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.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

611.

Haus Der Luege

Einstürzende Neubauten

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

60 charts

Rank Score:

347

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

611

Overall Rank:

4,112

Average Rating:

77 (49 votes)

Comments:

612.

The Land Of Rape And Honey

Ministry

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

72 charts

Rank Score:

346

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

612

Overall Rank:

4,120

Average Rating:

75 (73 votes)

Comments:

613.

The Road To Hell

Chris Rea

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

62 charts

Rank Score:

346

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

613

Overall Rank:

4,121

Average Rating:

73 (78 votes)

Comments:

614.

The Party's Over

Talk Talk

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

84 charts

Rank Score:

343

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

614

Overall Rank:

4,147

Average Rating:

69 (140 votes)

Comments:

615.

Zeichnungen Des Patienten O. T. / Drawings Of O.T.

Einstürzende Neubauten

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

70 charts

Rank Score:

343

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

615

Overall Rank:

4,148

Average Rating:

73 (74 votes)

Comments:

616.

Slates

The Fall

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

53 charts

Rank Score:

341

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

616

Overall Rank:

4,164

Average Rating:

77 (70 votes)

Comments:

617.

Rock For Light

Bad Brains

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

69 charts

Rank Score:

341

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

617

Overall Rank:

4,166

Average Rating:

75 (80 votes)

Comments:

618.

Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy

Billy Bragg

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

77 charts

Rank Score:

341

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

618

Overall Rank:

4,173

Average Rating:

74 (98 votes)

Comments:

619.

Indigo Girls

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

84 charts

Rank Score:

340

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

619

Overall Rank:

4,186

Average Rating:

73 (86 votes)

Comments:

620.

Steel Wheels

The Rolling Stones

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

138 charts

Rank Score:

339

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

620

Overall Rank:

4,192

Average Rating:

68 (279 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
...
61
62
63
...
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 62 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%

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

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Best Albums of 1958
1. Lady In Satin by Billie Holiday
2. Somethin' Else by Cannonball Adderley
3. Buddy Holly by Buddy Holly
4. Bo Diddley by Bo Diddley
5. Milestones by Miles Davis
6. Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud by Miles Davis
7. Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely by Frank Sinatra
8. Little Richard by Little Richard
9. Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra
10. One Dozen Berrys by Chuck Berry
11. Basie by Count Basie And His Orchestra & Neal Hefti
12. The Everly Brothers by The Everly Brothers
13. Jerry Lee Lewis by Jerry Lee Lewis
14. Elvis' Golden Records by Elvis Presley
15. Relaxin' With The Miles Davis Quintet by Miles Davis Quintet
16. Cool Struttin' by Sonny Clark
17. King Creole by Elvis Presley
18. Dance Mania by Tito Puente
19. Songs By Sam Cooke by Sam Cooke & Bumps Blackwell Orchestra
20. Please Please Please by James Brown And His Famous Flames