Best Albums of the 1980s

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

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 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	2,127	194,254	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,159	120,411	Moving Pictures (155th)by Rush
1982	2,134	148,407	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,130	135,748	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,142	171,215	Purple Rain (82nd)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,141	143,785	Hounds Of Love (59th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,268	170,246	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,472	162,385	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,562	151,725	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,583	197,466	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,718	1,595,642

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.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

191.

Starfish

The Church

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

226 charts

Rank Score:

1,490

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

191

Overall Rank:

1,194

Average Rating:

78 (221 votes)

Comments:

192.

Raising Hell

Run-D.M.C.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

341 charts

Rank Score:

1,477

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

192

Overall Rank:

1,208

Average Rating:

76 (337 votes)

Comments:

193.

Rattle And Hum

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

317 charts

Rank Score:

1,465

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

193

Overall Rank:

1,215

Average Rating:

72 (625 votes)

Comments:

194.

Pleased To Meet Me

The Replacements

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

244 charts

Rank Score:

1,459

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

194

Overall Rank:

1,220

Average Rating:

79 (315 votes)

Comments:

195.

Hex Enduction Hour

The Fall

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

234 charts

Rank Score:

1,454

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

195

Overall Rank:

1,222

Average Rating:

78 (246 votes)

Comments:

196.

...Nothing Like The Sun

Sting

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

218 charts

Rank Score:

1,452

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

196

Overall Rank:

1,223

Average Rating:

73 (269 votes)

Comments:

197.

Bad Brains

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

252 charts

Rank Score:

1,451

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

197

Overall Rank:

1,224

Average Rating:

77 (288 votes)

Comments:

198.

Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun

Dead Can Dance

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

201 charts

Rank Score:

1,443

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

198

Overall Rank:

1,228

Average Rating:

80 (243 votes)

Comments:

199.

The Lexicon Of Love

ABC

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

252 charts

Rank Score:

1,433

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

199

Overall Rank:

1,240

Average Rating:

77 (259 votes)

Comments:

200.

Madonna

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

235 charts

Rank Score:

1,431

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

200

Overall Rank:

1,241

Average Rating:

71 (337 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
...
19
20
21
...
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 20 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	94	9%
1987	86	9%
1988	94	9%
1989	98	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	415	42%
	386	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

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

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	987	99%
Yes	13	1%

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

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Best Albums of 2009
1. Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective
2. Hospice by The Antlers
3. xx by The xx
4. Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
5. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
6. The Resistance by Muse
7. Lungs by Florence + The Machine
8. Humbug by Arctic Monkeys
9. Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors
10. Man On The Moon: The End Of Day by Kid Cudi
11. Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons
12. Fever Ray by Fever Ray
13. Crack The Skye by Mastodon
14. It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
15. Actor by St. Vincent
16. West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum by Kasabian
17. Primary Colours by The Horrors (UK)
18. Embryonic by The Flaming Lips
19. The Hazards Of Love by The Decemberists
20. Them Crooked Vultures by Them Crooked Vultures