Best Albums of the 1980s

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
YearAlbums 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.
19802,227192,389
19812,269120,325
19822,241147,710
19832,252134,407
Murmur (139th)by R.E.M.
19842,223169,112
19852,246142,621
19862,360168,215
19872,583160,058
19882,688151,350
19892,721194,598
Total23,8101,580,786

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.
View chart at point in time
 Show this chart as it was on the following date
Share this chart
Collector's summary (top 108) (filtered)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from 1982. (Remove this filter)

Sort by
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,747
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,593
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,487
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,974
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,811
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,694
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,599
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,107
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,807
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,638
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 108. Page 1 of 11

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 119 12%
1981 119 12%
1982 109 11%
1983 97 10%
1984 101 10%
1985 81 8%
1986 100 10%
1987 88 9%
1988 92 9%
1989 94 9%
Artist Albums %


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


United Kingdom 417 42%
United States 391 39%
Australia 40 4%
Mixed Nationality 27 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 21 2%
Ireland 11 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 965 97%
Yes 35 4%
Live? Albums %
No 979 98%
Yes 21 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 988 99%
Yes 12 1%
Best Albums of the 2000s
1. In Rainbows by Radiohead
2. Kid A by Radiohead
3. Funeral by Arcade Fire
4. Is This It by The Strokes
5. Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
6. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco
7. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by Arctic Monkeys
8. Madvillainy by Madvillain
9. Turn On The Bright Lights by Interpol
10. Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
11. Sound Of Silver by LCD Soundsystem
12. A Rush Of Blood To The Head by Coldplay
13. Elephant by The White Stripes
14. For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver
15. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips
16. Songs For The Deaf by Queens Of The Stone Age
17. Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes
18. Amnesiac by Radiohead
19. Demon Days by Gorillaz
20. Discovery by Daft Punk
Back to Top