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 55,000 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	2,224	192,258	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,266	120,272	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,237	147,556	Thriller (72nd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,249	134,170	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,219	168,820	Purple Rain (76th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,244	142,821	Hounds Of Love (53rd)by Kate Bush
1986	2,359	167,803	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,577	159,810	The Joshua Tree (51st)by U2
1988	2,685	151,035	Daydream Nation (71st)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,716	194,525	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,776	1,579,068

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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20.

Moving Pictures

Rush

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

1,002 charts

Rank Score:

9,669

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

156

Average Rating:

83 (1,281 votes)

Comments:

86.

Permanent Waves

Rush

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

448 charts

Rank Score:

3,134

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

563

Average Rating:

81 (617 votes)

Comments:

255.

Signals

Rush

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

218 charts

Rank Score:

1,047

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

255

Overall Rank:

1,641

Average Rating:

79 (352 votes)

Comments:

359.

Power Windows

Rush

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

129 charts

Rank Score:

684

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

359

Overall Rank:

2,353

Average Rating:

76 (240 votes)

Comments:

365.

Grace Under Pressure

Rush

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

157 charts

Rank Score:

678

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

365

Overall Rank:

2,371

Average Rating:

77 (256 votes)

Comments:

843.

Presto

Rush

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

66 charts

Rank Score:

235

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

843

Overall Rank:

5,681

Average Rating:

73 (172 votes)

Comments:

897.

Hold Your Fire

Rush

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

70 charts

Rank Score:

219

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

897

Overall Rank:

6,018

Average Rating:

70 (167 votes)

Comments:

917.

Exit... Stage Left
Live

Rush

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

65 charts

Rank Score:

211

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Total albums: 8. Page 1 of 1

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	120	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	108	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	97	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	95	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
The Smiths	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
The Fall	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	419	42%
	389	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	967	97%
Yes	33	3%

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

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

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