1985...

1985 was the one of the best years in music. Period. Existing bands made their classic LPs and new bands stretched boundaries. It was Reagan, Thatcher, and bands had something to say. Hardcore may have been repeating the same thing over and over at this point and New Wave was stretching thin but Disco was deader than a pet rock, mainstream sucked more than usual*, and hair metal was already a joke, a mullet-brained phenomena overtaking the suburbs. Orwell may have warned about 1984 but McCartney warned about 1985.

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20 great LPs to revisit:
BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE - This is B.A.D.. Mick Jones goes part Musique Concrete, part Morricone and of course part Clash. This pastiche sounded like ear candy at first listen but quickly revealed itself as a watershed effort. Meanwhile, Joe was wiping the Clash name in the mud of Cut the Crap (which most fans don't recognize as a 'real' Clash LP). Still a fun journey; play it for your pothead nephew.
BUTTHOLE SURFERS - Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac. With this they became a different beast entirely. The biggest statement of purpose since Metal Box, it's one of those albums that makes you forget what music was like before this. It takes awhile for the ears to grow accustomed and then it evolves from flippant to accidental-genius art. If you've forgotten what it was like at first impact, play "Dum Dum" or "Negro Observer" for your Fogelberg-worshipping office mate - guaranteed you'll grin. (I once used it to clear an apartment of bar-closing hanger's-on). Several of their best tracks are herein: the rave-up "Gary Floyd", the psychedelic "Negro Oberserver", etc. and it's with this release that it became obvious that Paul Leary was approaching the guitar in a unique way. An acquired taste that proves that existence is only relevant to the observer, just like Einstein promised. (This was copyrighted in 1984 but didn't hit turntables until 1985).
KATE BUSH - The Hounds of Love. see breno's review below
CRUCIFUCKS – s/t. At the time, this was interpreted by some as silly baiting of the mainstream. Hardcore fans interpreted it as...just odd, or perhaps outside of the punk beltway (not that it wasn't popular in those circles). The most unique hardcore release of 1985 and great fun. Doc Dart's wailing isn't anything less than authentic; he really meant it and that's hardcore. The most-excellent (dude!) drummer went to greener pastures and you can see why.
CURE - The Head on the Door. Their first LP was almost bubble gum. Then they were a moody goth band. This LP marks their morph to the sound they would be always known for and features the work of Porl Thompson at his most inventive and unleashed. Sure it cops New Order but it's their peak and besides, who didn't?
DAMNED – Phantasmagoria. A little bashed in its day by old Damned fans, it's their most successful LP. No longer a punk band, the transformation was complete to goth-dance and synth-pop. With its trademark 80s, compressed production, and OOP for years, it represents a goth peak while simultaneously leaning forward to gaze at shoes.
FALL - This Nation's Saving Grace. Diehard Fall fans will often say this is the band's pinnacle. And that's out of a catalog of 50-some LPs. One reason is because this was the Brix/Burns/Simon Rogers version of the band. And Mark E wasn't a cool old gremlin. He was a younger one. (The US version contains the crucial Cruiser's Creek).
BRYAN FERRY - Boys & Girls. The only Ferry solo release to approximate what a Roxy LP would have sounded like at the time. The best Ferry release as well. Solid players assembled, great writing and production. (Fun for the kids: While playing the title track, convince yourself he's singing 'poison gulls').
ROBYN HITCHCOCK - Fegmania!. see breno's review below
HÜSKER DÜ - New Day Rising; Flip Your Wig. The Hüsker's biggest year. They were the kings of the indie world and SST couldn't keep their catalog in print. New Day Rising was a metallic sheen of similar-chorded songs that picked up where Zen left off adding a cohesiveness and more standard song structure. It was more written/less improvised. Hot on its heels was Flip Your Wig which had a clearer (for SPOT) production and poppier tunes while still maintaining the assault that was uniquely theirs. Hüsker fans still argue over which of these three is the best of all freaking time.
JESUS and MARY CHAIN – Psychocandy. You either own it or you haven't heard it. This was the turning point of the mid-80s and reeked of cool. How the fuck did this get on a major? Psycho Candy indeed. "I'm from the Jesus and Mary Chain" – Bing Crosby
MEAT PUPPETS - Up on the Sun. The boys whipped out their 2nd of a string of can't-miss LPs. This release, more intricate and softer than the country-punk of II, featured slower rhythms but still had lightning guitar work and brother-duo-jams that are a few of their absolute best.
MINUTEMEN - Project: Mersh. Not the mass statement of Double Nicks. Instead, just a handful of songs that are more developed than any they had done before and a cool in-the-know title. The peak of the band – tragedy would strike in December.
NEW ORDER - Low-life. Less Joy Divy/goth than their past releases but not as poppy as those to come, this was their songwriting at it's strongest. Arguably their best.
REPLACMENTS - Tim. See mats84 review below
SHRIEKBACK - Oil and Gold. Overlooked in the grand scheme of things, or maybe just a sleeper, this is what you get if you imagine combining Barry Andrews (XTC), David Allen (Gang of Four) and Lu Edmunds (PIL, Damned). Adam Schmidt calls this LP "The point from which all modern techno and electronica descends". Sure, that point can be argued, but this blended the best of those above bands into something fun and original. This is also your ace the next time somebody complains about supergroups.
SMITHS - Meat is Murder. Marr's best work? Morrisey's most clever lyrics and delivery? Well, simply one of the best of the 80s. These are the riches of the poor. Each household appliance...
RICHARD THOMPSON - Across a Crowded Room. Everything gelled on this release. The man at his peak form with the classic lineup including Gregson/Collister. Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/How-the-fuck-did-he-do-that/Verse. The companion vid is a classic.
TOM WAITS - Rain Dogs. Compare every Waits release to this for you are a rain dog, too.

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*Radio/MTV was dominated by a cheddar-lite rotation of Wham, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Huey Lewis, Night Ranger, Springsteen's Born in USA, and the biggest 'rock' sensation was Starship's We Built this City



Post Edited (05-11-11 22:59)

KATE BUSH - HOUNDS OF LOVE. Not as groundbreaking as THE DREAMING, but it was the album where Bush most effectively balanced experimentation with accessibility. Side one is completely brilliant - "Running Up that Hill," "Hounds of Love," "The Big Sky," "Mother Stands for Comfort" and "Cloudbusting" - what artist wouldn't kill to have half an album that good? Side two is a little more hit or miss, but "Watching You Without Me," "Jig of Life" and "The Morning Fog" all measure up. The album invented Lilith Rock, which isn't a completely bad thing.

ROBYN HITCHCOCK & THE EGYPTIANS - FEGMANIA. Hitchcock returned from a brief early 80s retirement sounding newly inspired. Still his best post-Soft Boys work, in my opinion - catchy as hell with a great band, great songs, full of whimsy but not to the point of annoying cutesy-weirdness that his late 80s work descended into, and at times surprisingly heartfelt.

KATRINA & THE WAVES - KATW. Okay, I don't know if I'm completely serious about this one, but then again, why not? Was there a better pure pop album released that year? Hitchcock gets most of the former Soft Boy attention, but dammit, Kimberley Rew was pretty damn good, too. (Why did both the main men in the Soft Boys have girl's names, though?) "Walking on Sunshine," "Going Down to Liverpool," "Red Wine & Whiskey," "Que ti Quiero," "The Game of Love"... I think I AM serious about this one needing to be in the top 20. (However, it may be disqualified on the grounds that it was entirely remakes of songs on two earlier import-only albums, so therefore may not really count.)



Post Edited (01-02-06 23:20)

Isn't Squirrel Bait's debut from '85? What a ball of fire that one is ......

The Pagan swoops in and takes your soul on a roundtripper over the hills, through the fields and into the heart of the 80's. Your right, its not THAT long ago. Im a sucker for the ride anyway. Besides, I just played the replacements TIM tonight over champagne. That band was peaking then. Versatility? Power? Humor? They could deliver it all.
Rick Rubin was capturing the thrilling 'licensed to ill.'
Prince is still cool today because of his mid 80's work.
New Order gave the very few egghead new PC owners a reason to dance.
Hardcore? You bet. There was the great Suicidal Tendencies, Gang Green, and Anthrax. There were some kids in my neighborhood that liked smashing their bodies together to Slayer and Pantera. It's sorta funny to think that they are someone's parents now. I wonder if they set aside an hour or so a week to relive the glory days by slammin them youngins around? You know what they say, a family that slams together...
The chevy Citation started up tonight and you got a hot girl by your side... just slide in that new Paul Young cassette in. Like butta.
Guys who were going out with another new fella didn't dare forget that virgin Madonna tape either.
U2 didn't know the Bush's or tour in either Africa or South America back then , did they?
INXS was starting to get excessive
REM was collegiate cool.
Tears for Fears was... pretty feckin good.
Brian (Bryan?) Adams, Thompson twins, John Cougar Mellenhead and Simple Minds were choking us daily though. And Hip Hop was gaing momentum.
Ira Robbins and TP call it quits.
But the Jesus and Mary Chain saved my life too.

TIM is 1985's best record for a bunch of reasons. The songwriting of course is the main one but also the vibe of the record and how it plays off the previous album (LET IT BE) is pretty ingenious. Thw whole "now it's after the party and uh-oh boy we're screwed" tone of it still resonates especially in the ballads that closed off side 1 & 2. It's the kind of album you can live with your whole life (and I have) - only a young band could have made it and it's about BEING young (and feeling it start to slip away) but it isn't "kids music" in the sense that you outgrow it. TIM has the sting of the truth......bonus points for being on a major too!!

plasticland
long ryders
pogues' rum
hoodoo's mars


and hard to top
FALL -
HÜSKER DÜ -
JESUS and MARY CHAIN –
MEAT PUPPETS -
MINUTEMEN

Camper Van Beethoven "Telephone Free Landslide Victory"
Robyn hitchcock & egytiptians "Fegmania!"
REM "Fables. . . "
Felt "Ignite the Seven Cannons"
Sonic Youth (I know, I know) "Bad Moon Rising"

Would that the Feelies had released one this year; alas, "The Good Earth" came in '86.

Black Flag's twin releases, "Loose Nut" and "In My Head"
DKs' "Frankenchrist"
Chili Peppers "Freaky Styley" (still the only album of theirs I really like)
Green On Red "Gas Food Lodging"
Fishbone EP
Jason & the Scorchers "Lost & Found"
Dukes of Stratosphear, "25 O'Clock"
Marshall Crenshaw "Downtown"

> BIG BLACK – Atomizer. Remember that Sonic Youth release
> that had the sticker that said "Not as good as Atomizer
> so don't get your hopes up, cheese!"?


big black's headache had that sticker...

errrr, unless you bought the special edtion. eeeeek! i looked, but figured what use buying a record i could never play...

Yup, that sticker came on the Blast First issue of Big Black's Headache - the reissue version (the one that came wth the 7"; not the limited edition split-open head photo). Sonic Youth's Master=Dik 12" (the import/UK version) also had the sticker - this version of Master=Dik being superior to the re-recorded version that's a bonus track on Sister (where it screws the continuity of the original LP).

Thread idea: Bonus Tracks that ruin continuity.



Post Edited (07-02-13 01:54)

Paganizer wrote:

> Yup, the
>
> sticker came on the Blast First issue of Big Black's
> Headache - the milder version of the cover, not the
> limited edition split-open head photo
> (WARNING-
> Cover shot not for the squeamish). Sonic Youth's
> Master=Dik 12" (the import/UK version) also had the sticker.
> This version of Master=Dik is superior to the re-recorded
> version that's a bonus track on Sister, where it ruins
> the continuity of the original LP.
>


i really didn't want to click the link, but i am weak and the temptation was strong...

if i recall correctly, there was also a picture of that same head sort of held together by a rubber glove.


now that you mention it, i do remember seeing the sticker on that sy record, but i assumed it was a recordshop error/joke.

As I recall, the back cover of the yucky Headache was the head pushed back together, tho I don't remember anything specifically holding it together. That photo was more gut-churning to me since it more clearly resembled a face. The other one just seemed like guts.

probably slipped in the occasional 84 or 6, oh well...

miracle workers - inside out
beasts of bourbon - the axeman's jazz
dicks - these people
green - s/t
jacobites - robespierre's velvet basement
deja voodoo - too cool to live...
prefab sprout - steve mcqueen/two wheels good
dentists - some people are on the pitch...
live skull - bringing home the bait
certain general - november's heat
crime and the city solution - just south of heaven
hickoids - we're in it for the corn
killdozer - snakeboy
volcano suns - bright orange years
new model army - no rest for the wicked
plasticland - wonder wonderful wonderland
pontiac brothers - doll hut
prime movers - matters of time
raunchhands - el rauncho grande
savage republic - ceremonial
scientists - oodles o' goodies
screaming tribesmen - date with a vampire
feedtime - s/t
great plains - naked at the buy sell and trade
the scene is now - burn all your records
mofungo - frederick douglass
verlaines - hallelujah all the way home
trouble funk - saturday night live
squirrel bait - s/t
foetus - nail
celtic frost - to mega therion
alexander o'neil - hearsay


errr, that's probably a good place to stop...hey, didn't terminal tower come out in 85, too? oooh, and legacy of brutality!



Post Edited (01-04-06 02:43)

Beasts - The Axeman's Jazz
Warumpi Band - Big Name No Blankets
Killing Joke - Night Time