What an album! Certainly beats my 1983 option of Soul Mining. I had a group of friends who spent a lot of time on this, many years after its release. I also remember my Dad’s response when I played Add It Up on cassette in the car- “I don’t ever want to hear that in the house”.
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Peaked at 171 in the US (34 here), and took eight years to go platinum.
And they’ve been trying to recapture it ever since…
Why Do Birds Sing? is the next best thing, but none of them have really come close. They’re still great live though. They know what side their bread is buttered on and that debut is always liberally mined in their setlist…
I bought Why Do Birds Sing.
Their singles are pretty good, but I agree about the albums.
Amazing live, too.
If your after ‘80s compilations, this one has the best title ever.
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Sorry i’m a few days late to the party. Looks like this has been the most popular thread so far.
1980 Joy Division - Closer
1981 Rush - Moving Pictures
1982 Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
1983 R.E.M. - Murmur
1984 The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
1985 Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
1986 The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
1987 Midnight Oil - Diesel and Dust
1988 Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
1989 Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
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trying to get a head start on the 90s. Got to 1994 and I think my computer just blew up. Unbelievable year.
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80 - ACDC - Back In Black
81 - VH - Fair Warning
82 - Chisel - Circus Animals
83 - Huey Lewis - Sports
84 - VH - 1984
85 - JCM - Scarecrow
86 - VH - 5150
87 - GNR - Appetite F/D
88 - VH- OU812
89 - Skid Row - Skid Row
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94 would probably have to be my favourite year of music ever.
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Just realised I’ve been playing Strangeways backwards all these years.
Would have lost a Lot of money if anyone wanted to bet what the first track on it was.
Oh well.
Just got around to editing this selection. Just did the 1990’s and still got the best movies to complete.
- My Life in the Bush of Ghosts – Brian Eno & David Byrne.
- Heaven up Here – Echo & The Bunnymen just in front of Tattoo You – The Rolling Stones, & Tom Tom Club – self titled debut.
- 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 – Midnight Oil (best Ozzie album ever pour moi) a half length in front of Love Over Gold – Dire Straits (my fave LP of theirs), then followed home by English Settlement – XTC.
- Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence soundtrack, by Ryuichi Sakamoto and won a BAFTA for best film music. People who know the film, will be familiar with the way the soundtrack stands out from the film itself, and becomes an entity in its own right.
Honourable mentions: Synchronicity – The Police, a nose in front of Speaking in Tongues – Talking Heads two lengths back to War – U2. - The Swing – INXS, their most consistent album? Certainly to that stage. I saw their first gig in Melbourne, when they filled in for Kevin Borich at the pub across the road from South Yarra station. Even then it was obvious Hutchence had star quality written all over him.
Honourable Mentions; The Unforgettable Fire – U2. I had been following the band for a while, and this album was making other people sit up and start to take notice as well. A Walk Across the Rooftops – The Blue Nile, Welcome to the Pleasure Dome – Frankie Goes to Hollywood, It’s My Life – Talk Talk. - Songs From the Big Chair – Tears for Fears.
Honourable mentions: Love – The Cult, Suzanne Vega self–titled, White City; A Novel – Pete Townsend, Be Yourself tonight – The Eurythymics. - So – Peter Gabriel.
Honourable mentions: Gossip – Paul Kelly. - Homeboy – Eric Clapton, soundtrack to the movie. During the 1980’s Clapton’s best work, as in his playing and composing was on a series of soundtracks, like the Lethal Weapon movies and the original TV series Edge of Darkness for the BBC, and Rush. This one though is the pick of bunch.
Honourable mention: The Joshua Tree – U 2. - Rattle & Hum U 2. This double album has a bit of everything, including a duet with B.B. King. I took an old gf to see this show when it toured. She had never been to a rock concert before. B.B. King and his band were the guest artists and played for an hour or first. At the end of his set she stood up and said, “That was great, let’s go.” Luckily the ex–students l was also there with helped me convince her that the show wasn’t over. King or course made a cameo with the band on When Love Comes to Town, a grinding, pulsing rocker.
Honourable mentions: Starfish – The Church. The band at their most ethereal, even if Steve Kilby is not so enamoured of this album, these days, l love the jangling, Byrds like guitars and the understated vocals.
The Stone Roses – Self Titled album. As mentioned by Jack Black in the film High – Fidelity, this band took over from Echo & The Bunnymen, with plenty of that drum machine driven thing going on. - Let the Day Begin – The Call. The band had been building towards this release with the two previous releases, but really hit their straps on this effort. Sadly the follow up undid all the good work, and l believe became a major reason for the band breaking up.
Honourable mention: Good Evening – Marshall Crenshaw.
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Hmmmm, just gone down a bit of a rabbit hole (was actually trying to work out when Deborah Conway’s String of Pearls was released, but turns out that was in the 90s) and just wanted to add the “Sweet and Sour” soundtrack - The Takeaways as an honorable mention to 1984.
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Love it.
Does Ian Moss sing It’s a Game?
Sounds like him, but might not be.
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Wikipedia says Don Walker
Yeah, wikipedia said Sharon O’Neill sang most of the tracks until I edited it myself ten years or so ago.
I have no doubt Walker wrote it.
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Haha. Good work. Might see if I can find the tape!
Seem to have missed this thread, Swoods. @swoodley
Sorry, but am sitting on the fence for 1980 and 1989.
1980 London Calling - The Clash/ Back in Black - AC/DC
1981 Moving Pictures - Rush
1982 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Midnight Oil
1983 Power, Corruption & Lies - New Order
1984 1984 - Van Halen
1985 Brothers in Arms - Dire Straights
1986 Master of Puppets - Metallica
1987 Appetite for Destruction - Guns N Roses
1988 Surfer Rosa - Pixies
1989 (almost impossible to list one) Doolittle - Pixies/ The Stone Roses (self titled)/ Bleach - Nirvana/ The Real Thing - Faith No More/ Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue
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there is one for each decade
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Holy crap! Really? Well, I will just have to hunt them down shortly and have a think. Cheers.
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Yeah, the 90’s one is friggin good reading.
These threads were kind of the precursor to the DJ Thread.
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