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	191,612	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,277	119,641	Moving Pictures (155th)by Rush
1982	2,247	147,200	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,258	134,130	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,228	168,206	Purple Rain (75th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,258	142,079	Hounds Of Love (53rd)by Kate Bush
1986	2,374	167,279	The Queen Is Dead (16th)by The Smiths
1987	2,587	159,390	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,692	150,422	Daydream Nation (73rd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,730	193,584	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,884	1,573,544

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:

188

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

991

Overall Rank:

6,795

Average Rating:

77 (16 votes)

Comments:

992.

Strange Angels

Laurie Anderson

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

36 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

992

Overall Rank:

6,802

Average Rating:

72 (44 votes)

Comments:

993.

Iron Fist

Motörhead

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

68 charts

Rank Score:

188

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:

6,810

Average Rating:

71 (53 votes)

Comments:

995.

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:

995

Overall Rank:

6,813

Average Rating:

71 (24 votes)

Comments:

996.

Seasons End

Marillion

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

188

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

996

Overall Rank:

6,816

Average Rating:

76 (73 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:

6,820

Average Rating:

76 (15 votes)

Comments:

998.

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:

999.

Boomtown

David & David

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

24 charts

Rank Score:

187

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

999

Overall Rank:

6,827

Average Rating:

73 (26 votes)

Comments:

1000.

Vun Drinne Noh Drusse

BAP

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

17 charts

Rank Score:

187

Rank in 1982:

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	81	8%
1986	98	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%
Depeche Mode	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	391	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 the 1970s
1. Pink Floyd
2. David Bowie
3. Led Zeppelin
4. Neil Young
5. The Rolling Stones
6. The Clash
7. Fleetwood Mac
8. Black Sabbath
9. The Who
10. Stevie Wonder
11. Genesis
12. Paul McCartney
13. Joni Mitchell
14. Bob Dylan
15. Yes
16. Bob Marley
17. Bruce Springsteen
18. Brian Eno
19. Nick Drake
20. Marvin Gaye