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 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	2,129	194,072	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,163	120,414	Moving Pictures (156th)by Rush
1982	2,136	148,541	Thriller (76th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,131	135,706	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,144	171,124	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,146	143,928	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,277	170,252	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,473	162,510	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,562	151,891	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,586	197,472	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,747	1,595,908

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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51.

The Head On The Door

The Cure

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

602 charts

Rank Score:

4,786

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

374

Average Rating:

81 (771 votes)

Comments:

52.

Document

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

673 charts

Rank Score:

4,750

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

378

Average Rating:

80 (902 votes)

Comments:

53.

Bad

Michael Jackson

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

573 charts

Rank Score:

4,487

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

397

Average Rating:

76 (902 votes)

Comments:

54.

Stop Making Sense
Live soundtrack

Talking Heads

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

459 charts

Rank Score:

4,417

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

404

Average Rating:

83 (676 votes)

Comments:

55.

Peter Gabriel III

Peter Gabriel

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

510 charts

Rank Score:

4,398

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

405

Average Rating:

81 (575 votes)

Comments:

56.

On Fire

Galaxie 500

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

487 charts

Rank Score:

4,395

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

406

Average Rating:

82 (574 votes)

Comments:

57.

Zen Arcade

Hüsker Dü

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

488 charts

Rank Score:

4,267

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

418

Average Rating:

79 (581 votes)

Comments:

58.

Treasure

Cocteau Twins

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

543 charts

Rank Score:

4,261

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

419

Average Rating:

82 (618 votes)

Comments:

59.

The Colour Of Spring

Talk Talk

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

453 charts

Rank Score:

4,259

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

421

Average Rating:

80 (551 votes)

Comments:

60.

Powerslave

Iron Maiden

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

453 charts

Rank Score:

4,157

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

432

Average Rating:

81 (706 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 6 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	81	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	86	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	99	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
U2	7	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	415	42%
	386	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	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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