Best Albums of the 1980s

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 54,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade
Decade:
Year:
1980s decade summary
YearAlbums 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.
19802,199193,287
19812,238120,708
19822,191147,424
19832,231135,168
Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
19842,198169,496
19852,229143,583
19862,344168,755
19872,554160,859
19882,652151,394
19892,686196,323
Total23,5221,586,998

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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Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,252
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,010
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,998
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
12,681
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,743
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,392
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
11,143
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,858
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,635
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
9,800
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 118 12%
1981 120 12%
1982 107 11%
1983 98 10%
1984 103 10%
1985 80 8%
1986 95 10%
1987 88 9%
1988 94 9%
1989 98 10%
Artist Albums %


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


United Kingdom 417 42%
United States 392 39%
Australia 39 4%
Mixed Nationality 26 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 22 2%
Argentina 12 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 969 97%
Yes 32 3%
Live? Albums %
No 979 98%
Yes 22 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 989 99%
Yes 12 1%
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