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	2,161	193,828	Remain In Light (28th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,197	120,560	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,157	148,421	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,175	135,363	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,167	170,527	Purple Rain (78th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,187	143,861	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,312	169,316	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,517	162,043	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,599	151,748	Daydream Nation (70th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,638	196,938	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,110	1,592,605

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:

991 charts

Rank Score:

10,001

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

154

Average Rating:

82 (1,265 votes)

Comments:

86.

Permanent Waves

Rush

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

437 charts

Rank Score:

3,160

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

565

Average Rating:

80 (603 votes)

Comments:

112.

I'm Your Man

Leonard Cohen

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

340 charts

Rank Score:

2,429

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

112

Overall Rank:

734

Average Rating:

79 (366 votes)

Comments:

229.

Wrong

NoMeansNo

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

159 charts

Rank Score:

1,194

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

229

Overall Rank:

1,443

Average Rating:

79 (140 votes)

Comments:

233.

Freedom

Neil Young

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

263 charts

Rank Score:

1,171

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

233

Overall Rank:

1,479

Average Rating:

78 (318 votes)

Comments:

236.

Signals

Rush

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

213 charts

Rank Score:

1,147

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

236

Overall Rank:

1,509

Average Rating:

78 (347 votes)

Comments:

244.

Reckless

Bryan Adams

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

192 charts

Rank Score:

1,097

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

244

Overall Rank:

1,572

Average Rating:

71 (248 votes)

Comments:

255.

The Trinity Session

Cowboy Junkies

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

228 charts

Rank Score:

1,046

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

255

Overall Rank:

1,634

Average Rating:

76 (206 votes)

Comments:

363.

Grace Under Pressure

Rush

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

151 charts

Rank Score:

683

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

363

Overall Rank:

2,351

Average Rating:

77 (255 votes)

Comments:

378.

Power Windows

Rush

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

125 charts

Rank Score:

651

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

378

Overall Rank:

2,435

Average Rating:

76 (236 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 23. Page 1 of 3

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	87	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	98	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%
Talking Heads	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	387	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	32	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	22	2%

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

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

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