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	2,115	193,911	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,155	120,180	Moving Pictures (153rd)by Rush
1982	2,129	148,413	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,128	135,605	Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
1984	2,131	170,993	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,130	143,495	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,256	171,198	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,458	162,742	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,544	152,027	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,563	197,573	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,609	1,596,137

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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961.

Ammonia Avenue

The Alan Parsons Project

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

196

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

966.

The Thieving Magpie (La Gazza Ladra)
Live

Marillion

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

21 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

966

Overall Rank:

6,593

Average Rating:

74 (24 votes)

Comments:

967.

Beautiful Vision

Van Morrison

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

60 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

968.

Complete Madness
Compilation

Madness

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

28 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

969.

Handful Of Earth

Dick Gaughan

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

25 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

971.

Wilder

The Teardrop Explodes

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

33 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

971.

Scum

Napalm Death

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

72 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

971

Overall Rank:

6,613

Average Rating:

70 (95 votes)

Comments:

973.

The Return Of The Durutti Column

The Durutti Column

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

52 charts

Rank Score:

195

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

975.

Welcome To Hell

Venom

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

58 charts

Rank Score:

194

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

976.

Earth, Sun, Moon

Love And Rockets

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

194

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

976

Overall Rank:

6,633

Average Rating:

75 (61 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 418. Page 41 of 42

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	116	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	79	8%
1986	96	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	97	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
U2	7	1%
The Fall	7	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	418	42%
	385	39%
	39	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	965	97%
Yes	35	4%

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 »

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