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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71.

Avalon

Roxy Music

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

472 charts

Rank Score:

3,667

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

492

Average Rating:

79 (612 votes)

Comments:

72.

Tracy Chapman

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

530 charts

Rank Score:

3,594

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

502

Average Rating:

77 (615 votes)

Comments:

73.

1999

Prince

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

544 charts

Rank Score:

3,589

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

503

Average Rating:

79 (709 votes)

Comments:

74.

Sister

Sonic Youth

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

493 charts

Rank Score:

3,571

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

506

Average Rating:

80 (625 votes)

Comments:

75.

Licensed To Ill

Beastie Boys

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

588 charts

Rank Score:

3,521

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

512

Average Rating:

77 (836 votes)

Comments:

76.

Straight Outta Compton

N.W.A

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

573 charts

Rank Score:

3,499

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

516

Average Rating:

79 (709 votes)

Comments:

77.

Lifes Rich Pageant

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

484 charts

Rank Score:

3,491

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

517

Average Rating:

80 (734 votes)

Comments:

78.

Pretty Hate Machine

Nine Inch Nails

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

479 charts

Rank Score:

3,486

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

522

Average Rating:

79 (671 votes)

Comments:

79.

Green

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

487 charts

Rank Score:

3,485

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

523

Average Rating:

78 (717 votes)

Comments:

80.

Computerwelt [Computer World]

Kraftwerk

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

471 charts

Rank Score:

3,461

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

526

Average Rating:

80 (527 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 8 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%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
Iron Maiden	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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