My Top 10 Essential Albums From The 80s
Spring cleaning time. Digging through my CDs and tossing out even more useless space-consuming vinyls, I've come across several keep-sake albums that kind of influenced me at one point or the other during the 80s. Sorry, don't expect any Bananarama or Madonna albums. In no order of preference... with the exception for U2 which is unquestionably the album I would like to be played at my funeral and then buried with me; here's my list. I left Depeche Mode out because they're simply in a class of their own.
DEF LEPPARD
Hysteria
[1987, Island]
This sums up 80's pop rock in all it's glory : fun, catchy hooks, memorable riffs. It's also one of the few albums from the era that doesn't sound dated now. The UK rock band has never been able to climb past the success they achieved with this album. It vaulted them to superstar status on a worldwide scale, spanning 6 huge hit singles like "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and the balled "Love Bites". It also revolutionized the rock music industry with its glossy production and epic album length.
THE POLICE
Synchronicity
[Interscope, 1983]
This is their fifth and final studio album, and their biggest selling ever; cementing their immortality in music history. A benchmark album from a tremendously influential band. The singles, particularly "Every Breath You Take," "King of Pain," and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" are pure lyrical gems that has stood the test of time without losing any of their luster. An elegant masterpiece of intelligent and sophisticated pop music which has never been, nor ever will be duplicated. Longevity at it's best!
THE CURE
Disintegration
[Elektra, 1989]
An incredibly beautiful melancholic pop album on an epic scale. Complex drum patterns, the layered guitars, rich keyboards blend... orchestrated into a lush atmospheric soundscape. Some of the band's best work is on this album. "Pictures Of You", "Love Song" "Lullaby" and "Fascination Street" are a glimpse of the downtrodden and bleak view of life... something painfully intimate yet enduring. Anyone who has experienced the joy and sorrow of love will find echoes of their sentiments here.
NEW ORDER
Substance
[WEA, 1987]
The band's hits were always deeply unconventional, but they were brilliantly majestic productions, layering dozens of electronic elements and percussion tricks over Bernard Sumner's deadpan warble and Peter Hook's lead bass parts. Though they're audio snapshots of the dance beats of their time, they've held up both as club classics and as idiosyncratic rock songs. This album was their career-capper. And anyone that can write a song about the Falklands War ("Blue Monday") and make it the most essential single in the history of modern music has got to be a bottomless well of creativity.
PET SHOP BOYS
Please
[Capitol, 1986]
A few acts that have achieved the success and longevity of the Pet Shop Boys. They've been making music for over 20 years and have brought synthpop into the unsuspecting mainstream like no other before. Every song on this debut album transcends the murky pot of mid-80's dance-pop. The lyrics are interesting and mildly humorous... notably, it's songs by boys for boys about boys that snuck past so many because of the genderless objects of affection in the lyrical content. Fact remains that they'll always be most remembered for Neil Tennant's monotonous vocals in "West End Girls".
BEASTIE BOYS
Licensed To Ill
[Sony, 1986]
In the golden age of hip-hop, most of the rappers (like Run DMC, LL Cool J and Eric B), pretty much rapped over sampled, mixed beats and scratching; comes along a trio of white Brooklyn kids with a humourous breakthough debut album - boasting breaking-the-law vibe, and ear-splitting mix of rock and rap groove. Instead of the usual one-up-manship in the lyrics, most of the tracks thrived on a slew of other juvenile acts. This album's fun to listen to, and still is; as it takes us back to a time when life was less stressful and music was more enjoyable. "Fight For Your Right" will always remain a party anthem for youth rebellion.
GUNS N ROSES
Appetite For Destruction
[Geffen, 1987]
A train wreck of punk and metal with rock n' roll sensibilities makes this an emblem of its era. Between the glorious screeching of the lead singer and the unforgettable guitar riffs, this L.A. band sounded like nothing anyone has ever heard before and it somehow provided a generation with a musical identity. There's no other rock album that conveys real life gritiness with tongue-in-cheek delivery so effectively and yet went on to receive such a huge commercial success.
INXS
Kick
[Atlantic, 1987]
This Aussie band had a great ability to make rock music with a dance sensibility. This album was INXS's crowning achievement and it made them into worldwide superstars. Their first ever No.1 and breakout single "Need You Tonight" was built around a simple riff that shuffled along, but was filled with a powerful vocal. This was a radio watershed album, boasting other noteworthy singles like "New Sensation", "Mystify", "Devil Inside" and the soul-blues of "Never Tear Us Apart". Critics all agree that this album brought out the best of the charismatic Michael Hutchence as a frontman.
FGTH
Pleasuredome
[ZTT, 1984]
The five Mersey lads crashed into the charts with "Relax" which was promptly banned from Radio One due to "suggestive lyrics". Ironically, this propelled it to No.1 on the sales chart for weeks. The band is an example of packaging and pure marketing genius. People were so hyped by the debut single as well as "Two Tribes" and "The Power Of Love"; plus all those catchy slogans on the "Frankie Says" tee shirts and the media frenzy. We all know where this act went after the initial thrill died down, but it's still a touchstone for the 80s pop, and a high watermark it is for the post-glam era. Notably, it marked the arrival of the brilliant production skills of Trevor Horn (Art Of Noise).
U2
The Joshua Tree
[Island, 1997]
The worldwide No.1 album that lifted U2 into legendary status. It also marked the band's merger between social / political issues and epic stadium rock. Till today, they have never quite rivaled the album's phenonmenon success. The masterstroke has got to be "With Or Without You" a nasty love song dressed up as an ode of devotion and care. One of the most misread smash hit of the 80's. In case anyone cares to know, it's about a woman who gives her virginity away to an another. Such is the brilliance of U2's lyrical artistry!
DEF LEPPARDHysteria
[1987, Island]
This sums up 80's pop rock in all it's glory : fun, catchy hooks, memorable riffs. It's also one of the few albums from the era that doesn't sound dated now. The UK rock band has never been able to climb past the success they achieved with this album. It vaulted them to superstar status on a worldwide scale, spanning 6 huge hit singles like "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and the balled "Love Bites". It also revolutionized the rock music industry with its glossy production and epic album length.
THE POLICESynchronicity
[Interscope, 1983]
This is their fifth and final studio album, and their biggest selling ever; cementing their immortality in music history. A benchmark album from a tremendously influential band. The singles, particularly "Every Breath You Take," "King of Pain," and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" are pure lyrical gems that has stood the test of time without losing any of their luster. An elegant masterpiece of intelligent and sophisticated pop music which has never been, nor ever will be duplicated. Longevity at it's best!
THE CUREDisintegration
[Elektra, 1989]
An incredibly beautiful melancholic pop album on an epic scale. Complex drum patterns, the layered guitars, rich keyboards blend... orchestrated into a lush atmospheric soundscape. Some of the band's best work is on this album. "Pictures Of You", "Love Song" "Lullaby" and "Fascination Street" are a glimpse of the downtrodden and bleak view of life... something painfully intimate yet enduring. Anyone who has experienced the joy and sorrow of love will find echoes of their sentiments here.
NEW ORDERSubstance
[WEA, 1987]
The band's hits were always deeply unconventional, but they were brilliantly majestic productions, layering dozens of electronic elements and percussion tricks over Bernard Sumner's deadpan warble and Peter Hook's lead bass parts. Though they're audio snapshots of the dance beats of their time, they've held up both as club classics and as idiosyncratic rock songs. This album was their career-capper. And anyone that can write a song about the Falklands War ("Blue Monday") and make it the most essential single in the history of modern music has got to be a bottomless well of creativity.
PET SHOP BOYSPlease
[Capitol, 1986]
A few acts that have achieved the success and longevity of the Pet Shop Boys. They've been making music for over 20 years and have brought synthpop into the unsuspecting mainstream like no other before. Every song on this debut album transcends the murky pot of mid-80's dance-pop. The lyrics are interesting and mildly humorous... notably, it's songs by boys for boys about boys that snuck past so many because of the genderless objects of affection in the lyrical content. Fact remains that they'll always be most remembered for Neil Tennant's monotonous vocals in "West End Girls".
BEASTIE BOYSLicensed To Ill
[Sony, 1986]
In the golden age of hip-hop, most of the rappers (like Run DMC, LL Cool J and Eric B), pretty much rapped over sampled, mixed beats and scratching; comes along a trio of white Brooklyn kids with a humourous breakthough debut album - boasting breaking-the-law vibe, and ear-splitting mix of rock and rap groove. Instead of the usual one-up-manship in the lyrics, most of the tracks thrived on a slew of other juvenile acts. This album's fun to listen to, and still is; as it takes us back to a time when life was less stressful and music was more enjoyable. "Fight For Your Right" will always remain a party anthem for youth rebellion.
GUNS N ROSESAppetite For Destruction
[Geffen, 1987]
A train wreck of punk and metal with rock n' roll sensibilities makes this an emblem of its era. Between the glorious screeching of the lead singer and the unforgettable guitar riffs, this L.A. band sounded like nothing anyone has ever heard before and it somehow provided a generation with a musical identity. There's no other rock album that conveys real life gritiness with tongue-in-cheek delivery so effectively and yet went on to receive such a huge commercial success.
INXSKick
[Atlantic, 1987]
This Aussie band had a great ability to make rock music with a dance sensibility. This album was INXS's crowning achievement and it made them into worldwide superstars. Their first ever No.1 and breakout single "Need You Tonight" was built around a simple riff that shuffled along, but was filled with a powerful vocal. This was a radio watershed album, boasting other noteworthy singles like "New Sensation", "Mystify", "Devil Inside" and the soul-blues of "Never Tear Us Apart". Critics all agree that this album brought out the best of the charismatic Michael Hutchence as a frontman.
FGTHPleasuredome
[ZTT, 1984]
The five Mersey lads crashed into the charts with "Relax" which was promptly banned from Radio One due to "suggestive lyrics". Ironically, this propelled it to No.1 on the sales chart for weeks. The band is an example of packaging and pure marketing genius. People were so hyped by the debut single as well as "Two Tribes" and "The Power Of Love"; plus all those catchy slogans on the "Frankie Says" tee shirts and the media frenzy. We all know where this act went after the initial thrill died down, but it's still a touchstone for the 80s pop, and a high watermark it is for the post-glam era. Notably, it marked the arrival of the brilliant production skills of Trevor Horn (Art Of Noise).
U2The Joshua Tree
[Island, 1997]
The worldwide No.1 album that lifted U2 into legendary status. It also marked the band's merger between social / political issues and epic stadium rock. Till today, they have never quite rivaled the album's phenonmenon success. The masterstroke has got to be "With Or Without You" a nasty love song dressed up as an ode of devotion and care. One of the most misread smash hit of the 80's. In case anyone cares to know, it's about a woman who gives her virginity away to an another. Such is the brilliance of U2's lyrical artistry!
posted by Adminstrator @ 3:01 PM
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6 Comments:
yea...still remember Hysteria as one of the albums i'd just put on play without fast-forwarding. :)
Wasn't the 80s so great? It should be remember not for "square rooms" and rick astley.
actually, there are a few more albums which i should have included... maybe I'll do another list soon.
Shit... I can't believe I actually have A-Ha! Tis is so embarrassing!
yea nothing wrong, i still have one stack of A-ha CDs with me...together with Erasure, OMD and A Flock of Seagulls heh
i could never hit the high notes that Morten Harket managed so effortlessly, together with that Modern Talking dude...
OK, I actually like A-ha. There I said it. "Hunting High & Low"
Yah... Erasure is on the other list... "ooooh, why we sail on the ship of fools"
OMD... hell yeah. "I got a secret that I can't explain."
Damn... It should be Top 20 essential albums! I forgot to include Duran Duran's "Seventh & The Ragged Tiger".
FLEX FLEX FLEX FLEX...
If only Mambo Jambo played proper retro. hahahaha!
yea Vince Clarke's quite a genius...
and how about Alphaville?
alphaville is well... good for nonsensical fun...
their album was quite a pain to listen to... trust the germans... hahahaha
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