Best Albums of the 1980s

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
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.
19802,111194,453
19812,144120,329
19822,119148,278
19832,122135,685
Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
19842,127171,263
19852,127144,206
19862,246171,497
19872,449162,837
19882,537152,367
19892,557198,058
Total22,5391,598,974

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:
16,502
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:
13,632
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,283
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,195
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:
12,244
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:
11,888
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:
11,297
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:
11,233
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:
10,714
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:
10,261
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 117 12%
1981 120 12%
1982 110 11%
1983 97 10%
1984 102 10%
1985 81 8%
1986 96 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 %


United Kingdom 417 42%
United States 386 39%
Australia 40 4%
Mixed Nationality 27 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 22 2%
Ireland 12 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 966 97%
Yes 34 3%
Live? Albums %
No 977 98%
Yes 23 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 988 99%
Yes 12 1%
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11. High Violet by The National
12. Teen Dream by Beach House
13. Currents by Tame Impala
14. Channel Orange by Frank Ocean
15. Lost In The Dream by The War On Drugs
16. Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes
17. Bon Iver, Bon Iver by Bon Iver
18. AM by Arctic Monkeys
19. This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem
20. Random Access Memories by Daft Punk
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