Anyways, the music scene was changing then. New Wave and heavy metal arrived at full force. MTV rotated the same mindless videos repeatedly and endlessly. The leather, the big hair, the makeup and the neon clothes were at full bloom. The music started to sound corporate and plastic. At was all bright lights and glitter, but no real talent and soul. Yet underneath all this corporate bullshit, there was some GREAT stuff. Let's check it out!
U2 The Joshua Tree-1987 Hands down, THE best album from the '8o's! Bono and the boys take musical inspiration to new heights with this album. The Edge's jangling guitar and Bono's soulful lyrics leaves me breathless to this day. A timeless classic!Guns n' Roses Appetite for Destruction-1987 I was totally blown away the raw and furious energy of this album! The rage! It like I could feel their pain and anger. It is the perfect fuck you adieu to the world. On top of that, these guys are talented musicians!
Def Leppard Hysteria-1987 How can any band outdo their previous album like Pyromania? Def Leppard managed to do so. Just as catchy as Pyromania, but more carefully crafted. Yes, with a one armed drummer.
Metallica Master of Puppets-1987 Nobody can rock harder and faster than Metallica! These guys from San Francisco are a driving force that pummel you with scorching rhythms that will rivet into your brain!
Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet-1986 I know, I know everybody must of heard something from this album a million of times! What can I say? It's a classic! These rockers from New Jersey, not only created a hell of a catchy album, but lyrically created storyline like tunes that people can relate to.
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Born in the USA-1984 I absolutely love the homeliness of this record! Its was more upbeat and more pop oriented than his previous work. It's kinda like a record that makes you feel good inside. Having the title track sort of like the national anthem helps.
Deep Purple Perfect Strangers-1984 The long awaited reunion of the famous Mark 2 lineup returns! Ritchie Blackmore and the boys put out a perfect album! The best stuff since 1972's Machine Head. A must get for any Purple fan!
Pink Floyd A Momentary Lapse of Reason-1987 Argue if you want if this is David Gilmour solo album or this is an actual Pink Floyd album, I don't care. It's the first one without bassist Roger Waters. With or without him, I thought this album was brilliant! I really loved "Sorrow".
Robert Plant Now and Zen-1988 After scratching my head over the Honeydrippers project and his "Shaken and Stirred" album, I began to wonder about Plant. What is he doing? Instead of running away from the Zeppelin legacy, he now embraces it-bringing in mysticism and mystery into the fold. Recruiting his ex-band mate Jimmy Page helps.
REM Document-1987 I didn't get into REM until the '90's. By then, I backtracked to get their earlier stuff. I thought Document was the best out that bunch. I really liked "The One I Love" and "Finest Worksong".
Aerosmith Pump-1989 Their 1987's release Permanent Vacation was one hell of great comeback for Aerosmith! Pump turned it up a few notches, making it their most hardest rocking, best damn album they released since 1976's Rocks!Iron Maiden Powerslave-1984 The 13 minute epic "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" was alone worth the price of this album! The rest of the album also rocks! Even the instrumental "Losfer Words" left me headbanging for years.
Van Halen 1984-1984 This is exactly the album that Van Halen needed to break away from the dismal Diver Down album. Adding keyboards was a brave and bold idea-and a brilliant one.
Tom Petty Full Moon Fever-1989 Tom Petty's first solo album away from the Heartbreakers proved beneficial for Petty. Pulling off timeless classics like "I Won't Back Down", "Running Down a Dream" and "Free Fallin'" certainly helped Petty' career out of a rut and got the Heartbreakers re-energized.
Grateful Dead In the Dark-1987 The Grateful Dead's first studio album in 17 years. The Dead had been playing most of the album for years before recording it. MTV's rotation of "Touch of Gray" helped the band's popularity to new heights
Prince & the Revolution Purple Rain-1984 I admit it, I like Prince! I just love the way he snatches up rock and roll, r & b, funk, reggae and everthing else under the sun and puts into a mixing bowl and makes it work! It takes talent to do that! Yeah, I thought the movie sucked.
Marillion Misplaced Childhood-1985 By about this point, prog rock just about dead. Asia was starting to fall, Yes was starting to suck, and Genesis was getting wimpy. Somehow Marillion carried the torch. Having a killer tune like "Kayleigh" helps.Van Halen 5150-1986 After the departure of singer David Lee Roth, brothers Eddie and Alex brought Sammy Hagar into the fold. Argue if you want, if that was a good idea. I believe the arrival Hagar added the more artistic approach to the band. With great results!
Rush Power Windows-1985 Rush embraced the '80's with the synthesizer sound. Some people liked it, some didn't. I loved it, maybe not as much as the 70's stuff. Anyways, the album showed band's strengths as they evolved.
The Cars Heartbeat City-1984 I never was really into the Cars until I got this album. Aside from their first album, I thought this one was their best. I absolutely loved the tune "Drive"
Dire Straits Brother in Arms-1985 Anybody remember the "Money for Nothing" video? I do! That one was a classic! Not only that tune was awesome, the rest of the album was good.
Soundgarden Louder than Love-1989 This album could quite well be the birthplace of grunge. Mix punk with Zeppelin/Sabbath and you will get this! To top it off, Chris Cornell's voice just blows me away!The Firm Mean Business-1986 I like the Firm, but I expected more from the former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. Nonetheless, this album is still pretty good. I thought Paul Rogers was exceptional in this album.
Bruce Hornsby & the Range Scenes from the Southside-1988 A very mellow album with a loose and easy feeling to it. Perfect for a quiet evening with your partner.
Neil Young Freedom-1989 Neil Young's comeback album after a string of lousy ones. Contains the tune "Rocking in the Free World"
There you have it folks! My top 25 from 1984-1989. Took me two days to write this...
4 comments:
Drew, I was a bit older than you so by the time we got to the 80's I was a bit disillusioned with some of the "new" music. I agree some of your picks are pure classic rock albums. Others I had a hard time listening to. I just got all caught up in the 60's-70's rock and roll and became spoiled. Nice list though and great personal reviews of the music.
Thanks
Dan, I too, was disillusioned by much of the stuff from the '80's. Bands like Culture Club, Wham!, Poison, Winger, Twisted Sister, Slayer, A Flock of Seagulls, the Go Go's, etc., etc. made want to vomit! To me, it was corporate BS to the masses. I spent a lot of time in the "8o's backtracking to the thrift shops and rummage sales getting the music I loved the most-The classic stuff from the '60's and the '70's!
Drew, I love this list! Mine would actually be quite similar... a few differences-- I'd have Metallica's ...And Justice For All instead of Master of Puppets but that's just me.
And I might toss on George Harrison's Jeff Lynne produced Cloud 9 instead of the Iron Maiden (not a big fan of theirs). But I agree with just about everything else.
I LOVE that you put Misplaced Childhood on the list! I didn't "discover" Marillion until about 2002. An online friend of mine and fellow fan of Chicago who was similarly disillusioned by how far that band has fallen and how far from their early material they've strayed recommended Marillion to me and said I should start with Misplaced Childhood. So I went out and bought the 2 CD 24 bit deluxe remaster and it was love at first listen! Fish was/is one brilliant songwriter!
Glad that you enjoyed the list Perplexo! I loved the ...and Justise for All album! I think it's Metallica's most ambitious album. Despite that fact, I had to give Masters of Puppets the edge.
I also thought of George Harrison's Cloud Nine, maybe at 26? It's a good album.
Trying to decide whether to from 1990 to 1995 or 1972 to 1977. The older the music got the better it was. (And harder to make a list!)
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