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	2,131	193,901	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,175	120,588	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,139	148,345	Thriller (76th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,149	135,646	Murmur (143rd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,152	170,975	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,167	144,165	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,281	170,109	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,479	162,514	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,567	151,875	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,590	197,530	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,830	1,595,647

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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41.

Nebraska

Bruce Springsteen

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

703 charts

Rank Score:

5,782

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

314

Average Rating:

80 (963 votes)

Comments:

42.

Synchronicity

The Police

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

782 charts

Rank Score:

5,529

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

325

Average Rating:

79 (1,013 votes)

Comments:

43.

War

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

741 charts

Rank Score:

5,492

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

330

Average Rating:

79 (1,178 votes)

Comments:

44.

Songs From The Big Chair

Tears For Fears

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

597 charts

Rank Score:

5,324

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

340

Average Rating:

79 (657 votes)

Comments:

45.

Speaking In Tongues

Talking Heads

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

597 charts

Rank Score:

5,250

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

342

Average Rating:

81 (764 votes)

Comments:

46.

Double Nickels On The Dime

Minutemen

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

565 charts

Rank Score:

5,168

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

347

Average Rating:

80 (625 votes)

Comments:

47.

...And Justice For All

Metallica

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

610 charts

Rank Score:

5,019

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

361

Average Rating:

79 (1,121 votes)

Comments:

48.

Skylarking

XTC

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

574 charts

Rank Score:

4,931

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

367

Average Rating:

80 (621 votes)

Comments:

49.

Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

Dead Kennedys

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

662 charts

Rank Score:

4,908

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

368

Average Rating:

80 (736 votes)

Comments:

50.

Swordfishtrombones

Tom Waits

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

609 charts

Rank Score:

4,839

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

371

Average Rating:

81 (733 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 5 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	81	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	86	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
U2	7	1%
The Fall	7	1%
The Smiths	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	978	98%
Yes	22	2%

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

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