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	194,235	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,158	120,251	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,132	148,045	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,130	135,660	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,140	171,122	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,140	143,855	Hounds Of Love (59th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,269	170,563	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,469	162,412	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,563	151,915	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,583	197,563	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,709	1,595,622

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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51.

Document

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

673 charts

Rank Score:

4,765

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

376

Average Rating:

80 (902 votes)

Comments:

52.

The Head On The Door

The Cure

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

601 charts

Rank Score:

4,674

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

383

Average Rating:

81 (770 votes)

Comments:

53.

Bad

Michael Jackson

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

574 charts

Rank Score:

4,491

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

399

Average Rating:

76 (902 votes)

Comments:

54.

Peter Gabriel III

Peter Gabriel

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

510 charts

Rank Score:

4,416

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

403

Average Rating:

81 (575 votes)

Comments:

55.

On Fire

Galaxie 500

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

486 charts

Rank Score:

4,412

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

404

Average Rating:

82 (574 votes)

Comments:

56.

Stop Making Sense
Live soundtrack

Talking Heads

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

458 charts

Rank Score:

4,364

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

408

Average Rating:

83 (676 votes)

Comments:

57.

Zen Arcade

Hüsker Dü

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

487 charts

Rank Score:

4,285

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

418

Average Rating:

79 (581 votes)

Comments:

58.

Treasure

Cocteau Twins

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

544 charts

Rank Score:

4,276

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

419

Average Rating:

82 (618 votes)

Comments:

59.

The Colour Of Spring

Talk Talk

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

453 charts

Rank Score:

4,276

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

420

Average Rating:

80 (551 votes)

Comments:

60.

Powerslave

Iron Maiden

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

454 charts

Rank Score:

4,185

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

428

Average Rating:

81 (705 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 6 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%
Rush	8	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
U2	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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