Xpost I love "Japanese whispers" but its a compilation more than an album so I decided not to include it.
"Beauty Stab" has got a cult following of late and was an admirably bloody-minded move that confounded their audience but it always sounded stodgy to me. The opening track is great though
― . (Michael B), Friday, 3 May 2019 20:26 (five years ago) link
I believe ABC were never too keen on it either
― . (Michael B), Friday, 3 May 2019 20:27 (five years ago) link
It's my favourite ABC album these days - I listen to it far more than The Lexicon of Love even. I like it that they tried something different on it, and again on ...Zillionaire!.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 3 May 2019 20:31 (five years ago) link
my 1983 fave is meat puppets ii but from this list it is "soul mining". "uncertain smile" is about the most perfect song in the world.
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Friday, 3 May 2019 21:43 (five years ago) link
sorry to say - and don't listen to me - but i am really getting pissed off with all these lists of supposed to be missing albums in the poll. instead it would be more interesting oto discuss about the greatness of the albums on the list. i never get tired of the keyboard on "uncertain smile".
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Friday, 3 May 2019 21:49 (five years ago) link
Yes people banging on about why I didn't include <insert obscure album here> is a royal pain in the hole.
― . (Michael B), Friday, 3 May 2019 21:53 (five years ago) link
but he just did it!
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Friday, 3 May 2019 22:16 (five years ago) link
sorry to say - and don't listen to me - but i am really getting pissed off with all these lists of supposed to be missing albums in the poll.
Oh no, that's unfortunate.
instead it would be more interesting oto discuss about the greatness of the albums on the list.
Go on, then... I'm listening!
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 3 May 2019 22:22 (five years ago) link
I haven't seen anyone mention anything obscure in this thread yet, although I'd welcome it while we're already here discussing the year in question.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 3 May 2019 22:26 (five years ago) link
Some great records here but this was an easy vote for Murmur, that'd be a contender for my favourite album of the whole decade.
(xposts) Meat Puppets II is '84 isn't it?
― Gavin, Leeds, Friday, 3 May 2019 22:29 (five years ago) link
Meat Puppets ii is '84
― . (Michael B), Friday, 3 May 2019 22:34 (five years ago) link
Rolling Stone were really into Murmur at the time of its release, and I wonder how much of that had to do with the fact that they reminded Wenner and co. of The Byrds. There's some neat production touches on Murmur and I like the album plenty, but R.E.M.'s anti-synth stance and emphasis on "timelessness" was seen as a good thing and it seems very rockist now. Thankfully, even Stipe realised this himself later down the line.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 3 May 2019 22:48 (five years ago) link
(I should add that I'm a massive R.E.M. fan, but they never were a forward-thinking band)
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 3 May 2019 22:51 (five years ago) link
Everything Falls Apart was a huge leap beyond what preceded it, but Metal Circus was a huge leap beyond EFA. Amazingly, both were released in the same year, and I woulda voted for Metal Circus, but despite only being 25 seconds shorter than EFA, it’s an EP.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 3 May 2019 23:02 (five years ago) link
Has to be N'Order this time. Though Jonzun Crew and, in a similar vein, the Go-Betweens are there and there about.
― Ned Caligari (Tom D.), Friday, 3 May 2019 23:21 (five years ago) link
hmmm, i don't know, something about '83 not much grabbing me, the stuff i notice right away is the stuff that nobody was actually listening to in '83, like lewis and william onyeabor. no sight of my favorite '83 record, "a big 10-8 place" by negativland
well, here are some more records nobody was listening to in '83!
abbildungen variete - s/tadrian belew - twang bar kingafrican head charge - drastic seasonalcides neves - destrambelhar ou naoalice cooper - dadaangel rada - upadesaaugustus pablo - earth's rightful ruler
(haha we haven't even gotten to the alphabetically first one on the poll yet...)
bacamarte - depois do fimchasar - s/tclara mondshine - memorymetropoliscosmos - musitopiadavid hykes - hearing solar windsdiethelm & famulari - s/tdif juz - who says so?djeli moussa diawara - yasimikadvouleta fama - studio 1983franco messina - medio occidentegwen guthrie - padlock (special mixes by larry levanharry forbes a.o. - video-tech 1hiroyuki namba - nikousen no ue no synthesizer hikihoward shore - videodromekiyohiko senba and his haniwa all stars - haniwalalgudi jayamaran & ustad amjad ali khan - south meets north: violin & sarad jugalbandilifetones - for a reasonlio - suite sixtinemiharu koshi - tutunegativland - a big 10-8 placepink floyd - the final cutrare silk - new weaverodrigo gonzalez - hurbanistoriasseaside lovers - memories in beach housesolar - faith for my mindstrange advance - worlds awaysun ra - a fireside chat with lucifertelectu - belzebuupper astral - journey to the edge of the universeyou - time codezelda - carnavalcioccolata - tra special - cioccolata100 flowers - s/t
anyway i voted for "holy diver"
― Burt Bacharach's Bees (rushomancy), Friday, 3 May 2019 23:36 (five years ago) link
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan)
sorry to say i'm going to continue pissing you off :) if somebody has something interesting to say about "kill 'em all" please don't let me stop you, but i don't. my lists are meant to be complementary, and my belief is that there's always room for more good music!
― Burt Bacharach's Bees (rushomancy), Friday, 3 May 2019 23:38 (five years ago) link
>kiyohiko senba and his haniwa all stars - haniwa
*****
― Milton Parker, Friday, 3 May 2019 23:43 (five years ago) link
I'm just delighted that there's someone else on here that rates DaDa!
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 3 May 2019 23:46 (five years ago) link
Was seriously tempted to vote for Perverted by Language but ultimately went with the soundtrack to my favorite movie of all time. Wouldn't be surprised if I end up being the only voter for that album.
― The Colour of Spring (deethelurker), Saturday, 4 May 2019 01:26 (five years ago) link
murmur
― american bradass (BradNelson), Saturday, 4 May 2019 01:45 (five years ago) link
1983 ain’t no 1982...
― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Saturday, 4 May 2019 02:59 (five years ago) link
I do have a pet album or two missing here but I'm way too stoked to about the inclusion of Lost in Space and Good Name to have any real grievance against this polk
― think the toledo mud hens but for twitter (Drugs A. Money), Saturday, 4 May 2019 03:37 (five years ago) link
A less impressive selection this time around--not a dig at Michael's list; just an acknowledgement that 1983 wasn't as strong as 1980-2--but She's So Unusual remains a template for how a debut pop record should be done.
― Timothée Charalambides (cryptosicko), Saturday, 4 May 2019 03:49 (five years ago) link
script of the bridge
― :∵·∴·∵: (crüt), Saturday, 4 May 2019 05:28 (five years ago) link
sorry to say i'm going to continue pissing you off :) if somebody has something interesting to say about "kill 'em all" please don't let me stop you, but i don't.
to be honest i don' t know most of the albums here very well, so i will try to check some of them out. i think i'll start with the aztec camera.
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Saturday, 4 May 2019 12:20 (five years ago) link
As usual for this era, lots of stuff that I like, nothing that I really love. I'll have to mull it over.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 4 May 2019 12:24 (five years ago) link
Hm, Def Leppard vs Philip Glass vs REM vs Sonic Youth. Btw, did REM have an 'anti-synth' stance, aside from just not using synths? Honestly curious if they said something like that.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Saturday, 4 May 2019 15:21 (five years ago) link
Went for Confusion Is Sex in the end, of course.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Saturday, 4 May 2019 15:22 (five years ago) link
I dont think REM had an avowed anti-synth stance
― . (Michael B), Saturday, 4 May 2019 15:33 (five years ago) link
Listening Script of the Bridge and a) goddamn Up the Down Escalator is good and ii) how did Interpol get away with it?
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Saturday, 4 May 2019 16:18 (five years ago) link
early on Michael Stipe had a synthy side project, Tanzplagen (Wikipedia informs me he played Farfisa organ, but that may have been the closest he could get to a synth in 1980-81)
― Brad C., Saturday, 4 May 2019 18:13 (five years ago) link
Hard to argue with Murmur or Speaking in Tongues, but I'm voting Synchro System.
Replacements Hootenanny missing from list.
― stop torturing me ethel (broom air), Saturday, 4 May 2019 20:28 (five years ago) link
This may be my favourite year for music in the 80s. From the list I'm going with Before Hollywood, the Go-Betweens most hungry, astringent and poetic album. I never get tired of it.
The most important album of 1983 for me (and befitting my nom de ILX) was Stavros Xarhakos' remarkable original soundtrack for Kosta Ferris's film Rebetiko. He managed to craft deeply soulful music which existed simultaneously in 1933 and 1983, reinvigorating a genre that was trapped in amber by revivalists. When I heard it, and contemporaneous albums by Nikos Papazouglou, Haris Alexiou, Aki Panou and others, I knew it was the music I wanted to play. It changed my life and led me on a fantastic and continuing musical journey.
― Ρεμπετολογια, Saturday, 4 May 2019 20:58 (five years ago) link
Sonic Youth – Confusion is SexSuicidal Tendencies – s/tSwans – FilthTalking Heads – Speaking in TonguesU2 – WarViolent Femmes – s/t
are my top 6.
― nicky lo-fi, Sunday, 5 May 2019 02:32 (five years ago) link
Oh hey, i see my favorite Wipers album on the list
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Sunday, 5 May 2019 04:57 (five years ago) link
The most important album of 1983 for me (and befitting my nom de ILX) was Stavros Xarhakos' remarkable original soundtrack for Kosta Ferris's film Rebetiko.
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Sunday, 5 May 2019 10:17 (five years ago) link
I remember 1983 well, it would be a final pick from Punch The Clock, Cafe Bleu and Power, Corruption and Lies.
PCL it is.
― Mark G, Sunday, 5 May 2019 17:29 (five years ago) link
Much easier than '82, Rain Parade, no hesitation.
― MaresNest, Sunday, 5 May 2019 19:04 (five years ago) link
By sheer coincidence was listening to the P Funk Allstars album from ‘83 this afternoon...probably not the best album of the year but sounded pretty pretty good...
― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Monday, 6 May 2019 01:09 (five years ago) link
I tell you what: I'm checking put that 100 Flowers album mentioned upthread rn and it sounds like a total front-to-back classic punk album. Lots of different ideas bumping up against each other
― think the toledo mud hens but for twitter (Drugs A. Money), Monday, 6 May 2019 07:28 (five years ago) link
first answer was the correct one.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Monday, 6 May 2019 16:21 (five years ago) link
(i voted high land)
i tried aztec camera again, i like his voice but the music just does zero for me.
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Monday, 6 May 2019 19:07 (five years ago) link
Maybe you are more Hollywood than Westwood
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Monday, 6 May 2019 19:32 (five years ago) link
I voted Aztec Camera, too.
― Have you tried Night of Olay? (I M Losted), Monday, 6 May 2019 22:47 (five years ago) link
could vote for any of these, this is absurdly hard:
Aztec Camera – High Land Hard RainEcho and The Bunnymen – PorcupineESG – Come Away with ESGKing Sunny Ade and His African Beats – Synchro SystemMadonna – s/tPhilip Glass - KoyaanisqatsiR.E.M. – MurmurThe Go-Betweens – Before HollywoodThe The – Soul MiningTom Waits – SwordfishtrombonesViolent Femmes – s/tWilliam Onyeabor – Good NameZZ Top – Eliminator
Murmur, Before Hollywood, and Koyaanisqatsi jump out, but Aztec Camera and Madonna are nipping at their heels
― i think ur a controp (voodoo chili), Monday, 6 May 2019 22:54 (five years ago) link
ZZ Top, Def Leppard, The Police, Dio, Motley Crue & U2 were my tapes of these back in the day.
― earlnash, Tuesday, 7 May 2019 02:20 (five years ago) link
maresnest so otm
― campreverb, Tuesday, 7 May 2019 02:43 (five years ago) link
Tough one. Would have gone for Tears for Fears - The Hurting, were it listed. The Police, U2, Def Leppard were the hard-to-evict residents on my tape deck that year. Picked The The due to falling hard for the "Uncertain Smile" 12".
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Tuesday, 7 May 2019 20:38 (five years ago) link
Wow the Violent Femmes debut got zero points. There's a band that's fallen out of fashion. Along with REM, they would've been the critics fave new US band of '83
― . (Michael B), Friday, 10 May 2019 06:14 (four years ago) link
Best Album on My Favourite Albums of......1984!!
― . (Michael B), Friday, 10 May 2019 16:12 (four years ago) link
They meant pretty much jack shit in the UK, though.
(xpost)
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 10 May 2019 16:36 (four years ago) link
"Blister In The Sun" was a 90s indie disco staple
― . (Michael B), Friday, 10 May 2019 16:58 (four years ago) link
Somehow I feel like we've had this conversation before?
― Ned Caligari (Tom D.), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:10 (four years ago) link
It managed to get snuck into a couple of ads in the '90s, but that was many years later.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:26 (four years ago) link
― . (Michael B)
The first time I heard Blister In The Sun was when The Wannadies covered it in the mid 90s. It was definitely played a lot in indie clubs when I started going to them the late 90s.
― kitchen person, Friday, 10 May 2019 17:30 (four years ago) link
The first I heard of 'em was also in the late '90s, through a combination of 'Blister in the Sun' being on some advert and the fact that they kept being cited by American music nerds. I mean, I've said this before, but they were definitely an American phenomenon.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:44 (four years ago) link
I don't particularly want to open this can of worms again but they seem to have been markedly more popular in the US. As for meaning 'jack shit' in the UK, well, that's fair enough if the Go-Betweens, for example, or any number of well-regarded 'indie' bands who never quite broke through to the mainstream are also described as meaning 'jack shit'. I think it's a bit harsh, personally.
― Ned Caligari (Tom D.), Friday, 10 May 2019 17:57 (four years ago) link
... well-regarded indie bands in the 80s, that is.
i heard blister in the sun in a pub in glasgow last time i was home in september.
― findom haddie (jim in vancouver), Friday, 10 May 2019 18:00 (four years ago) link
I suppose one of the genuinely good things about the internet is that it's allowed the music of the likes of The Go-Betweens to reach ears that it otherwise wouldn't have done. I mean, we can comfortably say now that they should have been on the same level career-wise as The Smiths in the UK in the '80s, but it would be inaccurate to say that they actually were at the time. The first Violent Femmes album is regularly touted on the internet as a classic, and I guess in a way its visibility has only increased over time outside of American music geek circles (appearances in 1,000 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die etc., a regular staple on "best albums of the '80s" lists, Gordon Gano allowing 'Blister in the Sun' to advertise all kinds of stuff), while not quite getting critical blowjobs on the same level as the Go-Betweens.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 10 May 2019 18:17 (four years ago) link
Perverted by LanguageMark Stewart + the Maffia - Learning to Cope with CowardiceConfusion is SexGood Name100 Flowers s/t hahaThe Raincoats - MovingCircle X - PrehistoryEmergency Third Rail Power TripLost in SpaceYellowman - GuzungguzungguguzungguzengNona Hendryx - NonaShe's So UnusualThree O'Clock - Sixteen TambourinesCome Away with ESGNeil Young - TransB-52s - Whammy
― think the toledo mud hens but for twitter (Drugs A. Money), Friday, 10 May 2019 20:04 (four years ago) link
I don't know the 0 votes get ordered, but the right album ended up at the bottom of the list.
― enochroot, Friday, 10 May 2019 20:14 (four years ago) link
You have to give them kudos for making their guitars sound like bagpipes!
OK they're in no way cool, but I have a lot of affection for their slightly ludicrous but very effective rousing bloodboiler anthems
― . (Michael B), Friday, 10 May 2019 20:30 (four years ago) link
I should go on a Big Country binge. They were Glenn McDonald's alltime favorite band back in the 90s when he was writing The War Against Silence (which I used to read as a teenager)
― think the toledo mud hens but for twitter (Drugs A. Money), Friday, 10 May 2019 20:50 (four years ago) link
There's nothing wrong at all with The Crossing. Of course, I thought Adamson was better with The Skids, but I'm proud to say that Big Country album is a favourite of mine. 'Inwards' in particular really gets me going... love the guitar interplay on that, and the whole album. It's a shame that Steeltown and the follow-ups weren't as good.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 10 May 2019 21:00 (four years ago) link
I used to read Glenn McDonalds blog too. It was odd reading praise heaped on stuff like Big Country and Marllion at the time.
"Steeltown" is his favourite album of all time iirc. Tbh none of their albums after "The crossing" did much for me either.
― . (Michael B), Friday, 10 May 2019 21:20 (four years ago) link
they had some great singles but albumswise the 1st one is all you need plus the best of comp
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Friday, 10 May 2019 21:38 (four years ago) link
^ Yeah, absolutely. Even if the albums after The Crossing weren't as good, they still had the occasional decent single. 'Look Away', for example.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 10 May 2019 21:40 (four years ago) link
Hello to the three other people who voted for Philip Glass! Maybe we can all gather one day on someone's couch and watch Koyaanisqatsi together.
― The Colour of Spring (deethelurker), Thursday, 16 May 2019 23:50 (four years ago) link
I knew I should have voted for Big Country. I actually like the first three albums pretty well, but definitely The Crossing is the best. Steeltown has some good songs but the Lillywhite production half-buries it. There's a point where reverb just becomes murk.The Seer has Look Away and a nice Kate Bush duet. And now Big Country always makes me think of Bimble (R.I.P.), the Big Country threads were where I bonded with him. He would be righteously appalled by the zero votes.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, 17 May 2019 02:55 (four years ago) link
steeltown kinda falls off after the first two songs, but man those first two songs are awesome.
― brimstead, Friday, 17 May 2019 03:02 (four years ago) link
I agree about the production on Steeltown. It's weird, because Lillywhite did such a great job on The Crossing.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 17 May 2019 14:56 (four years ago) link
Could be the band wanted a change in sound?
― Ned Caligari (Tom D.), Friday, 17 May 2019 15:01 (four years ago) link
Yeah, it could well have been - and plausible - that the band wanted to make a different kind of record. I just don't think Steeltown sounds all that great - unusual for Lillywhite in that era.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, 17 May 2019 15:09 (four years ago) link
1. R.E.M.: Murmur2. OMD: Dazzle Ships3. The Three O’Clock: Sixteen Tambourines4. The Fun Boy Three: Waiting5. The The: Soul Mining6. XTC: Mummer7. White Door: Windows8. Republika: Nowe sytuacje9. Tears for Fears: The Hurting10. Captain Sensible: The Power of Love11. Dolly Mixture: The Demonstration Tapes12. Serious Drinking: The Revolution Starts at Closing Time13. The Gist: Embrace the Herd14. A Flock of Seagulls: Listen15. Nits: Omsk16. Eddie & Sunshine: Perfect Strangers17. Soft Cell: The Art of Falling Apart18. New Order: Power, Corruption and Lies19. Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)20. Heaven 17: The Luxury Gap21. Madonna: Madonna22. Aviador Dro: Sintesis23. The Church: Seance24. Glamour: Guarda tus lágrimas25. Nacht und Nebel: Beats of Love26. Andreas Dorau: Die Doraus und die Marinas geben offenherzige Antworten auf brennende Fragen27. ESG: Come Away With the ESG28. Bauhaus: Burning From the Inside29. Cocteau Twins: Head Over Heels30. Violent Femmes: Violent Femmes
― zeus, Thursday, 14 January 2021 20:32 (three years ago) link