1980'S ROCK POLL ALBUMS/TRACKS VOTING THREAD. (Voting closes September 20) (all welcome to vote inc Lurkers)

is Pretty Hate Machine a get out of jail free card?

I think he meant more than 1 token album

I'm trying to remember what I voted for that means Dan will still speak to me.

Hysteria

Open Up And Say...Ahhh!

Slippery When Wet

Holy fucking shit, I'm scanning the remastered deluxe edition of Daydream Nation on iTunes. It sounds so phenomenally better than the 90s Geffen CD I'm used to that I'm a little in shock. The noise break on "Silver Rocket", which I'd thought of as lazy and lacklustre, has so much more detail to it.

The guitars are actually clear and distinct. The drums actually have some presence to them!

I was so excited that I bought it off iTunes instead of holding out for the CDs. Damn.

since we can't post youtubes itt, and as there hasn't been much discussion in the designated tube thread, i'm gonna do a little campaigning for a few forgotten favorites. if you want to hear any of this stuff, videos of most tracks have been posted here.

BAND OF SUSANS - HARD LIGHT
one of my favorite songs of the 80s. band of susans are remembered mostly for stomping guitar machine dance tracks like "hope against hope" and for the heavy metallic din they eventually tunneled into, which makes this yearning, careening pop song somewhat unique in their catalog. should at the very least have been a minor 120 minutes hit, but the band's brief moment had arguably passed by the time love agenda was released, and they buried it near the back anyway. at 2:43 half the layered noise drops out, and susan stenger sings: "i jerk awake, from the distant isle of sleep / dawn cracks, there's a hard light in place of your dreaming face." pins my hair back every time.

CLAW HAMMER - CANDLE OPERA
i'm not sure why i like this song as much as i do. it's more than a little ridiculous, with john wahl yowling like a cat in a lawnmower over greasy, brawling bar band blues rock. i remember being repulsed by it when i first picked up the single, and for a long time preferred "drop", the more agreeably punk-rocking b-side. but "candle opera" wouldn't leave me along. i found myself singing about "long long hair to his shoulders" and "eyes oh those penetrating eyes" as i went about my daily business. it's catchy, despite the grotesque surfaces, and the hairy-chested yawping seems to suit the subject matter. hippie satanists getting freaky in the basement under the laundromat.

DEAD MOON - DEAD MOON NIGHT
dead moon eventually became emblematic of rock as an ideal, and the romantic celebration of their endurance and purity sometimes eclipses the fact that they wrote some amazing goddam songs. "dead moon night" was their first real anthem, and i still think it's the best thing they ever did. like a lot of my favorites here, what i like best about it is the way the music and lyrics combine to create something electrifying that isn't fully present in either. i get chills when fred and toody's voices crack into one another on the chorus: "D for disaster, E for my eye, A for my anger, D before i die!" i don't know why it hits me like it does, but it does, every time.

I was very surprised by that Band of Susans song! That Youtube thread is getting pretty damn unwieldy. Maybe it's best for us to just rep for songs/albums here? Everyone knows how to find something on Youtube.

That's what I've been saying! Rep for albums and tracks here but dont embed youtubes here, embed them on that thread.

Tim, were you saying that the snare drum sounds better on the original vinyl than even on the remastered digital version (of DN)?

stomping guitar machine dance tracks like "hope against hope"

thank you, contenderizer, for generously repping for this song as well. the world needs more stomping guitar machine dance tracks, tbh.

this v. cool track can be heard here:

ILM 80s Rock Playlist/Tracks

http://open.spotify.com/user/1234500846/playlist/1PUCleswca5SrhrBqNMOuD

Band Of Susans are awesome. I picked up a couple of lp's second hand in the 90s due to the page hamilton connection.

Trying to pick my votes has got me wanting to go dig out my old Black Flag mp3s. The song of theirs I can most clearly remember is "Spraypaint" and Hank's growling makes my hair stand up on end a little.

I'd like to rep for Nomeansno's Wrong, one of the most focused and intimidating punk albums I've ever heard. It's got all the threat of violence and chaos of classic 70s punk, but channeled into rehearsed, tight musicianship and thoughtful lyrics. And they eschew conventional sonic structures, playing odd times, sudden tempo shifts, and seamless jazz breaks. "Tired of Waiting" is like a lit fuse, and then the explosion is a single spoken sentence.

Hey Tom, welcome to ILM. You need to check out more Hüsker Dü and I know Butthole Surfers will be right up your alley.
You like Big Black , don't you?

I actually haven't heard any Big Black, although I do like Shellac. I am liking Hüsker Dü more and more as I hear them, eg. "Turn On the News" is great.

Must be thinking of Dan; you should borrow his records.

Hi Tom! :)

I will be voting for all of the Nick Cave and Birthday Party, sometime over the next couple of weeks. I started trying to put together a shortlist yesterday and crikeymoses this one's a lot harder than I thought!

Had my first flypast at both albums and songs. Weirdly, I've got to edit down from 107 on each.

^ I was a massive Huskers fan (where do I find the umlauts) and always found Turn on The News too erm, straight, untwisted rock. (Like Mould today going by the latest on first listen, although "Turn On.." could've been a Hart) ? That said, I know it's one of their hits

Did you see the Aussie rolling stone list posted way upthread?
xp

Rolling Stone - The 100 Greatest Albums Of The 80s
Special Issue 1990

N.B. This List Is From The Australian Edition Of The Magazine And Had The Us List At The Back Of The Magazine. I Have Listed The Us Albums First, With Any Changes In The Australian List In Brackets Next To It.

1. London Calling - The Clash
2. Purple Rain - Prince & The Revolution
3. The Joshua Tree - U2
4. Remain In Light - Talking Heads
5. Graceland - Paul Simon
6. Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
7. Thriller - Michael Jackson
8. Murmur - Rem / (Circus Animals - Cold Chisel)
9. Shoot Out The Lights - Richard And Linda Thompson /(Diesel And Dust - Midnight Oil)
10. Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
11. Get Happy - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
12. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us - Public Enemy / (Kick - Inxs)
13. Diesel And Dust - Midnight Oil / (Human Frailty - Hunters & Collectors)
14. So - Peter Gabriel
15. Let It Be - The Replacements / (True Colours - Split Enz)
16. 1999 - Prince / (Post - Paul Kelly)
17. Synchronicity - The Police
18. Dirty Mind - Prince
19. New York - Lou Reed
20. Pretenders - Pretenders
21. Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
22. The Smiths - The Smiths / (Crowded House - Crowded House)
23. Red - Black Uhuru / (The Smiths - The Smiths)
24. Los Angeles - X / (16 Lovers Lane - The Go-Betweens)
25. Tunnel Of Love - Bruce Springsteen
26. Back In Black - Ac/Dc
27. Appetite For Destruction - Guns 'N' Roses
28. Control - Janet Jackson
29. Double Fantasy - John Lennon & Yoko Ono
30. How Will The Wolf Survive? - Los Lobos
31. Avalon - Roxy Music
32. Uh-Huh - John Cougar Mellencamp
33. Zen Arcade - Husker Du / (Prayers On Fire - The Birthday Party)
34. Tattoo You - The Rolling Stones
35. Kill Em All - Metallica
36. Rapture - Anita Baker / (Eliminator - Zz Top)
37. Midnight Love - Marvin Gaye
38. Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello & The Attractions / (Lovetown - Stephen Cummings)
39. Eliminator - Zz Top / (Rapture - Anita Baker)
40. War - U2
41. Document - Rem
42. Strong Persuader - The Robert Cray Band
43. Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen
44. Oh Mercy - Bob Dylan
45. Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth
46. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (Third Solo Album - 1980)
47. Private Dancer - Tina Turner
48. Skylarking - Xtc / (Quasimodo's Dream - The Reels)
49. Crazy Rhythms - The Feelies / (Cats And Dogs - Mental As Anything)
50. Madonna - Madonna
51. Run Dmc - Run Dmc
52. Making Movies - Dire Straights
53. Bring The Family - John Hiatt / (Born Sandy Devotional - The Triffids)
54. Speaking In Tongues - Talking Heads
55. Centrefield - John Fogerty
56. Closer - Joy Division
57. Empty Glass - Pete Townsend / (The Swing - Inxs)
58. The Indestructible Beat Of Soweto - Various Artists
59. Computer Games - George Clinton / (Brave - Kate Ceberano)
60. The Blue Mask - Lou Reed
61. Doc At The Radar Station - Captain Beefheart
62. Pyromania - Def Leppard / (Time And Tide - Split Enz)
63. Entertainment - Gang Of Four
64. Vivid - Living Colour / (The Pleasure Of Your Company... - Models)
65. In My Tribe - 10,000 Maniacs / (East - Cold Chisel)
66. Fiyo On The Bayou - The Neville Brothers
67. Trouble In Paradise - Randy Newman / (Primitive Man - Icehouse)
68. The Specials - The Specials / (Gossip - Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls)
69. Radio - Ll Cool J
70. Travelling Wilburys Vol. 1 - Travelling Wilburys
71. Crowded House - Crowded House / (10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Midnight Oil)
72. Marshall Crenshaw - Marshall Crenshaw / (The Blurred Crusade - The Church)
73. Building The Perfect Beast - Don Henley
74. Sign O' The Times - Prince
75. She's So Unusual - Cyndi Lauper
76. Second Edition - Public Image Ltd
77. Robbie Robertson - Robbie Robertson
78. Dare - The Human League
79. Guitar Town - Steve Earle / (Tender Prey - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds)
80. Suzanne Vega - Suzanne Vega
81. 1984 - Van Halen / (East Side Story - Uk Squeeze)
82. East Side Story - Uk Squeeze / (1984 - Van Halen)
83. Let's Dance - David Bowie
84. Faith - George Michael
85. Freedom - Neil Young
86. The River - Bruce Springsteen
87. Steel Wheels - The Rolling Stones
88. Lives In The Balance - Jackson Browne
89. Who's Zooming Who - Aretha Franklin
90. ... Nothing Like The Sun - Sting
91. Lyle Lovett - Lyle Lovett / (Stoneage Romeos - Hoodoo Gurus)
92. Full Moon Fever - Tom Petty
93. The Night I Feel In Love - Luther Vandross / (For The Working Class Man - Jimmy Barnes)
94. Power, Corruption & Lies - New Order
95. Scarecreow - John Cougar Mellencamp
96. Colour By Numbers - Culture Club
97. The Mona Lisa's Sister - Graham Parker / (Lovebuzz - The Humingbirds)
98. Labour Of Love - Ub40
99. What's Up, Dog? - Was (Not Was) / (Max Q)
100. Sun City - Artists United Against Apartheid

Had my first flypast at both albums and songs. Weirdly, I've got to edit down from 107 on each.

^ I was a massive Huskers fan (where do I find the umlauts) and always found Turn on The News too erm, straight, untwisted rock. (Like Mould today going by the latest on first listen, although "Turn On.." could've been a Hart) ? That said, I know it's one of their hits

Turn On The News is one of my very fave songs
To get the umlauts I press alt + 0252

Not heard the new Mould yet.

btw what do people think of Swans - The Burning World these days?

Lol at Max Q making the 100

ü

thanks AG. I will have forgotten post ZZZs

Swans were one of the loudest ,angriest bands I saw, back at the Town and County Club about, shit ,25 years ago. Fuck.

How is your hearing?

Tim, were you saying that the snare drum sounds better on the original vinyl than even on the remastered digital version (of DN)?

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Friday, September 7, 2012 2:51 PM (1 hour ago)

No, I don't know. Definitely distorted sounding on the remaster, though; I was wondering if it was a clipping issue.

Wonder how Hüsker Dü CD's would sound remastered thinking about it. What would you guys like to hear differently?

Yeah, the snare drum sound is still frustrating on the remaster. Everything was like that on the 90s CD, seriously!

I better listen to the remastered Loveless. That's an album that I thought could use a good remastering.

It's kind of funny to think of Husker Du albums being remastered. I associate their sound so much with the lo-fi bled-through washout.

What might be revealed in Mould's lead playing? The prospect is exciting to think about.

now that's a good point.

Oh weird, listening to "'Cross the Breeze" now, I feel like things are actually more distorted on the remaster. Maybe the increased volume just made it more immediate on the first listen or at least made everything a bit more audible? Hm. Potential audiophile fail. I'll have to give it time.

I dunno, I still feel like stuff sounds kind of distant on the old CD.

Yeah, drums are worse on the new.

interesting. i have the early 90s geffen CD and remember it clipping at certain sections, nothing too dramatic but the distortion was kind of displeasing at high volumes. as i recall drums sounded just fine tho. anyway 9 times out of 10 the new remasterings alter the essence of certain albums to a ridiculous degree and the supposed improvement in terms of sound quality is at least questionable.

Turn On The News is one of my very fave songs

and, yeah, grant wrote that one. he's much more willing than bob to go for untwisted rock songwriting, and i love him for it.

Bob's guitar at the end is amazing. Wish there was an extended version.

i could never get much into the hüskers but at the same time i really dig 'hold me down' by the goo goo dolls and those guys were basically a dü/mats tribute act at the time. i feel a bit weird about that.

haha HOLD ME UP !!

It seems we have 36 album ballots , 22 tracks ballots and a joker

my albums ballot is set but I need to revisit a lot of these tracks before i vote.

lol what's the joker

Yeah, I guess it's not so much that the drums distort on the 90s disc as that they just seem more distant than they should be to me. (Compare to the drums on Murray Street, especially the presence of the bass drum. Or Scorpions' Taken by Force, which I think is an example of an excellent recording of a heavy rock band from even earlier than SY.) Vocals are a bit like this too. On the remaster, this seems like it's corrected a little but it's at the cost of even more clipping. I guess hearing things in a slightly different way just made it seem a bit new and made the album seem more exciting the first time.

The third Velvets, which Tim mentioned above, is another good reference point.

Yeah, I guess it's not so much that the drums distort on the 90s disc as that they just seem more distant than they should be to me. (Compare to the drums on Murray Street, especially the presence of the bass drum. Or Scorpions' Taken by Force, which I think is an example of an excellent recording of a heavy rock band from even earlier than SY.) Vocals are a bit like this too. On the remaster, this seems like it's corrected a little but it's at the cost of even more clipping. I guess hearing things in a slightly different way just made it seem a bit new and made the album seem more exciting the first time.

This is the whole point of heavy compression and limiting; they're applied to make the recordings seem louder and more exciting and vivid, often at the expense of sound quality (which leads to listening fatigue over longer listening sessions). The liberal use of compression used to be more a feature of commercial radio (and singles destined for commercial radio), where it makes sense in terms of grabbing the listeners' very short attention spans, but over the past, say, fifteen years, listeners in many genres have come to expect a certain loudness from their music as a somewhat ironic signifier of high production values, and many records have been remastered several times over the years to match continually evolving expectations of loudness (which after being on the ascent for years, appear to be leveling off after considerable publicity about the "loudness war" and its toll on sound quality).