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 55,000 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	2,233	191,547	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,278	119,602	Moving Pictures (155th)by Rush
1982	2,247	147,119	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,258	134,046	Murmur (137th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,228	168,113	Purple Rain (74th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,259	141,972	Hounds Of Love (53rd)by Kate Bush
1986	2,374	167,249	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,587	159,336	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,694	150,376	Daydream Nation (73rd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,731	193,390	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,889	1,572,751

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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Doolittle

Pixies

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,538 charts

Rank Score:

34,298

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,931 votes)

Comments:

291

Disintegration

The Cure

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,818 charts

Rank Score:

27,437

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,025 votes)

Comments:

152

The Stone Roses

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,015 charts

Rank Score:

24,276

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

30.

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

864 charts

Rank Score:

7,022

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

235

Average Rating:

82 (1,031 votes)

Comments:

55.

On Fire

Galaxie 500

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

497 charts

Rank Score:

4,295

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

403

Average Rating:

82 (586 votes)

Comments:

59.

3 Feet High And Rising

De La Soul

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

554 charts

Rank Score:

4,106

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

431

Average Rating:

78 (595 votes)

Comments:

73.

Bleach

Nirvana

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

628 charts

Rank Score:

3,561

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

498

Average Rating:

76 (1,295 votes)

Comments:

74.

Pretty Hate Machine

Nine Inch Nails

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

488 charts

Rank Score:

3,516

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

504

Average Rating:

79 (692 votes)

Comments:

82.

Full Moon Fever

Tom Petty

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

490 charts

Rank Score:

3,354

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

530

Average Rating:

79 (571 votes)

Comments:

105.

New York

Lou Reed

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

378 charts

Rank Score:

2,566

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

105

Overall Rank:

694

Average Rating:

77 (430 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 95. Page 1 of 10

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	119	12%
1981	119	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	99	10%
1984	101	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	97	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	95	10%
1989	95	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	390	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	11	1%
Show all

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

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	22	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	12	1%

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

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