits

Year of Release:	1985	Appears in:	322 charts
Rank in 1985:	1	Rank Score:	11,717
Rank in 1980s	14	Overall Rank:	100
Download / Buy Rain Dogs on MP3:
No MP3 preview available.

Buy album

15.

Purple Rain

Prince & The Revolution

Year of Release:	1984	Appears in:	298 charts
Rank in 1984:	1	Rank Score:	10,334
Rank in 1980s	15	Overall Rank:	115
Download / Buy Purple Rain on MP3:

Buy album

16.

Graceland

Paul Simon

Year of Release:	1986	Appears in:	296 charts
Rank in 1986:	3	Rank Score:	10,068
Rank in 1980s	16	Overall Rank:	120
Download / Buy Graceland on MP3:

Buy album

17.

Murmur

R.E.M.

Year of Release:	1983	Appears in:	275 charts
Rank in 1983:	1	Rank Score:	8,523
Rank in 1980s	17	Overall Rank:	141
Download / Buy Murmur on MP3:

Buy album

18.

Moving Pictures

Rush

Year of Release:	1981	Appears in:	230 charts
Rank in 1981:	1	Rank Score:	8,021
Rank in 1980s	18	Overall Rank:	153
Download / Buy Moving Pictures on MP3:

Buy album

19.

Hounds Of Love

Kate Bush

Year of Release:	1985	Appears in:	238 charts
Rank in 1985:	2	Rank Score:	7,944
Rank in 1980s	19	Overall Rank:	154
Download / Buy Hounds Of Love on MP3:

Buy album

20.

Paul's Boutique

Beastie Boys

Year of Release:	1989	Appears in:	236 charts
Rank in 1989:	4	Rank Score:	7,585
Rank in 1980s	20	Overall Rank:	163
Download / Buy Paul's Boutique on MP3:

Buy album

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	106	11%
1981	119	12%
1982	96	10%
1983	99	10%
1984	98	10%
1985	87	9%
1986	101	10%
1987	90	9%
1988	103	10%
1989	101	10%

Band	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Prince	8	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
Tom Waits	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Rush	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	414	41%
	410	41%
	38	4%
	29	3%
	14	1%
	14	1%
	13	1%
Show all

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

BestEverAlbums.com Site Newsletter
Sign up to receive the latest site news.
We value your privacy.

BestEverAlbums.com Music Stores
Shop at your favourite store:

Amazon Top Electronics
Kindle Paperwhite, 6" High Resolution Display with Built-in Light, Wi-Fi - Includes Special Offers by Amazon Digital Services Inc. 287 days in the top 100 (12797) Buy new: $119.00 9 used & new from $105.00 (Visit the Best Sellers in Electronics list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)
Kindle Fire HD 7", Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB - Includes Special Offers by Amazon Digital Services Inc. 287 days in the top 100 (13611) Buy new: $199.00 25 used & new from $153.99 (Visit the Best Sellers in Electronics list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)
Kindle, 6" E Ink Display, Wi-Fi - Includes Special Offers (Black) by Amazon Digital Services Inc. 286 days in the top 100 (4507) Buy new: $69.00 11 used & new from $45.00 (Visit the Best Sellers in Electronics list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)
Roku 3 Streaming Player by Roku 106 days in the top 100 (1386) Buy new: ~~$99.99~~ $99.00 33 used & new from $89.99 (Visit the Best Sellers in Electronics list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)
Kindle Fire 7", LCD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB - Includes Special Offers by Amazon Digital Services Inc. 287 days in the top 100 (9439) Buy new: $159.00 30 used & new from $99.99 (Visit the Best Sellers in Electronics list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)