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 49,000 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	1,965	201,413	Remain In Light (29th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,001	122,426	Moving Pictures (150th)by Rush
1982	1,969	149,772	Thriller (79th)by Michael Jackson
1983	1,962	137,165	Murmur (149th)by R.E.M.
1984	1,952	176,040	Purple Rain (84th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	1,951	146,116	Hounds Of Love (64th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,050	176,712	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,238	169,070	The Joshua Tree (50th)by U2
1988	2,367	158,597	Daydream Nation (71st)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,400	207,773	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	20,855	1,645,084

The best artists of the 1980s were The Smiths, Pixies, Prince, The Cure, Talking Heads, U2, Metallica, Kate Bush, R.E.M. and The Stone Roses.

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17.

Back In Black

AC/DC

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,198 charts

Rank Score:

12,007

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

136

Average Rating:

80 (1,786 votes)

Comments:

134

108.

Kick

INXS

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

406 charts

Rank Score:

2,603

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

108

Overall Rank:

711

Average Rating:

75 (419 votes)

Comments:

147.

Diesel And Dust

Midnight Oil

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

266 charts

Rank Score:

1,908

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

147

Overall Rank:

971

Average Rating:

76 (302 votes)

Comments:

153.

16 Lovers Lane

The Go-Betweens

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

242 charts

Rank Score:

1,830

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

153

Overall Rank:

1,012

Average Rating:

79 (241 votes)

Comments:

176.

Tender Prey

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

280 charts

Rank Score:

1,631

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

176

Overall Rank:

1,117

Average Rating:

80 (309 votes)

Comments:

183.

Starfish

The Church

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

210 charts

Rank Score:

1,562

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

183

Overall Rank:

1,163

Average Rating:

79 (211 votes)

Comments:

243.

Your Funeral... My Trial

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

180 charts

Rank Score:

1,117

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

243

Overall Rank:

1,563

Average Rating:

78 (199 votes)

Comments:

256.

From Her To Eternity

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

218 charts

Rank Score:

1,064

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

256

Overall Rank:

1,621

Average Rating:

76 (264 votes)

Comments:

286.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Midnight Oil

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

121 charts

Rank Score:

919

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

286

Overall Rank:

1,848

Average Rating:

76 (135 votes)

Comments:

298.

Business As Usual

Men At Work

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

186 charts

Rank Score:

889

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

298

Overall Rank:

1,912

Average Rating:

74 (180 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 33. Page 1 of 4

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	112	11%
1981	120	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	84	8%
1986	97	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	100	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%
	394	39%
	33	3%
	32	3%
	24	2%
	22	2%
	11	1%
Show all

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

Live?	Albums	%
No	979	98%
Yes	21	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	987	99%
Yes	13	1%

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

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