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	2,211	192,878	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,252	120,525	Moving Pictures (157th)by Rush
1982	2,216	147,423	Thriller (73rd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,233	134,833	Murmur (140th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,211	169,417	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,233	143,289	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,348	168,544	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,562	160,318	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,668	151,454	Daydream Nation (72nd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,695	195,832	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,629	1,584,513

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

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

991.

Earth, Sun, Moon

Love And Rockets

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

49 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

991

Overall Rank:

6,765

Average Rating:

74 (63 votes)

Comments:

992.

Clan Of Xymox

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

32 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

992

Overall Rank:

6,768

Average Rating:

77 (35 votes)

Comments:

993.

Robespierre's Velvet Basement

Nikki Sudden & Dave Kusworth Jacobites

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

27 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

993

Overall Rank:

6,776

Average Rating:

71 (24 votes)

Comments:

994.

The Only Fun In Town

Josef K

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

53 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

995.

If'n

fIREHOSE

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

38 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

995

Overall Rank:

6,779

Average Rating:

73 (36 votes)

Comments:

996.

Kings Of Metal

Manowar

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

29 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

996

Overall Rank:

6,784

Average Rating:

71 (62 votes)

Comments:

997.

Runaway Horses

Belinda Carlisle

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

37 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

997

Overall Rank:

6,785

Average Rating:

74 (42 votes)

Comments:

998.

Tango

Charly García / Pedro Aznar

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

16 charts

Rank Score:

189

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

998

Overall Rank:

6,787

Average Rating:

79 (9 votes)

Comments:

999.

The Pink Opaque
Compilation

Cocteau Twins

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

42 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

999

Overall Rank:

6,800

Average Rating:

78 (71 votes)

Comments:

1000.

Stay On These Roads

a-ha

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

52 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

1,000

Overall Rank:

6,810

Average Rating:

70 (93 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
2
3
...
98
99
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 100 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	109	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	104	10%
1985	79	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	94	9%
1989	96	10%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	416	42%
	392	39%
	39	4%
	28	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	969	97%
Yes	32	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	990	99%
Yes	11	1%

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

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Recognised Year Charts (2023)
1. The 50 Best Albums of 2023 by Billboard (2023)
2. Top 10 Albums of the Year 2023 by Bleep (2023)
3. Top 40 Albums of 2023 by Decibel (2023)
4. Albums of 2023 by God is in the TV (2023)
5. Uncut Best 75 Albums Of The Year 2023 by Uncut (2023)
6. The Best Albums of 2023 by The Ringer (2023)
7. Best Albums of 2023 by Northern Transmissions (2023)
8. Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2023 by Gorilla vs. Bear (2023)
9. Top 50 Albums of 2023 by The Wire (2023)
10. 30 Best Albums of 2023 by Revolver (2023)
11. The Needle Drop's Top 50 Albums of 2023 by The Needle Drop (2023)
12. Loud And Quiet Albums of the Year 2023 by Loud And Quiet (2023)
13. The 50 Best Albums of 2023 by Treble (2023)
14. Quietus Albums Of The Year 2023 by The Quietus (2023)
15. Best Albums of 2023 by Norman Records (2023)
16. KCRW's Best Albums of 2023 by KCRW (2023)
17. The 50 Best Albums Of 2023 by Pitchfork (2023)
18. The 10 Best Global Music Albums Of 2023 by PopMatters (2023)
19. Louder Than War Albums Of 2023 by Louder Than War (2023)
20. The 30 best albums of 2023 by Time Out (2023)