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 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	2,128	194,129	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,159	120,498	Moving Pictures (155th)by Rush
1982	2,134	148,449	Thriller (76th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,130	135,703	Murmur (143rd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,142	171,129	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,142	143,798	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,268	170,226	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,472	162,367	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,562	151,623	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,583	197,367	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,720	1,595,290

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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471.

Bizarro

The Wedding Present

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

87 charts

Rank Score:

492

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

471

Overall Rank:

3,055

Average Rating:

77 (85 votes)

Comments:

472.

Drama

Yes

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

127 charts

Rank Score:

492

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

472

Overall Rank:

3,056

Average Rating:

75 (173 votes)

Comments:

473.

McCartney II

Paul McCartney

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

113 charts

Rank Score:

490

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

473

Overall Rank:

3,070

Average Rating:

70 (187 votes)

Comments:

474.

The Blues Brothers: Music From The Soundtrack
Soundtrack

The Blues Brothers

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

92 charts

Rank Score:

488

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

474

Overall Rank:

3,079

Average Rating:

76 (136 votes)

Comments:

475.

The Good Earth

The Feelies

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

82 charts

Rank Score:

487

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

475

Overall Rank:

3,084

Average Rating:

77 (88 votes)

Comments:

476.

Mind Bomb

The The

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

98 charts

Rank Score:

487

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

476

Overall Rank:

3,085

Average Rating:

74 (117 votes)

Comments:

477.

True Colours

Split Enz

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

86 charts

Rank Score:

487

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

477

Overall Rank:

3,086

Average Rating:

74 (104 votes)

Comments:

478.

Signing Off

UB40

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

94 charts

Rank Score:

486

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

478

Overall Rank:

3,087

Average Rating:

73 (118 votes)

Comments:

479.

A Pagan Place

The Waterboys

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

89 charts

Rank Score:

485

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

479

Overall Rank:

3,094

Average Rating:

75 (100 votes)

Comments:

480.

Live/1975-85
Live compilation

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

111 charts

Rank Score:

485

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

480

Overall Rank:

3,095

Average Rating:

81 (212 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 48 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	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%
Rush	8	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

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

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	967	97%
Yes	34	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	13	1%

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

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