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 54,000 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	2,189	193,469	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,226	120,627	Moving Pictures (155th)by Rush
1982	2,178	147,704	Thriller (72nd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,226	135,367	Murmur (139th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,185	170,247	Purple Rain (78th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,213	143,778	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,331	169,238	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,542	161,331	The Joshua Tree (54th)by U2
1988	2,633	152,289	Daydream Nation (71st)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,667	196,987	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,390	1,591,037

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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The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,446 charts

Rank Score:

37,617

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,863 votes)

Comments:

265

Doolittle

Pixies

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,509 charts

Rank Score:

35,803

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,988 charts

Rank Score:

30,074

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,797 charts

Rank Score:

27,956

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,990 votes)

Comments:

152

The Stone Roses

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,991 charts

Rank Score:

25,355

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,247 votes)

Comments:

203

The Joshua Tree

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,835 charts

Rank Score:

19,577

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,365 charts

Rank Score:

19,170

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,553 charts

Rank Score:

17,099

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

1,596 charts

Rank Score:

17,065

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

82 (2,119 votes)

Comments:

160

10.

Purple Rain
Soundtrack

Prince And The Revolution

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

1,399 charts

Rank Score:

16,618

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

83 (1,609 votes)

Comments:

127

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	108	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	413	41%
	391	39%
	41	4%
	26	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	967	97%
Yes	33	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	980	98%
Yes	20	2%

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

« View best albums of the 1970sView best albums of the 1990s »

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