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 51,000 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	2,053	196,667	Remain In Light (29th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,099	121,770	Moving Pictures (153rd)by Rush (CA)
1982	2,062	148,744	Thriller (80th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,072	136,427	Murmur (144th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,066	173,628	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,069	144,194	Hounds Of Love (63rd)by Kate Bush
1986	2,165	173,766	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,387	165,779	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,469	155,275	Daydream Nation (70th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,472	203,193	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	21,914	1,619,443

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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The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,387 charts

Rank Score:

40,631

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,799 votes)

Comments:

260

Doolittle

Pixies

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,470 charts

Rank Score:

40,060

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,920 charts

Rank Score:

31,548

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,735 charts

Rank Score:

28,612

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,937 votes)

Comments:

149

The Stone Roses

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,946 charts

Rank Score:

27,129

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,207 votes)

Comments:

202

The Joshua Tree

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,798 charts

Rank Score:

20,774

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,314 charts

Rank Score:

19,578

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,311 votes)

Comments:

Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,524 charts

Rank Score:

18,450

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

84 (1,802 votes)

Comments:

145

Closer

Joy Division

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,430 charts

Rank Score:

17,446

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

10.

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

1,552 charts

Rank Score:

17,401

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

82 (2,065 votes)

Comments:

159

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Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	114	11%
1981	122	12%
1982	109	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	104	10%
1985	83	8%
1986	94	9%
1987	88	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	100	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	419	42%
	387	39%
	39	4%
	27	3%
	24	2%
	21	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	34	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	24	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	991	99%
Yes	11	1%

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

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