Best Albums of the 1980s

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 56,000 greatest album charts.

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Year:
summaryThe 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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Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
15,679
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,916
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,490
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,075
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,627
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,988
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,395
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,337
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,323
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
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  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
9,429
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 118 12%
1981 119 12%
1982 108 11%
1983 97 10%
1984 100 10%
1985 85 9%
1986 95 10%
1987 86 9%
1988 97 10%
1989 95 10%
Artist Albums %


The Cure 10 1%
The Smiths 8 1%
Rush 8 1%
Iron Maiden 8 1%
Depeche Mode 8 1%
R.E.M. 7 1%
Talking Heads 7 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 416 42%
United States 388 39%
Australia 40 4%
Mixed Nationality 27 3%
Germany 23 2%
Canada 23 2%
Argentina 11 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 965 97%
Yes 35 4%
Live? Albums %
No 978 98%
Yes 22 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 988 99%
Yes 12 1%
Best Artists of 2018
1. Car Seat Headrest
2. Kids See Ghosts
3. Idles
4. Beach House
5. Daughters
6. Parquet Courts
7. MGMT
8. Kacey Musgraves
9. Arctic Monkeys
10. Earl Sweatshirt
11. Mitski
12. Janelle Monáe
13. Pusha T
14. SOPHIE
15. Denzel Curry
16. The 1975
17. Low
18. Julia Holter
19. Nicolas Jaar
20. Against All Logic
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