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 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	2,119	193,737	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,157	120,117	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,131	148,088	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,127	135,221	Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
1984	2,134	170,781	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,137	143,736	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,264	170,221	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,464	162,438	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,561	151,969	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,574	197,141	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,668	1,593,448

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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914.

OU812

Van Halen

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

61 charts

Rank Score:

209

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

914

Overall Rank:

6,207

Average Rating:

68 (137 votes)

Comments:

918.

The Way It Is

Bruce Hornsby And The Range

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

63 charts

Rank Score:

207

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

918

Overall Rank:

6,266

Average Rating:

71 (80 votes)

Comments:

920.

December

George Winston

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

36 charts

Rank Score:

206

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

921.

Gutter Ballet

Savatage

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

206

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

921

Overall Rank:

6,278

Average Rating:

75 (46 votes)

Comments:

924.

Private Eyes

Daryl Hall & John Oates

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

65 charts

Rank Score:

206

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

929.

Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.

Dwight Yoakam

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

63 charts

Rank Score:

205

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

929

Overall Rank:

6,323

Average Rating:

75 (60 votes)

Comments:

930.

Back From Samoa

Angry Samoans

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

37 charts

Rank Score:

205

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

935.

Group Sex

Circle Jerks

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

81 charts

Rank Score:

203

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

936.

Gravity Talks

Green On Red

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

37 charts

Rank Score:

203

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

936

Overall Rank:

6,364

Average Rating:

75 (25 votes)

Comments:

938.

Stands For Decibels

The dB's

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

77 charts

Rank Score:

202

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

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Total albums: 386. Page 36 of 39

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	116	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	97	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%
The Fall	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	386	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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