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	2,129	194,045	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,163	120,381	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,135	148,511	Thriller (75th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,131	135,604	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,144	171,120	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,146	143,754	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,277	170,255	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,474	162,412	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,562	151,763	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,586	197,313	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,747	1,595,157

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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81.

Computerwelt [Computer World]

Kraftwerk

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

470 charts

Rank Score:

3,452

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

528

Average Rating:

80 (528 votes)

Comments:

82.

Reckoning

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

469 charts

Rank Score:

3,359

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

539

Average Rating:

80 (665 votes)

Comments:

83.

Steve McQueen

Prefab Sprout

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

352 charts

Rank Score:

3,327

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

542

Average Rating:

79 (355 votes)

Comments:

84.

Kill 'Em All

Metallica

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

494 charts

Rank Score:

3,303

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

545

Average Rating:

79 (919 votes)

Comments:

85.

Discipline

King Crimson

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

436 charts

Rank Score:

3,284

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

548

Average Rating:

80 (590 votes)

Comments:

86.

Permanent Waves

Rush

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

436 charts

Rank Score:

3,223

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

560

Average Rating:

80 (602 votes)

Comments:

87.

Rio

Duran Duran

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

448 charts

Rank Score:

3,118

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

571

Average Rating:

76 (550 votes)

Comments:

88.

Rum Sodomy & The Lash

The Pogues

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

405 charts

Rank Score:

3,032

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

582

Average Rating:

78 (395 votes)

Comments:

89.

Misplaced Childhood

Marillion

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

326 charts

Rank Score:

2,995

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

590

Average Rating:

77 (402 votes)

Comments:

90.

Pretenders

Pretenders

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

479 charts

Rank Score:

2,994

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

591

Average Rating:

78 (567 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 9 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	95	10%
1987	86	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	98	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	%

	416	42%
	385	38%
	41	4%
	28	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

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

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	24	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	13	1%

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

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