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	2,134	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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591.

Construction Time Again

Depeche Mode

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

128 charts

Rank Score:

365

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

591

Overall Rank:

3,933

Average Rating:

71 (179 votes)

Comments:

592.

Pleasant Dreams

Ramones

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

84 charts

Rank Score:

365

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

592

Overall Rank:

3,934

Average Rating:

71 (109 votes)

Comments:

593.

Our Favourite Shop

The Style Council

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

87 charts

Rank Score:

363

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

593

Overall Rank:

3,954

Average Rating:

75 (102 votes)

Comments:

594.

The Golden Age Of Wireless

Thomas Dolby

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

75 charts

Rank Score:

363

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

594

Overall Rank:

3,956

Average Rating:

74 (77 votes)

Comments:

595.

Spike

Elvis Costello

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

95 charts

Rank Score:

361

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

595

Overall Rank:

3,970

Average Rating:

73 (132 votes)

Comments:

596.

Peepshow

Siouxsie And The Banshees

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

96 charts

Rank Score:

360

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

596

Overall Rank:

3,979

Average Rating:

76 (112 votes)

Comments:

597.

Kakashi

清水靖晃 [Yasuaki Shimizu]

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

35 charts

Rank Score:

359

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

597

Overall Rank:

3,983

Average Rating:

77 (34 votes)

Comments:

598.

Japanese Whispers
Compilation

The Cure

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

74 charts

Rank Score:

359

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

598

Overall Rank:

3,987

Average Rating:

74 (142 votes)

Comments:

599.

Suffer

Bad Religion

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

95 charts

Rank Score:

358

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

599

Overall Rank:

3,991

Average Rating:

74 (100 votes)

Comments:

600.

Freeze-Frame

The J. Geils Band

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

72 charts

Rank Score:

358

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

600

Overall Rank:

3,992

Average Rating:

71 (103 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 60 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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