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.

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941.

By All Means Necessary

Boogie Down Productions

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

78 charts

Rank Score:

203

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

941

Overall Rank:

6,403

Average Rating:

77 (60 votes)

Comments:

942.

Spring Hill Fair

The Go-Betweens

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

63 charts

Rank Score:

203

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

942

Overall Rank:

6,405

Average Rating:

75 (55 votes)

Comments:

943.

OU812

Van Halen

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

62 charts

Rank Score:

203

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

943

Overall Rank:

6,411

Average Rating:

68 (137 votes)

Comments:

944.

The Return Of The Durutti Column

The Durutti Column

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

57 charts

Rank Score:

202

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

945.

Down On The Road By The Beach

Steve Hiett

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

12 charts

Rank Score:

202

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

945

Overall Rank:

6,435

Average Rating:

74 (18 votes)

Comments:

946.

Metamatic

John Foxx

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

56 charts

Rank Score:

202

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

947.

Ken Dou Werente

Orchestre Baobab Gouye Guy De Dakar

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

31 charts

Rank Score:

201

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

947

Overall Rank:

6,451

Average Rating:

77 (23 votes)

Comments:

948.

December

George Winston

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

36 charts

Rank Score:

201

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

949.

Gravity Talks

Green On Red

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

39 charts

Rank Score:

200

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

949

Overall Rank:

6,464

Average Rating:

75 (26 votes)

Comments:

950.

Broadsword And The Beast

Jethro Tull

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

42 charts

Rank Score:

200

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 95 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%

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