Top 13+1 Albums of the 1980s

UPDATE: Hello folks from Things Thrown (and I love Starfish and Coffee as much as the next person, but I still think Parade is the better album) comment if you'd like, or just sit back and enjoy. Also Bill adds more over at So Quoted about what he thinks of the list below, read that too, good stuff that. Finally, Dave Chappelle, if you're reading this, get back to work, Comedy Central needs you, THE WORLD NEEDS YOU (the picture below borrowed from the Fark discussion regarding Prince's upcoming Superbowl XLI appearance, that shot is of course most likely from the classic Rick James sketch)


Thirteen (really 14) albums from thirteen (really 14, but in the future that may be disputed) artists released during the 80s (limited to artists whose most fruitful period was also during the 80s) that really rocked, or funked, or souled, or punked, or hip-hopped, or new-waved.

Best of lists are utterly and totally subjective. I'm not going to claim that this is the definitive or authoritative list of great albums from that time period, but you wouldn't be doing yourself any harm by seeking out every one of these records.

Some are dated now, but still great (who said timelessness is a good thing, sometimes being exactly of a time is as important as standing outside of that time). Others are just my personal, idiosyncratic tastes shining through.

Bill asked why I think Parade is the BEST ALBUM OF THE 80s (and not say, The Replacement's Let It Be). Maybe this list will help explain.

13. Altered Images Bite, The bands last album before breaking up. Produced by the amazing Martin Rushnet, lush arrangements, coupled with Clare Grogan's thin yet compelling voice. Complete departure from their other material, essentially a Grogan solo project (which is why the break-up), brilliant nevertheless. For some people over-produced disco influenced pop is an insult. This album shows why when done right there is no bigger compliment (rather than purchasing the import which in the descriptions seems problematic, a better place to start would be this compilation of Altered Images which has the highlights from this fantastic album)

12. De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising and A Tribe Called Quest People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, These albums combined comprise the most awesome hip-hop double album ever. Just because these albums were released a year apart, doesn't mean that they weren't really meant to be considered part and parcel of the same project. You can't have one without the other, they are linked by style and innovation. It's sad to see how instead of signalling a new fresh era in hip-hop, these albums represent the beginning and end of a style that rightfully should have dominated hip-hop in the 90s.

11. Sonic Youth EVOL, NYC Art student noise-core doesn't get any better than this (well the Talking Heads did do it better, but that's of the 70s, even if they made some great albums in the 80s). Praised to high heavens when released, one of the few albums of this kind that actually deserved the accolades.

10. Terrence Trent D'Arby Introducing the Hardline According to Terrence Trent D'Arby, 200 years in the future you'll have trouble convincing historians that there ever was a person who went by the name of Terrence Trent D'Arby and that this whole album wasn't just some elaborate hoax played by Prince while he was in his prolific genius stage. By then this post will violate my only one album by artist self-imposed limitation, but for now, while there are still people who you can convince that there were seperate entities that went by the name of D'Arby and Prince, this album definitely belongs on this list. Easily the greatest debut album ever, and easily the most disappointing career in the aftermath of that debut. The fact that future historians won't be able to tell that this wasn't a Prince album should be considered the greatest compliment you could pay this album.

9. Frankie Goes To Hollywood Welcome to the Pleasuredome, Trevor Horn is god. His production skills are unmatched. From his years as a Buggle, to his work with FGTH, to his more recent work with Seal. Dude is genius. Welcome to the Pleasuredome, the song is the most bloated, and fantastic pop/dance song ever conceived. This whole big messy double album (remember those?) is about nothing but sex, sex, and more sex (with a little bit of nuclear apocalypse thrown in for good measure). Sex and Horror are the New Gods, indeed.

8. The Dream Syndicate The Days of Wine & Roses, had I not seen this band a half dozen times live throughout the 80s and early 90s, they probably wouldn't be on this list. But I did, and my affection for their sound is based largely on that experience. The album doesn't do justice to the live experience. These folks weren't 'studio' musicians. These were guys (and sometimes gal) that just knew how to rock, knew how to put on a show, and were the best of what the LA 'paisley underground' scene had to offer. Rootsy, rocky, with a touch of velvety (undergroundy), plus Paul Cutler used to break out the power tools and egg beaters and abuse his guitar strings with said utensils, fun stuff that.

7. The Violent Femmes Hallowed Ground, OK, dude, that's not right, what the hell is Hallowed Ground doing on this list and not their debut album? Well, dude, this was the better album, in my opinion. Their debut is great, one of the all time great examples of teen angst, an album that's forever 15 years old and misunderstood, and troubled by its own impinging sexuality. This album is where that 15 year old would be when he's 25. And 25 is inherently more interesting than 15, sorry all you perpetual adolescents, that's just science. Another band that might not have made the list, but for many trips to live shows. Milwaukee's Best.

6. Sugarcubes Life's Too Good, It's Bjork's world, we're just living in it. The Sugarcubes were great in their own right, and very different from what Bjork would do on her own. They represent a transition from New Wave, to whatever replaced New Wave in the 90s, and this album is a fantastic album even outside of that place and time.

5. Aztec Camera High Land, Hard Rain, Now we are getting into the heavy hitters. These are the albums that are absolutely essential to any music collection regardless of whether or not you are a nostalgiac Gen Xer trying to relive their past. Roddy Frame is an acoustic guitar god (his mostly acoustic guitar version of Van Halen's Jump should be proof enough to anyone, not on this album though). These songs are exquisitely well crafted. One of these songs is a freakin' english sonnet for crissakes! This album has as much to do with the troubadour tradition of the Renaissance as it does with modern music, but don't let that scare you away. Also, the semi-hit from this album Oblivious, is as good as pop tunes get. Incomprehensible lyrics, lushly arranged, beautifully sung and played, just damn, damn fine music.

4. Jesus and the Mary Chain Psychocandy, Another velvety (undeground) explosion of noise. This one also gives a heavy shout out to a Spectorish wall of sound vibe. Rock critics praised this album to high heavens back in the day. For once those jerks were right. Gazing at Doc Martens never sounded better.

3. Eurythmics Touch, Still my favorite album of theirs, still one of the best bands ever. Annie's voice, Dave's musicianship and production, unmatchable. One of the greatest pop collaborations of all time. It's easy to dismiss their sound as overly synthetic. But it's far better than that, and it's really just a reaction to a different musical vocabulary that to some sounded irritating. Great stuff, a more mature outing than their first big album, and retains the humor and inventiveness that some of their later work lacked. They were a definitional band with regards to New Wave music in the 80s in Britain, and they rocked, still, too.

2. The Bangles All Over the Place, their first studio album, and it remains their best album. Great pop, reflects their influences while still sounding fresh and new. Fantastic harmonies, these girls all could sing, though Susannah Hoffs' voice does have more distinctiveness, and therefore she became the de facto 'lead' singer. Partially this was what lead to the bands downfall, jealousies, and changing times didn't help either. Pop that just wants to entertain sometimes doesn't get the credit it deserves. To do that well, and do that successfully takes more skill and command of your craft than any big bloated ELO or Steely Dan style (no matter how good some of that stuff sounds, and much of it is great) slickness. Also other 'important' albums like U2's Joshua's Tree doesn't make my cut cause I just never got them. When bands try too hard to be 'important' they often forget to entertain. The Bangles always entertained. I like that about them, and about much of the music of that time that I enjoy. All this music could be played together (even the Sonic Youth). Music can be thought-provoking, but it doesn't have to be. Usually when bands try to be 'thought-provoking' they just end up being hackneyed and manipulative. That's why I can place a pure, straight ahead pop album with nothing more important to say than, 'hey look at us, we're in a band', like All Over the Place by the Bangles, so high on this list.

Other albums that could be on this list, but didn't make the cut are, Do The Right Thing: Soundtrack Album, PE's Fear of A Black Planet, Siouxsie and the Banshee's Hyaena, Adam Ant's Friend or Foe, Culture Club's Kissing to Be Clever, Echo and the Bunnymen Ocean Rain, Ministry's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste, Butthole Surfers' Locust Abortion Technician, and Sade's Diamond Life (how many other lists put those two albums near each other?). As far as the Replacements, I just never really listened to them that much.

On to the Number one, with analysis of each track, just to get this post really bloated and long winded.

Prince Parade

The last of the three Prince albums (first being Purple Rain, second being Around the World in a Day) credited as Prince and the Revolution. Most people assume the 'and Revolution' part isn't significant. But this album proves that wrong. If you've heard Wendy & Lisa's subsequent solo work, you'll listen to this album with different ears. This is as much a precursor to their future work as it is the last of Prince's collaboration with them. And since I fell in love with this album as a vinyl LP, I'll point out which tracks are on side one, and which are on side two (the two sides of this album have two very different personalities, just like most great vinyl albums did back in the day --- one of the shortcomings of the CD and mp3 era, but don't think I'm one of those jerks who thinks we should go back, I love having most nearly all my music everywhere I go in a small convenient package).

Side One

Track One Christopher Tracy's Parade
Sets the tone for what follows, barely a song in itself, almost just a sketch of a song (much like the next three songs to follow). Yet this sketchiness isn't a bad thing. Think of it as being compact, nothing wasted. The first voice you hear isn't Prince, instead it's a short scream by Wendy. The bass line this song is built on is simple, loping, yet solid as a rock. The drums are odd sounding, possibly backwards masked, definitely from an electronic kit (shades of his next album), yet fit the song. Horns, strings and vocals all float in and out, constantly swirling, then right into track two . . .

Track Two New Position
James Brownian motion this one. Another bass line groove. This one a lot more complex, more electronic drums, but it works. All the voices of the Revolution get their own positions within this song. The rise and fall of that bassline is just so amazing, it walks, it skitters, it propels the whole song forward. And then to top it all off, a tempo change and straight into track three . . .

Track Three I Wonder U
More Wendy and Lisa-ness, for something that seems so minimal, there's a phenomenal amount of complexity surrounding the simplicity. The bassline gets completely subsumed at one point, dropping out, yet not really dropping out. So much is going on in such a short song, as perfect and funky as music can get, but no time to stop now, time to jump straight into track four . . .

Track Four Under the Cherry Moon
Prince as French Cabaret singer. It shouldn't work as well as it does, but it does. Great piano accents in this one (again, more of a Wendy & Lisa trick, than a Prince-ian thing, they go to that well often, him not so much). At first I found the vocals on this song annoying, but now, I think it's perfect. (finally a full stop, you could take the first four tracks together as one song, that's how they play on the album)

Track Five Girls and Boys
Best Use of Finger Cymbals EVAH! Everything is delicate yet funky. And did I mention that horn. Prince playing off of Wendy really doesn't get any better than that. These songs are so deceptively simple, yet there's so much going on. The best art in any medium plays off of that tension. The woman singing in French at the end (with Prince moaning over it) doesn't hurt either. Towards the end their are some tiny short guitar accents that are buried deep in the mix yet help hold the whole thing together. Plus there's some terrific synth stuff going on, too. This song doesn't get the attention it deserves. An abrupt shift and then track six . . .

Track Six Life Could Be So Nice
Cowbell, did you want more cowbell? Prince ordered up plenty of cowbell for this song. Not in Christopher Walkenian doses, but plenty enough. The cowbell holds this whole big messy song together. The drumming gets really crazy, without the cowbell it would all fall apart. Another swirling, psychadelic masterpiece off of this album (then abrupt silence).

Track Seven Venus De Milo
A huge and abrupt shift in tone and style to end side one. It's a companion piece to the closing track of the album. A beautiful instrumental. Lushly arranged, but still keeping with the minimalist strain that runs through this whole side of the album. Think of it as a palate cleanser before taking on the next course.

Side Two

Track eight Mountains.
Most albums side one is the pop side with a few singles, and side two is the artier side. This album is the reverse. Closer to a straight ahead groove than the rest of this album gets. Great little horn and synth accents throughout. Prince sings mostly in his Al Greenian falsetto in this song. It works well (the 12" of this song, is much better, it expands this song, rocks it out a little more while at the same time funking it all up, too. Prince released some of his best work as 12" extensions of his album stuff, along with the b-sides (like Erotic City, She's Always In My Hair, The Pope, La La La Hee Hee Hee, which are as good as the a-sides).

Track nine Do U Lie?
Another cabaret song, but better than that makes it sound. Could easily imagine this in a Bob Fosse film/musical, and that's not a bad thing. There's an orchestral lushness to this song towards the end that just sort of sneaks up on you.

Track ten Kiss
What can you say about this song? Words fail. Perfection, that's about it. From the scratchy little beat it's built on, to Prince's falsetto (sometimes annoying, but not here, in this song it actually lends this song its power), and the simple little breaks. This song is layered just right. Gauzy without being insubstantial. Ain't nothing but a party going on. Did I mention how great the simple little guitar in the latter half of this song is? It's damn, damn good. Just remember, act your age, not your shoe size. And a requirement for having an attitude is not prior knowledge to the plotlines contained within Aaron Spelling's Dynasty.

Track eleven Anotherloverholenyohead
Another killer bass lick propels this song. One of Prince's better non-falsetto vocals. Also this song is very Wendy & Lisa-ish. It exhibits their lyrical sense more than Prince's, as well as the way they like to build songs. Nothing showy in this song, just sort of goes forward and rocks out. The piano and strings towards the end just sort of come out of nowhere and fit in as if they'd been there the whole time. Love how he pulls that off. Piano's aren't used as percussion often enough.

Track twelve Sometimes it Snows in April
A great closing track for an album. Wistful, mournful, almost weepy, yet also about moving on and relishing what you had through that mournfulness. Everything about this song is beautiful. Plus some of Prince's best lyrics and one of his most sincere vocal performances. The interplay between guitar and piano is easy to ignore, but you shouldn't. Plus the interplay between Prince & Wendy is also as good as it gets, their vocal styles suited each other so well, it's a shame that collaboration didn't last longer. Another song that takes very little and turns it into so, so much. But like the song states, all good things they say never lasts, and with this song the best album of the 1980s (and of any time) is over.