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	2,127	194,313	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,159	120,261	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,132	148,219	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,130	135,718	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,140	171,004	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,140	143,740	Hounds Of Love (59th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,269	170,372	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,470	162,350	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,563	151,793	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,584	197,610	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,714	1,595,380

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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11.

Purple Rain
Soundtrack

Prince And The Revolution

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

1,381 charts

Rank Score:

16,409

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

83 (1,595 votes)

Comments:

125

12.

Safe Mode: On

Surfer Rosa

Pixies

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,290 charts

Rank Score:

13,515

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

13.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,230 charts

Rank Score:

13,224

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

14.

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,117 charts

Rank Score:

13,024

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

109

Average Rating:

84 (1,308 votes)

Comments:

15.

Appetite For Destruction

Guns N' Roses

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,354 charts

Rank Score:

12,171

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

16.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,100 charts

Rank Score:

11,732

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

126

Average Rating:

81 (1,316 votes)

Comments:

17.

Back In Black

AC/DC

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,240 charts

Rank Score:

11,289

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

18.

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

891 charts

Rank Score:

11,232

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

135

Average Rating:

84 (967 votes)

Comments:

19.

Murmur

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

1,103 charts

Rank Score:

10,597

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

142

Average Rating:

83 (1,385 votes)

Comments:

20.

Moving Pictures

Rush

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

987 charts

Rank Score:

10,085

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

154

Average Rating:

82 (1,260 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	122	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	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	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	967	97%
Yes	33	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	987	99%
Yes	13	1%

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

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