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 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	2,224	192,258	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,266	120,272	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,237	147,556	Thriller (72nd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,249	134,170	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,219	168,820	Purple Rain (76th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,244	142,821	Hounds Of Love (53rd)by Kate Bush
1986	2,359	167,803	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,577	159,810	The Joshua Tree (51st)by U2
1988	2,685	151,035	Daydream Nation (71st)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,716	194,525	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,776	1,579,068

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.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

21.

Sign "O" The Times

Prince

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

870 charts

Rank Score:

9,339

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

166

Average Rating:

81 (934 votes)

Comments:

22.

Ride The Lightning

Metallica

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

895 charts

Rank Score:

9,268

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

169

Average Rating:

84 (1,340 votes)

Comments:

23.

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

965 charts

Rank Score:

8,442

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

186

Average Rating:

83 (1,463 votes)

Comments:

24.

Born In The U.S.A.

Bruce Springsteen

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

919 charts

Rank Score:

8,153

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

193

Average Rating:

78 (1,310 votes)

Comments:

25.

Violent Femmes

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

897 charts

Rank Score:

8,001

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

203

Average Rating:

81 (984 votes)

Comments:

26.

Let It Be

The Replacements

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

818 charts

Rank Score:

7,629

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

212

Average Rating:

82 (926 votes)

Comments:

27.

Brothers In Arms

Dire Straits

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

844 charts

Rank Score:

7,340

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

225

Average Rating:

78 (1,157 votes)

Comments:

28.

It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

Public Enemy

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

844 charts

Rank Score:

7,303

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

228

Average Rating:

80 (993 votes)

Comments:

29.

Peter Gabriel

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

795 charts

Rank Score:

7,278

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

231

Average Rating:

80 (914 votes)

Comments:

30.

Paul's Boutique

Beastie Boys

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

859 charts

Rank Score:

7,055

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

236

Average Rating:

82 (1,026 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
2
3
4
...
99
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 3 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	120	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	108	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	97	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	95	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	419	42%
	389	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	967	97%
Yes	33	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

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

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

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Recognised Decade Charts (2020s)
1. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks by Billboard (2019)
2. The A.V. Club's 50 best albums of the 2010s by The A.V. Club (2019)
3. BrooklynVegan's Top Albums of 2010s by BrooklynVegan (2020)
4. Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of the 2010s by Gorilla vs. Bear (2019)
5. All The Best Albums Of The 2010s, Ranked by Uproxx (2019)
6. Top 100 Albums of the Decade by Crack Magazine (2019)
7. Top 50 Albums of the 2010s by The Wild Honey Pie (2019)
8. NME's Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s by New Music Express (2019)
9. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Rolling Stone (2019)
10. The 50 best albums of the decade – 2010 to 2019 by Independent (2019)
11. The Needle Drop's Top Albums Of The 2010s by The Needle Drop (2019)
12. The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s by Pitchfork (2019)
13. The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s by Stereogum (2019)
14. The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s by Spin (2020)
15. The 50 Best Albums of the Decade by Deep Cuts (2019)
16. Top 100 Albums of the 2010s by Consequence of Sound (2019)
17. Die 100 besten Alben der 10er Jahre by Musikexpress.de (2020)
18. Die besten Platten 2010-2019 by Spex (2019)
19. The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Paste (2019)
20. Los 30 mejores discos de la década de 2010 by Esquire España (2023)