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	2,130	193,984	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,174	120,645	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,139	148,420	Thriller (76th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,148	135,664	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,148	171,013	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,156	143,950	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,278	170,082	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,477	162,399	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,565	151,782	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,590	197,432	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,805	1,595,371

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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201.

Rhythm Nation 1814

Janet Jackson

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

200 charts

Rank Score:

1,415

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

201

Overall Rank:

1,248

Average Rating:

74 (225 votes)

Comments:

202.

Double Fantasy

John Lennon & Yoko Ono

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

301 charts

Rank Score:

1,403

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

202

Overall Rank:

1,256

Average Rating:

73 (396 votes)

Comments:

203.

Secrets Of The Beehive

David Sylvian

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

174 charts

Rank Score:

1,401

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

203

Overall Rank:

1,257

Average Rating:

79 (179 votes)

Comments:

204.

E2-E4

Manuel Göttsching

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

165 charts

Rank Score:

1,385

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

204

Overall Rank:

1,268

Average Rating:

79 (135 votes)

Comments:

205.

Safe Mode: On

Floating Into The Night

Julee Cruise

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

183 charts

Rank Score:

1,380

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

205

Overall Rank:

1,274

Average Rating:

79 (172 votes)

Comments:

206.

Glass Houses

Billy Joel

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

196 charts

Rank Score:

1,358

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

206

Overall Rank:

1,293

Average Rating:

77 (288 votes)

Comments:

207.

She's So Unusual

Cyndi Lauper

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

269 charts

Rank Score:

1,356

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

207

Overall Rank:

1,295

Average Rating:

75 (294 votes)

Comments:

208.

Face Value

Phil Collins

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

243 charts

Rank Score:

1,350

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

208

Overall Rank:

1,303

Average Rating:

72 (302 votes)

Comments:

209.

Somewhere In Time

Iron Maiden

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

214 charts

Rank Score:

1,340

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

209

Overall Rank:

1,313

Average Rating:

78 (373 votes)

Comments:

210.

Children Of God

Swans

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

205 charts

Rank Score:

1,326

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

210

Overall Rank:

1,322

Average Rating:

80 (268 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 21 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	84	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	87	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	415	41%
	386	38%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	972	97%
Yes	33	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	983	98%
Yes	22	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	993	99%
Yes	12	1%

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