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 54,000 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	2,189	193,371	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,225	120,650	Moving Pictures (155th)by Rush
1982	2,178	147,733	Thriller (72nd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,226	135,375	Murmur (139th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,185	170,269	Purple Rain (78th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,213	143,808	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,331	169,160	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,542	161,341	The Joshua Tree (54th)by U2
1988	2,633	152,302	Daydream Nation (71st)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,667	196,772	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,389	1,590,782

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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31.

Power, Corruption & Lies

New Order

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

779 charts

Rank Score:

6,841

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

253

Average Rating:

81 (914 votes)

Comments:

32.

Meat Is Murder

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

819 charts

Rank Score:

6,740

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

257

Average Rating:

82 (1,263 votes)

Comments:

33.

Hatful Of Hollow

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

613 charts

Rank Score:

6,675

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

262

Average Rating:

86 (1,015 votes)

Comments:

34.

The Dreaming

Kate Bush

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

640 charts

Rank Score:

6,547

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

265

Average Rating:

81 (765 votes)

Comments:

35.

The Number Of The Beast

Iron Maiden

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

701 charts

Rank Score:

6,402

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

270

Average Rating:

81 (993 votes)

Comments:

36.

Strangeways, Here We Come

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

734 charts

Rank Score:

6,110

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

284

Average Rating:

81 (1,110 votes)

Comments:

37.

Pornography

The Cure

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

685 charts

Rank Score:

6,006

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

291

Average Rating:

80 (955 votes)

Comments:

38.

Scary Monsters

David Bowie

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

753 charts

Rank Score:

5,949

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

297

Average Rating:

81 (1,086 votes)

Comments:

39.

You're Living All Over Me

Dinosaur Jr.

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

645 charts

Rank Score:

5,943

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

299

Average Rating:

82 (718 votes)

Comments:

40.

Psychocandy

The Jesus And Mary Chain

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

741 charts

Rank Score:

5,922

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

300

Average Rating:

79 (900 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 4 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	108	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	413	41%
	391	39%
	41	4%
	26	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	967	97%
Yes	33	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	980	98%
Yes	20	2%

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

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

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