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	2,125	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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81.

Full Moon Fever

Tom Petty

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

478 charts

Rank Score:

3,450

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

531

Average Rating:

79 (556 votes)

Comments:

82.

Reckoning

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

469 charts

Rank Score:

3,369

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:

3,333

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

543

Average Rating:

79 (355 votes)

Comments:

84.

Kill 'Em All

Metallica

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

493 charts

Rank Score:

3,317

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

544

Average Rating:

79 (919 votes)

Comments:

85.

Discipline

King Crimson

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

437 charts

Rank Score:

3,294

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

546

Average Rating:

80 (590 votes)

Comments:

86.

Permanent Waves

Rush

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

437 charts

Rank Score:

3,233

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

557

Average Rating:

80 (601 votes)

Comments:

87.

Rio

Duran Duran

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

449 charts

Rank Score:

3,122

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

570

Average Rating:

76 (550 votes)

Comments:

88.

Misplaced Childhood

Marillion

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

325 charts

Rank Score:

3,002

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

589

Average Rating:

77 (401 votes)

Comments:

89.

Pretenders

Pretenders

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

478 charts

Rank Score:

2,999

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

590

Average Rating:

78 (566 votes)

Comments:

90.

Hysteria

Def Leppard

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

396 charts

Rank Score:

2,995

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

592

Average Rating:

72 (543 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	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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Best Albums of the 1970s
1. The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd
2. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
3. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie
4. Untitled (Led Zeppelin IV) by Led Zeppelin
5. London Calling by The Clash
6. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac
7. The Wall by Pink Floyd
8. Animals by Pink Floyd
9. Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division
10. Who's Next by The Who
11. Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan
12. Exile On Main St. by The Rolling Stones
13. Hunky Dory by David Bowie
14. Marquee Moon by Television
15. Pink Moon by Nick Drake
16. What's Going On by Marvin Gaye
17. Paranoid by Black Sabbath
18. Low by David Bowie
19. Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones
20. Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen