Best Albums of the 1980s

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 56,000 greatest album charts.

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Year:
summaryThe 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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Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
36,001
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
33,852
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
28,955
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
27,307
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
23,943
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
19,014
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
18,859
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,452
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,431
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,244
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 118 12%
1981 119 12%
1982 107 11%
1983 98 10%
1984 102 10%
1985 81 8%
1986 99 10%
1987 87 9%
1988 95 10%
1989 94 9%
Artist Albums %


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


United Kingdom 419 42%
United States 390 39%
Australia 40 4%
Mixed Nationality 27 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 21 2%
Ireland 11 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 964 96%
Yes 36 4%
Live? Albums %
No 978 98%
Yes 22 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 988 99%
Yes 12 1%
Best Artists of 2004
1. Arcade Fire
2. Madvillain
3. Green Day
4. Kanye West
5. The Killers
6. Franz Ferdinand
7. Modest Mouse
8. Interpol
9. Daniel Dumile
10. MF DOOM
11. Joanna Newsom
12. Keane
13. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
14. Nick Cave
15. Brian Wilson
16. Sufjan Stevens
17. Wilco
18. Animal Collective
19. The Libertines
20. Iron & Wine
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