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	2,134	193,595	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,176	120,391	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,140	148,030	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,154	135,426	Murmur (144th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,155	170,577	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,167	144,008	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,284	169,869	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,489	162,134	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,569	151,537	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,595	197,370	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,863	1,592,936

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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241.

It's My Life

Talk Talk

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

191 charts

Rank Score:

1,108

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

241

Overall Rank:

1,561

Average Rating:

76 (259 votes)

Comments:

242.

Defenders Of The Faith

Judas Priest

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

151 charts

Rank Score:

1,093

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

242

Overall Rank:

1,578

Average Rating:

76 (212 votes)

Comments:

243.

Reckless

Bryan Adams

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

190 charts

Rank Score:

1,093

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

243

Overall Rank:

1,579

Average Rating:

72 (245 votes)

Comments:

244.

Shoot Out The Lights

Richard & Linda Thompson

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

210 charts

Rank Score:

1,091

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

244

Overall Rank:

1,582

Average Rating:

78 (224 votes)

Comments:

245.

Eye In The Sky

The Alan Parsons Project

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

177 charts

Rank Score:

1,090

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

245

Overall Rank:

1,585

Average Rating:

76 (231 votes)

Comments:

246.

Nightclubbing

Grace Jones

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

221 charts

Rank Score:

1,088

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

246

Overall Rank:

1,587

Average Rating:

79 (197 votes)

Comments:

247.

The Works

Queen

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

217 charts

Rank Score:

1,085

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

247

Overall Rank:

1,592

Average Rating:

72 (355 votes)

Comments:

248.

Signals

Rush

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

212 charts

Rank Score:

1,083

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

248

Overall Rank:

1,594

Average Rating:

79 (346 votes)

Comments:

249.

From The Lion's Mouth

The Sound

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

146 charts

Rank Score:

1,082

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

249

Overall Rank:

1,595

Average Rating:

79 (159 votes)

Comments:

250.

A Momentary Lapse Of Reason

Pink Floyd

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

283 charts

Rank Score:

1,081

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

250

Overall Rank:

1,600

Average Rating:

68 (693 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 25 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	103	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	94	9%
1987	86	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	101	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	416	41%
	387	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	972	97%
Yes	32	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	981	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	991	99%
Yes	13	1%

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

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