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	2,126	194,380	Remain In Light (27th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,158	120,351	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,132	148,230	Thriller (77th)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,130	135,654	Murmur (143rd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,140	171,121	Purple Rain (81st)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,140	143,864	Hounds Of Love (59th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,269	170,519	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,470	162,365	The Joshua Tree (52nd)by U2
1988	2,563	151,858	Daydream Nation (69th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,584	197,546	Doolittle (18th)by Pixies
Total	22,712	1,595,889

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:

2,423 charts

Rank Score:

38,689

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

88 (2,840 votes)

Comments:

265

Doolittle

Pixies

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

2,494 charts

Rank Score:

37,232

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,967 charts

Rank Score:

30,648

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,768 charts

Rank Score:

27,816

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (1,967 votes)

Comments:

150

The Stone Roses

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

1,976 charts

Rank Score:

25,782

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

86 (2,227 votes)

Comments:

202

The Joshua Tree

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

1,817 charts

Rank Score:

19,812

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

1,349 charts

Rank Score:

19,198

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,337 votes)

Comments:

Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth

Year of Release:

1988

Appears in:

1,542 charts

Rank Score:

17,657

Rank in 1988:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

1,578 charts

Rank Score:

16,888

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

82 (2,103 votes)

Comments:

159

10.

Closer

Joy Division

Year of Release:

1980

Appears in:

1,458 charts

Rank Score:

16,692

Rank in 1980:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,870 votes)

Comments:

123

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	117	12%
1981	122	12%
1982	111	11%
1983	96	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	95	10%
1987	86	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%
R.E.M.	7	1%
Talking Heads	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	416	42%
	385	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	23	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	967	97%
Yes	33	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	987	99%
Yes	13	1%

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

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