Best Albums of the 1980s

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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

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	2,223	192,160	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,265	120,373	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,234	147,571	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,247	134,411	Murmur (139th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,218	168,825	Purple Rain (77th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,242	142,983	Hounds Of Love (54th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,356	168,000	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,572	159,923	The Joshua Tree (51st)by U2
1988	2,680	150,966	Daydream Nation (73rd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,709	194,865	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,746	1,580,076

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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71.

Bleach

Nirvana

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

623 charts

Rank Score:

3,634

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

489

Average Rating:

76 (1,290 votes)

Comments:

72.

Avalon

Roxy Music

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

482 charts

Rank Score:

3,620

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

491

Average Rating:

79 (624 votes)

Comments:

73.

Pretty Hate Machine

Nine Inch Nails

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

485 charts

Rank Score:

3,547

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

501

Average Rating:

79 (686 votes)

Comments:

74.

Computerwelt [Computer World]

Kraftwerk

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

478 charts

Rank Score:

3,535

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

504

Average Rating:

80 (536 votes)

Comments:

75.

Straight Outta Compton

N.W.A

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

590 charts

Rank Score:

3,493

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

510

Average Rating:

79 (724 votes)

Comments:

76.

Lifes Rich Pageant

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

497 charts

Rank Score:

3,487

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

513

Average Rating:

80 (745 votes)

Comments:

77.

Steve McQueen

Prefab Sprout

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

371 charts

Rank Score:

3,454

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

516

Average Rating:

79 (361 votes)

Comments:

78.

Green

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

502 charts

Rank Score:

3,450

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

518

Average Rating:

78 (730 votes)

Comments:

79.

Sister

Sonic Youth

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

501 charts

Rank Score:

3,443

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

520

Average Rating:

80 (633 votes)

Comments:

80.

Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers
Compilation

Bob Marley & The Wailers

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

508 charts

Rank Score:

3,443

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

521

Average Rating:

84 (1,027 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 8 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	119	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	108	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	103	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	97	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	92	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%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	420	42%
	389	39%
	39	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	11	1%
Show all

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

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

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

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