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 53,000 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	2,119	193,720	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,158	120,090	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,131	148,056	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,127	135,194	Murmur (141st)by R.E.M.
1984	2,135	170,799	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,138	143,733	Hounds Of Love (58th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,264	170,304	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,464	162,490	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,561	151,937	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,575	197,238	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,672	1,593,560

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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The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

2,426 charts

Rank Score:

39,007

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,838 votes)

Comments:

264

Doolittle

Pixies

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,493 charts

Rank Score:

37,352

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,967 charts

Rank Score:

30,696

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,763 charts

Rank Score:

27,753

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,966 votes)

Comments:

150

The Stone Roses

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,973 charts

Rank Score:

25,807

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,226 votes)

Comments:

202

The Joshua Tree

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,814 charts

Rank Score:

19,828

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,348 charts

Rank Score:

19,213

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,336 votes)

Comments:

Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,541 charts

Rank Score:

17,605

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

1,575 charts

Rank Score:

16,854

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

82 (2,101 votes)

Comments:

159

10.

Closer

Joy Division

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,458 charts

Rank Score:

16,727

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,870 votes)

Comments:

123

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Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	116	12%
1981	121	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	98	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	87	9%
1988	93	9%
1989	98	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
The Fall	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	386	39%
	40	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	966	97%
Yes	35	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	989	99%
Yes	12	1%

« View best albums of the 1970sView best albums of the 1990s »

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