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Ten reasons not to hate the EightiesDec 14 '02 (Updated Aug 04 '11) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line The 80’s were bad. But exactly, how bad, really?
Get outta my dreams… I am a child of the 80’s. I was born in 1980, grew up in the 80’s, and listened to 80’s music because that’s what was on TV. For all intents and purposes, I was tone deaf to good music. I liked Jive Bunny. I liked Rick Astley. I even liked Whitney Houston. Of course, I look back on my childhood and laugh heartily. Mostly at myself. I think we all look back at the 80’s and cringe. As a footnote, if any of you haven’t yet seen the movie, American Psycho, I recommend you do so now. A great deal has changed since those heady years of simple but catchy melodies and vapid lyricism. Mainly, 1990 happened. But the musical currents of the 90’s couldn’t have happened if there weren’t a spark of creativity within the decade. Without those few brave people who stood up and said, we will bow down to the synthesiser no more, then none of us would be where we are today. Of course, I say this in hindsight, I won’t pretend that I was into any of the following bands during the 80’s – I was much too stupid at the time to have liked them. But ten albums in the 80’s stand out as towering examples of musical craftsmanship and here they come, in approximate chronological order. Ooooooooh I wanna dance with somebody…. 1980 Peter Gabriel 3 To be fair, I could just have easily nominated any of Peter Gabriel’s 80’s releases. Security was a stunning exploration of African rhythms transposed to the 80’s pop scene, generating one of the darkest and densest albums I can think of. So is almost legendary, and I rank it almost as highly as The Joshua Tree as an attempt to give pop/rock depth and texture. But I’ve gone for the first of his 80’s albums, the critically acclaimed for oft-overlooked third album, the melting face. For me, Peter Gabriel and Genesis were some of the most powerful shapers of the 70’s rock scene, and their influence is still felt today, from the chaotic sonic deconstructions of Godspeed You! Black Emperor to the convoluted and glossy guitar solos of At The Drive In. Just as important is this album, a supremely dark and twisted release, boasting such deconstructions of the human psyche as Intruder and No self control. The album blends punk with prog/art-rock with African beats on the political protest song Biko. And all the way through, you are treated to mankind’s dark side, from exclusion xenophobia and racism in Not one of us to mass-commercialism, impersonality and telesales in And through the wire. One of the most stimulating but depressing explorations of human evil, and certainly one of the subtlest. I should be so lucky, lucky lucky lucky… 1983 R.E.M. Murmur Throughout the 80’s, R.E.M. were the kings of underground rock, unknown by the majority, loved by the few who scratched beneath the varnished coating of the singles charts. Perhaps this wasn’t the bands best effort during the 80’s, but it was their debut, and ranks as one of the best ever debuts in my opinion. Radio free Europe is about the only familiar face on the album, and is the perfect opener, a celebratory track, influenced in equal measures by The Byrds and the Punk movement. Most of the album retains that feel, of rock and roll taken slightly out of context with something wonderful happening to it along the way. It’s probably one of the most refreshingly direct and simply phrased albums since The Beatles, revealing a surprisingly uncomplicated take on music, whilst still having a tremendously rich feel and tone. Why overcomplicate music when you can confuse everyone with the lyrics? Nothing is conventional or predictable about the release, from the nervous but strangely raucous energy of West of the fields to the folky Talk about the passion. Basically, this Georgian quartet have always been remarkably talented and this album hinted at the amazing twenty year career to come. Whenever you need somebody, I’ll bring my love to you… 1984 Depeche Mode Some Great Reward Pop has its place, especially when it has some slight depth. With their fourth full length album, Depeche Mode developed a forceful style, a sense of direction and created probably the most profound pop album of the decade. I’m not a fan of their earlier releases, since only Construction Time Again had any kind of depth. But all of a sudden, the band produced what can only be described as a masterpiece, combining the trademark synths with bass and guitar solos, broadening and darkening the sound. The brooding Lie to me is carried by a repeating reverb-laden bass riff, utterly disarming from the moment it opens. More popular hits like People are people and Master and Servant took on a light sound with lyrics that attacked inhumanity, targeting racism and power politics respectively. It doesn’t matter and Somebody were characteristically perverse experiments with ballads, especially the second in which the cliché ridden lyrics deliberately collapse back in on themselves with the line Though things like this make me sick. Both present a vaguely morbid personality, although undoubtedly this take on pop was inspired in part by The Cure’s miserable and ultimately morose lead singer Robert Smith. And finally comes the piece de resistance, the magnificent Blasphemous rumours in which Martin Gore, Dave Gahan, Alan Wilder and Andrew Fletcher rail at God himself for the world’s injustices and sick ironies. Could you imagine Britney singing a pop song with a message? I can’t. All you need is time love and tenderness… 1985 Jesus & Mary Chain Psychocandy With its lurching pace and screeching feedback, Psychocandy was for some a sight for sore eyes, and for some a source of sore ears (Heh, now say that quickly ten times). Never an easy listen, mainly because of the ear-splitting volume of its contents, Psychocandy turned a few heads and has since become one of the most praised albums of the 80’s, simply because it doesn’t sound like it could have happened in the 80’s. It certainly made a change from mindless pop, but it’s violent rejection of everything melodious can be a bit much sometimes. Neither of the Reid brothers can sing particularly well, and it’s a matter of debate whether at this stage in their career they could actually play their instruments (albums like Honey’s Dead and Stoned and Dethroned leave you in no doubt that these guys can play). Definitely, Bobby Gillespie on drums is laughable, and thank God he went off to make his own band, Primal Scream and left the drums well behind him. It’s hard to isolate highlights on the album, aside from the slightly less ugly Just like honey, but the album was great for its impact and originality, given the year of release. Without descending into the pitfalls of heavy metal, it made itself heard as an angry wall-of-noise lashing against the cleaner than clean sound of pop bands like Human League. In a time of horrifically hollow sound, a sudden rush of chaotic noise was a brave and powerful message to deliver. Don’t you want me baby, don’t you want me oooooooh… 1986 Pet Shop Boys Please But, but, but… pop in its purest and lightest form can be very powerful and satisfying. The Pet Shop Boys must be one of the most important exponents of this, producing the most challenging out and out pop that the world has ever seen. Their debut album was clearly influenced by such bands as Depeche Mode, but the darkness is implicit in the lyrics rather than overtly placed in the music. So not only has every single song been a hit at some time or other, (spawning the equally successful Disco remake album) they have also all delivered a clear and pointed message. Who can forget the strangely negative lyrics of the upbeat pop West End girls and the dead end world they live in, or the explosions and screams of an existence almost unimaginable in the supposedly wealthy city of London described in Suburbia. Opportunities (let’s make lots of money) attacks the money-grabbing 80’s culture through the same kind of clean production and light poppiness the charts were filled with. But at the same time, there are those acerbic comments about ruthlessly making money. The finest pop album of the 80’s with thought-provoking lyrics. It’s strong and it’s sudden, it can be cruel sometimes… 1987 Pixies Come On Pilgrim Everyone’s favourite insane rockers, the Pixies emerged in the late 80’s with an EP that completely deconstructed everything that went before it. Black Francis, Kim Deal, David Lovering and Joey Santiago were almost as noisy as the J&MC but it was a form of noise that fitted within three minute punk-rock song formats. Essentially they took the same anthemic feel of R.E.M. and U2 songs and drowned them in angular riffs and screeching guitars and vocals. Songs like Caribou and Levitate me are simply unforgettable, and paved the way for the 90’s. I strongly believe that along with Neil Young and Crazy Horse at their loudest, the Pixies allowed the so-called Seattle sound to emerge since they were actually toning down the uncontrolled noise and insanity factor by a good few notches. None of the Seattle bands can ever live to match the sheer originality of Pixies, much as Kurdt Cobain may have wished he were Black Francis. The band were sadly short lived, and only now is Frank Black releasing albums that could rank amongst his best work. But this EP sowed the seeds for a whole new direction in music. Ooh, heaven is a place on Earth… 1987 U2 The Joshua Tree Arguably the best album of the 80’s, arguably from the best band of the 80’s. Simply spectacular. The first three songs are a disarming one-two-three punch which leaves even the most hardened listener utterly shaking, with the racing Where the streets have no name, the longing I still haven’t found what I’m looking for and the spectacular power-ballad With or without you. And don’t forget the juddering rocker Bullet the blue sky, the intensely felt One tree hill, the dark hushed rhythms of Exit and the protest driven Mothers of the disappeared. Musically, the album is completely unimpeachable and is finely crafted and perfectly delivered. Placed as I am before such a masterpiece, what else is there to say? You know I’m bad, I’m bad… 1988 Sonic Youth Daydream Nation Not an easy listen, and not an easy one to take any kind of reward away from, but one of the most challenging albums of the decade. Sonic Youth are often on a tightrope of pretension and intellectual snobbery, but they have also produced some undoubtedly unique albums in their time, always seeking to expand the boundaries of music. Teen Age Riot is probably the one Sonic Youth song to which you could shakily apply the word hit, and is certainly one of the few songs they have written which features a structure and memorable melody. Rather what I mean is that the song is easily retainable in memory, whereas normally their sound is so loose as to become amorphous. The track opens with an excellent guitar riff which carries the song throughout it’s various changes in melodic thrust. It’s one of the most complex rock songs I can think of in the subtlety of its changes in tone pace and chord progression, always keeping the listeners on their toes. The band also recall the prog-rock excesses of bands like Pink Floyd or Genesis but with a far more focussed style – this four piece is musically talented, but they stick to guitars, bass and drums instead of being multi-talented wielding flutes and keyboards with equal ease. It’s a sprawling album, but one with many surprises and moments of powerful musical lucidity along the way. Ah-hah-hah-haaah-haah, I know this – much is – truue… 1989 The Cure Disintegration I could just have easily chosen Pornography for this list, and it would probably have represented the most influential moment of the band. But Disintegration is another perfectly crafted album that very obviously gave way to bands like The Smashing Pumpkins, Placebo and Nine Inch Nails. The bands record company claimed that releasing these recordings would constitute commercial suicide, but instead it became their lasting success and finest hour in an already very fine career. The album is held together by the charismatic misery of front-man and vocalist Robert Smith, and song for song, it explores his insecurities, failures, and sources of pain and joy alike. Plainsong instantly sets a mood, quickly followed by one of their finest songs, the intricately carved guitar noodling of Pictures of you one of the most sadly longing songs ever written by anybody. The whole album is contradictorily sprawling in tone and sound, but tight in terms of poetic vision and message: failed or failing relationships are the subject matter, neatly summarised in the disarmingly personal confession of Untitled, gently hammering home some of the most affecting lyrics for unrequited love Robert Smith ever wrote: Hopelessly drift in the eyes of the ghost again, Down on my knees and my hands in the air again, Pushing my face in the memory of you again, And I never know if it’s real Never know how I want it to feel Deeply conflicted and haunting The Cure cemented their reputations as dirge-rockers and released my personal favourite 80’s album. And as I try to make my way through the ordinary world… 1989 The Stone Roses The Stone Roses Along with such albums as Daydream Nation; it’s hard to believe that this was written and released during the 80’s. But there you have it. Arguably, this album produced the wave of brit-poppers, including the likes of Oasis, Blur, Pulp, The Verve, and countless others. The Stone Roses tower above all of these, translating cogently the vision of The Beatles into the modern world. Their sound is clearly influenced by the legendary Fab Four – the bass lines couldn’t be any more similar, but Ian Brown and John Squire, the recognised visionaries of the band, found a way of imprinting their own personalities and styles onto the music. For one thing, the music is darker and looser, from the long moaning intro to I wanna be adored to the thudding intense drumming courtesy Reni. The whole thing is utterly unlike anything else during the 80’s, except possibly The Smiths, and was one of the border albums that set the tone for the 90’s. The US edit of the album also features tracks made available on the b-sides compilation Turns into Stone, including the famous rhythms of Fools gold. Now classic, then ground-shaking, rock and roll. I am – the one and only… To be fair, I could just have easily invoked the following bands in this list as some of the most notable omissions - New Order, Talking Heads, The Smiths, Tears For Fears, Genesis, Simple Minds… but we can’t have it all. I’ve also noticed I’ve mainly gone for late 80’s recordings – I guess there’s a greater density of solid original material around that time than in the early 80’s. But I think we can agree that this top ten could almost constitute a top ten albums of all time list. So, ten reasons to love the 80’s, and that’s not counting all those other bands I had to exclude… the decade couldn’t have been that bad… could it?  |
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