Best Albums of the 1980s

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 55,000 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.
19802,227192,325
19812,269120,154
19822,241147,602
19832,252134,327
Murmur (139th)by R.E.M.
19842,223169,100
19852,247142,649
19862,360168,157
19872,583160,164
19882,690151,267
19892,721194,699
Total23,8131,580,444

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.
View chart at point in time
 Show this chart as it was on the following date
Share this chart
Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!
Sort by
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
551
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
550
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
548
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
540
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
539
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
539
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
539
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
537
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
536
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
535
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 44 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 119 12%
1981 119 12%
1982 108 11%
1983 97 10%
1984 101 10%
1985 81 8%
1986 100 10%
1987 88 9%
1988 93 9%
1989 95 10%
Artist Albums %


The Cure 10 1%
Iron Maiden 8 1%
Depeche Mode 8 1%
The Smiths 8 1%
Rush 8 1%
U2 7 1%
The Fall 7 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 416 42%
United States 393 39%
Australia 40 4%
Mixed Nationality 27 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 21 2%
Ireland 11 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 967 97%
Yes 34 3%
Live? Albums %
No 980 98%
Yes 21 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 989 99%
Yes 12 1%
Best Albums of 2002
1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco
2. Turn On The Bright Lights by Interpol
3. A Rush Of Blood To The Head by Coldplay
4. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips
5. Songs For The Deaf by Queens Of The Stone Age
6. You Forgot It In People by Broken Social Scene
7. Sea Change by Beck
8. ( ) [Svigaplatan] by Sigur Rós
9. By The Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers
10. In Absentia by Porcupine Tree
11. Geogaddi by Boards Of Canada
12. Up The Bracket by The Libertines
13. American IV: The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash
14. The Eminem Show by Eminem
15. Original Pirate Material by The Streets
16. O by Damien Rice
17. Audioslave by Audioslave
18. The Rising by Bruce Springsteen
19. Come Away With Me by Norah Jones
20. The Mantle by Agalloch
Back to Top