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.
19802,210192,946
19812,247120,615
19822,208147,327
19832,227135,089
Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
19842,207169,528
19852,233143,336
19862,346168,530
19872,559160,626
19882,663151,563
19892,691195,939
Total23,5911,585,497

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:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
340
Rank in 1983:
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:
339
Rank in 1980:
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:
339
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
338
Rank in 1983:
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:
337
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
336
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
627.
United Kingdom XTC
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
336
Rank in 1983:
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:
335
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
335
Rank in 1983:
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:
335
Rank in 1988:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 63 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 95 10%
1987 88 9%
1988 96 10%
1989 96 10%
Artist Albums %


The Cure 10 1%
Rush 8 1%
Depeche Mode 8 1%
Iron Maiden 8 1%
The Smiths 8 1%
Talking Heads 7 1%
U2 7 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 415 41%
United States 392 39%
Australia 39 4%
Mixed Nationality 27 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 22 2%
Argentina 12 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 970 97%
Yes 31 3%
Live? Albums %
No 978 98%
Yes 23 2%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 990 99%
Yes 11 1%
Recent Member  Charts
1. Top Classical Albums of the 80s by Leonard (2024)
2. Top 45 Music Albums of 1977 by Romanelli (2024)
3. top albums, #0401-0500* by paladisiac (2024)
4. my CURRENT favorite artists by paladisiac (2024)
5. top albums, #0201-0300* by paladisiac (2024)
6. top albums, #0501-0600* by paladisiac (2024)
7. top albums, #0601-0700* by paladisiac (2024)
8. top albums, #0701-0800* by paladisiac (2024)
9. top albums, #0801-0900* by paladisiac (2024)
10. top albums, #0901-1000* [75] by paladisiac (2024)
11. top albums, #0301-0400* [80] by paladisiac (2024)
12. My Overall Chart: 2301-2400 by Romanelli (2024)
13. My Overall Chart: 2401-2404 by Romanelli (2024)
14. Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s by paladisiac (2024)
15. Top 49 Music Albums of the 2020s by Exist-en-ciel (2024)
16. Top 100 Music Albums of 2023 by paladisiac (2024)
17. Top 19 Music Albums of 2024 by Exist-en-ciel (2024)
18. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1950s by Rivera (2024)
19. Top 99 Music Albums of 2000 by Patman360 (2024)
20. Top 20 Music Albums of 2000 by nitomano (2024)
Back to Top