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	2,129	194,108	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,163	120,442	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,135	148,622	Thriller (75th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,131	135,689	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,144	171,181	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,146	143,883	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,277	170,319	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,473	162,558	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,562	151,917	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,586	197,493	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,746	1,596,212

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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991.

It's Only Right And Natural

The Frogs

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

29 charts

Rank Score:

192

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

991

Overall Rank:

6,715

Average Rating:

67 (39 votes)

Comments:

992.

Caifanes

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

47 charts

Rank Score:

192

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

992

Overall Rank:

6,722

Average Rating:

79 (35 votes)

Comments:

993.

Blue Blood

X Japan

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

17 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

993

Overall Rank:

6,731

Average Rating:

74 (30 votes)

Comments:

994.

Skyscraper

David Lee Roth

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

42 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

994

Overall Rank:

6,732

Average Rating:

73 (56 votes)

Comments:

995.

Theatre Of Pain

Mötley Crüe

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

55 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

995

Overall Rank:

6,734

Average Rating:

64 (108 votes)

Comments:

996.

Tonight

David Bowie

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

102 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

997.

The New Order

Testament

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

60 charts

Rank Score:

191

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

997

Overall Rank:

6,753

Average Rating:

77 (68 votes)

Comments:

998.

Jimi Plays Monterey (Original Motion Picture Sound Track)
Live soundtrack

Jimi Hendrix

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

998

Overall Rank:

6,762

Average Rating:

81 (56 votes)

Comments:

999.

Twitch

Ministry

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

29 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

999

Overall Rank:

6,764

Average Rating:

72 (41 votes)

Comments:

1000.

Don't Tell A Soul

The Replacements

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

56 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

1,000

Overall Rank:

6,767

Average Rating:

71 (97 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 100 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	94	9%
1987	86	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	99	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	%

	415	42%
	386	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	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 »

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Best Albums of 1965
1. Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan
2. Rubber Soul by The Beatles
3. A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
4. Bringing It All Back Home by Bob Dylan
5. Help! by The Beatles
6. Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul by Otis Redding
7. Pastel Blues by Nina Simone
8. My Generation by The Who
9. The Beach Boys Today! by The Beach Boys
10. A Charlie Brown Christmas by Vince Guaraldi
11. Mr. Tambourine Man by The Byrds
12. Here Are The Sonics!!! by The Sonics
13. Out Of Our Heads by The Rolling Stones
14. Maiden Voyage by Herbie Hancock
15. Spiritual Unity by Albert Ayler Trio
16. Jackson C. Frank by Jackson C. Frank
17. Live At The Regal by B.B. King
18. I Put A Spell On You by Nina Simone
19. Turn! Turn! Turn! by The Byrds
20. Bert Jansch by Bert Jansch