Best Albums of the 1980s : Best Ever Albums

Best Albums of the 1980s

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Listed below are the greatest albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 9,600 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	452	123,098	Closer (59th) by Joy Division
1981	492	64,294	Moving Pictures (151st) by Rush
1982	478	83,937	Thriller (63rd) by Michael Jackson
1983	434	71,559	Murmur (136th) by R.E.M.
1984	480	105,174	Purple Rain (114th) by Prince & The Revolution
1985	444	78,196	Rain Dogs (103rd) by Tom Waits
1986	505	118,498	The Queen Is Dead (24th) by The Smiths
1987	536	123,796	The Joshua Tree (30th) by U2
1988	571	109,472	Daydream Nation (48th) by Sonic Youth
1989	623	150,884	Doolittle (21st) by Pixies
Total	5,015	1,028,908

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

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Rank

Album

Band

51.

Pornography

The Cure

Year of Release:	1982	Appears in:	101 charts
Rank in 1982:	5	Rank Score:	3,129
Rank in 1980s	51	Overall Rank:	372
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52.

Hysteria

Def Leppard

Year of Release:	1987	Appears in:	97 charts
Rank in 1987:	7	Rank Score:	3,073
Rank in 1980s	52	Overall Rank:	382
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53.

Stop Making Sense

Talking Heads

Year of Release:	1984	Appears in:	98 charts
Rank in 1984:	9	Rank Score:	3,069
Rank in 1980s	53	Overall Rank:	384
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54.

You're Living All Over Me

Dinosaur Jr.

Year of Release:	1987	Appears in:	116 charts
Rank in 1987:	8	Rank Score:	3,019
Rank in 1980s	54	Overall Rank:	392
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55.

Double Nickels On The Dime

Minutemen

Year of Release:	1984	Appears in:	111 charts
Rank in 1984:	10	Rank Score:	2,992
Rank in 1980s	55	Overall Rank:	396
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56.

The River

Bruce Springsteen

Year of Release:	1980	Appears in:	119 charts
Rank in 1980:	5	Rank Score:	2,948
Rank in 1980s	56	Overall Rank:	400
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57.

Treasure

Cocteau Twins

Year of Release:	1984	Appears in:	103 charts
Rank in 1984:	11	Rank Score:	2,934
Rank in 1980s	57	Overall Rank:	401
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58.

Power, Corruption And Lies

New Order

Year of Release:	1983	Appears in:	114 charts
Rank in 1983:	6	Rank Score:	2,905
Rank in 1980s	58	Overall Rank:	403
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59.

Skylarking

XTC

Year of Release:	1986	Appears in:	114 charts
Rank in 1986:	8	Rank Score:	2,874
Rank in 1980s	59	Overall Rank:	409
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60.

Tim

The Replacements

Year of Release:	1985	Appears in:	104 charts
Rank in 1985:	6	Rank Score:	2,776
Rank in 1980s	60	Overall Rank:	415
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Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	107	11%
1981	120	12%
1982	100	10%
1983	98	10%
1984	98	10%
1985	85	9%
1986	99	10%
1987	90	9%
1988	103	10%
1989	100	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	%

	410	41%
	409	41%
	39	4%
	30	3%
	15	2%
	14	1%
	14	1%
Show all

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