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	2,210	192,946	Remain In Light (26th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,247	120,615	Moving Pictures (157th)by Rush
1982	2,208	147,327	Thriller (73rd)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,227	135,089	Murmur (138th)by R.E.M.
1984	2,207	169,528	Purple Rain (79th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,233	143,336	Hounds Of Love (56th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,346	168,530	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,559	160,626	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,663	151,563	Daydream Nation (72nd)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,691	195,939	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,591	1,585,497

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

91.

Juju

Siouxsie And The Banshees

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

394 charts

Rank Score:

2,908

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

602

Average Rating:

80 (433 votes)

Comments:

92.

Substance 1987
Compilation

New Order

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

319 charts

Rank Score:

2,906

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

603

Average Rating:

84 (469 votes)

Comments:

93.

Hysteria

Def Leppard

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

400 charts

Rank Score:

2,885

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

610

Average Rating:

72 (547 votes)

Comments:

94.

Misplaced Childhood

Marillion

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

328 charts

Rank Score:

2,872

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

614

Average Rating:

77 (409 votes)

Comments:

95.

Love Over Gold

Dire Straits

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

390 charts

Rank Score:

2,853

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

620

Average Rating:

79 (531 votes)

Comments:

96.

Low-Life

New Order

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

394 charts

Rank Score:

2,844

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

623

Average Rating:

80 (476 votes)

Comments:

97.

Seventeen Seconds

The Cure

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

448 charts

Rank Score:

2,832

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

625

Average Rating:

78 (673 votes)

Comments:

98.

Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me

The Cure

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

482 charts

Rank Score:

2,746

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

645

Average Rating:

78 (670 votes)

Comments:

99.

Kick

INXS

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

443 charts

Rank Score:

2,737

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

646

Average Rating:

76 (449 votes)

Comments:

100.

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Brian Eno & David Byrne

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

374 charts

Rank Score:

2,736

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

100

Overall Rank:

648

Average Rating:

77 (423 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
...
9
10
11
...
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 10 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	95	10%
1987	88	9%
1988	96	10%
1989	96	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Rush	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
The Smiths	8	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
U2	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	415	41%
	392	39%
	39	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	970	97%
Yes	31	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. The 100 Best Albums of 2023 by Rolling Stone (2023)
5. Albums Of The Year 2023 by Rough Trade (2023)
6. Les Inrocks Albums of the Year 2023 by Les Inrocks (2023)
7. The 27 best albums of 2023 by The A.V. Club (2023)
8. Top 55 Albums of 2023 by The Alternative (2023)
9. Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2023 by Under The Radar by Under The Radar (2023)
10. The Best Albums of 2023 by The Ringer (2023)
11. Best Albums of 2023 by Northern Transmissions (2023)
12. Albums of 2023 by God is in the TV (2023)
13. Uncut Best 75 Albums Of The Year 2023 by Uncut (2023)
14. 30 Best Albums of 2023 by Revolver (2023)
15. The Needle Drop's Top 50 Albums of 2023 by The Needle Drop (2023)
16. Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2023 by Gorilla vs. Bear (2023)
17. Top 50 Albums of 2023 by The Wire (2023)
18. Quietus Albums Of The Year 2023 by The Quietus (2023)
19. Best Albums of 2023 by Norman Records (2023)
20. Loud And Quiet Albums of the Year 2023 by Loud And Quiet (2023)