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	194,086	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,163	120,401	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,135	148,550	Thriller (75th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,131	135,630	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,144	171,164	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,144	143,786	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,276	170,298	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,474	162,417	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,562	151,653	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,586	197,363	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,744	1,595,348

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

991.

Songs To Learn And Sing
Compilation

Echo & The Bunnymen

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

44 charts

Rank Score:

192

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

991

Overall Rank:

6,720

Average Rating:

80 (71 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:

6,733

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:

6,752

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:

6,761

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.

Filigree & Shadow

This Mortal Coil

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

62 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

1,000

Overall Rank:

6,769

Average Rating:

75 (66 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
2
3
...
98
99
100
next »
Goto Page:

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	95	10%
1987	86	9%
1988	94	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%
	386	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	33	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	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.

Recent Member Charts
1. Custom chart by cicadelic (2024)
2. Top 7 Music Albums of 1958 by Johnnyo (2024)
3. Albums waiting to be added 9 by Johnnyo (2024)
4. Top albums of all time by female artists (100 - 200) by Johnnyo (2024)
5. Top 91 Music Albums of 2021 by Leonard (2024)
6. Top 40 Greatest Music Albums by CassidyInc (2024)
7. Top 9 Music Albums of 1990 by jonny5244 (2024)
8. Top 26 Music Albums of 1989 by jonny5244 (2024)
9. Top 51 Music Albums of 1986 by jeremy9 (2024)
10. Top 49 Music Albums of 1981 by juanr1096 (2024)
11. Soundi Kriitikoiden valinnat – Vuoden parhaat 2012: Suomi by cicadelic (2023)
12. Album Club 201 - by jonny5244 (2024)
13. Greatest songs of all time - GSOAT by AlvaroIesus (2024)
14. Top 100 Music Albums of 2015 by CryingGameDahlin (2024)
15. Top 90 Music Albums of 2023 by cestuneblague (2024)
16. Top 8 Music Albums of 2024 by jonny5244 (2024)
17. Top 79 Music Albums of 1989 by jeremy9 (2024)
18. Top 48 Music Albums of 1980 by juanr1096 (2024)
19. Top 88 Music Albums of 2024 by KitchenSink (2024)
20. Top 14 Music Albums of 2024 by stangetzaway (2024)