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 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	2,213	193,137	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,256	120,885	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,220	148,036	Thriller (73rd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,236	135,156	Murmur (140th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,210	169,332	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,234	143,572	Hounds Of Love (54th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,349	169,009	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,564	160,634	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,673	151,576	Daydream Nation (72nd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,697	196,024	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,652	1,587,361

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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53.

Stop Making Sense
Live soundtrack

Talking Heads

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

471 charts

Rank Score:

4,410

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

396

Average Rating:

83 (689 votes)

Comments:

265.

Live At The Harlem Square Club, 1963
Live

Sam Cooke

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

144 charts

Rank Score:

1,007

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

265

Overall Rank:

1,688

Average Rating:

82 (177 votes)

Comments:

313.

The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads
Live

Talking Heads

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

141 charts

Rank Score:

814

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

313

Overall Rank:

2,029

Average Rating:

80 (213 votes)

Comments:

342.

Alchemy
Live

Dire Straits

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

131 charts

Rank Score:

724

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

342

Overall Rank:

2,235

Average Rating:

75 (220 votes)

Comments:

380.

The Concert In Central Park
Live

Simon & Garfunkel

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

109 charts

Rank Score:

635

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

380

Overall Rank:

2,499

Average Rating:

78 (159 votes)

Comments:

417.

Live "Under A Blood Red Sky"
Live

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

159 charts

Rank Score:

570

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

417

Overall Rank:

2,706

Average Rating:

77 (312 votes)

Comments:

460.

Live After Death
Live

Iron Maiden

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

121 charts

Rank Score:

508

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

460

Overall Rank:

2,971

Average Rating:

80 (202 votes)

Comments:

468.

No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith
Live

Motörhead

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

126 charts

Rank Score:

501

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

468

Overall Rank:

3,004

Average Rating:

80 (166 votes)

Comments:

486.

Live/1975-85
Live compilation

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

115 charts

Rank Score:

478

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

486

Overall Rank:

3,140

Average Rating:

81 (215 votes)

Comments:

500.

Friday Night In San Francisco
Live

Al Di Meola / John McLaughlin / Paco de Lucía

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

76 charts

Rank Score:

456

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

500

Overall Rank:

3,261

Average Rating:

78 (88 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	121	12%
1982	108	11%
1983	99	10%
1984	103	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	97	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	91	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	%

	418	42%
	392	39%
	39	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	969	97%
Yes	32	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	989	99%
Yes	12	1%

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