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 53,000 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	2,161	193,828	Remain In Light (28th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,197	120,560	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,157	148,421	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,175	135,363	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,167	170,527	Purple Rain (78th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,187	143,861	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,312	169,316	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,517	162,043	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,599	151,748	Daydream Nation (70th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,638	196,938	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,110	1,592,605

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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11.

Closer

Joy Division

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,464 charts

Rank Score:

16,584

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,878 votes)

Comments:

124

12.

Safe Mode: On

Surfer Rosa

Pixies

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,295 charts

Rank Score:

13,393

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

13.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,230 charts

Rank Score:

13,039

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

14.

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,122 charts

Rank Score:

12,818

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

109

Average Rating:

84 (1,310 votes)

Comments:

15.

Appetite For Destruction

Guns N' Roses

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,359 charts

Rank Score:

12,072

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

16.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,102 charts

Rank Score:

11,564

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

125

Average Rating:

81 (1,319 votes)

Comments:

17.

Back In Black

AC/DC

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,246 charts

Rank Score:

11,214

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

18.

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

893 charts

Rank Score:

11,130

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

133

Average Rating:

84 (969 votes)

Comments:

19.

Murmur

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

1,111 charts

Rank Score:

10,515

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

142

Average Rating:

83 (1,389 votes)

Comments:

20.

Moving Pictures

Rush

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

991 charts

Rank Score:

10,001

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

154

Average Rating:

82 (1,265 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	87	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	98	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	387	39%
	41	4%
	27	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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