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	2,183	193,475	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,221	120,744	Moving Pictures (153rd)by Rush
1982	2,171	148,085	Thriller (72nd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,195	135,396	Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
1984	2,179	170,289	Purple Rain (78th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,211	143,770	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,327	169,006	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,534	161,639	The Joshua Tree (54th)by U2
1988	2,629	152,034	Daydream Nation (71st)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,657	197,004	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,307	1,591,442

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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10.

Purple Rain
Soundtrack

Prince And The Revolution

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

1,399 charts

Rank Score:

16,630

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

83 (1,608 votes)

Comments:

127

22.

Ride The Lightning

Metallica

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

878 charts

Rank Score:

9,123

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

172

Average Rating:

84 (1,327 votes)

Comments:

23.

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

947 charts

Rank Score:

8,609

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

186

Average Rating:

83 (1,449 votes)

Comments:

24.

Born In The U.S.A.

Bruce Springsteen

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

898 charts

Rank Score:

8,284

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

195

Average Rating:

78 (1,304 votes)

Comments:

26.

Let It Be

The Replacements

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

806 charts

Rank Score:

7,793

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

212

Average Rating:

82 (913 votes)

Comments:

33.

Hatful Of Hollow

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

612 charts

Rank Score:

6,766

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

257

Average Rating:

86 (1,015 votes)

Comments:

47.

Double Nickels On The Dime

Minutemen

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

570 charts

Rank Score:

5,103

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

346

Average Rating:

80 (626 votes)

Comments:

53.

Stop Making Sense
Live soundtrack

Talking Heads

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

465 charts

Rank Score:

4,412

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

400

Average Rating:

83 (680 votes)

Comments:

56.

Zen Arcade

Hüsker Dü

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

493 charts

Rank Score:

4,312

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

413

Average Rating:

79 (582 votes)

Comments:

58.

Treasure

Cocteau Twins

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

552 charts

Rank Score:

4,250

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

418

Average Rating:

82 (624 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 102. Page 1 of 11

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	119	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	108	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	89	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Rush	8	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
U2	7	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	414	41%
	391	39%
	41	4%
	26	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	33	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	981	98%
Yes	20	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	13	1%

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

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