Best Albums of the 1980s

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
YearAlbums 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.
19802,211192,968
19812,250120,560
19822,212147,504
19832,233134,921
Murmur (139th)by R.E.M.
19842,210169,367
19852,233143,372
19862,347168,498
19872,561160,368
19882,668151,496
19892,695195,915
Total23,6201,584,969

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.
View chart at point in time
 Show this chart as it was on the following date
Share this chart
Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!
Sort by
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,433
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,424
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1988
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,397
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,389
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,384
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,383
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,380
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,352
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,347
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,345
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 21 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 118 12%
1981 122 12%
1982 110 11%
1983 97 10%
1984 104 10%
1985 79 8%
1986 95 10%
1987 88 9%
1988 96 10%
1989 97 10%
Artist Albums %


The Cure 10 1%
Iron Maiden 8 1%
Depeche Mode 8 1%
The Smiths 8 1%
Rush 8 1%
The Fall 7 1%
R.E.M. 7 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 416 41%
United States 393 39%
Australia 39 4%
Mixed Nationality 28 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 22 2%
Argentina 12 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 974 97%
Yes 32 3%
Live? Albums %
No 983 98%
Yes 23 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 995 99%
Yes 11 1%
Best Artists of 2003
1. The White Stripes
2. Radiohead
3. Muse
4. The Strokes
5. The Shins
6. Death Cab For Cutie
7. The Postal Service
8. The Mars Volta
9. Songs: Ohia
10. Jason Molina
11. Explosions In The Sky
12. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
13. Sufjan Stevens
14. OutKast
15. Sun Kil Moon
16. Mark Kozelek
17. Linkin Park
18. Sweet Trip
19. Ween
20. Jay-Z
Back to Top