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 49,000 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	1,983	201,689	Remain In Light (29th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,017	123,338	Moving Pictures (148th)by Rush (CA)
1982	1,982	150,222	Thriller (79th)by Michael Jackson
1983	1,973	137,955	Murmur (149th)by R.E.M.
1984	1,989	176,086	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	1,969	146,050	Hounds Of Love (64th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,071	176,768	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,248	168,811	The Joshua Tree (51st)by U2
1988	2,380	158,862	Daydream Nation (70th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,413	207,462	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	21,025	1,647,241

The best artists of the 1980s were The Smiths, Pixies, Prince, The Cure, Talking Heads, U2, Metallica, Kate Bush, R.E.M. and The Stone Roses.

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11.

Purple Rain
Soundtrack

Prince And The Revolution

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

1,341 charts

Rank Score:

17,490

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

83 (1,547 votes)

Comments:

118

12.

Safe Mode: On

Surfer Rosa

Pixies

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,270 charts

Rank Score:

14,881

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

13.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,195 charts

Rank Score:

13,998

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

14.

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,087 charts

Rank Score:

13,707

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

110

Average Rating:

84 (1,277 votes)

Comments:

15.

Appetite For Destruction

Guns N' Roses

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,314 charts

Rank Score:

13,413

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

16.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,068 charts

Rank Score:

12,623

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

128

Average Rating:

81 (1,283 votes)

Comments:

17.

Back In Black

AC/DC

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,201 charts

Rank Score:

12,013

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

18.

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

856 charts

Rank Score:

11,858

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

137

Average Rating:

84 (939 votes)

Comments:

19.

Moving Pictures

Rush (CA)

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

965 charts

Rank Score:

10,988

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

148

Average Rating:

83 (1,232 votes)

Comments:

20.

Murmur

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

1,068 charts

Rank Score:

10,974

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

149

Average Rating:

83 (1,342 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	112	11%
1981	119	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	84	8%
1986	99	10%
1987	86	9%
1988	97	10%
1989	98	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	415	42%
	393	39%
	33	3%
	31	3%
	25	3%
	21	2%
	12	1%
Show all

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

Live?	Albums	%
No	979	98%
Yes	21	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	989	99%
Yes	11	1%

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

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