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 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	191,574	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,277	119,666	Moving Pictures (155th)by Rush
1982	2,247	147,245	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,258	134,128	Murmur (137th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,228	168,236	Purple Rain (75th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,258	142,030	Hounds Of Love (53rd)by Kate Bush
1986	2,374	167,301	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,587	159,446	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,692	150,371	Daydream Nation (73rd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,730	193,745	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,884	1,573,741

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.

Strange Angels

Laurie Anderson

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

36 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

991

Overall Rank:

6,796

Average Rating:

72 (44 votes)

Comments:

992.

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:

993.

Falco 3

Falco

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

993

Overall Rank:

6,808

Average Rating:

71 (53 votes)

Comments:

994.

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:

994

Overall Rank:

6,810

Average Rating:

71 (24 votes)

Comments:

995.

Seasons End

Marillion

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

995

Overall Rank:

6,813

Average Rating:

76 (73 votes)

Comments:

996.

Wind

Gigi Masin

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

996

Overall Rank:

6,818

Average Rating:

76 (15 votes)

Comments:

997.

Concrete Blonde

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

19 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

997

Overall Rank:

6,821

Average Rating:

72 (21 votes)

Comments:

998.

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:

999.

Boomtown

David & David

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

24 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

999

Overall Rank:

6,832

Average Rating:

73 (26 votes)

Comments:

1000.

Vun Drinne Noh Drusse

BAP

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

17 charts

Rank Score:

187

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

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	108	11%
1983	99	10%
1984	101	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	98	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	95	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	416	42%
	391	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	32	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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