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 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	2,209	192,901	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,246	120,613	Moving Pictures (157th)by Rush
1982	2,207	147,283	Thriller (73rd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,223	135,063	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,203	169,467	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,234	143,246	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,345	168,495	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,559	160,597	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,662	151,541	Daydream Nation (72nd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,690	195,968	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,578	1,585,176

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.

Swordfishtrombones

Tom Waits

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

614 charts

Rank Score:

4,792

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

371

Average Rating:

81 (738 votes)

Comments:

52.

The Head On The Door

The Cure

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

616 charts

Rank Score:

4,649

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

381

Average Rating:

82 (779 votes)

Comments:

53.

Stop Making Sense
Live soundtrack

Talking Heads

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

470 charts

Rank Score:

4,451

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

392

Average Rating:

83 (686 votes)

Comments:

54.

On Fire

Galaxie 500

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

494 charts

Rank Score:

4,379

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

401

Average Rating:

82 (582 votes)

Comments:

55.

Bad

Michael Jackson

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

581 charts

Rank Score:

4,360

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

403

Average Rating:

76 (911 votes)

Comments:

56.

Zen Arcade

Hüsker Dü

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

496 charts

Rank Score:

4,334

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

408

Average Rating:

79 (590 votes)

Comments:

57.

Peter Gabriel III

Peter Gabriel

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

524 charts

Rank Score:

4,298

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

413

Average Rating:

81 (585 votes)

Comments:

58.

Treasure

Cocteau Twins

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

552 charts

Rank Score:

4,173

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

425

Average Rating:

82 (634 votes)

Comments:

59.

The Colour Of Spring

Talk Talk

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

461 charts

Rank Score:

4,170

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

426

Average Rating:

80 (557 votes)

Comments:

60.

3 Feet High And Rising

De La Soul

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

542 charts

Rank Score:

4,073

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

436

Average Rating:

78 (586 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 6 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	94	9%
1987	88	9%
1988	96	10%
1989	96	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	415	42%
	392	39%
	39	4%
	26	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	969	97%
Yes	31	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	989	99%
Yes	11	1%

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

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