The most important albums of the 1980s
Erland Sommarskog
the-eighties list. But pretentious as he is, he does not descend
to just mention his favourites. No, instead he tries to mention
the most important, the most influential albums.
But, alas, that is of course is impossible. How many records were
made during this decade? How many have I heard? Only a mere fraction.
For instance, such a list should probably include at least one
Prince album and I have heard none of his works. Maybe The Smiths
should be there, everyone seems to talk about them, and I do have
two albums with them on tape. Good, but not exceptional. I must be
missing something. And there are albums I haven't heard, but will
later on. Maybe I should wait with this article to 1995...
So this boils down to combination. Some albums that I really did have
impact, some that didn't but should have had from my point of view.
The obvious top duo:
Simple Minds - New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84
Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Simple Minds started with the fairly ordinary "Life in a Day",
become exprimental on "Real to Real Cacaphony", achieved cult
status with "Empires and Dance", progressed with the pair "Sister
Feelings Calls"/"Sounds and Fascination" to peek with this truely
magic album. The very highlights are the title track and "Hunter
and the Hunted" with Herbie Hancock's subtle but delicious solo.
From "New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84" they went to the decent "Sparkle
in a Rain" and then to the pop crap "Once Upon a Time".
Talking Heads started similary fairly plain with "77" and "Songs
About....", oriented toward foreign rhythms on "Fear of Music" to
reach their climax with "Remain in Light", a marvellous album with
fascinating rhythms, patterns and strange lyrics. Like Simple Minds
they didn't manage to beat their masterpiece, but have at least
manage to remain somewhat interesting. (At least some people seem
to think so. I am mildly impressed.)
The quite obvious number three:
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome
An album that show that music can be both commercial and musical
interesting at the same time. Very deliberatly marketed and produced
this is an album bubbling of energy and joy all the time. The major
hits were "Relax", "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love", but the
very best is the first side, just a long overture of what to be.
This was the group that made it right from the start. The follower
"Liverpool" is decent, but not very remarkable.
Best-selling of them all:
Michael Jackson - Thriller
If an album sells 25 million copies, then it cannot be just crap.
Don't tell me that. OK, it's not one of my absolute favourites,
but it is very well produced by Quincy Jones, a master in his
area. While some of the ballads are too greasy for me, there
several good songs like "Wanna be Startin' Something", "Thriller"
and not to forget "Beat It".
Best album from best artist:
Joe Jackson - Body and Soul
While some artists peak with some album and principally stick to
the same style all the time, Joe has gone from style to style, from
clarity to clarity. Of his albums, my choice falls on "Body and Soul"
although it wasn't very influential. Particulary its unique way of
being recorded didn't get any followers as far as I know. "Body and
Soul" was recorded in a theatre and the acoustics on the album is
absolutely fantastic.
Least influential outside Catalonia:
Lluis Llach - Astres
A strange album like nothing else that I found by chance. If Llach
had been singing in English you would be all talking about him.
Or even better, if Catalan had been the universal language. The
Catalan language is an important factor in making this music as
special as it is.
Best synth-pop album:
The Human League - Dare!
Albums with only synthetic sounds does often feel dead and life-
less. Zappa's "Jazz From Hell" is a prime example. But it is
possible to make it with electronics too. "Dare!" is least of
all a dead album. It represents a genre which I'm less attracted
by, but this is a good pop album. "Don't You Want Me" was the big
hit, "Seconds" is my favourite.
Most influential on Usenet:
Tiffany - Tiffany
No artist have gotten the attention on the net the time I've been
reading it as Tiffany. It's really fantastic how such an unremarkable
album could cause so much traffic. Well, album, it was mostly her
singles, "I Saw Him Standing There" and "I Think We're Alone"
that caused the fuzz. Very few seem to have gotten beyond that.
Anyway, Tiffany has come to represent the commercial productification
of pop stars on Usenet, and it seems we'll continue to talk about
her when everyone else have forgotten her.
Swedish albums
Gyllene tider - Gyllene tider
Kai Martin & Stick! - R|d pl}t
The Swedish music scene was very vital at the beginning of the eighties.
Since then, thing has gone downwards. The two albums I have picked
are maybe not representative, but rather my favrouites.
In terms of importance, Gyllene Tider's first album did have some
sort of impact. Lead singer of Gyllene Tider was Per Gessle, now the
male half of Roxette. Ah, so this is commercial, you say. Right. But
Gyllene's debut album was also a very good rock album and Gessle's
lyrics were often nonsense-like at the time and that fitted well.
(To be very accurate, this album was actually released in the autumn
of 1979.)
"R|d pl}t" on the other hand was not an influential album,
unfortunately. One the best albums made from the "progressive" Swedish
scene. ("Progressive" when we talk Swedish music has a political
connotation, rather than a musical.) Very good lyrics from Kai Martin,
and good music from the rest of the band. A cross-over of Simple
Minds, Roxy Music and more.
And then there are lot more albums that deserves mentioning...
--
Erland Sommarskog - ENEA Data, Stockholm - som...@enea.se
Mail me your votes on comp.lang.cobol.
Gary L Dare
>
>The obvious top duo:
> Simple Minds - New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84
> Talking Heads - Remain In Light
>
>in a Rain" and then to the pop crap "Once Upon a Time".
Their new one, "Street Fighting Years", is a lot better and tries to
recapture the mood that characterized their early work. The mode of
"Once Upon a Time" really hurt them, because they can't seem to get
back to the atmospherics of "NGD" or rock with the sincerity of "SIR".
I expect more from their next album.
The live album was pretty good, too, but I'm still really unhappy
about all those extra EP tracks that didn't appear on the CD version.
>Best synth-pop album:
> The Human League - Dare!
Hey, what an inspired title!! (-;
Actually, this was the only good album from this half of the League,
after the split. Heaven 17 was much more consistent and more in the
vein of the old League, which was one of the greats at the turn of the
decade. I hope to drive my grandchildren nuts with "Travelogue" one
day! (-;
>Swedish albums
> Gyllene tider - Gyllene tider
> Kai Martin & Stick! - R|d pl}t
Okay, my turn for the home front:
Canadian Albums:
Parachute Club -- Rise Up!
If anyone wants a good example of how Canadian society has diverged
from their American counterpart after the fall of the British empire
rather than evolve towards it, this volume of moderate left/people's
lib pop rock spiced with calyso-influenced rhythms is the one. No
more grey, understated post-colonials here!
Jane Siberry -- The Speckless Sky
This one establishes the sound that Jane has been aiming for, and
which has been further worked on through live performing (and it shows
on the two albums following). Not as strong lyrically as her second
album (first major release), "No Borders Here", but I look forward to
hearing their current versions of those songs on a live video or
concert more than on the album.
Rush -- Moving Pictures
Their magnum opus, and the one work (besides the 2112 concept album)
that everyone points too with good reason. Good songwriting, strong
arrangements, and more melodic than anything they did previously.
Bruce Cockburn -- Inner City Front
The concept album by Canada's musical hero (he's almost as big as
Wayne Gretzky). Imagine passing the late afternoon to the predawn
in any large metropolitan centre in the Western world; anywhere.
That's what this album is all about; each song stands on its own,
but becomes stronger when all are heard together. This is what
Lou Reed aimed for in "New York" at the end of this decade; Bruce
did it at the beginning, but you guys don't get much Canadian news
out in your area... (-;
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Je me souviens ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gary L. Dare Jesus Saves!
> g...@cunixd.cc.columbia.EDU Gretzky gets the rebound -
> g...@cunixc.BITNET he shoots, he scores!