Now this is how it started: THE ILX 1980s ALBUM POLL RESULTS!!

Only metal album I voted for was Motorhead's 'No Sleep 'til Hammersmith' and I doubt that it will make the 20.

Prolly same for Straight Outta Compton then...

I have high hopes for Straight Outta Compton.

Straight Outta Compton >>>>>>>>>>>> anything Pixies tbh

Only metal that's probably going to show up is PIL Metal Box/Second Edition. Wouldn't be surprising to see that real soon.

Don't think it was nommed, probably ineligible as it was #8 in the 70s poll.

18. Joy Division - Closer [1980] (255 points, 24 votes)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c314/capasculto/JoyDivision.jpg

Side 2 of Closer is the single most harrowing side of music i've ever heard.Of course that comment is tainted by the fact that i first heard the album about a month or two after his death.By this point i had already picked up Transmission,Atmosphere & Love Will Tear Us Apart & was pretty much expecting the greatest album ever.The production on Closer is brittle & kind of ghostly.I always thought the fuller sound achieved on the singles was a better representation of them,
I bought Unknown Pleasures knowing nothing of the band based on the fact i liked the cover & a review in Sounds.I really dug it but in a year when i bought Wires "154",PIL's "Metal Box.& Magazines first album this was just 1 more really good album. I didn't realize how special Joy Dision was until the release of Atmosphere.
Plus i always wished the guitars on Unknown Pleasures were louder..Therefore i choose Closer.And i still think Love will Tear Us Apart is their weakest single.Personally i prefer Ceremony.But i guess thats for another thread.

― evan chronister (evan chronister), 15. maaliskuuta 2005 4:27

Closer is colder, far more devastating. I think that explains why so many people here (including me) play it far less. It's like a beautiful humongous piece of ice sculpture. Keep wheeling it out and somone's liable to get hurt. Or it might melt, which would be worse. But no, I don't hear sluggish at all.

― David A. (Davant), 15. maaliskuuta 2005 10:14

Closer.

Not Goth or anything to do with Goth, as David A explains brilliantly above. Closer beats UP narrowly because they really pushed themselves to come up with something different and new. The synths were more integral to the sound too. Only New Dawn Fades on UP approaches the wintry, ruined beauty of Isolation, Decades, Heart and Soul and Isolation. By then Curtis knew it was all up, and while it's almost too much to take, like all great albums from the edge, it's also strangely uplifting too. A masterpiece.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), 15. maaliskuuta 2005 10:28

24 hours is totally mindblowing. while most of these tracks have a sense of resignation about them, 24 hours thumps along with a desperate urgency, predicting all things catastrophic and fearing the worst, but scavenging for answers and reason all the same. hope is portrayed in the starkest and most barren of ways - elusive and perhaps unattainable, but within the grasp of imagination.

― Charlie Howard, 11. helmikuuta 2009 16:03

Straight Outta Compton >>>>>>>>>>>> anything Pixies tbh

Apples >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Oranges?

It's nice that the list is still throwing up the occasional total surprise - never would've thought Sandinista! would make it in a million years (It's another entry I've never heard too).

Shame Psychocandy beat Isn't Anything - I didn't hear either 'til long after the '80s but the latter was basically everything I'd hoped for from the former.

damn you capasculto!

haha I think the poster meant it was more deserving of placement. I enjoy both but prolly Pixies just a little more.

I'd love to see PIL place (if theyre eligible) but I've never considered them metal.

closer only #18? i am perplexed. ilm's demographic apparently has changed as someone already said upthread. i was pretty sure closer would make the top ten. maybe there will be some more surprises out there.

I'm thinking Locust Abortion Technician is a lock for top 5.

Speaking as a New Order fan, and a liker of things Joy Division pre-1980, and as an ILMer for seven years, I think Closer is a slight dud. I'd have liked to see it place in the 61-70 range. Ha!

"Shame Psychocandy beat Isn't Anything - I didn't hear either 'til long after the '80s but the latter was basically everything I'd hoped for from the former."

this is completely crazy. and i even like my bloody valentine.

I'm thinking Locust Abortion Technician is a lock for top 5.

if only

Well my top 5 have all appeared so far and I'm certain my number 6 will be in soon, loads of people love Word Up by Cameo right?

this is completely crazy. and i even like my bloody valentine.

I think Psychocandy is fine and I can understand why it's revered but for me IA just has better hooks and a more interesting range of textures (I love the way almost every track has its own guitar sound).

i never thought isn't anything was that strong. not compared to what came after. always sounded uneven and unfinished to me. psychocandy is the whole package. with lots of hooks!

Well I may revisit Psychocandy as part of the huge '80s listening splurge this poll has started me on - I can't have heard the whole thing in years. Power, Corruption & Lies is on right this moment. Great record!

starting to realize there will be no felt on this list. which is ridiculous

felt will always be on my list. in my heart.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that i don't think that MBV made some of the best music of the 80's. but i think that J&MC kinda did.

starting to realize there will be no felt on this list. which is ridiculous

I had that thought too. No Felt, Orange Juice or Magazine which is just kinda wrong. Which Felt record did you vote for?

I voted for the Magazine album nominated, but I think it was released in '79 anyway?

Isn't Anything is a lot more interesting to me than Psychocandy ever was. I like it's femininity for starters, and I like the way it seeks obliteraion in sensuousness rather than in that cliched rock'n'roll nihilism that the MAry Chain peddled. Prefer AR Kane's 69 to both though, and that's where my vote went.

My numbers 2, 5, 6, 8 and 10 have all placed now. No.4 won't, but I'm expecting the others to (though I'm slightly worried about the one with two albums in my top ten but who hasn't appeared at all yet).

Graceland was my no.2 and I'm a little disappointed not to see it higher. Thought it might be a surprise contender - little this year has pleased me more than finding out that everyone had this as their soundtrack for family road trips. I was checking out The Indestructible Beat of Soweto earlier - pretty sure at least one of those and 'Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes' are the same song - it's great obviously, but I think I prefer what Simon's done with it, just because his style adds an extra layer to the music and it all fits well despite itself. He writes a good tune too.

one thing that surprises: no madonna.

and no black flag or butthole surfers

"I like it's femininity for starters, and I like the way it seeks obliteraion in sensuousness"

i get you. this is what i loved about just like honey in 1985.

was hoping Flipper would make the lower reaches of this list...

xpost

Scott, I'll concede that, 'Just Like Honey' is great.

Tuomas are you posting down to no 11 tonight?

17. Kate Bush - The Dreaming [1982] (269 points, 13 votes, 3 first place votes)

http://www.perrific.com/cds/kate.jpg

she's completely unhinged

i think she's a lot more more in control of her mind than people assume -- it's her ideas that are batty, not her. in interviews she always seems to have a very clear picture of what she wants to do creatively.

― el borracho (Jody Beth Rosen), 28. elokuuta 2006

That's a good way to put it I think - the ideas are batty, not her.

I get the impression that she's a quite ordinary person who simply has different or more flexible notions of what music should involve. There's no specific reason why it's batty for singers to impersonate braying donkeys on record, except that this somehow breaks the unwritten rules of what pop music is and isn't allowed to do.

Actually there was a funny interview recently where she was saying how a friend had told her he loved The Dreaming except for the animal impersonations. And she thought to herself, "But I like the animal parts, I thought they were the best bits!"

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), 28. elokuuta 2006 1:48

i'm really sad she never made a video for "get out of my house" (i mean, despite it not being an obvious choice for a single). i do like to direct people who've seen the "wuthering heights" video to the one for "sat in your lap," which is about 43590345x more bonkers.

um, but as far as the actual music is concerned: the most i really can say is give it time, it'll likely grow on you if you're already sympathetic to her overall creative vision. i loved it nearly instantly and i didn't approach it in the way jbr recommends (singles-first), but the donkey braying and the off-kilter production felicities didn't take long to acclimate myself to. after however-many-listens i still can't really pin down what the hell she's doing but that makes it rewarding as well as occasionally (but by all means not often) frustrating.

― joseph (joseph), 28. elokuuta 2006 2:35

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), 28. elokuuta 2006 3:27 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
the dreaming was the first kate bush album i heard, because my dad bought it on a friend's recommendation or something. i used to sit there with the lyric sheet trying to make sense of it. it's still my favorite of hers. i think it's her weirdest in a lot of ways, although i know that is not in itself an automatic selling point. it's murkier and noisier and artier than hounds, but with at least as many good tunes. i love hounds too, it has its own diaphonous mystery thing going on. i just feel like there's more to claw into on the dreaming.

and the cover!

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), 28. elokuuta 2006 3:43

My votes that have placed so far:
1 - Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age of Wireless
2 - ABC - The Lexicon of Love
3 - Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85
6 - XTC - Skylarking
11 - Roxy Music - Avalon
13 - The Cure - Disintegration
15 - Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen
17 - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
22 - Prince - 1999
25 - Donald Fagen - The Nightfly
27 - Cocteau Twins - Treasure

Pretty sure the following will show up:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Kate Bush - The Dreaming <---------- xpost ding ding ding (thought it would place higher...)
Michael Jackson - Thriller
New Order - Technique
Madonna - s/t
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead

The rest fall into two categories at this point: first, the "unlikely but I'm still hoping" albums, and second, the "even as I cast my vote, I knew it wouldn't happen" albums. In the first category:
Joe Jackson - Night and Day
Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
Depeche Mode - Black Celebration

But realistically, Simple Minds aren't going to outscore The Dreaming. (Are they?)

No chance!

If there's no surprises in my schedule I'll probably post 15-11 tomorrow, and the top 10 on Wednesday. Number 16 still to come tonight.

Not when The Cult's Love has yet to place!

Hurrah, Kate has made it after all - there's a weight off my mind. 'Suspended in Gaffa' is amazing, all the more so for being named after gaffer tape.

YES MORE THAN ONE KATE BUSH ALBUM WILL BE IN THE TOP 20

Which Felt record did you vote for?

forever breathes... just because i didn't want to split votes. probably should have gone for both of the albums nom'd

Yeah I went for that one too it's perfect. Strange Idol Patterns would have been just outside for 30.

Bah, there goes my #1. You won't persuade me there are 16 better records than The Dreaming released in the 80s.

18. Closer (255 points, 24 votes)
17. The Dreaming (269 points, 13 votes)

averaging more than double the points-per-vote

i was starting to be afraid the dreaming wouldn't show up at all. glad it did.

and those points-per-vote aren't surprising. as the kate poll showed, it's the kate bush fan's kate bush album.

I never had any doubt it would. I voted for Hounds of Love, but I could've just as easily voted for The Dreaming.

I didn't think 'The Dreaming' would be so high, I expect 'Hounds of Love' to be top 10 at least, if not top 5.

Not surprised Kate should prompt such deep love, but a little surprised Joy Division don't. Not a single #1 vote for it.

i never understood the appeal of kate bush's singing. liz fraser's voice is so much more angelic. so much more from another world.

I love Liz Frasers voice, I'm still hoping that This Mortal Coil may feature, but it's Kate Bush's sensuality which ultimately winds for me.