The Best Of 1980-1990
by U2
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U2 bestography
The Best Of 1980-1990 is ranked 16th best out of 39 albums by U2 on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by U2 is The Joshua Tree which is ranked number 52 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 17,918.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to The Best Of 1980-1990 on YouTube
The Best Of 1980-1990 track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
The Best Of 1980-1990 rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 1 hour ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  videoheadcleaner | Top 90 Music Albums of 1998 | 66/90 | 1 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Platinum Zone 12 Europe British Isles | 41/100 | - |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Platinum year 1998 | 4/100 | - |
| 2026 |  jeremy9 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1998 | 37/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Platinum decade 1990s | 52/100 | - |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List Zone 12 Europe British Isles | 85/100 | - |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 100 Music Albums of 1998 | 22/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List 1998 | 5/100 | - |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Decade 1990s | 72/100 | - |
| 2026 | Olli | Top 46 Music Albums of 1998 | 19/46 | 3 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 49 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 115 | |||
The Best Of 1980-1990 collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 134 members
The Best Of 1980-1990 ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 173 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 05/30/2026 04:00 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,986 | 70/100 |
| ! | 02/24/2026 13:48 | dukeboxkool | 2,267 | 72/100 |
| ! | 12/02/2025 05:57 | Olli | 7,932 | 62/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 82.8/100, a mean average of 82.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.4/100. The standard deviation for this album is 10.7.
The Best Of 1980-1990 favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 20 members
The Best Of 1980-1990 forum mentions
Romanelli 11/01/2022 21:04 in Albums You Added To Your Collection Today
CharlieBarley 03/09/2018 20:16 in You’ve only got 5 greatest hits albums to describe a decadeThe Best Of 1980-1990 comments
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hoyquarlow 02/19/2023 03:46 | #294197 | TOP COMMENT
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Got to admit this compilation is excellent, personnally among the best I've ever seen (along with the next one 90-2000 with the bisons). Whether it is the quality of sound, the artwork, the overall design, the booklet, everything is lovingly and perfectly crafted. I love the way the songs are not in chronological order, instead they put them in a way that makes sense, with a logical flow to them. Great work to whoever supervise these two albums (Gold + silver)
I bought this to listen to in the car when travelling up and down the country back in working away from home days. It was a good companion capturing the best of their eighties work. I no longer have a CD player in my car thanks to Audi's idea everyone's want to download music to their phone? Subsequently I don't listen to it much as I tend to listen to the original vinyl albums.
A good compilation as best Of's go. Releasing a CD with one rerecorded cut is a not so very subtle grab for cash. Bleed 'em dry boys.
lightmyway TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/26/2012 09:37 | #40938 | TOP COMMENT
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Bought for the remake of Sweetest Thing, which feels kind of out of place amidst a collection of classic 80s U2 songs.
An enjoyable compilation. Sweetest thing, is a nice addition to the U2 singles collection. Good album.
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