Best Albums of the 1980s

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
YearAlbums 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.
19802,131193,940
19812,175120,616
19822,139148,384
19832,149135,638
Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
19842,152170,973
19852,166143,916
19862,279170,050
19872,479162,447
19882,567151,743
19892,590197,377
Total22,8271,595,083

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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Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
251
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
249
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
249
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
248
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
248
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
248
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1985
Appears in:
Rank Score:
248
Rank in 1985:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
247
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
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  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
247
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • eBay
  • iTunes
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  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
247
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 80 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 81 8%
1986 94 9%
1987 86 9%
1988 93 9%
1989 99 10%
Artist Albums %


The Cure 10 1%
Iron Maiden 8 1%
Depeche Mode 8 1%
Rush 8 1%
The Smiths 7 1%
R.E.M. 7 1%
Talking Heads 7 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 415 41%
United States 386 39%
Australia 41 4%
Mixed Nationality 27 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 22 2%
Ireland 13 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 967 97%
Yes 34 3%
Live? Albums %
No 979 98%
Yes 22 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 989 99%
Yes 12 1%
Best Artists of 2009
1. Animal Collective
2. The Antlers
3. The xx
4. Grizzly Bear
5. Phoenix
6. Muse
7. Florence + The Machine
8. Arctic Monkeys
9. Dirty Projectors
10. Kid Cudi
11. Mumford & Sons
12. Fever Ray
13. Mastodon
14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
15. St. Vincent
16. Kasabian
17. The Flaming Lips
18. The Horrors (UK)
19. Them Crooked Vultures
20. The Decemberists
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