Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 15, 2024 1:06:17 GMT -5
#3 - Reckoning by R.E.M. Reckoning was R.E.M.'s second album and comes from the period when they were college rock darlings and signed to the independent record label IRS, long before their early '90s commercial breakthrough and ensuing world domination. Produced by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon at a tiny studio in Charlotte, North Carolina, Reckoning was recorded fast (committed to tape and mixed in just 14 days, apparently). As a result, it has a much more direct, live feel to it than the band's more produced, atmospheric debut Murmur. That said, the basic sound of the band – jangly arpeggiated guitars, driving bass lines, and powerful drumming, topped with Michael Stipe's enigmatic drawl and mysterious, impressionistic lyrics – remains essentially unchanged from their debut. A number of the songs, such as "Camera", "Time After Time (Annelise)" and "Letter Never Sent", feature darker subject matter than most of the band's songs up to that point, but there is still plenty of up-tempo jangle pop to be found here. Stipe seems preoccupied with water-related imagery on much of the album (the LP's spine even bears the alternate title "File Under Water"). Much of Reckoning also have a yearning melancholy to it, along with recurring themes of separation and being away from home in its lyrics – something no doubt resulting from the band having been on tour throughout most of 1983. I love so many of the songs on this album that it's really hard to pick just one. But I'm gonna offer up "So. Central Rain", which was the first single from the album and a song that went on to become a staple of R.E.M.'s live repertoire for the remainder of their career. The promo video features a live Stipe vocal as an elegant "f*ck you!" to record industry expectations that singers would all happily lip-synch their hits in the '80s.
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Post by berkley on Apr 15, 2024 1:18:16 GMT -5
More catching up... #4 - Welcome to the Pleasuredome by Frankie Goes to HollywoodLiverpudlian band Frankie Goes to Hollywood were THE pop music and tabloid newspaper sensations of 1984 here in the UK. Their first three singles all went to number 1 in the charts (a feat that had not been achieved by a band since the early '60s); their debut single "Relax" was banned by British TV and radio due to lyrics explicitly advocating sex and masturbation; the videos for their first two singles were banned from TV for offending taste and decency; and their two front men were out and proud gay men in an era when such things were far from common. On top of all that, their records were absolutely brilliant! Myself, I loved FGTH at the time. I bought the "Relax" single in late '83, thrilled by the controversy surrounding it and fascinated to learn a new verb: "to cum".  The band's second single "Two Tribes", an anti-war song dealing with Cold War fears of nuclear Armageddon, was even better and I spent my pocket money on multiple 12" singles of it to get the various mixes of the song ("Two Tribes" was at number 1 in the UK charts for a staggering 9 weeks!). So, it was a no-brainer that I would eagerly pick up the band's debut album when it appeared in October '84. Released as a double-album on vinyl, Welcome to the Pleasuredome is a gloriously and outrageously over-the-top slice of debauched synth-rock. Singer Holly Johnson's literary and romantic lyrics have a delightfully perverted and deviant venom to them and are all delivered in a leering croon, with just a touch of a punk sneer. Musically, it's a bold, cocksure album and a brilliant marriage between the band's subversive songwriting and producer Trevor Horn's genius-like skills for engineering and arranging. A slight criticism might be that the album is padded with a few too many covers, perhaps speaking to the fact that what we have here is a single album that has been stretched out over two LPs. But, then again, the band's renditions of Edwin Starr's "War", Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run", and Dionne Warwick's "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" are actually pretty good and certainly don't weaken the album at all. Of the self-penned material, the three smash hit singles, "Relax", "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love", along with "Wish (The Lads Were Here)", "The Only Star in Heaven", and the epic "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" are real standouts. For us '80s children who were just slightly too young to have experienced punk, Welcome to the Pleasuredome was kind of like our generation's Never Mind the Bollocks. This was a subversive, day-glo explosion of scandalous sex, Cold War politics, and infectious dance grooves. I mean, it's not every album that mixes provocative and insidiously catchy pop-rock hooks with U.S. President Ronald Reagan quoting Hitler, Prince Charles discussing orgasms, and a song about anal fisting ("Krisco Kisses", which is apparently a gay slang term for that particular act). If you have the time, the album's title track – a 16-minute Samuel Taylor Coleridge-inspired ode to hedonism and debauchery which takes up all of side 1 (including the fragments "The World is My Oyster", "Well", and "Snatch of Fury") – is the best illustration of the album's sweeping, high-octane dance pop majesty. I really do urge you to check it out, if you're interested. If, however, you are a little shorter on time, here's the banned video for Frankie's first smash hit, "Relax". Set in an S&M-themed gay nightclub, populated by leathermen, scantily-clad women, and glamorous drag queens, this was like nothing else that was being presented as a pop video at the time (needless to say, it's NSFW)…
I never owned this album myself but I heard it quite a lot because my university room-mate at the time had it - which was maybe a little surprising because his musical tastes were usually fairly mainstream - Springsteen, Bob Seger, that kind of thing. But FGtH did get a lot of airplay on the radio here in Canada with this record so perhaps it isn't really so surprising. I liked the album: it probably wasn't something I would have bought myself so in a way I was lucky to get to hear it. I'd say it's definitely part of my soundtrack for those years, even if I wouldn't go so far as to call it a personal favourite, if that isn't a contradiction.
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Post by berkley on Apr 15, 2024 1:31:25 GMT -5
#3 - Reckoning by R.E.M.Reckoning was R.E.M.'s second album and comes from the period when they were college rock darlings and signed to the independent record label IRS, long before their early '90s commercial breakthrough and ensuing world domination. Produced by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon at a tiny studio in Charlotte, North Carolina, Reckoning was recorded fast (committed to tape and mixed in just 14 days, apparently). As a result, it has a much more direct, live feel to it than the band's more produced, atmospheric debut Murmur. That said, the basic sound of the band – jangly arpeggiated guitars, driving bass lines, and powerful drumming, topped with Michael Stipe's enigmatic drawl and mysterious, impressionistic lyrics – remains essentially unchanged from their debut. A number of the songs, such as "Camera", "Time After Time (Annelise)" and "Letter Never Sent", feature darker subject matter than most of the band's songs up to that point, but there is still plenty of up-tempo jangle pop to be found here. Stipe seems preoccupied with water-related imagery on much of the album (the LP's spine even bears the alternate title "File Under Water"). Much of Reckoning also have a yearning melancholy to it, along with recurring themes of separation and being away from home in its lyrics – something no doubt resulting from the band having been on tour throughout most of 1983. I love so many of the songs on this album that it's really hard to pick just one. But I'm gonna offer up "So. Central Rain", which was the first single from the album and a song that went on to become a staple of R.E.M.'s live repertoire for the remainder of their career. The promo video features a live Stipe vocal as an elegant "f*uck you!" to record industry expectations that singers would all happily lip-synch their hits in the '80s.
This one will certainly be on my 1984 list if I get one together. So. Central rain was the first R.E.M song I ever heard and still a favourite. I don't feel a huge amount of nostalgia for the 1980s in general but that track and this album this would be among the few exceptions.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 15, 2024 4:35:23 GMT -5
OK, I've just about caught up... #2 - Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution Purple Rain was Prince's sixth album (though his first with backing band the Revolution) and was also a soundtrack to his feature film of the same name. This is another album that I saved up my pocket money to buy at the time, having absolutely loved the singles "When Doves Cry", "Purple Rain", and "Let's Go Crazy". This was without doubt Prince's catchiest and most focused collection of songs to date, which is, of course, a big part of why it was the album that transformed him from a reasonably popular American R&B artist into a global phenomenon. It takes in a far greater array of influences than Prince's previous albums, as the pop maestro effortlessly blends elements of soul, rock, funk, pop and even heavy metal across its nine tracks. The album's final three songs ("I Would Die 4 U", "Baby I'm A Star", and "Purple Rain") were all recorded live, though they received additional overdubs and studio polishing before Prince was satisfied with them. Standout tracks for me, aside from the aforementioned big hit singles, would be "Take Me with U", which is one of the most playfully seductive songs Prince ever wrote, the self-empowering "Baby I'm a Star", and the daringly risqué "Darling Nikki". The apocalyptic and spiritual title track is featured here in its full 8-and-a-half-minute version, which I recall was a bit of a mind blower for 11-year-old me, having only previously heard the 4-minute single edit. In terms of picking a song to showcase for this post, every track on Purple Rain is a total gem, but here's "Take Me with U" (a duet with actress and singer Apollonia). I've always loved the way this track swings and the playful romanticism of its lyric… |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 15, 2024 4:54:42 GMT -5
#2 - Phillip Walker - Tough as I Want to Be
This is another blues artist that I've not heard of. Listening to those two tracks, "Port Arthur Blues" can easily be dated to the early '80s by that choursy organ sound, but other than that, they are both fairly enjoyable "late night" blues tracks. Very much in the tradition of T-Bone Walker and B.B. King. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 15, 2024 7:32:26 GMT -5
Worked out the top of my list, so decided to post my picks in two intallments this time.
So here's 1984 (6-10).
I should note that as with 1974, I found it a bit hard to come up with a list, which is a bit surprising, as by this time I was in my mid-teens and more actively listening to, thinking about and purchasing music. However, it seems that not many individual albums came out this year captured my fancy (meanwhile, going either backward to 1983 or forward to 1985 I think I could easily compile pretty big lists). However, there are a few here that I *really* loved back then and still enjoy now.
10. King Crimson – Three of a Perfect Pair
This is very much an honorable mention entry, as I wanted to give a shout-out to the band’s re-formed, Adrian Belew phase – my favorite era of King Crimson is still the first phase and esp. with that mid-‘70s line-up (as evidenced by two of their albums appearing on my 1974 list), but I am fond of this period as well, although mainly 1981’s Discipline, which is pretty damned awesome. The follow-up, Beat, was not quite as good, and this one, I think, is in turn a bit of a step down from that one. Still, it’s a solid release – while many tracks seem to lack that spark that made Discipline in particular so good, the raw talent of veteran members Fripp and Bruford, plus the ‘new guys,’ bassist Tony Levin and, of course, Belew, is still evident here.
9. Honeydrippers – Volume 1
Yeah, it’s not a full album, and yeah, all of the tracks are covers, but crap, they are done so well. Who would have thought that Led Zeppelin’s lead singer would excel at belting out old rock standards from the ‘50s/‘60s? Back when it was first released, I couldn’t get enough of it, especially “Rockin’ at Midnight”:
8. Don Henley – Building the Perfect Beast
This one surprised me as a 1984 release, because I so associate it with my senior year of high school, 1985/86, when several songs from it were played extensively on most top 40 and AOR radio stations (it was in fact released late in ’84). Anyway, I really liked this album back then, and even now, I enjoy listening to many of the individual tracks – partly because I think they’re just good, but admittedly also due to nostalgia. So many of them put me back in that place in the mid-1980s, esp. my favorite track from it, then and now, “Sunset Grill”:
7. Branford Marsalis – Scenes in the City
I first became aware of Branford Marsalis after Sting released his first solo album (The Dream of the Blue Turtles), when his band included a number of mainly jazz musicians (which, besides Marsalis, most notably included keyboardist Kenny Kirkland and drummer Omar Hakim). Not long after that, I ended up getting his (Branford’s) then newly-released album, Royal Garden Blues, and a few subsequent ones, and also sampled his earlier stuff, like this one, his first solo album, which is pretty damn good (and I have to say, I like it better than his kid brother Wynton’s release from the same year, Hot House Flowers – consider this an honorable mention – even though the latter got more critical acclaim and even picked up some awards; I’ve always liked Branford’s music better, partly due to the fact that I prefer sax to trumpet, but also because Branford’s music just seems, I don’t know, warmer to me).
6. Strunz & Farah – Frontera
This is another one that surprised me as a 1984 release (thanks to @kal – I think? Can’t seem to find the post now – for pointing it out), as its year of release never registered with me; I discovered Strunz & Farah some time in late 1990 or 1991, when a co-worker recommended their then pretty new release Primal Magic. I was instantly hooked, and to this day I think that’s by far their best album. However, I did go back and get some of their earlier stuff and of that, I think Frontera is probably one of their stronger releases.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2024 7:41:35 GMT -5
6. Strunz & Farah – FronteraThis is another one that surprised me as a 1984 release (thanks to @kal – I think? Can’t seem to find the post now – for pointing it out), as its year of release never registered with me; I discovered Strunz & Farah some time in late 1990 or 1991, when a co-worker recommended their then pretty new release Primal Magic. I was instantly hooked, and to this day I think that’s by far their best album. However, I did go back and get some of their earlier stuff and of that, I think Frontera is probably one of their stronger releases. Yep, I posted something earlier on this album but I think I must have messed up later editing it as I can't find it either. Huge Strunz & Farah fan as well, and agreed, this is a really good one from them. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 15, 2024 7:46:08 GMT -5
8. Don Henley – Building the Perfect BeastThis one surprised me as a 1984 release, because I so associate it with my senior year of high school, 1985/86, when several songs from it were played extensively on most top 40 and AOR radio stations (it was in fact released late in ’84). Anyway, I really liked this album back then, and even now, I enjoy listening to many of the individual tracks – partly because I think they’re just good, but admittedly also due to nostalgia. So many of them put me back in that place in the mid-1980s, esp. my favorite track from it, then and now, “Sunset Grill”: This album only just missed out on a place on my list, so it's nice to see somebody else pick it. There are so many good songs on Building the Perfect Beast. I mean, obviously "The Boys of Summer" is an all-time classic, but "Man with a Mission", "You're Not Drinking Enough", and "Sunset Grill", which you mentioned, are big faves of mine too. Ultimately, I don't find it to be consistent enough across its 11 tracks to have made my list, but when it's good it's really good. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 15, 2024 13:29:11 GMT -5
Favorite albums of 1984
#1 – Los Lobos – How Will the Wolf Survive
This is the album where anyone outside of L.A. heard of Los Lobos. Okay...maybe a few people heard "...And a Time to Dance" but not that many. And it was around this time that Los Lobos opened for both The Clash and for The Blasters, giving them some much needed exposure to wider rock audiences.
I still think this is my favorite Los Lobos album. I know a lot of people feel that "Kiko" is their best. I like, but don't love Kiko. It's really close between this on and Good Morning Aztlán. I think what I love so much about is that the band just shows all their roots and influences on it. You have straight-ahead rockers like "Don't Worry Baby." You have R&B influences in "I Got Loaded" and country influences in "A Matter of Time." They play a traditional Mexican song in "Serenata Nortena" and the title track is just an all-timer.
This is just such a great album and one I feel really bad that I didn't recognize at the time.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 15, 2024 13:32:31 GMT -5
Worked out the top of my list, so decided to post my picks in two intallments this time. So here's 1984 (6-10). I should note that as with 1974, I found it a bit hard to come up with a list, which is a bit surprising, as by this time I was in my mid-teens and more actively listening to, thinking about and purchasing music. However, it seems that not many individual albums came out this year captured my fancy (meanwhile, going either backward to 1983 or forward to 1985 I think I could easily compile pretty big lists). However, there are a few here that I *really* loved back then and still enjoy now. 10. King Crimson – Three of a Perfect PairThis is very much an honorable mention entry, as I wanted to give a shout-out to the band’s re-formed, Adrian Belew phase – my favorite era of King Crimson is still the first phase and esp. with that mid-‘70s line-up (as evidenced by two of their albums appearing on my 1974 list), but I am fond of this period as well, although mainly 1981’s Discipline, which is pretty damned awesome. The follow-up, Beat, was not quite as good, and this one, I think, is in turn a bit of a step down from that one. Still, it’s a solid release – while many tracks seem to lack that spark that made Discipline in particular so good, the raw talent of veteran members Fripp and Bruford, plus the ‘new guys,’ bassist Tony Levin and, of course, Belew, is still evident here. 9. Honeydrippers – Volume 1Yeah, it’s not a full album, and yeah, all of the tracks are covers, but crap, they are done so well. Who would have thought that Led Zeppelin’s lead singer would excel at belting out old rock standards from the ‘50s/‘60s? Back when it was first released, I couldn’t get enough of it, especially “Rockin’ at Midnight”: 8. Don Henley – Building the Perfect BeastThis one surprised me as a 1984 release, because I so associate it with my senior year of high school, 1985/86, when several songs from it were played extensively on most top 40 and AOR radio stations (it was in fact released late in ’84). Anyway, I really liked this album back then, and even now, I enjoy listening to many of the individual tracks – partly because I think they’re just good, but admittedly also due to nostalgia. So many of them put me back in that place in the mid-1980s, esp. my favorite track from it, then and now, “Sunset Grill”: 7. Branford Marsalis – Scenes in the CityI first became aware of Branford Marsalis after Sting released his first solo album ( The Dream of the Blue Turtles), when his band included a number of mainly jazz musicians (which, besides Marsalis, most notably included keyboardist Kenny Kirkland and drummer Omar Hakim). Not long after that, I ended up getting his (Branford’s) then newly-released album, Royal Garden Blues, and a few subsequent ones, and also sampled his earlier stuff, like this one, his first solo album, which is pretty damn good (and I have to say, I like it better than his kid brother Wynton’s release from the same year, Hot House Flowers – consider this an honorable mention – even though the latter got more critical acclaim and even picked up some awards; I’ve always liked Branford’s music better, partly due to the fact that I prefer sax to trumpet, but also because Branford’s music just seems, I don’t know, warmer to me). 6. Strunz & Farah – FronteraThis is another one that surprised me as a 1984 release (thanks to @kal – I think? Can’t seem to find the post now – for pointing it out), as its year of release never registered with me; I discovered Strunz & Farah some time in late 1990 or 1991, when a co-worker recommended their then pretty new release Primal Magic. I was instantly hooked, and to this day I think that’s by far their best album. However, I did go back and get some of their earlier stuff and of that, I think Frontera is probably one of their stronger releases. I've literally never heard of Strunz & Farah. I'd have bet big money that Building the Perfect Beast came out in '85. I remember that "Boys of Summer" played on MTV allllll the time in the summer of '85, which was the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. I have pretty good memories of this album even given my hatred of most things related to The Eagles. Man, I'd forgotten about that Honeydrippers EP. Who knew that Plant guy could sing? |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 15, 2024 13:37:31 GMT -5
More catching up... #4 - Welcome to the Pleasuredome by Frankie Goes to Hollywood I basically only know them from MTV and whatever songs were on the radio. I never cottoned to R.E.M. I don't think I ever even heard of them until I was in college, so, '86 or later. But they were never my cuppa. OK, I've just about caught up... #2 - Purple Rain by Prince and the RevolutionI never started to appreciate Prince until maybe the last ten years or so. And it's more for his musicianship than anything else. Again...just not my kind of music. I do love Dwight Yoakam's bluegrass inspired cover of Purple Rain, though. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Apr 15, 2024 21:22:09 GMT -5
#1 – Los Lobos – How Will the Wolf Survive
I don't know a ton of Los Lobos' stuff, but you can't really go too far wrong with their late '80s output. Like the majority of folks, I suspect, my first exposure to them was via their 1987 smash hit cover of "La Bamba" from the Ritchie Valens biopic of the same name. They had another hit with a Valens cover here in the UK with "Come On, Let's Go", taken from the same film soundtrack, of course. I remember hearing the band's '87 album By the Light of the Moon several times back in the day, but I'm not sure much of it really sticks in my head all these years later, though it was always a fun album to listen to. |
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Post by Confessor on Apr 15, 2024 22:23:41 GMT -5
And my all-time favourite album from 1984 is... #1 - Hatful of Hollow by The Smiths Manchester band The Smiths are simply one of the most important and influential British bands of the last 50 years and I will die on that hill. Their impact on UK indie guitar bands and alternative rock in general is hard to overstate. They are also easily one of my Top 10 all-time favourite musical acts ever. Hatful of Hollow was the band's second album, but it's a bit of a weird one and very often not really considered a "proper" Smiths album. Though in my book it is absolutely a legitimate album by the group. What happened was that the band (along with some fans and critics) were disappointed with the slightly sterile, "polished" sound of their debut album. The band's radio sessions from this era had presented a lot of the same material in far more lively and passionate renditions. The idea was hatched to issue some of these radio sessions, as a way of addressing the criticism that the production on the Smith's debut album was receiving from some quarters. These radio tracks were accompanied by some newly recorded material, recent non-album singles that the band had issued since their debut album, a few B-sides, and the original single version of "Hand in Glove" (which was again far superior to the weaker version found on their debut LP). The result was Hatful of Hollow, a brilliant, sixteen track summation of what it was that made the Smiths so special in their earliest period. Classic UK hits like the wistful, but venomous "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" – a song that lyrically straddles the blurred line between loneliness and misanthropy – and "William, It Was Really Nothing", sit beside all-time classic Smiths tracks like "How Soon Is Now?" (the song that even people who don't like the Smiths like!) and "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want". Other stand out tracks – and this is an album consisting entirely of stand-out tracks, in my opinion – would be "This Night Has Opened My Eyes", "Still Ill", and "Back to the Old House". The band's debut single "Hand in Glove" is a contender for 'Greatest love song ever written', as far as I'm concerned, with a rollicking musical backing and beautifully honest lyrics, which capture the intense, self-involved rush of romantic infatuation – " Hand in glove, the sun shines out of our behinds/No, it's not like any other love/This one is different, because it's us." Since it contains vastly superior renditions of key songs from the band's debut album, I have always thought that a good case could be made for treating Hatful of Hollow as the Smiths' debut proper, while bypassing the first album altogether. Like, this is the band's debut 2.0. Anyway, here's the single edit of the majestic and hypnotic "How Soon Is Now?", which I guess is probably the most famous song from the album… |
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Post by berkley on Apr 16, 2024 2:07:32 GMT -5
Worked out the top of my list, so decided to post my picks in two intallments this time. So here's 1984 (6-10). I should note that as with 1974, I found it a bit hard to come up with a list, which is a bit surprising, as by this time I was in my mid-teens and more actively listening to, thinking about and purchasing music. However, it seems that not many individual albums came out this year captured my fancy (meanwhile, going either backward to 1983 or forward to 1985 I think I could easily compile pretty big lists). However, there are a few here that I *really* loved back then and still enjoy now. 10. King Crimson – Three of a Perfect PairThis is very much an honorable mention entry, as I wanted to give a shout-out to the band’s re-formed, Adrian Belew phase – my favorite era of King Crimson is still the first phase and esp. with that mid-‘70s line-up (as evidenced by two of their albums appearing on my 1974 list), but I am fond of this period as well, although mainly 1981’s Discipline, which is pretty damned awesome. The follow-up, Beat, was not quite as good, and this one, I think, is in turn a bit of a step down from that one. Still, it’s a solid release – while many tracks seem to lack that spark that made Discipline in particular so good, the raw talent of veteran members Fripp and Bruford, plus the ‘new guys,’ bassist Tony Levin and, of course, Belew, is still evident here. 9. Honeydrippers – Volume 1Yeah, it’s not a full album, and yeah, all of the tracks are covers, but crap, they are done so well. Who would have thought that Led Zeppelin’s lead singer would excel at belting out old rock standards from the ‘50s/‘60s? Back when it was first released, I couldn’t get enough of it, especially “Rockin’ at Midnight”: 8. Don Henley – Building the Perfect BeastThis one surprised me as a 1984 release, because I so associate it with my senior year of high school, 1985/86, when several songs from it were played extensively on most top 40 and AOR radio stations (it was in fact released late in ’84). Anyway, I really liked this album back then, and even now, I enjoy listening to many of the individual tracks – partly because I think they’re just good, but admittedly also due to nostalgia. So many of them put me back in that place in the mid-1980s, esp. my favorite track from it, then and now, “Sunset Grill”: 7. Branford Marsalis – Scenes in the CityI first became aware of Branford Marsalis after Sting released his first solo album ( The Dream of the Blue Turtles), when his band included a number of mainly jazz musicians (which, besides Marsalis, most notably included keyboardist Kenny Kirkland and drummer Omar Hakim). Not long after that, I ended up getting his (Branford’s) then newly-released album, Royal Garden Blues, and a few subsequent ones, and also sampled his earlier stuff, like this one, his first solo album, which is pretty damn good (and I have to say, I like it better than his kid brother Wynton’s release from the same year, Hot House Flowers – consider this an honorable mention – even though the latter got more critical acclaim and even picked up some awards; I’ve always liked Branford’s music better, partly due to the fact that I prefer sax to trumpet, but also because Branford’s music just seems, I don’t know, warmer to me). 6. Strunz & Farah – FronteraThis is another one that surprised me as a 1984 release (thanks to @kal – I think? Can’t seem to find the post now – for pointing it out), as its year of release never registered with me; I discovered Strunz & Farah some time in late 1990 or 1991, when a co-worker recommended their then pretty new release Primal Magic. I was instantly hooked, and to this day I think that’s by far their best album. However, I did go back and get some of their earlier stuff and of that, I think Frontera is probably one of their stronger releases. For a self-professed prog fan, my familiarity with King Crimson's discography is more patchy than it should be: the only album I heard as a kid in the 1970s was their first one and although since then I've listened to and enjoyed most of their other 70s albums I don't know them well, and their 80s stuff I haven't listened to much at all (though Fripp's 1980 solo album God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners would probably be one of my records of the decade).
The Honeydrippers were one of those things I liked on the radio in a mild way without ever feeling any desire to buy the record. Plant's an interesting performer - I think I almost like him more for his conceptual contributions to Led Zeppelin than for his singing - for me, his high-pitched scream was an acquired taste that I never fully succeeded in acquiring though I learned to appreciate it at certain moments. And when he dropped the scream, that didn't always work for me either - again, with certain very strong exceptions. I honestly dont remember much about Beck's or Page's work on this record, though I consider myself a fan of both.
Henley - I remember hearing the hits on the radio and I enjoyed them in a passive way, nice relaxing music that didn't jar my ears in any way.
Brantford Marsalis I probably didn't hear about until a few years later. I still don't know his music well, or his brother's, though I was aware of Wynton especially as he was getting a lot of exposure in a general way - jazz is something I was exposed to very sporadically and I'm still quite ignorant about it, especially anything more contemporary. I saw him interviewed locally here once and he made a good impression as a person and an artist.
Strunz and Farah - totally new to me, but I like that track. For all its virtuosity there also something primal about it. I'd like to hear more.
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Post by commond on Apr 16, 2024 4:00:48 GMT -5
Sortilège's Sortilège... this was the debut EP of arguably the greatest French metal band of the 80s. They'd follow it up with their blistering debut album, Métamorphose, the following year. I have a real fondness for European metal, but whereas it makes sense for the Nordic countries to produce metal albums, France isn't the first country that springs to mind when it comes to metal. When I think of French music, the first thing that comes to mind is Jacques Brel. But these guys were good. They burnt out reasonably quickly, though.
Warlord's Deliver Us... I'm not a huge power metal fan. I'll listen to it, and there are some bands whose discographies I'll rip through, but I'd much rather listen to other types of metal. That said, this EP and the following year's LP, And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun..., are a decent one-two punch. Another band that broke up too soon.
Minutemen's Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat... One of my favorite EPs from 1983. I think I said it before, but I think I like this better than their LP from the same year. Not that the album is a bad record, it's just that this EP has a fantastic raw sound to it.
Queensrÿche's Queensrÿche... I've never been big on Queensryche. I've tried on several occasions to get into their music, but I'm not a huge fan of mixing prog with metal, and I don't like to think too much when I'm listening to music. If you like high concept metal albums, they're worth listening too.
Husker Du's Metal Circus... another great EP from '83. Another EP that I think is better than the band's LP from the same year. This was the bridge between that record and Zen Arcade, a record which launched the band into another stratosphere.
Minor Threat's Out of Step... this was Minor Threat's third, and final, EP. Some say it's their worst, but is there really a bad Minor Threat record? I don't think so.
Cocteau Twins' Sunburst and Snowblind... pretty music, but it still sounds like they're singing underwater.
The Cure's The Walk... I'm not sure this is all that different from the Japanese Whispers compilation album that came out in '83. 1983 was a transition year for the Cure. There were rumors that they'd broken up or were going to. Instead, they changed music styles. The music they released in '83 was the first step towards that change. Hello, synthesizers.
Butthole Surfers' Butthole Surfers... I always get put off by this band's name, but man was this some noisy ass shit. Very cool!
The Style Council's Introducing the Style Council... I love The Jam. I don't hate The Style Council. I just think the type of music that made was done better by other people. This does have a couple of good songs on it, but like I said, I've heard better blue-eyed-soul.
Gun Club's Death Party... welcome to the party, Gun Club. After releasing two great LPs, the gave us this little gem. Man do I love punk blues. I think I'm gonna crawl down a punk blues rabbit hole after listening to this.
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The band's second single "Two Tribes", an anti-war song dealing with Cold War fears of nuclear Armageddon, was even better and I spent my pocket money on multiple 12" singles of it to get the various mixes of the song ("Two Tribes" was at number 1 in the UK charts for a staggering 9 weeks!). So, it was a no-brainer that I would eagerly pick up the band's debut album when it appeared in October '84.
