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	2,117	193,957	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,157	120,039	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,129	148,164	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,128	135,463	Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
1984	2,133	171,023	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,136	143,865	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,261	170,405	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,462	162,590	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,560	152,102	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,572	197,250	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,655	1,594,860

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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241.

It's My Life

Talk Talk

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

188 charts

Rank Score:

1,099

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

241

Overall Rank:

1,569

Average Rating:

76 (258 votes)

Comments:

242.

Defenders Of The Faith

Judas Priest

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

150 charts

Rank Score:

1,097

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

242

Overall Rank:

1,570

Average Rating:

76 (208 votes)

Comments:

243.

Shoot Out The Lights

Richard & Linda Thompson

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

208 charts

Rank Score:

1,093

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

243

Overall Rank:

1,573

Average Rating:

78 (222 votes)

Comments:

244.

Nightclubbing

Grace Jones

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

220 charts

Rank Score:

1,092

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

244

Overall Rank:

1,577

Average Rating:

79 (198 votes)

Comments:

245.

Signals

Rush

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

211 charts

Rank Score:

1,091

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

245

Overall Rank:

1,579

Average Rating:

79 (345 votes)

Comments:

246.

Reckless

Bryan Adams

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

188 charts

Rank Score:

1,091

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

246

Overall Rank:

1,580

Average Rating:

72 (244 votes)

Comments:

247.

Eye In The Sky

The Alan Parsons Project

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

174 charts

Rank Score:

1,090

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

247

Overall Rank:

1,582

Average Rating:

76 (230 votes)

Comments:

248.

The Works

Queen

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

214 charts

Rank Score:

1,085

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

248

Overall Rank:

1,586

Average Rating:

72 (352 votes)

Comments:

249.

A Momentary Lapse Of Reason

Pink Floyd

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

282 charts

Rank Score:

1,082

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

249

Overall Rank:

1,588

Average Rating:

68 (691 votes)

Comments:

250.

From The Lion's Mouth

The Sound

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

142 charts

Rank Score:

1,078

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

250

Overall Rank:

1,597

Average Rating:

79 (157 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 25 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	116	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	96	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	97	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	385	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	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%

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

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