okay, while I listen to my first 1982 album for this deep dive I am looking at the top albums of the year per BEA, RYM, Pitchfork, and some other places. Looking for obvious blindspots. the breakdown is something like this
BEA:
1. Thriller - MJ
2. The Number of the Beast - Maiden
3. Nebraska - The Boss
4. The Dreaming - Kate Bush
5. Pornography - The Cure
6. Avalon - Roxy Music
7. 1999 - Prince
8. Rio - Duran Duran
9. The Nightfly - Donald Fagen
10. Love Over Gold - Dire Straits
surprised by this as I didn't realized how loved Dire Straits was on this site, or Fagen, or Avalon. Have heard all but the last 2. Love quite a lot of them. Nice variety in that top 10.
--------------------------------------
RYM:
1. Pornography - The Cure
2. The Number of the Beast - Maiden
3. The Name of This Band is Talking Heads
4. Thriller - MJ
5. The Dreaming - Kate Bush
6. Nebraska - The Boss
7. The Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould
8. Screaming For Vengeance - Priest
Live At The It Club - Thelonious Monk (archival)
The Jimi Hendrix Concerts (archival)
9. Hex Enduction Hour - The Fall
10. 1999 - Prince
so this list is much more RYM-esque. More hip and there is a second metal classic and there is more post punk/new wave. Very cool. There is 1 album here I've never heard.
-------------------------------
Pitchfork:
I am just looking at their top 100 of 1982 and seeing what this big opinion setter thinks of 1982 albums. Doubtful we have 10 from 82. I'm gonna predict 4 albums from 82 out of 100. lets see...
1. Thriller - MJ (ranked No. 27 of 80s)
2. Hex Enduction Hour - The Fall (ranked no. 33 of 80s)
3. English Settlement - XTC (ranked no. 46 of 80s)
4. Vs. - Mission of Burma (ranked no. 49 of 80s)
5. Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello (ranked no. 58 of 80s)
6. Nebraska - The Boss (ranked no. 60 of 80s)
7. Homotopy to Marie - Nurse With Wound (ranked no. 61 of 80s)
8. Rio - Duran Duran (ranked no. 95 of 80s)
9. Songs of the Free - Gang of Four (ranked no. 99 of 80s)
well, pitchfork gave 82 more respect than I anticipated clearly. Also they definitely introduced some albums into my radar such as that GoF album, that Nurse With Wound record, and that XTC album. Cool, thanks Pitchfork. But surprised by no Pornography.
okay, and lets use this site acclaimedmusic.net to see what they call the top 10 most acclaimed albums of 1982:
1. Thriller
2. Nebraska
3. 1999
4. Imperial Bedroom
5. The Lexicon of Love - ABC
6. The Nightfly
7. The Number of the Beast
8. Pornography
9. Shoot Out The Lights - Richard and Linda Thompson
10. Avalon - Roxy Music
-------------------------
okay, that's enough for me. I'll mostly be refering to RYM as a resource for recs to flush out my listening of 1982. And I will probably take a break from 82 when/if some new music drops like Kamasi's new album, or Frank Ocean's or or or - there are lots of chances to distract me.
anyway, considering RYM is my go to, this day has been enriched by...
and holy shit. This album is indeed as Tilly once said, "heavy.... The discordant at times, and oppressive always, vibe of hopeless fumbling existential angst here is overwhelming. Where as Faith sounded more ghostly and haunted, this album Faith's follow up, sounds jagged, and trapped. There are so many amazing details in the production, with sounds coming in and providing additions to the percussion or to the ambien ce of the album. Sometimes these embellishments come right as the main instrumental groove is hitting its stride and you can't see how it could get any more bleak.
Robert's vox are as to be expected, very unique, very sad, but here the sad and sickand desperate sounds of his voice are amplified like crazy.
I do like this album. But I suppose at times the whole atmosphere of utter gloom just bummed me out and made me want to escape. Its in that way quite powerful as it puts you in the lead voicalists and the bands headspace very effectively, but I am not currently feeling this way, so being pulled like a paperclip to a magnet into this world of dreary nowhere is not what I was jonesing for.
I suppose actually as I reread the above statements I am being too general in my interpretations of this album. Its got moments of beauty nestled in the muck. Moments when it sounds like the humanity is making a last movement against the forces of darkness stationed like hungry vultures on all sides. And that is a truth which makes this album more hopeful than some other oppressively dark records I've heard.
anyway, those are my VERY general thoughts. A standout album for sure and one I'll be returning to often and moving up my 82 chart.
which brings me to another thin gs: I will be updating and rearranging my 82 chart a lot as I delve into this year. In a moment I'm gonna do a re-evaluation and reduxe of my 82 chart as it stand now without going far in my new listen/relisten movement and I'll try to do as Tilly and other have been doing for 91 and 92 and other years and molding this chart into some sort of accurate representation of my views as I go. Okay, bye.
okay, while I listen to my first 1982 album for this deep dive I am looking at the top albums of the year per BEA, RYM, Pitchfork, and some other places. Looking for obvious blindspots. the breakdown is something like this
BEA:
1. Thriller - MJ
2. The Number of the Beast - Maiden
3. Nebraska - The Boss
4. The Dreaming - Kate Bush
5. Pornography - The Cure
6. Avalon - Roxy Music
7. 1999 - Prince
8. Rio - Duran Duran
9. The Nightfly - Donald Fagen
10. Love Over Gold - Dire Straits
surprised by this as I didn't realized how loved Dire Straits was on this site, or Fagen, or Avalon. Have heard all but the last 2. Love quite a lot of them. Nice variety in that top 10.
--------------------------------------
RYM:
1. Pornography - The Cure
2. The Number of the Beast - Maiden
3. The Name of This Band is Talking Heads
4. Thriller - MJ
5. The Dreaming - Kate Bush
6. Nebraska - The Boss
7. The Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould
8. Screaming For Vengeance - Priest
Live At The It Club - Thelonious Monk (archival)
The Jimi Hendrix Concerts (archival)
9. Hex Enduction Hour - The Fall
10. 1999 - Prince
so this list is much more RYM-esque. More hip and there is a second metal classic and there is more post punk/new wave. Very cool. There is 1 album here I've never heard.
-------------------------------
Pitchfork:
I am just looking at their top 100 of 1982 and seeing what this big opinion setter thinks of 1982 albums. Doubtful we have 10 from 82. I'm gonna predict 4 albums from 82 out of 100. lets see...
1. Thriller - MJ (ranked No. 27 of 80s)
2. Hex Enduction Hour - The Fall (ranked no. 33 of 80s)
3. English Settlement - XTC (ranked no. 46 of 80s)
4. Vs. - Mission of Burma (ranked no. 49 of 80s)
5. Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello (ranked no. 58 of 80s)
6. Nebraska - The Boss (ranked no. 60 of 80s)
7. Homotopy to Marie - Nurse With Wound (ranked no. 61 of 80s)
8. Rio - Duran Duran (ranked no. 95 of 80s)
9. Songs of the Free - Gang of Four (ranked no. 99 of 80s)
well, pitchfork gave 82 more respect than I anticipated clearly. Also they definitely introduced some albums into my radar such as that GoF album, that Nurse With Wound record, and that XTC album. Cool, thanks Pitchfork. But surprised by no Pornography.
okay, and lets use this site acclaimedmusic.net to see what they call the top 10 most acclaimed albums of 1982:
1. Thriller
2. Nebraska
3. 1999
4. Imperial Bedroom
5. The Lexicon of Love - ABC
6. The Nightfly
7. The Number of the Beast
8. Pornography
9. Shoot Out The Lights - Richard and Linda Thompson
10. Avalon - Roxy Music
I haven't really completely listened to Pornography yet and in general I'm not so keen of that gloomy string of albums by The Cure but Hanging Gardens is great so I'll have to check it out.
I'm looking forward to your other discoveries for the year...
okay, while I listen to my first 1982 album for this deep dive I am looking at the top albums of the year per BEA, RYM, Pitchfork, and some other places. Looking for obvious blindspots. the breakdown is something like this
BEA:
1. Thriller - MJ
2. The Number of the Beast - Maiden
3. Nebraska - The Boss
4. The Dreaming - Kate Bush
5. Pornography - The Cure
6. Avalon - Roxy Music
7. 1999 - Prince
8. Rio - Duran Duran
9. The Nightfly - Donald Fagen
10. Love Over Gold - Dire Straits
surprised by this as I didn't realized how loved Dire Straits was on this site, or Fagen, or Avalon. Have heard all but the last 2. Love quite a lot of them. Nice variety in that top 10.
--------------------------------------
RYM:
1. Pornography - The Cure
2. The Number of the Beast - Maiden
3. The Name of This Band is Talking Heads
4. Thriller - MJ
5. The Dreaming - Kate Bush
6. Nebraska - The Boss
7. The Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould
8. Screaming For Vengeance - Priest
Live At The It Club - Thelonious Monk (archival)
The Jimi Hendrix Concerts (archival)
9. Hex Enduction Hour - The Fall
10. 1999 - Prince
so this list is much more RYM-esque. More hip and there is a second metal classic and there is more post punk/new wave. Very cool. There is 1 album here I've never heard.
-------------------------------
Pitchfork:
I am just looking at their top 100 of 1982 and seeing what this big opinion setter thinks of 1982 albums. Doubtful we have 10 from 82. I'm gonna predict 4 albums from 82 out of 100. lets see...
1. Thriller - MJ (ranked No. 27 of 80s)
2. Hex Enduction Hour - The Fall (ranked no. 33 of 80s)
3. English Settlement - XTC (ranked no. 46 of 80s)
4. Vs. - Mission of Burma (ranked no. 49 of 80s)
5. Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello (ranked no. 58 of 80s)
6. Nebraska - The Boss (ranked no. 60 of 80s)
7. Homotopy to Marie - Nurse With Wound (ranked no. 61 of 80s)
8. Rio - Duran Duran (ranked no. 95 of 80s)
9. Songs of the Free - Gang of Four (ranked no. 99 of 80s)
well, pitchfork gave 82 more respect than I anticipated clearly. Also they definitely introduced some albums into my radar such as that GoF album, that Nurse With Wound record, and that XTC album. Cool, thanks Pitchfork. But surprised by no Pornography.
okay, and lets use this site acclaimedmusic.net to see what they call the top 10 most acclaimed albums of 1982:
1. Thriller
2. Nebraska
3. 1999
4. Imperial Bedroom
5. The Lexicon of Love - ABC
6. The Nightfly
7. The Number of the Beast
8. Pornography
9. Shoot Out The Lights - Richard and Linda Thompson
10. Avalon - Roxy Music
I haven't really completely listened to Pornography yet and in general I'm not so keen of that gloomy string of albums by The Cure but Hanging Gardens is great so I'll have to check it out.
I'm looking forward to your other discoveries for the year...
hey! i love this top 10 as it is mostly stuff i am unfamiliar with. very happy to see Miami. My recollection of that album is terrible. But considering how i have their previous album, 1981's Fire of Love, ranked number 1 of 1981 as of now, I must get onto it. Do you like Miami more than Fire of Love? Jus' curious...
also being reminded of Green On Red is awesome and much appreciated. Will be putting that high on my queue.
And the others are interesting, especially those Belgian albums. Tanks again! _________________ -Ryan
okay, while I listen to my first 1982 album for this deep dive I am looking at the top albums of the year per BEA, RYM, Pitchfork, and some other places. Looking for obvious blindspots. the breakdown is something like this
BEA:
1. Thriller - MJ
2. The Number of the Beast - Maiden
3. Nebraska - The Boss
4. The Dreaming - Kate Bush
5. Pornography - The Cure
6. Avalon - Roxy Music
7. 1999 - Prince
8. Rio - Duran Duran
9. The Nightfly - Donald Fagen
10. Love Over Gold - Dire Straits
surprised by this as I didn't realized how loved Dire Straits was on this site, or Fagen, or Avalon. Have heard all but the last 2. Love quite a lot of them. Nice variety in that top 10.
--------------------------------------
RYM:
1. Pornography - The Cure
2. The Number of the Beast - Maiden
3. The Name of This Band is Talking Heads
4. Thriller - MJ
5. The Dreaming - Kate Bush
6. Nebraska - The Boss
7. The Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould
8. Screaming For Vengeance - Priest
Live At The It Club - Thelonious Monk (archival)
The Jimi Hendrix Concerts (archival)
9. Hex Enduction Hour - The Fall
10. 1999 - Prince
so this list is much more RYM-esque. More hip and there is a second metal classic and there is more post punk/new wave. Very cool. There is 1 album here I've never heard.
-------------------------------
Pitchfork:
I am just looking at their top 100 of 1982 and seeing what this big opinion setter thinks of 1982 albums. Doubtful we have 10 from 82. I'm gonna predict 4 albums from 82 out of 100. lets see...
1. Thriller - MJ (ranked No. 27 of 80s)
2. Hex Enduction Hour - The Fall (ranked no. 33 of 80s)
3. English Settlement - XTC (ranked no. 46 of 80s)
4. Vs. - Mission of Burma (ranked no. 49 of 80s)
5. Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello (ranked no. 58 of 80s)
6. Nebraska - The Boss (ranked no. 60 of 80s)
7. Homotopy to Marie - Nurse With Wound (ranked no. 61 of 80s)
8. Rio - Duran Duran (ranked no. 95 of 80s)
9. Songs of the Free - Gang of Four (ranked no. 99 of 80s)
well, pitchfork gave 82 more respect than I anticipated clearly. Also they definitely introduced some albums into my radar such as that GoF album, that Nurse With Wound record, and that XTC album. Cool, thanks Pitchfork. But surprised by no Pornography.
okay, and lets use this site acclaimedmusic.net to see what they call the top 10 most acclaimed albums of 1982:
1. Thriller
2. Nebraska
3. 1999
4. Imperial Bedroom
5. The Lexicon of Love - ABC
6. The Nightfly
7. The Number of the Beast
8. Pornography
9. Shoot Out The Lights - Richard and Linda Thompson
10. Avalon - Roxy Music
I haven't really completely listened to Pornography yet and in general I'm not so keen of that gloomy string of albums by The Cure but Hanging Gardens is great so I'll have to check it out.
I'm looking forward to your other discoveries for the year...
hey! i love this top 10 as it is mostly stuff i am unfamiliar with. very happy to see Miami. My recollection of that album is terrible. But considering how i have their previous album, 1981's Fire of Love, ranked number 1 of 1981 as of now, I must get onto it. Do you like Miami more than Fire of Love? Jus' curious...
also being reminded of Red On Green is awesome and much appreciated. Will be putting that high on my queue.
And the others are interesting, especially those Belgian albums. Tanks again!
You know what: I've listened to 5 albums of the Gun Club and the Fire of Love is my least favorite and Miami is indeed my favorite.
My second one is very close to that and is also the album I discovered them with is Pastoral Hide And Seek.
But all their albums are very good to brilliant.
And Tilly that Allmusic list is also full of great tips for further investigation.
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
Nothing will beat The Cure, but I will start my own chart for 1982 as you review stuff. :D
oooh lala, just saw this and man there is a lot there. A veritable treasure trove of recs for weeks, nay months. Thanks. You know me too well haha. 🥰🕺🧐
dihansse wrote:
You know what: I've listened to 5 albums of the Gun Club and the Fire of Love is my least favorite and Miami is indeed my favorite.
My second one is very close to that and is also the album I discovered them with is Pastoral Hide And Seek.
But all their albums are very good to brilliant.
And Tilly that Allmusic list is also full of great tips for further investigation.
wow. I've never heard that take on Gun Club's discog. I am jazzed to get back into Miami. Like i've said, I've heard it and all and its been years and I remember thinking it was okay but for some reason it never clicked. That was Idk, a decade ago. So, its high time for some reinvestigation.
--------------------------------------
and so the next album I just finished from 1982 is not available to be added to my 82 chart due to conflicting reports. RYM has this as a 1982 release but BEA has it squarely in 1981. However here are my very short thoughts on it...
why did i listen to this? Not once did it come up on any of those top 10s. and no i have no emotional connection to the movie (although i idolized Arnie as a kid). But Idk, the fact that RYM had it as a top 20 album of the year kinda got me curious.
Anyway, its a great score. Its very epic and the organ sounds awesome, the textures are great, the whole thing kinda made me feel like a hero prepping to go into battle against the ancient enemies of my people. The recurring organ melody is suitably emotional and intense, and the tracks "Anvil of Crom", "The Orgy", and "Riddle of Steel/Riders of Doom" were awesome. its a solid 8/10 as a film score. But film scores aren't exactly one of my go-tos music or album-wise, so i suppose if I were to compare this to the vast bulk of albums I actually listen to I'd give it a 7 out of 10 and put it at about number 20 on my 1982 chart, just ahead of The Number of the Beast and just behind Bauhaus' "The Sky's Gone Out".
basically, if you like barbarians, film scores, organs, orchestras which evoke feelings of impending heroic confrontations, and heavy metal-feels without the guitars and vocals, maybe you'll love this and should check it out. _________________ -Ryan
Okay, this is ranked number 102 of 1982 on RYM. Mostly I was really curious about the state of singer/songwriters in 1982, considering as that along with Blues is my main genre wheelhouse. And the album I wanted to hear was So far by Bob Theil, but its not available on the prefered format I am using at this time (will search it out and listen). But now I am listening to this, and: holy shit... this is, like, really good.
The opening track is so hard to pin down. Its not quite like anything I can recall hearing. The vocals are absolutely stunning and soaring and happy, and all these guitars with varying amounts of effects are sort of wafting through the recording, playing off each other, running into each other, intermingling to make this jangly sweet happy vibe which is perfect for the singer to exist in. I can't imagine a better opening statement for the album. The harmonica on this opening track, called "Premonitions - The Fantasy" btw, is a nice added flavor, the drums are relaxed and in the background keeping the beat. The song is sort of a jangly, sunshiney psychedelic folk song which is exactly what the doctor ordered. Lets see how the rest of the album holds up.
... (45 minutes pass, Ryan smokes, has coffee, empties his dishwasher and reloads it, stresses about finances, has more coffee, pees, then returns to give his proclamations on this out-of-nowhere album)...
okay, i am not sure this is real life. how could it be? This album... what did i hear? This album is seemingly an artifact of some parallel dimension. On this album everything is familiar, but slightly askew. The melodic nature of the record is dreamy, ethereal, emotional, floating-clouds-airy-etc. The guitars troughout (when they are clearly heard in the mix that is) are jangly and warm and welcoming. They mingle with the beautiful young Kate Bush-esque vocals of Mr. Trimble. The harmonica solos on the 2 Premonition tracks are familiar and grounded, but they seem to come and go without a trace, never fully pinned down.
The random vocal snippets, the phone operator message which comes and goes, the young boy's contribution on track 5, the squeaky sound effects found here and there, the whole atmosphere of the album just treads the line between genre and era so masterfully that at no point did I really think to myself "yeah i get it! This is an early 80s take on late 60s psychedelic folk" or "oh yeah makes sense this is a freak folk album" or "yeah this is pretty squarely a folk pop release" etc. Cuz everytime I started to get some inkling of the form or aim of the record, it would throw a curveball which would make me sit up in my chair and say "hey wait, what's this now?" - like on track7 "Selling Me Short While Stringing Me Along" the song starts with a warbly effect that leads into a lovelorn melody, then 30 seconds later this sharp distorted guitar buzz encroaches and I am back at square one - utterly in love and invested but at the same time in awe and confused. then still later a fukcing screaming pissed off man is yelling in the background. what. the. fudge.
the next track starts like a bad trip, disorienting, noisy, then stops on a dime and morphs into something else, then there's a bit of studio banter, then the drums come in and the mix is all wonked out and harshly in the red and yet again i am at the aforementioned square one. This album is a masterpiece. I am convinced this is about as great as it gets.
the RateYourMusic descriptors and genre tags are
Psychedelic Folk, Singer/Songwriter, Psychedelic Pop
androgynous vocals, autumnal, psychedelic, melancholic, sparse... and these fit. But yeah still doesn't express the full breadth of the ethereal shape-shifting power of the album.
I am in love with this. And I had not previously even heard of this album. I had seen on this site the front cover of Bobb's debut album "Iron Curtain Innocence" and I never listened to it. I think I will now. if its even 60% as impressive as this, his sophomore album, I'll like it a lot.
--------------------------------
anyway, this shoots straight to number 2 on my 1982 faves. I can't quite put it ahead of the epochal Thriller, but, still, this is so indescribable that if you listen to it, even if you don't love it, you'll be engaged and entertained at the very least methinks.
first listen rating: 9.5/10
best tracks: 1. "Premonitions - The Fantasy", 2. "If Words Were All I Had", 4. "Armour of the Shroud", 5. "Premonitions Boy - The Reality", 7. "Selling Me Out While String Me Along", the closing track 10. "Another Lonely Angel". _________________ -Ryan
and so the next album I just finished from 1982 is not available to be added to my 82 chart due to conflicting reports. RYM has this as a 1982 release but BEA has it squarely in 1981. However here are my very short thoughts on it...
why did i listen to this? Not once did it come up on any of those top 10s. and no i have no emotional connection to the movie (although i idolized Arnie as a kid). But Idk, the fact that RYM had it as a top 20 album of the year kinda got me curious.
Anyway, its a great score. Its very epic and the organ sounds awesome, the textures are great, the whole thing kinda made me feel like a hero prepping to go into battle against the ancient enemies of my people. The recurring organ melody is suitably emotional and intense, and the tracks "Anvil of Crom", "The Orgy", and "Riddle of Steel/Riders of Doom" were awesome. its a solid 8/10 as a film score. But film scores aren't exactly one of my go-tos music or album-wise, so i suppose if I were to compare this to the vast bulk of albums I actually listen to I'd give it a 7 out of 10 and put it at about number 20 on my 1982 chart, just ahead of The Number of the Beast and just behind Bauhaus' "The Sky's Gone Out".
basically, if you like barbarians, film scores, organs, orchestras which evoke feelings of impending heroic confrontations, and heavy metal-feels without the guitars and vocals, maybe you'll love this and should check it out.
Nice! Listened to this while preparing for my own battle & working out in the yard. Really cool stuff. I wonder how influential this was on power metal, but this was great and definitely deserving of some chart love.
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
okay, i'm listening to this hardcore punk, proto-thrash sounding classic right now. I decided to completely shift gears after the previous album. That's just what I like to do.
Also, i wanted to find something short, and this being 27 minutes fit the bill (couldn't find that debut EP by Green on Red).
anywayssss... i was a bit sad going into 1982 cuz it was a year before thrash got rolling and a good 4 years 'fore thrasdh really got into its golden age. And i love listening to thrash. and just to meet my qouta of typing thrash; thrash thrash and... thrash.
now, this was a silly thoughts as in 1982 the main building blocks of thrash were firmly in place with NWOBHM, Hardcore, Venom , and this band's sound. But still, i was thinking i wouldn't find that primal rage in this year.
I was wrong.
This album fucking rules! It is so freaking loud, abrasive and aggressive. I mean, Reign In Blood-era Slayer is challenged by this album in terms of brutality. The "song" "Cries of Help" made me a bit sick, but otherwise I enjoyed this album a lot. The riffage, the rigged up-down-up-down beat is cool (if a bit too predominant) and the short blasts of lead-guitar are awesome throughout.
With an album like this with not much change track to track, I tend to have not much to say. and this is no exc eption. Its really cool and I'm glad I listened to it and have more context to some of my favorite bands/albums/sounds of the 80s (Slayer 83-89, Metallica 83-88, early Death, Possessed, etc) and yeah I give this a big ol batch of kudos for pushing the boundaries and inspiring the next generation of brute-force geniuses.
Grade: 8.5/10
I'll move this to my chart, looks like its landing spot as of now is 18, just ahead of The Circle Jerks' "Wild In The Streets" and just behind "Rio" by Duran Duran. This is likely to move a lot... up or down? I don't know. Still, yeah, this is bad ass. _________________ -Ryan
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Mercury
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