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	2,209	192,901	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,246	120,613	Moving Pictures (157th)by Rush
1982	2,207	147,283	Thriller (73rd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,223	135,063	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,203	169,467	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,234	143,246	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,345	168,495	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,559	160,597	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,662	151,541	Daydream Nation (72nd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,690	195,968	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,578	1,585,176

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

841.

The Last Of The True Believers

Nanci Griffith

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

61 charts

Rank Score:

236

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

841

Overall Rank:

5,639

Average Rating:

74 (52 votes)

Comments:

842.

True

Spandau Ballet

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

77 charts

Rank Score:

235

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

842

Overall Rank:

5,641

Average Rating:

74 (80 votes)

Comments:

843.

Irish Heartbeat

Van Morrison & The Chieftains

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

55 charts

Rank Score:

235

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

843

Overall Rank:

5,648

Average Rating:

77 (59 votes)

Comments:

844.

The Blanton-Webster Band
Compilation

Duke Ellington

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

24 charts

Rank Score:

234

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

844

Overall Rank:

5,657

Average Rating:

76 (26 votes)

Comments:

845.

Telepathic Surgery

The Flaming Lips

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

62 charts

Rank Score:

234

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

845

Overall Rank:

5,660

Average Rating:

70 (94 votes)

Comments:

846.

Freaky Styley

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

89 charts

Rank Score:

234

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

846

Overall Rank:

5,665

Average Rating:

65 (216 votes)

Comments:

847.

Shahen-Shah

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

25 charts

Rank Score:

234

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

847

Overall Rank:

5,667

Average Rating:

77 (34 votes)

Comments:

848.

Just Testing

Wishbone Ash

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

234

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

849.

True Colors

Cyndi Lauper

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

74 charts

Rank Score:

233

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

849

Overall Rank:

5,676

Average Rating:

67 (92 votes)

Comments:

850.

Escape From Noise

Negativland

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

19 charts

Rank Score:

233

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

850

Overall Rank:

5,682

Average Rating:

76 (16 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
...
84
85
86
...
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 85 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	107	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	103	10%
1985	79	8%
1986	94	9%
1987	88	9%
1988	96	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	%

	415	42%
	392	39%
	39	4%
	26	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 »

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.

Recent Member Charts
1. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by Rivera (2024)
2. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s by Rivera (2024)
3. 201-300 by Rivera (2024)
4. Top 10 Music Albums of 2013 by MrOlan (2024)
5. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s by paladisiac (2024)
6. Top 100 Music Albums of 1992 by cronadigallina (2024)
7. Top 77 Music Albums of 1971 by AAL2014 (2024)
8. Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by frankoceanlover (2024)
9. 1960s, 65rating (65), #001-100* by paladisiac (2024)
10. Alice Coltrane: So Far.. by AAL2014 (2024)
11. Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Romanelli (2024)
12. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s by Romanelli (2024)
13. Top 79 Music Albums of the 1960s by PanheadWarrior (2024)
14. Favorite Picks 500-401 by covecove (2024)
15. Top Classical Albums of the 80s by Leonard (2024)
16. Albums of the Year 2024 by S T P by Johnnyo (2024)
17. Top 100 Music Albums of 2024 by shanelovesyou1111 (2024)
18. Top 10 Music Albums of 1966 by dukeboxkool (2024)
19. Top 10 Music Albums of 2012 by MrOlan (2024)
20. Top Album Every Year (Since 1955) by PanheadWarrior (2024)