Best Albums of the 1980s

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

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

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	2,121	193,682	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,159	120,067	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,131	147,981	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,128	135,153	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,136	170,750	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,138	143,669	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,264	170,138	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,466	162,457	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,562	151,907	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,581	197,376	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,686	1,593,181

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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211.

Songs About Fucking

Big Black

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

202 charts

Rank Score:

1,326

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

211

Overall Rank:

1,321

Average Rating:

77 (212 votes)

Comments:

212.

Arvo Pärt: Tabula Rasa

Keith Jarrett / Gidon Kremer; Dennis Russell Davies / Staatsorchester Stuttgart; The 12 Cellists Of The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra; Saulius Sondeckis / Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra / Alfred Schnittke

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

148 charts

Rank Score:

1,323

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

212

Overall Rank:

1,325

Average Rating:

80 (169 votes)

Comments:

213.

Around The World In A Day

Prince And The Revolution

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

250 charts

Rank Score:

1,310

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

213

Overall Rank:

1,333

Average Rating:

77 (346 votes)

Comments:

214.

Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks

Brian Eno With Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

192 charts

Rank Score:

1,306

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

214

Overall Rank:

1,335

Average Rating:

80 (238 votes)

Comments:

215.

90125

Yes

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

230 charts

Rank Score:

1,281

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

215

Overall Rank:

1,357

Average Rating:

73 (356 votes)

Comments:

216.

Uprising

Bob Marley & The Wailers

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

245 charts

Rank Score:

1,278

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

216

Overall Rank:

1,360

Average Rating:

77 (276 votes)

Comments:

217.

Killers

Iron Maiden

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

253 charts

Rank Score:

1,273

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

217

Overall Rank:

1,367

Average Rating:

77 (449 votes)

Comments:

218.

Fisherman's Blues

The Waterboys

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

213 charts

Rank Score:

1,273

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

218

Overall Rank:

1,369

Average Rating:

79 (215 votes)

Comments:

219.

Atomizer

Big Black

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

179 charts

Rank Score:

1,263

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

219

Overall Rank:

1,379

Average Rating:

76 (187 votes)

Comments:

220.

Invisible Touch

Genesis

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

251 charts

Rank Score:

1,251

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

220

Overall Rank:

1,388

Average Rating:

69 (426 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 22 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	116	12%
1981	122	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	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%
U2	7	1%
The Fall	7	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	416	42%
	386	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	12	1%
Show all

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

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	12	1%

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

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