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 55,000 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	2,233	191,568	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,278	119,621	Moving Pictures (155th)by Rush
1982	2,247	147,172	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,258	134,118	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,228	168,174	Purple Rain (75th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,258	142,056	Hounds Of Love (53rd)by Kate Bush
1986	2,374	167,267	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,587	159,353	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,692	150,413	Daydream Nation (73rd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,730	193,545	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,885	1,573,288

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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991.

Synthesist

Harald Grosskopf

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

44 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

992.

Another Side

Fingers, Inc

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

15 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

992

Overall Rank:

6,796

Average Rating:

77 (16 votes)

Comments:

993.

Iron Fist

Motörhead

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

68 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

994.

Strange Angels

Laurie Anderson

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

36 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

994

Overall Rank:

6,805

Average Rating:

72 (44 votes)

Comments:

995.

Falco 3

Falco

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

995

Overall Rank:

6,811

Average Rating:

71 (53 votes)

Comments:

996.

Robespierre's Velvet Basement

Nikki Sudden & Dave Kusworth Jacobites

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

29 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

996

Overall Rank:

6,814

Average Rating:

71 (24 votes)

Comments:

997.

Seasons End

Marillion

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

997

Overall Rank:

6,817

Average Rating:

76 (73 votes)

Comments:

998.

Wind

Gigi Masin

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

998

Overall Rank:

6,821

Average Rating:

76 (15 votes)

Comments:

999.

The Only Fun In Town

Josef K

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

53 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

1000.

Boomtown

David & David

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

24 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

1,000

Overall Rank:

6,828

Average Rating:

73 (26 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 100 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	119	12%
1981	120	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	99	10%
1984	101	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	98	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	95	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
The Smiths	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	390	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	967	97%
Yes	33	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	22	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	12	1%

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

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Best Artists of the 1960s
1. The Beatles
2. The Velvet Underground
3. Jimi Hendrix
4. Bob Dylan
5. The Beach Boys
6. The Jimi Hendrix Experience
7. The Velvet Underground & Nico
8. Led Zeppelin
9. The Doors
10. The Rolling Stones
11. John Coltrane
12. King Crimson
13. Frank Zappa
14. The Kinks
15. Love
16. Neil Young
17. Van Morrison
18. Charles Mingus
19. Miles Davis
20. The Zombies