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.

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251.

South Of Heaven

Slayer

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

184 charts

Rank Score:

1,056

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

251

Overall Rank:

1,625

Average Rating:

80 (239 votes)

Comments:

252.

Warehouse: Songs And Stories

Hüsker Dü

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

176 charts

Rank Score:

1,055

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

252

Overall Rank:

1,626

Average Rating:

78 (181 votes)

Comments:

253.

Glassworks

Philip Glass

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

136 charts

Rank Score:

1,051

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

253

Overall Rank:

1,633

Average Rating:

81 (157 votes)

Comments:

254.

Brotherhood

New Order

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

228 charts

Rank Score:

1,048

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

254

Overall Rank:

1,636

Average Rating:

77 (292 votes)

Comments:

255.

Walk Among Us

Misfits

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

174 charts

Rank Score:

1,046

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

255

Overall Rank:

1,638

Average Rating:

77 (191 votes)

Comments:

256.

World Of Echo

Arthur Russell

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

125 charts

Rank Score:

1,046

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

256

Overall Rank:

1,639

Average Rating:

76 (119 votes)

Comments:

257.

The Trinity Session

Cowboy Junkies

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

223 charts

Rank Score:

1,042

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

257

Overall Rank:

1,644

Average Rating:

76 (206 votes)

Comments:

258.

Learning To Crawl

Pretenders

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

204 charts

Rank Score:

1,039

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

258

Overall Rank:

1,650

Average Rating:

76 (215 votes)

Comments:

259.

Milo Goes To College

The Descendents

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

207 charts

Rank Score:

1,028

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

259

Overall Rank:

1,665

Average Rating:

76 (224 votes)

Comments:

260.

From Her To Eternity

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

226 charts

Rank Score:

1,025

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

260

Overall Rank:

1,669

Average Rating:

75 (278 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 26 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 »

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