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	2,125	194,404	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,158	120,365	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,132	148,159	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,130	135,670	Murmur (143rd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,140	171,155	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,140	143,883	Hounds Of Love (59th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,269	170,541	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,469	162,395	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,563	151,890	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,583	197,561	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,709	1,596,023

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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31.

Power, Corruption & Lies

New Order

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

771 charts

Rank Score:

6,955

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

250

Average Rating:

81 (910 votes)

Comments:

32.

Meat Is Murder

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

811 charts

Rank Score:

6,842

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

255

Average Rating:

82 (1,253 votes)

Comments:

33.

Hatful Of Hollow

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

607 charts

Rank Score:

6,780

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

262

Average Rating:

86 (1,007 votes)

Comments:

34.

The Dreaming

Kate Bush

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

626 charts

Rank Score:

6,602

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

267

Average Rating:

81 (755 votes)

Comments:

35.

The Number Of The Beast

Iron Maiden

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

694 charts

Rank Score:

6,505

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

269

Average Rating:

81 (987 votes)

Comments:

36.

Strangeways, Here We Come

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

726 charts

Rank Score:

6,352

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

276

Average Rating:

81 (1,104 votes)

Comments:

37.

Psychocandy

The Jesus And Mary Chain

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

738 charts

Rank Score:

6,105

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

293

Average Rating:

79 (900 votes)

Comments:

38.

Scary Monsters... And Super Creeps

David Bowie

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

748 charts

Rank Score:

5,983

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

300

Average Rating:

81 (1,081 votes)

Comments:

39.

Pornography

The Cure

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

670 charts

Rank Score:

5,969

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

304

Average Rating:

80 (948 votes)

Comments:

40.

You're Living All Over Me

Dinosaur Jr.

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

638 charts

Rank Score:

5,922

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

307

Average Rating:

82 (718 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 4 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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