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	2,183	193,475	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,221	120,744	Moving Pictures (153rd)by Rush
1982	2,171	148,085	Thriller (72nd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,195	135,396	Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
1984	2,179	170,289	Purple Rain (78th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,211	143,770	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,327	169,006	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,534	161,639	The Joshua Tree (54th)by U2
1988	2,629	152,034	Daydream Nation (71st)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,657	197,004	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,307	1,591,442

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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41.

Nebraska

Bruce Springsteen

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

712 charts

Rank Score:

5,807

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

310

Average Rating:

80 (966 votes)

Comments:

42.

Synchronicity

The Police

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

796 charts

Rank Score:

5,560

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

321

Average Rating:

79 (1,019 votes)

Comments:

43.

War

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

754 charts

Rank Score:

5,522

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

323

Average Rating:

79 (1,181 votes)

Comments:

44.

Songs From The Big Chair

Tears For Fears

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

608 charts

Rank Score:

5,300

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

338

Average Rating:

79 (661 votes)

Comments:

45.

Speaking In Tongues

Talking Heads

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

605 charts

Rank Score:

5,260

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

341

Average Rating:

81 (770 votes)

Comments:

46.

...And Justice For All

Metallica

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

622 charts

Rank Score:

5,106

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

345

Average Rating:

80 (1,125 votes)

Comments:

47.

Double Nickels On The Dime

Minutemen

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

570 charts

Rank Score:

5,101

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

346

Average Rating:

80 (626 votes)

Comments:

48.

Skylarking

XTC

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

582 charts

Rank Score:

4,905

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

366

Average Rating:

80 (621 votes)

Comments:

49.

Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

Dead Kennedys

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

666 charts

Rank Score:

4,869

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

368

Average Rating:

80 (738 votes)

Comments:

50.

Document

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

681 charts

Rank Score:

4,782

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

372

Average Rating:

80 (905 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 5 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	119	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	108	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	89	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Rush	8	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
U2	7	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	414	41%
	391	39%
	41	4%
	26	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	33	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	981	98%
Yes	20	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	13	1%

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

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Best Artists of the 1960s
1. The Beatles
2. The Velvet Underground
3. Jimi Hendrix
4. Bob Dylan
5. The Beach Boys
6. The Jimi Hendrix Experience
7. The Velvet Underground & Nico
8. Led Zeppelin
9. The Doors
10. The Rolling Stones
11. King Crimson
12. John Coltrane
13. Frank Zappa
14. The Kinks
15. Love
16. Van Morrison
17. Neil Young
18. Charles Mingus
19. Miles Davis
20. The Zombies