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 51,000 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	2,052	196,649	Remain In Light (29th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,098	121,819	Moving Pictures (151st)by Rush (CA)
1982	2,061	148,813	Thriller (80th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,072	136,288	Murmur (144th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,064	173,686	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,067	144,159	Hounds Of Love (64th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,165	173,859	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,387	165,654	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,470	155,337	Daydream Nation (70th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,471	203,135	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	21,907	1,619,398

The best artists of the 1980s were The Smiths, Pixies, Prince, The Cure, Talking Heads, U2, Metallica, Kate Bush, R.E.M. and The Stone Roses.

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71.

Bleach

Nirvana (US)

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

596 charts

Rank Score:

3,687

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

495

Average Rating:

76 (1,249 votes)

Comments:

72.

3 Feet High And Rising

De La Soul

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

501 charts

Rank Score:

3,685

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

496

Average Rating:

79 (553 votes)

Comments:

73.

Avalon

Roxy Music

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

454 charts

Rank Score:

3,643

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

503

Average Rating:

79 (596 votes)

Comments:

74.

Computerwelt [Computer World]

Kraftwerk

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

460 charts

Rank Score:

3,642

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

506

Average Rating:

81 (514 votes)

Comments:

75.

Lifes Rich Pageant

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

477 charts

Rank Score:

3,611

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

508

Average Rating:

80 (710 votes)

Comments:

76.

1999

Prince

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

535 charts

Rank Score:

3,586

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

514

Average Rating:

79 (696 votes)

Comments:

77.

Straight Outta Compton

N.W.A

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

564 charts

Rank Score:

3,573

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

516

Average Rating:

79 (694 votes)

Comments:

78.

Sister

Sonic Youth

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

485 charts

Rank Score:

3,522

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

521

Average Rating:

80 (617 votes)

Comments:

79.

Pretty Hate Machine

Nine Inch Nails

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

465 charts

Rank Score:

3,515

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

522

Average Rating:

79 (660 votes)

Comments:

80.

Reckoning

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

456 charts

Rank Score:

3,470

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

530

Average Rating:

80 (644 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 8 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	113	11%
1981	122	12%
1982	109	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	101	10%
1985	83	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	100	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Rush (CA)	8	1%
Siouxsie And The Banshees	7	1%
The Fall	7	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	419	42%
	388	39%
	34	3%
	31	3%
	24	2%
	21	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	964	96%
Yes	36	4%

Live?	Albums	%
No	976	98%
Yes	24	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	989	99%
Yes	11	1%

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

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