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	2,135	193,508	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,176	120,335	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,140	148,040	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,154	135,378	Murmur (144th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,155	170,496	Purple Rain (80th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,167	143,949	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,285	169,784	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,490	162,092	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,570	151,504	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,599	197,396	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,871	1,592,483

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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921.

Private Eyes

Daryl Hall & John Oates

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

66 charts

Rank Score:

209

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

922.

Reach The Beach

The Fixx

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

56 charts

Rank Score:

209

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

922

Overall Rank:

6,229

Average Rating:

72 (73 votes)

Comments:

923.

Night Nurse

Gregory Isaacs

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

48 charts

Rank Score:

208

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

924.

The Walking

Jane Siberry

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

33 charts

Rank Score:

207

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

924

Overall Rank:

6,257

Average Rating:

74 (42 votes)

Comments:

925.

Pictures At Eleven

Robert Plant

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

53 charts

Rank Score:

207

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

926.

OU812

Van Halen

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

60 charts

Rank Score:

207

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

926

Overall Rank:

6,269

Average Rating:

68 (137 votes)

Comments:

927.

Back From Samoa

Angry Samoans

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

37 charts

Rank Score:

207

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

928.

Deep

Peter Murphy

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

47 charts

Rank Score:

207

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

928

Overall Rank:

6,283

Average Rating:

74 (51 votes)

Comments:

929.

Gutter Ballet

Savatage

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

22 charts

Rank Score:

206

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

929

Overall Rank:

6,289

Average Rating:

75 (46 votes)

Comments:

930.

Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.

Dwight Yoakam

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

64 charts

Rank Score:

205

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

930

Overall Rank:

6,310

Average Rating:

75 (61 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 93 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	94	9%
1987	86	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Rush	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
U2	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	968	97%
Yes	32	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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