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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The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,348 charts

Rank Score:

41,940

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,756 votes)

Comments:

257

13.

Master Of Puppets

Metallica

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,185 charts

Rank Score:

13,986

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

16.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,066 charts

Rank Score:

12,781

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

127

Average Rating:

81 (1,277 votes)

Comments:

30.

Peter Gabriel

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

735 charts

Rank Score:

7,366

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

246

Average Rating:

80 (864 votes)

Comments:

46.

Skylarking

XTC

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

539 charts

Rank Score:

5,277

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

359

Average Rating:

81 (589 votes)

Comments:

61.

The Colour Of Spring

Talk Talk

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

430 charts

Rank Score:

4,240

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

441

Average Rating:

80 (520 votes)

Comments:

67.

Reign In Blood

Slayer

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

463 charts

Rank Score:

3,828

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

482

Average Rating:

79 (655 votes)

Comments:

70.

Licensed To Ill

Beastie Boys

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

563 charts

Rank Score:

3,720

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

500

Average Rating:

77 (808 votes)

Comments:

72.

Lifes Rich Pageant

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

470 charts

Rank Score:

3,699

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

503

Average Rating:

80 (696 votes)

Comments:

109.

EVOL

Sonic Youth

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

368 charts

Rank Score:

2,528

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

109

Overall Rank:

732

Average Rating:

79 (481 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 97. Page 1 of 10

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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