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 54,000 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	2,197	193,869	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,232	120,819	Moving Pictures (155th)by Rush
1982	2,186	147,833	Thriller (72nd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,230	135,200	Murmur (139th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,195	169,888	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,222	143,921	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,340	169,180	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,552	161,087	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,644	151,916	Daydream Nation (71st)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,679	196,949	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,477	1,590,661

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:

2,450 charts

Rank Score:

37,413

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,868 votes)

Comments:

265

Doolittle

Pixies

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,513 charts

Rank Score:

35,685

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,993 charts

Rank Score:

30,152

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,799 charts

Rank Score:

27,773

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,996 votes)

Comments:

152

The Stone Roses

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,995 charts

Rank Score:

25,144

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,251 votes)

Comments:

203

The Joshua Tree

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,836 charts

Rank Score:

19,480

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,368 charts

Rank Score:

19,151

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,555 charts

Rank Score:

17,066

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

1,599 charts

Rank Score:

17,038

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

82 (2,121 votes)

Comments:

159

10.

Closer

Joy Division

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,475 charts

Rank Score:

16,523

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,887 votes)

Comments:

125

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Total albums: 967. Page 1 of 97

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	108	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	101	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	89	9%
1988	94	9%
1989	96	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	416	42%
	390	39%
	41	4%
	26	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

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

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

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

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

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