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	2,115	193,955	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,154	120,182	Moving Pictures (153rd)by Rush
1982	2,129	148,453	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,126	135,519	Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
1984	2,129	171,030	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,131	143,838	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,252	171,031	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,454	162,681	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,544	152,034	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,563	197,582	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,597	1,596,305

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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The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,421 charts

Rank Score:

39,181

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,833 votes)

Comments:

264

Doolittle

Pixies

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,490 charts

Rank Score:

37,475

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,965 charts

Rank Score:

30,754

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,760 charts

Rank Score:

27,848

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,962 votes)

Comments:

150

The Stone Roses

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,972 charts

Rank Score:

25,920

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,225 votes)

Comments:

202

The Joshua Tree

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,812 charts

Rank Score:

19,931

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,347 charts

Rank Score:

19,329

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,334 votes)

Comments:

Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,541 charts

Rank Score:

17,683

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

1,573 charts

Rank Score:

16,971

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

82 (2,100 votes)

Comments:

159

10.

Closer

Joy Division

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,457 charts

Rank Score:

16,805

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,868 votes)

Comments:

123

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Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	96	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	97	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	%

	416	42%
	386	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	966	97%
Yes	34	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

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

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

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