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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871.

Live Dates Volume Two
Live

Wishbone Ash

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

226

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

872.

Hypnotised

The Undertones

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

78 charts

Rank Score:

225

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

873.

VIVISectVI

Skinny Puppy

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

36 charts

Rank Score:

224

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

873

Overall Rank:

5,864

Average Rating:

73 (51 votes)

Comments:

874.

Nothingface

Voïvod

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

61 charts

Rank Score:

224

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

874

Overall Rank:

5,869

Average Rating:

75 (71 votes)

Comments:

875.

Creatures Of The Night

Kiss

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

59 charts

Rank Score:

224

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

875

Overall Rank:

5,879

Average Rating:

73 (104 votes)

Comments:

876.

Ready An' Willing

Whitesnake

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

42 charts

Rank Score:

223

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

877.

Afterburner

ZZ Top

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

68 charts

Rank Score:

222

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

877

Overall Rank:

5,926

Average Rating:

70 (135 votes)

Comments:

878.

Plux Quba

Nuno Canavarro

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

19 charts

Rank Score:

221

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

878

Overall Rank:

5,928

Average Rating:

73 (23 votes)

Comments:

879.

New Traditionalists

Devo

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

47 charts

Rank Score:

221

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

880.

Red

Black Uhuru

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

65 charts

Rank Score:

221

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 88 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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Best Albums of the 1970s
1. The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd
2. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
3. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie
4. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin
5. London Calling by The Clash
6. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac
7. The Wall by Pink Floyd
8. Animals by Pink Floyd
9. Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division
10. Who's Next by The Who
11. Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan
12. Exile On Main St. by The Rolling Stones
13. Hunky Dory by David Bowie
14. Marquee Moon by Television
15. Pink Moon by Nick Drake
16. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
17. Paranoid by Black Sabbath
18. Low by David Bowie
19. Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones
20. Blue by Joni Mitchell