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 54,000 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	2,210	192,946	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,247	120,615	Moving Pictures (157th)by Rush
1982	2,208	147,327	Thriller (73rd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,227	135,089	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,207	169,528	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,233	143,336	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,346	168,530	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,559	160,626	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,663	151,563	Daydream Nation (72nd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,691	195,939	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,591	1,585,497

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:

1,400 charts

Rank Score:

16,216

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

83 (1,619 votes)

Comments:

127

12.

Master Of Puppets

Metallica

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,250 charts

Rank Score:

12,985

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

13.

Pixies

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,301 charts

Rank Score:

12,959

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

14.

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,127 charts

Rank Score:

12,654

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

107

Average Rating:

84 (1,319 votes)

Comments:

15.

Appetite For Destruction

Guns N' Roses

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,364 charts

Rank Score:

11,718

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

16.

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

1,109 charts

Rank Score:

11,358

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

125

Average Rating:

81 (1,329 votes)

Comments:

17.

Spirit Of Eden

Talk Talk

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

905 charts

Rank Score:

11,118

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

128

Average Rating:

84 (978 votes)

Comments:

18.

Back In Black

AC/DC

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,257 charts

Rank Score:

10,848

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

134

Average Rating:

80 (1,848 votes)

Comments:

140

19.

Murmur

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

1,123 charts

Rank Score:

10,626

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

138

Average Rating:

83 (1,401 votes)

Comments:

20.

Moving Pictures

Rush

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

998 charts

Rank Score:

9,779

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

157

Average Rating:

83 (1,277 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	103	10%
1985	79	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	96	10%
1989	96	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Rush	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
The Smiths	8	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
U2	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	415	41%
	392	39%
	39	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	970	97%
Yes	31	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	990	99%
Yes	11	1%

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

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