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 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	2,127	194,399	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,159	120,329	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,132	148,213	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,130	135,692	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,141	171,079	Purple Rain (82nd)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,141	143,709	Hounds Of Love (59th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,268	170,348	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,471	162,354	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,563	151,772	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,584	197,586	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,716	1,595,482

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

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

21.

Sign 'O' The Times

Prince

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

841 charts

Rank Score:

9,218

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

175

Average Rating:

81 (914 votes)

Comments:

22.

Ride The Lightning

Metallica

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

870 charts

Rank Score:

9,194

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

178

Average Rating:

84 (1,311 votes)

Comments:

23.

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

940 charts

Rank Score:

8,772

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

187

Average Rating:

83 (1,441 votes)

Comments:

24.

Born In The U.S.A.

Bruce Springsteen

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

885 charts

Rank Score:

8,382

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

197

Average Rating:

78 (1,296 votes)

Comments:

25.

Violent Femmes

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

876 charts

Rank Score:

8,242

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

200

Average Rating:

81 (972 votes)

Comments:

26.

Let It Be

The Replacements

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

801 charts

Rank Score:

7,811

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

215

Average Rating:

82 (909 votes)

Comments:

27.

Brothers In Arms

Dire Straits

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

833 charts

Rank Score:

7,712

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

219

Average Rating:

78 (1,142 votes)

Comments:

28.

Peter Gabriel

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

781 charts

Rank Score:

7,462

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

227

Average Rating:

80 (903 votes)

Comments:

29.

Paul's Boutique

Beastie Boys

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

840 charts

Rank Score:

7,205

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

240

Average Rating:

82 (1,010 votes)

Comments:

30.

It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

Public Enemy

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

820 charts

Rank Score:

7,012

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

247

Average Rating:

80 (973 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
2
3
4
...
99
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 3 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	122	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	86	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	98	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	416	42%
	385	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	12	1%
Show all

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

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

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	987	99%
Yes	13	1%

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

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Best Albums of the 1980s
1. The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
2. Doolittle by Pixies
3. Remain In Light by Talking Heads
4. Disintegration by The Cure
5. The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses
6. The Joshua Tree by U2
7. Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush
8. Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth
9. Thriller by Michael Jackson
10. Closer by Joy Division
11. Purple Rain by Prince And The Revolution
12. Surfer Rosa by Pixies
13. Master Of Puppets by Metallica
14. Rain Dogs by Tom Waits
15. Appetite For Destruction by Guns N' Roses
16. Graceland by Paul Simon
17. Back In Black by AC/DC
18. Spirit Of Eden by Talk Talk
19. Murmur by R.E.M.
20. Moving Pictures by Rush