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	2,115	193,955	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,154	120,182	Moving Pictures (153rd)by Rush
1982	2,129	148,453	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,126	135,519	Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
1984	2,129	171,030	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,131	143,838	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,252	171,031	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,454	162,681	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,544	152,034	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,563	197,582	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,597	1,596,305

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.

Skyscraper

David Lee Roth

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

42 charts

Rank Score:

192

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

991

Overall Rank:

6,682

Average Rating:

73 (55 votes)

Comments:

992.

Kings Of Metal

Manowar

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

27 charts

Rank Score:

192

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

992

Overall Rank:

6,685

Average Rating:

71 (61 votes)

Comments:

993.

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:

994.

The New Order

Testament

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

59 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

994

Overall Rank:

6,708

Average Rating:

77 (67 votes)

Comments:

995.

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:

995

Overall Rank:

6,723

Average Rating:

73 (50 votes)

Comments:

996.

Famous Blue Raincoat

Jennifer Warnes

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

25 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

996

Overall Rank:

6,729

Average Rating:

69 (31 votes)

Comments:

997.

By All Means Necessary

Boogie Down Productions

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

74 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

997

Overall Rank:

6,735

Average Rating:

77 (59 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:

6,740

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.

Whispering Jack

John Farnham

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

32 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

1,000

Overall Rank:

6,749

Average Rating:

64 (30 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 100 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	96	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	97	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
The Fall	7	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	416	42%
	386	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	966	97%
Yes	34	3%

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

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

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