#GreatAlbums1980s - #TomWaits - Rain Dogs (1985). Waits mined the American avant garde (artists like Captain Beefheart and Harry Partch), mixing in a touch of blues and street jazz on Rain Dogs. Scattershot poetry and tales of down and out drifters alternate with achingly forlorn ballads, such as "Time" and "Blind Love." Keith Richards joins on a few tracks on the album that became the centerpiece of Waits's 1980s trilogy of twisted Americana.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #BobDylan – Oh Mercy (1989). For decades, those convinced Dylan was finally done were forced to eat their words whenever the Bobmeister made one of his occasional returns (mostly) to form. Oh Mercy swept aside a decade of middling LPs with a set charged with passion and indignation on "Political World," "Everything is Broken" and the astounding "What Was It You Wanted." Daniel Lanois captured Dylan's aging rasp against a touch of Louisiana swamp boogie.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #ChrisRea – The Road to Hell (1989). UK guitarist-singer-songwriter Rea spent a decade in the wilderness, plying his brand of blues-oriented pop on low-key LPs and the odd hit ("Fool If You Think It's Over). In '89, he delivered this full-scale commentary on global uncertainty amid creeping conservatism. "The Road to Hell, Part 2" and "Texas" weren't exactly protest songs, but their anxious deliberations were Rea's topical expression of his personal blues.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #JohnCougarMellencamp – Scarecrow (1985). Dismissed by some as a low-rent Springsteen, Mellencamp turned heads with this searing set of roots-rock anthems. Drawing on various 60s tropes, songs like "Rain on the Scarecrow" and "Lonely 'Ol Night" thrived on blistering Telecasters and Kenny Aronoff's cracking snare. The retro stance of "R.O.C.K. in the USA" reached 80s kids who might not have bothered with Bobby Fuller or Jackie Wilson otherwise.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #BruceSpringsteen – Born in the USA (1984). One of rock's most misunderstood songs, "Born in the USA" is the pitch-black recollection of a Vietnam vet – made subversive by the massive airplay it garnered (fooling Ronald Reagan in the process). The rest of the album sweetens the E-Street sound with Roy Bittan's glittering keyboards and a little more 80s pomp, but when you dig in further, songs like "Downbound Train" and "Dancing in the Dark" are prime Bruce.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #BruceSpringsteen – The River (1980). This sprawling double LP has been overshadowed by what came before and after, but a little trimming would have made it a top-rank entry in Springsteen's glory period. "The Ties That Bind," "Independence Day" and "Point Blank" are all fractured Americana in the vein of Darkness at the Edge of Town, while "The River," "Stolen Car" and "Wreck on the Highway" are Nebraska tunes without the lo-fi minimalism.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #TheBevisFrond – Triptych (1988). Nick Saloman recorded this underground psych-rock album in the back room of his home in Walthamstow, London. Perched in weird sonic territory between XTC's neo-psychedelia and Guided by Voices' Portastudio pomp, Triptych veers from the fuzzy power pop of "Lights Are Changing" to the epic freakout of "Tangerine Infringement Beak" (surely one of history's great song titles). 24 albums later, Saloman is still going strong.
#GreatAlbum1980s - #GunsNRoses – Appetite for Destruction (1987). I've learned to separate utter contempt for certain artists (Morrissey, David Lee Roth, Axl Rose, etc.) from appreciation of the music they helped make. Appetite didn't reinvent rock, but it dialed back the hairspray long enough to induce a touch of grit and danger. And while I can do without hearing "Sweet Child 'o Mine" ever again, "Night Train," "Paradise City," etc. pack a wallop it would be churlish to deny.
#GreatAlbums1980s: ZZ Top – Eliminator (1983). This blockbuster shifted 11 million units while alarming long-term fans suspicious of ZZ's use of synthesizers and drum machines. Today Eliminator can be heard for what it is – a studio-enhanced version of ZZ's classic Texas blues-rock. "Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Got Me Under Pressure" and "Sharp Dressed Man" pack a punch. "Legs" is a little more high-tech, but most rockers have come to embrace the LP for its hooks and solid riffs.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #BlueÖysterCult – Fire of Unknown Origin (1981). BOC occupied a space between FM radio rock and a horror-story world of their own making. This LP at first sounds like a mainstream gambit, with the concise title track and shiny pop staple "Burnin' for You" up front. Things get odder as "Veterans of the Psychic Wars" trips collaborator Michael Moorcock's alternate universe and "Joan Crawford" resurrects the cinema diva as a zombie freak terrorizing Brooklyn.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #VanHalen – Women and Children First (1980). With all of David Lee Roth's determination to undo his legacy, it can be hard to remember that he once fronted a band so scintillating in energy they reinvented hard rock for a new generation while running their steamroller across the heavy metal parking lot. This LP heavies up the VH sound, before the drunkenness and radio-friendliness set in. Eddie Van Halen manages, of course, to squeeze out a note or two.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #ACDC – Back in Black (1980). An LP conceived in grief as "Hells Bells" tolls for Bon Scott, the set shifts into forward thrust as Brian Johnson asserts his single malt howl against Angus and Malcolm's leathery guitars. You know the famous tunes, but "Given the Dog a Bone" and the defiant "Have a Drink on Me" are as capable of shaking the rafters. Also, for once, a production by the overrated Mutt Lange not intent on drowning the artists in glossy syrup.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #AprilWine – The Nature of the Beast (1981). This Maritime founded/ Montreal-based band was "world famous in Canada" (Richler's phrase) years before they hit global notoriety from gigs with the Stones and at the first UK Monsters of Rock. This LP was their creative apex, as leader Myles Goodwyn delivered power pop gems ("All Over Town," "Big City Girls"), cosmic metal anthems ("Future Tense," "Crash and Burn"), and a couple of charged-up power ballads.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #KingsX – Gretchen Goes to Nebraska (1989). The fate of hard rock (as distinct from metal) in the 80s was to be caught between polarities as bands toughed it out live while selling just enough units to survive. Kings X had their fans, though, and Gretchen anticipated the prog-metal boom of the 90s – also the moon-drenched harmonies of Alice in Chains. dUg and Ty Tabor are as adept at soulful melodies as bone-crushing rock, making Kings X a feast of variety.
#GreatAlbums1980s: #Rush – Moving Pictures (1981). Withstanding the prog backlash of the early 80s, Rush reinvented their sound with (relatively) concise songs, keyboard layering, and hooks irresistible to FM radio. "Tom Sawyer," "Red Barchetta" and "Limelight" brimmed with new energy, as Geddy Lee's vocals matured, Alex Lifeson's guitar grew concise, and Neil Peart's drumming reached its apex. For the prog diehards, Side 2 was a cinematic tour-de-force.
#GreatAlbums1980s: Saga – Worlds Apart (1981). Ontario's Saga held the flag for prog rock throughout the 1980s and beyond, quietly selling eight million records to their loyal fanbase. Worlds Apart thrives on Jim Gilmour's glistening synthesizers (80s new wave as much as 70s prog), Ian Crichton's horn-like guitar lines, and Michael Sadler's theatrical vocals. "On the Loose" and "Wind Him Up" are showstoppers, but the whole LP epitomizes Saga's distinct musical stratosphere.
#GreatAlbums1980s: #Yes – 90125 (1983). Prog purists got their space blankets in a bunch when Yes committed the ultimate treason of a No. 1 hit with "Owner of a Lonely Heart" – as if they were ever going to remake Close to the Edge (they still haven't). Views have mellowed since, and Trevor Rabin's presence on "Hold On," "Changes" and "Leave It" reenergizes Jon Anderson and a returning Tony Kaye, against the always interesting bass of Chris Squire.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #Marillion – Misplaced Childhood (1985). One of my favorite concert memories is seeing Marillion play a medium Ontario show bar sometime in the late 80s. The house P.A. broke down, so the group members grabbed acoustic guitars and tambourines, turned the still-working monitors to the crowd, and continued the show. Impressive as Marillion's stamina was the way the songs – minus the amps, electricity, and cascading synths – still worked. That's musicianship.
#GreatAlbums1980s: #KateBush – Hounds of Love (1985). Working increasingly alone on a digital Fairlight, Bush crafts her astonishing tapestry of styles (threads of traditional folk and concerto piano woven into 80s synth textures) on songs of almost cinematic lyrical ambition. "Running Up that Hill" was the massive hit, but Bush's vision is perhaps most acute on "Cloudbusting," a tribute to persecuted inventor William Reich, and Side 2's song cycle, The Ninth Wave.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #TheStoneRoses – The Stone Roses (1989). This hyped-to-death group did for the UK something like REM did for the US – interpreting the past (60s pop jangle, late 60s psych, post-punk diffusion, etc.) in a way that sounded entirely contemporary. Blur, Oasis, Suede, and (the) Verve are their stylistic descendants. But Ian Brown's reverberant vocals and John Squire's squalling guitar made this quintessential Madchester music – the culmination of that scene.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #XTX – Skylarking (1986). Defying the tensions of its making (Andy Partridge and producer Todd Rundgren fought like cats in a sack), Skylarking is a playful mix of 60s-style popcraft, driving power pop and digressions into a whimsical dreamland (recalling, on "Big Day," XTC's alter ego, the faux-psychedelic combo Dukes of Stratosphear). Songs like "The Meeting Place," "Earn Enough for Us" and "Dear God" make the LP a musical gem by the standards of any era.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #PeterGabriel – So (1986). For a period in the mid-80s, commercial pop and musical art cohabitated in the work of artists (Gabriel, Paul Simon, Tears for Fears, Prince, etc.) who could write a hook while also engaging in biting social critique. So blasted from the most obvious places (AM, MTV) with earworms like “Red Rain,” “Sledgehammer” and “Big Time.” But portraits of a society where Gordon Gekko types prospered made the songs ironic and critical, too.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #PeterGabriel – Peter Gabriel (1980). Dubbed “Melt” to distinguish it from his three other self-titled LPs, this album features Gabriel at his most arch and apocalyptic. Modern life shatters and breaks under cymbal-less drums and shockwave keyboards on “Intruder,” “No Self Control,” “I Don’t Remember” and eerie hit “Games Without Frontiers.” Remarkably conversant with the new wave (for an “older” prog rocker), Gabriel stakes his boldest claim on the 1980s.
#GreatAlbums1980s - #TheFall – This Nation's Saving Grace (1985). Mark E. Smith and his band of ruffians defied every convention of what pop music was "supposed" to be. Tied to no certain genre, The Fall were the musical equivalent of a car held together with duct tape. It might get you there, or it might break up and crash on the way. Give it time and This Nation offers up brilliant swipes at modern life on "Barmy," "Gut of the Quantifier" and (on reissue) "Cruiser's Creek."
#GreatAlbums1980s - #TheCult – Electric (1987). The Cult became superstars by making their hook-driven post-punk sound suddenly like AC/DC and Status Quo. This bridging of sensibilities was uncommon in 1987, forging producer Rick Rubin's legend as the great conciliator between cool kids into indie music (or rap) and suburban dads into classic rock. "Wild Flower" and "Love Removal Machine" became scuffed denim anthems. Only an abysmal "Born to Be Wild" caused the set to lag.