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 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	2,211	192,928	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,248	120,593	Moving Pictures (157th)by Rush
1982	2,210	147,329	Thriller (73rd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,229	134,942	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,208	169,250	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,233	143,208	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,346	168,361	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,560	160,338	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,665	151,337	Daydream Nation (72nd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,693	195,757	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,603	1,584,042

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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641.

Snap!
Compilation

The Jam

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

74 charts

Rank Score:

328

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

641

Overall Rank:

4,319

Average Rating:

81 (119 votes)

Comments:

642.

Hyaena

Siouxsie And The Banshees

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

73 charts

Rank Score:

327

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

642

Overall Rank:

4,322

Average Rating:

77 (99 votes)

Comments:

643.

Pleasure To Kill

Kreator

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

55 charts

Rank Score:

327

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

643

Overall Rank:

4,323

Average Rating:

75 (77 votes)

Comments:

644.

Junkyard

The Birthday Party

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

112 charts

Rank Score:

327

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

644

Overall Rank:

4,326

Average Rating:

71 (117 votes)

Comments:

645.

The Wonderful And Frightening World Of The Fall

The Fall

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

76 charts

Rank Score:

327

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

645

Overall Rank:

4,330

Average Rating:

77 (88 votes)

Comments:

646.

Look Sharp!

Roxette

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

93 charts

Rank Score:

325

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

646

Overall Rank:

4,346

Average Rating:

69 (90 votes)

Comments:

647.

Monarchie Und Alltag

Fehlfarben

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

65 charts

Rank Score:

324

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

647

Overall Rank:

4,348

Average Rating:

73 (66 votes)

Comments:

648.

Red Roses For Me

The Pogues

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

75 charts

Rank Score:

324

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

648

Overall Rank:

4,349

Average Rating:

73 (87 votes)

Comments:

649.

Calenture

The Triffids

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

83 charts

Rank Score:

321

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

649

Overall Rank:

4,376

Average Rating:

76 (77 votes)

Comments:

650.

Peperina

Serú Girán

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

47 charts

Rank Score:

320

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

650

Overall Rank:

4,397

Average Rating:

72 (56 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 65 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	99	10%
1984	103	10%
1985	79	8%
1986	94	9%
1987	88	9%
1988	95	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	%

	416	42%
	392	39%
	39	4%
	27	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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