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 49,000 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	1,965	201,413	Remain In Light (29th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,001	122,426	Moving Pictures (150th)by Rush
1982	1,969	149,772	Thriller (79th)by Michael Jackson
1983	1,962	137,165	Murmur (149th)by R.E.M.
1984	1,952	176,040	Purple Rain (84th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	1,951	146,116	Hounds Of Love (64th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,050	176,712	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,238	169,070	The Joshua Tree (50th)by U2
1988	2,367	158,597	Daydream Nation (71st)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,400	207,773	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	20,855	1,645,084

The best artists of the 1980s were The Smiths, Pixies, Prince, The Cure, Talking Heads, U2, Metallica, Kate Bush, R.E.M. and The Stone Roses.

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11.

Purple Rain
Soundtrack

Prince And The Revolution

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

1,331 charts

Rank Score:

17,516

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

83 (1,542 votes)

Comments:

118

21.

Ride The Lightning

Metallica

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

836 charts

Rank Score:

9,556

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

181

Average Rating:

84 (1,263 votes)

Comments:

22.

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

911 charts

Rank Score:

9,323

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

188

Average Rating:

83 (1,400 votes)

Comments:

24.

Born In The U.S.A.

Bruce Springsteen

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

850 charts

Rank Score:

8,782

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

201

Average Rating:

78 (1,254 votes)

Comments:

27.

Let It Be

The Replacements

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

766 charts

Rank Score:

8,111

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

225

Average Rating:

82 (879 votes)

Comments:

33.

Hatful Of Hollow

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

587 charts

Rank Score:

7,066

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

265

Average Rating:

86 (971 votes)

Comments:

44.

Double Nickels On The Dime

Minutemen

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

547 charts

Rank Score:

5,465

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

345

Average Rating:

80 (607 votes)

Comments:

55.

Stop Making Sense
Live soundtrack

Talking Heads

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

428 charts

Rank Score:

4,563

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

413

Average Rating:

83 (654 votes)

Comments:

58.

Powerslave

Iron Maiden

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

435 charts

Rank Score:

4,435

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

425

Average Rating:

81 (678 votes)

Comments:

59.

Treasure

Cocteau Twins

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

523 charts

Rank Score:

4,363

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

431

Average Rating:

82 (591 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 102. Page 1 of 11

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	112	11%
1981	120	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	84	8%
1986	97	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	100	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	416	42%
	394	39%
	33	3%
	32	3%
	24	2%
	22	2%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	966	97%
Yes	34	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	979	98%
Yes	21	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	987	99%
Yes	13	1%

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

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