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	2,199	193,256	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,236	120,709	Moving Pictures (157th)by Rush
1982	2,190	147,466	Thriller (72nd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,230	135,151	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,198	169,658	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,228	143,559	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,344	168,768	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,554	160,854	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,646	151,469	Daydream Nation (73rd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,685	196,372	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,510	1,587,262

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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11.

Purple Rain
Soundtrack

Prince And The Revolution

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

1,399 charts

Rank Score:

16,348

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

83 (1,617 votes)

Comments:

127

53.

Stop Making Sense
Live soundtrack

Talking Heads

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

468 charts

Rank Score:

4,408

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

397

Average Rating:

83 (685 votes)

Comments:

174.

Parade
Soundtrack

Prince And The Revolution

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

303 charts

Rank Score:

1,608

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

174

Overall Rank:

1,103

Average Rating:

77 (383 votes)

Comments:

288.

Passion: Music For The Last Temptation Of Christ
Soundtrack

Peter Gabriel

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

140 charts

Rank Score:

911

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

288

Overall Rank:

1,846

Average Rating:

76 (200 votes)

Comments:

300.

Koyaanisqatsi
Soundtrack

Philip Glass

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

118 charts

Rank Score:

862

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

300

Overall Rank:

1,939

Average Rating:

79 (125 votes)

Comments:

492.

The Blues Brothers: Music From The Soundtrack
Soundtrack

The Blues Brothers

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

93 charts

Rank Score:

468

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

492

Overall Rank:

3,192

Average Rating:

76 (137 votes)

Comments:

670.

Once Upon A Time In America
Soundtrack

Ennio Morricone

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

57 charts

Rank Score:

307

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

670

Overall Rank:

4,559

Average Rating:

79 (78 votes)

Comments:

832.

Xanadu (Soundtrack)
Soundtrack

Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

58 charts

Rank Score:

238

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

832

Overall Rank:

5,595

Average Rating:

69 (70 votes)

Comments:

852.

One From The Heart - The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Of Francis Coppola's Movie
Soundtrack

Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

42 charts

Rank Score:

233

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

852

Overall Rank:

5,677

Average Rating:

73 (75 votes)

Comments:

870.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Soundtrack

John Williams (US)

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

58 charts

Rank Score:

227

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

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Total albums: 12. Page 1 of 2

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	103	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	94	9%
1989	97	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	%

	417	42%
	391	39%
	39	4%
	26	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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