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	2,161	193,877	Remain In Light (28th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,195	120,573	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,156	148,428	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,174	135,388	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,167	170,558	Purple Rain (78th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,184	143,880	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,311	169,365	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,516	162,091	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,597	151,786	Daydream Nation (70th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,638	196,989	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,099	1,592,934

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 Joshua Tree

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,825 charts

Rank Score:

19,666

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

83 (2,406 votes)

Comments:

226

43.

War

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

744 charts

Rank Score:

5,439

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

332

Average Rating:

79 (1,180 votes)

Comments:

63.

The Unforgettable Fire

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

551 charts

Rank Score:

3,987

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

451

Average Rating:

78 (968 votes)

Comments:

125.

Boy

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

415 charts

Rank Score:

2,175

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

125

Overall Rank:

817

Average Rating:

75 (747 votes)

Comments:

197.

Rattle And Hum

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

318 charts

Rank Score:

1,439

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

197

Overall Rank:

1,222

Average Rating:

72 (627 votes)

Comments:

228.

The Lion And The Cobra

Sinéad O'Connor

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

197 charts

Rank Score:

1,207

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

228

Overall Rank:

1,431

Average Rating:

78 (190 votes)

Comments:

290.

Watermark

Enya

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

182 charts

Rank Score:

891

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

290

Overall Rank:

1,879

Average Rating:

73 (232 votes)

Comments:

320.

October

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

200 charts

Rank Score:

781

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

320

Overall Rank:

2,113

Average Rating:

72 (421 votes)

Comments:

400.

Live "Under A Blood Red Sky"
Live

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

157 charts

Rank Score:

598

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

400

Overall Rank:

2,603

Average Rating:

77 (308 votes)

Comments:

646.

Thunder And Lightning

Thin Lizzy

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

53 charts

Rank Score:

324

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

646

Overall Rank:

4,342

Average Rating:

74 (70 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 12. Page 1 of 2

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%
The Fall	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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Best Artists of the 1990s
1. Radiohead
2. Nirvana
3. Neutral Milk Hotel
4. The Smashing Pumpkins
5. My Bloody Valentine
6. Oasis
7. Pearl Jam
8. R.E.M.
9. Weezer
10. Nick Cave
11. Richard David James
12. Björk
13. Pavement
14. Jeff Buckley
15. Portishead
16. Blur
17. Nas
18. Elliott Smith
19. Massive Attack
20. Red Hot Chili Peppers