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 55,000 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	2,224	192,258	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,266	120,272	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,237	147,556	Thriller (72nd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,249	134,170	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,219	168,820	Purple Rain (76th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,244	142,821	Hounds Of Love (53rd)by Kate Bush
1986	2,359	167,803	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,577	159,810	The Joshua Tree (51st)by U2
1988	2,685	151,035	Daydream Nation (71st)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,716	194,525	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,776	1,579,068

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:

1,002 charts

Rank Score:

9,669

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

156

Average Rating:

83 (1,281 votes)

Comments:

73.

Computerwelt [Computer World]

Kraftwerk

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

478 charts

Rank Score:

3,529

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

502

Average Rating:

80 (536 votes)

Comments:

85.

Discipline

King Crimson

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

443 charts

Rank Score:

3,180

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

554

Average Rating:

80 (608 votes)

Comments:

90.

Juju

Siouxsie And The Banshees

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

398 charts

Rank Score:

2,986

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

590

Average Rating:

80 (439 votes)

Comments:

97.

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Brian Eno & David Byrne

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

380 charts

Rank Score:

2,770

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

635

Average Rating:

77 (428 votes)

Comments:

103.

Time

Electric Light Orchestra

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

282 charts

Rank Score:

2,631

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

103

Overall Rank:

673

Average Rating:

76 (385 votes)

Comments:

125.

Faith

The Cure

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

384 charts

Rank Score:

2,161

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

125

Overall Rank:

820

Average Rating:

78 (584 votes)

Comments:

127.

Dare

The Human League

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

401 charts

Rank Score:

2,139

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

127

Overall Rank:

824

Average Rating:

75 (459 votes)

Comments:

132.

Damaged

Black Flag

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

390 charts

Rank Score:

2,047

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

132

Overall Rank:

863

Average Rating:

76 (496 votes)

Comments:

139.

Deceit

This Heat

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

254 charts

Rank Score:

1,966

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

139

Overall Rank:

901

Average Rating:

79 (256 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 120. Page 1 of 12

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	120	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	108	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	97	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	95	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	419	42%
	389	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	11	1%
Show all

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

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

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

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

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