Best Albums of the 1980s

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
YearAlbums 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.
19802,211192,928
19812,248120,593
19822,210147,329
19832,229134,942
Murmur (139th)by R.E.M.
19842,208169,250
19852,233143,208
19862,346168,361
19872,560160,338
19882,665151,337
19892,693195,757
Total23,6031,584,042

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
 Show this chart as it was on the following date
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
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
197
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
197
Rank in 1986:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
197
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1989
Appears in:
Rank Score:
197
Rank in 1989:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
196
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
196
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
196
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1983
Appears in:
Rank Score:
195
Rank in 1983:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1984
Appears in:
Rank Score:
195
Rank in 1984:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1987
Appears in:
Rank Score:
195
Rank in 1987:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 97 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year Albums %


1980 118 12%
1981 121 12%
1982 107 11%
1983 99 10%
1984 103 10%
1985 79 8%
1986 94 9%
1987 88 9%
1988 95 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 %


United Kingdom 416 42%
United States 392 39%
Australia 39 4%
Mixed Nationality 27 3%
Canada 23 2%
Germany 22 2%
Argentina 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%
Recent Member  Charts
1. Top 60 Music Albums of 2024 by LebowskiRams (2024)
2. Top 46 Music Albums of 2024 by teague (2024)
3. Top 40 Music Albums of 2024 by mjp11 (2024)
4. Top 100 Music Albums of 2023 by paladisiac (2024)
5. 1970s 65rating (65), #001-100* by paladisiac (2024)
6. 1970s 65rating (66), #001-100* by paladisiac (2024)
7. Top 72 Music Albums of 2024 by travelful (2024)
8. Top 88 Music Albums of 1993 by Romanelli (2024)
9. Top 2 Music Albums of 2024 by Siromynian (2024)
10. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s by Romanelli (2024)
11. Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Romanelli (2024)
12. Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Siromynian (2024)
13. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s by wizardalien (2024)
14. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s by Siromynian (2024)
15. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s by Siromynian (2024)
16. Top 16 Music Albums of 1994 by wizardalien (2024)
17. Top 34 Music Albums of 1973 by Siromynian (2024)
18. Top 32 Music Albums of 1971 by Siromynian (2024)
19. Top 32 Music Albums of 1969 by Siromynian (2024)
20. Top 100 Greatest Albums of the 20th Century by wizardalien (2024)
Back to Top