Best Albums of the 1980s

Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 52,000 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.
19802,109194,927
19812,141120,510
19822,113148,563
19832,119135,904
Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
19842,122171,743
19852,121144,448
19862,241172,007
19872,446163,244
19882,533152,728
19892,551198,711
Total22,4961,602,785

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
Share | |
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:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
290
Rank in 1986:
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:
290
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:
289
Rank in 1981:
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:
289
Rank in 1988:
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:
289
Rank in 1989:
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:
289
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:
289
Rank in 1985:
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:
288
Rank in 1980:
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:
287
Rank in 1984:
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:
286
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 71 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 117 12%
1981 120 12%
1982 110 11%
1983 97 10%
1984 102 10%
1985 81 8%
1986 96 10%
1987 87 9%
1988 93 9%
1989 97 10%
Artist Albums %


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


United Kingdom 417 42%
United States 386 39%
Australia 40 4%
Mixed Nationality 27 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 22 2%
Ireland 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%
Recent Member  Charts
1. Top 64 Music Albums of 1996 by cicadelic (2024)
2. Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s by LedZep (2024)
3. Top 2 Music Albums of the 1940s by Purplepash (2024)
4. Top albums of all time (301 - 400) by Johnnyo (2024)
5. Top albums of all time (201 - 300) by Johnnyo (2024)
6. Album Club 201 - by jonny5244 (2024)
7. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s by eclab (2024)
8. Top 21 Music Albums of 1974 by eclab (2024)
9. Top 13 Music Albums of 2020 by eclab (2024)
10. Top 4 Music Albums of 2024 by eclab (2024)
11. Top 19 Music Albums of 1975 by TroutMaskGreg (2024)
12. Top 7 Music Albums of 2024 by TroutMaskGreg (2024)
13. Dylan covers 2a: More Complete Albums by Individual Artists by Moondance (2024)
14. Dylan covers 6: French artists by Moondance (2024)
15. Top 44 Music Albums of 1983 by cicadelic (2024)
16. Dylan Covers 4bb:US (Every Song 1967-TBC) by Moondance (2024)
17. Top 74 Music Albums of 2023 by joathome (2024)
18. Top 6 Music Albums of 2024 by MaxStorm98 (2024)
19. Top 20 Music Albums of 2024 by nitomano (2024)
20. Dylan covers 4e: US overflow 2 by Moondance (2024)
Back to Top