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	2,161	193,877	Remain In Light (28th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,195	120,573	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,156	148,428	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,174	135,388	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,167	170,558	Purple Rain (78th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,184	143,880	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,311	169,365	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,516	162,091	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,597	151,786	Daydream Nation (70th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,638	196,989	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,099	1,592,934

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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The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,428 charts

Rank Score:

37,938

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,859 votes)

Comments:

265

Doolittle

Pixies

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,497 charts

Rank Score:

36,250

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,976 charts

Rank Score:

30,277

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,780 charts

Rank Score:

27,751

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,982 votes)

Comments:

152

The Stone Roses

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,985 charts

Rank Score:

25,543

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,239 votes)

Comments:

203

The Joshua Tree

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,825 charts

Rank Score:

19,666

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,358 charts

Rank Score:

19,149

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,548 charts

Rank Score:

17,362

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

1,588 charts

Rank Score:

17,226

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

82 (2,114 votes)

Comments:

160

10.

Purple Rain
Soundtrack

Prince And The Revolution

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

1,392 charts

Rank Score:

16,708

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

83 (1,609 votes)

Comments:

127

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	87	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	98	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	387	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	32	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	22	2%

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

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

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