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 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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The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,442 charts

Rank Score:

37,622

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,861 votes)

Comments:

265

13.

Master Of Puppets

Metallica

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,242 charts

Rank Score:

13,154

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

16.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,104 charts

Rank Score:

11,450

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

126

Average Rating:

81 (1,319 votes)

Comments:

28.

Peter Gabriel

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

787 charts

Rank Score:

7,285

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

229

Average Rating:

80 (909 votes)

Comments:

48.

Skylarking

XTC

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

582 charts

Rank Score:

4,906

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

366

Average Rating:

80 (621 votes)

Comments:

59.

The Colour Of Spring

Talk Talk

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

458 charts

Rank Score:

4,222

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

423

Average Rating:

80 (554 votes)

Comments:

67.

Reign In Blood

Slayer

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

496 charts

Rank Score:

3,792

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

473

Average Rating:

79 (688 votes)

Comments:

75.

Lifes Rich Pageant

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

489 charts

Rank Score:

3,528

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

507

Average Rating:

80 (738 votes)

Comments:

80.

Licensed To Ill

Beastie Boys

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

590 charts

Rank Score:

3,459

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

522

Average Rating:

77 (840 votes)

Comments:

104.

Black Celebration

Depeche Mode

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

356 charts

Rank Score:

2,634

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

104

Overall Rank:

684

Average Rating:

78 (486 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 94. Page 1 of 10

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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