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 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	2,199	193,256	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,236	120,709	Moving Pictures (157th)by Rush
1982	2,190	147,466	Thriller (72nd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,230	135,151	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,198	169,658	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,228	143,559	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,344	168,768	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,554	160,854	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,646	151,469	Daydream Nation (73rd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,685	196,372	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,510	1,587,262

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:

2,512 charts

Rank Score:

35,377

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,905 votes)

Comments:

290

Disintegration

The Cure

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,802 charts

Rank Score:

27,785

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,999 votes)

Comments:

152

The Stone Roses

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,999 charts

Rank Score:

25,035

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

30.

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

854 charts

Rank Score:

7,086

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

236

Average Rating:

82 (1,020 votes)

Comments:

55.

On Fire

Galaxie 500

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

492 charts

Rank Score:

4,348

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

407

Average Rating:

82 (581 votes)

Comments:

60.

3 Feet High And Rising

De La Soul

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

540 charts

Rank Score:

4,075

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

436

Average Rating:

78 (585 votes)

Comments:

70.

Bleach

Nirvana

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

618 charts

Rank Score:

3,694

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

481

Average Rating:

76 (1,286 votes)

Comments:

74.

Pretty Hate Machine

Nine Inch Nails

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

486 charts

Rank Score:

3,527

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

508

Average Rating:

79 (684 votes)

Comments:

82.

Full Moon Fever

Tom Petty

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

487 charts

Rank Score:

3,400

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

529

Average Rating:

79 (563 votes)

Comments:

107.

New York

Lou Reed

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

374 charts

Rank Score:

2,585

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

107

Overall Rank:

697

Average Rating:

77 (426 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 97. Page 1 of 10

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	103	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	94	9%
1989	97	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	391	39%
	39	4%
	26	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	32	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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