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 9,600 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	453	123,476	Closer (61st) by Joy Division
1981	492	64,389	Moving Pictures (152nd) by Rush
1982	480	83,920	Thriller (63rd) by Michael Jackson
1983	435	71,921	Murmur (137th) by R.E.M.
1984	482	105,623	Purple Rain (114th) by Prince & The Revolution
1985	446	78,492	Rain Dogs (104th) by Tom Waits
1986	508	119,224	The Queen Is Dead (24th) by The Smiths
1987	539	124,281	The Joshua Tree (30th) by U2
1988	573	109,710	Daydream Nation (48th) by Sonic Youth
1989	628	151,294	Doolittle (21st) by Pixies
Total	5,036	1,032,331

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

591.

To Hell With The Devil

Stryper

Year of Release:	1986	Appears in:	9 charts
Rank in 1986:	60	Rank Score:	214
Rank in 1980s	591	Overall Rank:	3,637
Download / Buy To Hell With The Devil on MP3:

Buy album

592.

High 'n' Dry

Def Leppard

Year of Release:	1981	Appears in:	19 charts
Rank in 1981:	66	Rank Score:	214
Rank in 1980s	592	Overall Rank:	3,640
Download / Buy High 'n' Dry on MP3:
No MP3 preview available.

Buy album

593.

Shock Troops

Cock Sparrer

Year of Release:	1982	Appears in:	3 charts
Rank in 1982:	54	Rank Score:	214
Rank in 1980s	593	Overall Rank:	3,641
Download / Buy Shock Troops on MP3:

Buy album

594.

The Message

Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five

Year of Release:	1982	Appears in:	15 charts
Rank in 1982:	55	Rank Score:	212
Rank in 1980s	594	Overall Rank:	3,656
Download / Buy The Message on MP3:

Buy album

595.

Garlands

Cocteau Twins

Year of Release:	1982	Appears in:	14 charts
Rank in 1982:	56	Rank Score:	212
Rank in 1980s	595	Overall Rank:	3,657
Download / Buy Garlands on MP3:

Buy album

596.

Jonathan Sings!

Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

Year of Release:	1983	Appears in:	7 charts
Rank in 1983:	57	Rank Score:	212
Rank in 1980s	596	Overall Rank:	3,658
Download / Buy Jonathan Sings! on MP3:
No MP3 preview available.

Buy album

597.

So Far, So Good... So What!

Megadeth

Year of Release:	1988	Appears in:	8 charts
Rank in 1988:	62	Rank Score:	212
Rank in 1980s	597	Overall Rank:	3,661
Download / Buy So Far, So Good... So What! on MP3:

Buy album

598.

Warszawa

Holy Toy

Year of Release:	1982	Appears in:	6 charts
Rank in 1982:	57	Rank Score:	211
Rank in 1980s	598	Overall Rank:	3,666
Download / Buy Warszawa on MP3:
No MP3 preview available.

Buy album

599.

Filigree And Shadow

This Mortal Coil

Year of Release:	1986	Appears in:	15 charts
Rank in 1986:	61	Rank Score:	211
Rank in 1980s	599	Overall Rank:	3,671
Download / Buy Filigree And Shadow on MP3:

Buy album

600.

The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick

Slick Rick

Year of Release:	1988	Appears in:	12 charts
Rank in 1988:	63	Rank Score:	211
Rank in 1980s	600	Overall Rank:	3,673
Download / Buy The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick on MP3:

Buy album

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	107	11%
1981	120	12%
1982	99	10%
1983	98	10%
1984	99	10%
1985	84	8%
1986	101	10%
1987	90	9%
1988	103	10%
1989	99	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%
Eurythmics	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	410	41%
	409	41%
	39	4%
	30	3%
	15	2%
	14	1%
	14	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 Songs
Just Give Me a Reason P!nk featuring Nate Ruess Format: MP3 Music 99 days in the top 100 From the Album: The Truth About Love [Explicit] (153) Download: $1.29 (Visit the Best Sellers in MP3 Songs list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)
Blurred Lines [feat. T.I., Pharrell] Robin Thicke Format: MP3 Music 60 days in the top 100 From the Album: Blurred Lines (79) Download: $1.29 (Visit the Best Sellers in MP3 Songs list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)
Radioactive Imagine Dragons Format: MP3 Music 225 days in the top 100 From the Album: Night Visions (170) Download: $1.29 (Visit the Best Sellers in MP3 Songs list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)
Come & Get It Selena Gomez Format: MP3 Music 48 days in the top 100 From the Album: Come & Get It (26) Download: $1.29 (Visit the Best Sellers in MP3 Songs list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)
Can't Hold Us (feat. Ray Dalton) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Format: MP3 Music 83 days in the top 100 From the Album: The Heist [Explicit] (50) Download: $1.29 (Visit the Best Sellers in MP3 Songs list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)