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 57,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

summaryThe 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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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from 1985. (Remove this filter)

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Hounds Of Love

Kate Bush

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,404 charts

Rank Score:

18,271

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,404 votes)

Comments:

103

14.

Rain Dogs

Tom Waits

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,139 charts

Rank Score:

11,757

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

112

Average Rating:

84 (1,337 votes)

Comments:

27.

Brothers In Arms

Dire Straits

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

860 charts

Rank Score:

7,190

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

222

Average Rating:

78 (1,177 votes)

Comments:

32.

Meat Is Murder

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

825 charts

Rank Score:

6,388

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

258

Average Rating:

82 (1,292 votes)

Comments:

40.

Psychocandy

The Jesus And Mary Chain

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

759 charts

Rank Score:

5,616

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

300

Average Rating:

79 (919 votes)

Comments:

44.

Songs From The Big Chair

Tears For Fears

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

637 charts

Rank Score:

5,216

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

330

Average Rating:

79 (691 votes)

Comments:

51.

The Head On The Door

The Cure

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

628 charts

Rank Score:

4,510

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

378

Average Rating:

82 (799 votes)

Comments:

63.

Tim

The Replacements

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

506 charts

Rank Score:

3,903

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

441

Average Rating:

81 (565 votes)

Comments:

70.

Steve McQueen

Prefab Sprout

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

390 charts

Rank Score:

3,685

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

468

Average Rating:

79 (372 votes)

Comments:

87.

Rum Sodomy & The Lash

The Pogues

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

428 charts

Rank Score:

2,978

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

577

Average Rating:

78 (409 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 83. Page 1 of 9

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	119	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	83	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	85	9%
1988	96	10%
1989	96	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	416	42%
	387	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	11	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%

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

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