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	192,994	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,249	120,600	Moving Pictures (157th)by Rush
1982	2,210	147,539	Thriller (73rd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,233	134,940	Murmur (139th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,209	169,400	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,233	143,392	Hounds Of Love (55th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,347	168,542	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,561	160,410	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,666	151,524	Daydream Nation (72nd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,694	195,975	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,613	1,585,316

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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The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,455 charts

Rank Score:

37,129

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,875 votes)

Comments:

265

Doolittle

Pixies

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,516 charts

Rank Score:

35,278

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,998 charts

Rank Score:

29,891

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,806 charts

Rank Score:

27,835

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,002 votes)

Comments:

152

The Stone Roses

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,000 charts

Rank Score:

24,896

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,257 votes)

Comments:

203

The Joshua Tree

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,836 charts

Rank Score:

19,405

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,375 charts

Rank Score:

19,125

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,560 charts

Rank Score:

16,867

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

1,604 charts

Rank Score:

16,846

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

82 (2,122 votes)

Comments:

159

10.

Closer

Joy Division

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,482 charts

Rank Score:

16,484

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,893 votes)

Comments:

125

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	108	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	104	10%
1985	79	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	96	10%
1989	97	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	393	39%
	39	4%
	27	3%
	24	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	972	97%
Yes	32	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	981	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	993	99%
Yes	11	1%

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

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