Best Albums of the 1980s

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
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.
19802,201193,212
19812,239120,662
19822,192147,352
19832,231135,142
Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
19842,199169,544
19852,230143,479
19862,344168,731
19872,555160,820
19882,652151,661
19892,686196,203
Total23,5291,586,807

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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Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
470
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
469
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
463
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
463
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
463
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
460
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
458
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • eBay
  • iTunes
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  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
457
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
457
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
457
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 50 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 118 12%
1981 120 12%
1982 107 11%
1983 98 10%
1984 103 10%
1985 79 8%
1986 95 10%
1987 88 9%
1988 95 10%
1989 97 10%
Artist Albums %


The Cure 10 1%
The Smiths 8 1%
Rush 8 1%
Depeche Mode 8 1%
Iron Maiden 8 1%
R.E.M. 7 1%
Talking Heads 7 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 416 42%
United States 392 39%
Australia 39 4%
Mixed Nationality 26 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 22 2%
Argentina 12 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 969 97%
Yes 31 3%
Live? Albums %
No 978 98%
Yes 22 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 988 99%
Yes 12 1%
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. John Coltrane
12. King Crimson
13. Frank Zappa
14. The Kinks
15. Love
16. Van Morrison
17. Neil Young
18. Charles Mingus
19. Miles Davis
20. The Zombies
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