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	2,132	193,884	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,176	120,575	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,139	148,321	Thriller (76th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,151	135,611	Murmur (143rd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,154	170,880	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,166	144,128	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,282	170,049	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,486	162,476	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,567	151,815	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,592	197,480	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,845	1,595,219

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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501.

Colour By Numbers

Culture Club

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

117 charts

Rank Score:

454

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

501

Overall Rank:

3,262

Average Rating:

66 (145 votes)

Comments:

502.

Whitney Houston

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

116 charts

Rank Score:

452

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

502

Overall Rank:

3,269

Average Rating:

66 (164 votes)

Comments:

503.

Garlands

Cocteau Twins

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

121 charts

Rank Score:

451

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

503

Overall Rank:

3,273

Average Rating:

73 (164 votes)

Comments:

504.

The Durutti Column

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

83 charts

Rank Score:

451

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

504

Overall Rank:

3,279

Average Rating:

75 (91 votes)

Comments:

505.

Grotesque (After The Gramme)

The Fall

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

91 charts

Rank Score:

450

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

505

Overall Rank:

3,282

Average Rating:

75 (117 votes)

Comments:

506.

Mask

Bauhaus

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

124 charts

Rank Score:

450

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

506

Overall Rank:

3,286

Average Rating:

77 (151 votes)

Comments:

507.

AutoAmerican

Blondie

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

109 charts

Rank Score:

450

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

507

Overall Rank:

3,287

Average Rating:

74 (152 votes)

Comments:

508.

Touch

Eurythmics

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

148 charts

Rank Score:

449

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

508

Overall Rank:

3,293

Average Rating:

73 (199 votes)

Comments:

509.

Picture Book

Simply Red

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

121 charts

Rank Score:

448

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

509

Overall Rank:

3,295

Average Rating:

74 (131 votes)

Comments:

510.

Coda

Led Zeppelin

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

142 charts

Rank Score:

447

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

510

Overall Rank:

3,298

Average Rating:

67 (396 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 51 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	103	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	88	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
U2	7	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	386	38%
	41	4%
	28	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	969	97%
Yes	35	3%

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

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	992	99%
Yes	12	1%

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

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