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 53,000 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	2,161	193,828	Remain In Light (28th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,197	120,560	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,157	148,421	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,175	135,363	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,167	170,527	Purple Rain (78th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,187	143,861	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,312	169,316	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,517	162,043	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,599	151,748	Daydream Nation (70th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,638	196,938	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,110	1,592,605

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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19.

Murmur

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

1,111 charts

Rank Score:

10,515

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

142

Average Rating:

83 (1,389 votes)

Comments:

25.

Violent Femmes

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

886 charts

Rank Score:

8,073

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

203

Average Rating:

81 (974 votes)

Comments:

31.

Power, Corruption & Lies

New Order

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

778 charts

Rank Score:

6,931

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

249

Average Rating:

81 (912 votes)

Comments:

42.

Synchronicity

The Police

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

788 charts

Rank Score:

5,629

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

320

Average Rating:

79 (1,017 votes)

Comments:

43.

War

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

744 charts

Rank Score:

5,439

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

332

Average Rating:

79 (1,180 votes)

Comments:

45.

Speaking In Tongues

Talking Heads

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

603 charts

Rank Score:

5,261

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

342

Average Rating:

81 (769 votes)

Comments:

52.

Swordfishtrombones

Tom Waits

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

609 charts

Rank Score:

4,785

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

374

Average Rating:

81 (735 votes)

Comments:

84.

Kill 'Em All

Metallica

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

496 charts

Rank Score:

3,313

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

544

Average Rating:

79 (924 votes)

Comments:

103.

Let's Dance

David Bowie

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

512 charts

Rank Score:

2,690

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

103

Overall Rank:

665

Average Rating:

75 (797 votes)

Comments:

113.

The Final Cut

Pink Floyd

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

392 charts

Rank Score:

2,412

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

113

Overall Rank:

739

Average Rating:

71 (1,002 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 97. Page 1 of 10

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	87	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	98	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	387	39%
	41	4%
	27	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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