This 1984 team is basically psychedelia in many forms along with one ambient album. Still, it's no less eclectic than the 2001 team, because all of the different psychedelic rock forms are completely different from each other. On the crazier side of things, we've got one of the greatest punk albums, Psychic...Powerless...Another Man's Sac. It is the perfect example of an experimental noisy album that works. It's absurd and ridiculous, but not in a bad way. There's a lot of energy and weirdness here, and every aspect of the music comes together to create an overall highly interesting and, most importantly, enjoyable experience.
Even more energetic and rocking is the Eight Miles High single, a cover of the phenomenal Byrds track. Hüsker Dü do the impossible here, and actually slightly improve on the original, doing an admirable job of creating their own unique version in the process.
Moving on to Dream Syndicate's Medicine Show, we find the band, not wanting to make the same record again and again (however great that record was), take a slightly different direction. Fortunately, the result is one more indie psych rock classic, which was not as successful as the debut obviously, but taken on its own terms, was hardly much less impressive.
Then we get two poppier masterpieces, the single Pink Frost and the album Ocean Rain. The latter, containing some of Echo and the Bunnymen's most popular songs, might have easily ended up being an inconsistent affair, only relying on the hits. This is avoided, though, and that is exactly why it is their best album. The single by The Chills (what an appropriate name 🤣 ) didn't become popular for no reason, as it really is quite good for what it is.
This leaves us with Structures from Silence, which is a bit different from the rest of the team, but certainly not worse. It is one of Steve Roach's masterpieces, which is quite a big deal because Steve Roach is easily one of the best ambient artists ever.
So overall, as you can see, 1984, while not the best year in music, has certainly lots of great underrated albums and singles that deserve your votes.
Hmmm.... I'm currently an undecided voter. I like that Echo album and that Husker Du cover is a brilliant choice for single! On the other side, White Blood Cells is great. I really need to listen to the Microphones. Ditto for the Chills, another group I've been aware of for a long time, but never got around to checking out. I don't think I know any of the others. 🤔
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