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	2,199	193,375	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,236	120,872	Moving Pictures (157th)by Rush
1982	2,189	147,600	Thriller (72nd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,230	134,997	Murmur (140th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,198	169,782	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,226	143,562	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,343	168,987	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,554	160,757	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,646	151,587	Daydream Nation (71st)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,682	196,537	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,503	1,588,057

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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991.

Kings Of Metal

Manowar

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

29 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

991

Overall Rank:

6,748

Average Rating:

71 (62 votes)

Comments:

992.

Robespierre's Velvet Basement

Nikki Sudden & Dave Kusworth Jacobites

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

27 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

992

Overall Rank:

6,755

Average Rating:

71 (24 votes)

Comments:

993.

Friday The 13th
Live

The Playn Jayn

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

6 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

994.

Earth, Sun, Moon

Love And Rockets

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

48 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

994

Overall Rank:

6,761

Average Rating:

74 (63 votes)

Comments:

995.

If'n

fIREHOSE

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

38 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

995

Overall Rank:

6,765

Average Rating:

73 (36 votes)

Comments:

996.

Stay On These Roads

a-ha

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

52 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

996

Overall Rank:

6,785

Average Rating:

70 (93 votes)

Comments:

997.

Songs To Learn And Sing
Compilation

Echo & The Bunnymen

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

997

Overall Rank:

6,788

Average Rating:

80 (73 votes)

Comments:

998.

Batman™ (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack

Prince

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

75 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

998

Overall Rank:

6,792

Average Rating:

68 (119 votes)

Comments:

999.

Runaway Horses

Belinda Carlisle

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

37 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

999

Overall Rank:

6,795

Average Rating:

74 (42 votes)

Comments:

1000.

Place Without A Postcard

Midnight Oil

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

32 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 100 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	94	9%
1989	97	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	390	39%
	40	4%
	26	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	32	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	22	2%

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

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