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	452	123,266	Closer (59th) by Joy Division
1981	492	64,267	Moving Pictures (151st) by Rush
1982	478	83,933	Thriller (63rd) by Michael Jackson
1983	434	71,754	Murmur (136th) by R.E.M.
1984	482	105,417	Purple Rain (114th) by Prince & The Revolution
1985	445	78,237	Rain Dogs (103rd) by Tom Waits
1986	505	118,640	The Queen Is Dead (24th) by The Smiths
1987	536	123,962	The Joshua Tree (30th) by U2
1988	571	109,629	Daydream Nation (48th) by Sonic Youth
1989	624	151,007	Doolittle (21st) by Pixies
Total	5,019	1,030,112

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.

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

81.

The Great Twenty-Eight

Chuck Berry

Year of Release:	1982	Appears in:	54 charts
Rank in 1982:	7	Rank Score:	2,070
Rank in 1980s	81	Overall Rank:	549
Download / Buy The Great Twenty-Eight on MP3:
No MP3 preview available.

Buy album

82.

1999

Prince

Year of Release:	1982	Appears in:	85 charts
Rank in 1982:	8	Rank Score:	2,004
Rank in 1980s	82	Overall Rank:	572
Download / Buy 1999 on MP3:

Buy album

83.

Permanent Waves

Rush

Year of Release:	1980	Appears in:	69 charts
Rank in 1980:	9	Rank Score:	1,957
Rank in 1980s	83	Overall Rank:	586
Download / Buy Permanent Waves on MP3:

Buy album

84.

Damaged

Black Flag

Year of Release:	1981	Appears in:	80 charts
Rank in 1981:	2	Rank Score:	1,908
Rank in 1980s	84	Overall Rank:	591
Download / Buy Damaged on MP3:

Buy album

85.

Making Movies

Dire Straits

Year of Release:	1980	Appears in:	70 charts
Rank in 1980:	10	Rank Score:	1,898
Rank in 1980s	85	Overall Rank:	594
Download / Buy Making Movies on MP3:

Buy album

86.

Tracy Chapman

Year of Release:	1988	Appears in:	90 charts
Rank in 1988:	10	Rank Score:	1,871
Rank in 1980s	86	Overall Rank:	604
Download / Buy Tracy Chapman on MP3:

Buy album

87.

Sandinista!

The Clash

Year of Release:	1980	Appears in:	76 charts
Rank in 1980:	11	Rank Score:	1,863
Rank in 1980s	87	Overall Rank:	608
Download / Buy Sandinista! on MP3:

Buy album

88.

Music For The Masses

Depeche Mode

Year of Release:	1987	Appears in:	71 charts
Rank in 1987:	11	Rank Score:	1,842
Rank in 1980s	88	Overall Rank:	615
Download / Buy Music For The Masses on MP3:

Buy album

89.

Boy

Year of Release:	1980	Appears in:	99 charts
Rank in 1980:	12	Rank Score:	1,835
Rank in 1980s	89	Overall Rank:	617
Download / Buy Boy on MP3:

Buy album

90.

If I Should Fall From Grace With God

The Pogues

Year of Release:	1988	Appears in:	66 charts
Rank in 1988:	11	Rank Score:	1,822
Rank in 1980s	90	Overall Rank:	625
Download / Buy If I Should Fall From Grace With God on MP3:
No MP3 preview available.

Buy album

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	107	11%
1981	120	12%
1982	99	10%
1983	98	10%
1984	98	10%
1985	85	9%
1986	99	10%
1987	90	9%
1988	103	10%
1989	101	10%

Band	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Prince	8	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Rush	7	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
U2	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 Electronics
Kindle Paperwhite, 6" High Resolution Display with Built-in Light, Wi-Fi - Includes Special Offers by Amazon Digital Services Inc. 259 days in the top 100 (11491) Buy new: $119.00 9 used & new from $95.00 (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. 259 days in the top 100 (12472) Buy new: $199.00 16 used & new from $180.00 (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. 258 days in the top 100 (4107) Buy new: $69.00 9 used & new from $40.00 (Visit the Best Sellers in Electronics list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)
Roku 3 Streaming Player by Roku 78 days in the top 100 (1014) Buy new: ~~$99.99~~ $99.00 26 used & new from $87.96 (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. 259 days in the top 100 (8962) Buy new: $159.00 32 used & new from $113.99 (Visit the Best Sellers in Electronics list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)