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 53,000 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	2,117	193,937	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,157	120,028	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,130	148,160	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,128	135,452	Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
1984	2,134	170,954	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,136	143,835	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,262	170,371	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,463	162,571	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,561	152,061	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,572	197,243	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,660	1,594,612

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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791.

The Electric Spanking Of War Babies

Funkadelic

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

42 charts

Rank Score:

247

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

791

Overall Rank:

5,391

Average Rating:

73 (38 votes)

Comments:

792.

Back In The High Life

Steve Winwood

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

70 charts

Rank Score:

247

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

792

Overall Rank:

5,402

Average Rating:

72 (79 votes)

Comments:

793.

L'Eau Rouge

The Young Gods

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

38 charts

Rank Score:

247

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

793

Overall Rank:

5,403

Average Rating:

72 (33 votes)

Comments:

794.

Pipes Of Peace

Paul McCartney

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

69 charts

Rank Score:

246

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

794

Overall Rank:

5,414

Average Rating:

69 (111 votes)

Comments:

795.

Crimes Of Passion

Pat Benatar

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

79 charts

Rank Score:

246

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

795

Overall Rank:

5,416

Average Rating:

71 (118 votes)

Comments:

796.

Songs To Remember

Scritti Politti

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

50 charts

Rank Score:

246

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

796

Overall Rank:

5,419

Average Rating:

66 (52 votes)

Comments:

797.

Zoolook

Jean Michel Jarre

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

41 charts

Rank Score:

245

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

797

Overall Rank:

5,423

Average Rating:

72 (68 votes)

Comments:

798.

Circus Animals

Cold Chisel

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

40 charts

Rank Score:

245

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

798

Overall Rank:

5,425

Average Rating:

69 (41 votes)

Comments:

799.

Bouncing Off The Satellites

The B-52's

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

47 charts

Rank Score:

245

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

799

Overall Rank:

5,429

Average Rating:

70 (56 votes)

Comments:

800.

Misfits
Compilation

Misfits

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

27 charts

Rank Score:

245

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

800

Overall Rank:

5,437

Average Rating:

77 (34 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 80 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	116	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	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%
U2	7	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	386	39%
	39	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	965	97%
Yes	35	4%

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

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

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