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	191,838	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,277	119,877	Moving Pictures (155th)by Rush
1982	2,247	147,231	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,258	134,081	Murmur (137th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,227	168,525	Purple Rain (76th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,255	142,249	Hounds Of Love (53rd)by Kate Bush
1986	2,368	167,545	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,584	159,695	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,692	150,545	Daydream Nation (73rd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,727	194,083	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,868	1,575,668

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.

Another Side

Fingers, Inc

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

15 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

991

Overall Rank:

6,794

Average Rating:

77 (16 votes)

Comments:

992.

Synthesist

Harald Grosskopf

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

44 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

993.

Iron Fist

Motörhead

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

68 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

994.

Falco 3

Falco

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

994

Overall Rank:

6,804

Average Rating:

71 (52 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:

6,808

Average Rating:

76 (73 votes)

Comments:

996.

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:

996

Overall Rank:

6,810

Average Rating:

71 (24 votes)

Comments:

997.

Wind

Gigi Masin

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

997

Overall Rank:

6,816

Average Rating:

76 (15 votes)

Comments:

998.

Concrete Blonde

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

19 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

998

Overall Rank:

6,823

Average Rating:

72 (21 votes)

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:

6,826

Average Rating:

73 (26 votes)

Comments:

1000.

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:

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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	107	11%
1983	99	10%
1984	101	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	99	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%
U2	7	1%
The Fall	7	1%
Depeche Mode	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	416	42%
	392	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	967	97%
Yes	33	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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Best Artists of 1973
1. Pink Floyd
2. Stevie Wonder
3. Led Zeppelin
4. Genesis
5. Elton John
6. The Who
7. Paul McCartney
8. Paul McCartney & Wings
9. David Bowie
10. The Stooges
11. Iggy And The Stooges
12. Can
13. Roxy Music
14. Herbie Hancock
15. Bruce Springsteen
16. Lynyrd Skynyrd
17. Mike Oldfield
18. Bob Marley
19. Tom Waits
20. The Wailers