Best Albums of the 1980s

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 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.
19802,111194,455
19812,143120,333
19822,119148,264
19832,122135,721
Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
19842,127171,307
19852,127144,219
19862,246171,509
19872,448162,896
19882,537152,427
19892,557198,083
Total22,5371,599,214

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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Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
17,014
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,645
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,575
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,909
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,701
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,686
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,590
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,158
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,949
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,867
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 110. Page 1 of 11

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 117 12%
1981 120 12%
1982 110 11%
1983 97 10%
1984 102 10%
1985 81 8%
1986 96 10%
1987 87 9%
1988 93 9%
1989 97 10%
Artist Albums %


The Cure 10 1%
Iron Maiden 8 1%
Depeche Mode 8 1%
Rush 8 1%
U2 7 1%
The Smiths 7 1%
R.E.M. 7 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 417 42%
United States 386 39%
Australia 40 4%
Mixed Nationality 27 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 22 2%
Ireland 12 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 966 97%
Yes 34 3%
Live? Albums %
No 977 98%
Yes 23 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 988 99%
Yes 12 1%
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