Monday, December 30, 2019

The 1986 Listening Post - Edge of the World

The Mekons - Edge of the World



#261/1386
June 1986
The Mekons
Edge of the World
Genre: Rock
4.25 out of 5

Highlights:
Garage D’Or
Big Zombie


With a name like “Mekons” I always had expected this band to be some new wave, sci fi alien invasion thing and I could not have been more wrong. And I took some flack last year for not really liking their previous record more than just a pretty good alt-country offering.
Edge of the World is better. It’s more mature but also a bit more ramshackle. It’s heavily celtic (to me, at least, but what do I know?). It’s Pogues-ish but never too deeply drunkenly Irish. 
While I’m not really highlighting all that much there isn’t a clunker here. It’s all very competent and enjoyable. Once I’ve heard it, I don’t need any more. 
I wanna love the Mekons. Instead, I just shrug my shoulders and said, okie doke, that was a record. 



The 1986 Listening Post - Roky Erickson - Don't Slander Me

Roky Erickson - Don't Slander Me



#260/1385       LISTENING POST ADMIN DISCOVERY
June 1986
Rocky Erickson
Don’t Slander Me
Genre: Rock
5 out of 5 (I know. But it just kept rocking me in the right way)


Highlights: 
Don’t Slander Me
Haunt
Crazy Crazy Mama
Nothing in Return
Burn the Flames
Can’t Be Brought Down





So, we arrive at yet another in the gaping holes of my music lexicography. A name I’ve heard for decades and never ever once investigated. Damn shame, cuz a CD player with some Roky and Mojo Nixon in the late 80s would have made from some great cross country driving, for damned sure.
I don’t know if we get to Jack White without Roky. The former is a slavish disciple of the latter, I would guess.
While the second side isn’t AS surprising as the first, it’s still pretty damned terrific. Right up my alley. 

I feel like the way I did when I heard Graham Parker’s Squeezing Out Sparks a few years ago for the first time: I have been missing out. 








The 1986 Listening Post - And Also the Trees - Virus Meadow

And Also the Trees - Virus Meadow


#259/1384
June 1986
And Also the Trees
Virus Meadow
Genre: Post Rock
4.25 out of 5


Highlights:
Slow Pulsed Boy
Headless Clay Woman

I don’t think we talk enough about how dark a time it was in the 80s. We think of the 10s as dark, Like DC Universe dark but the music that was splintering off from the Bauhaus/David J movement was fucking dark. Or it really wanted to be. That’s this record. It really wants to be dark. It comes off mostly as pretentious but the attempt is worth it. Much better than their previous one. Much. 


The 1986 Listening Post - The Dwarves - Horror Stories

The Dwarves - Horror Stories



#258/1383
June 1986
The Dwarves
Horror Stories
Genre: Audition tape for Ray Dennis Steckler Soundtrack
2.25 out of 5


This is a cacophonous retro punk garage mess. You’d think I’d like this sort of thing but it’s just an assault on my ears that, unlike some of the discoveries in this genre, I find myself counting the minutes until it ended.
It’s ugly psychobilly so poorly recorded and mixed and mastered that it’s really just unpleasant. 




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix614wrmJ78

The 1986 Listening Post - Bonfire - Don't Touch the Light

Bonfire - Don't Touch the Light



#257/1382
June 1986
Bonfire
Don’t Touch the Light
Genre: 80s Metal
2.5 out of 5



As I listen to Bonfire’s (formerly Cacumen) debut album I find myself wondering: Why didn’t my band try to write at least one song in this metal idiom. I say this because we dabbled in punk, epic rock, 80s style ballad, rockabilly…but we didn’t really give this one its due. Maybe on “Pyrite” but I don’t think we were really trying. 
Why am I saying this? Because, from the sheer number of generic 80s rhythmic, chukka-chukka metal bands it must’ve been an easy genre to write and play. And, when it’s good, it’s fun.
This is not good. Nor is it bad. It’s so Scorpionish average (Or 80s Queen) that I think, “Damn, I could have written at least one stupid metal tune like this. 

Bonfire is still recording and playing, guys. Someone save Germany from this. 






The 1986 Listening Post - Innocent Bystanders - Don't Go Looking Back

Innocent Bystanders - Don't Go Looking Back



#256/1381 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY
June 1986
Innocent Bystanders
Don’t Go Looking Back
Genre: Straight Up Heartland Rock and Roll
4.75 out of 5


Highlights:
Just My Mother’s Son
Let Me In
Late Night Criers




I almost forgot what good rock and roll sounded like. Sure, it’s got a dash of Springsteen, Southside Johnny, maybe Boomtown Rats, Mellencamp, early Tom Petty, et al. But I’ve heard all those songs and when its done well, it’s great stuff. 
If things were different I would’ve downloaded this band via eMusic along with Chevelles as I tried to explore Down Under rock. It’s as good as anything the stateside bands were putting out at the time. 
Yes, it’s better than John Cafferty…
If Perth wasn’t a gajillion miles away I bet these guys could’ve had a hit stateside. 



The 1986 Listening Post - Richard Thompson - Daring Adventures

Richard Thompson - Daring Adventures


#255/1380
June 1986
Richard Thompson
Daring Adventures
Genre: Rock
4.5 out of 5



Highlights:
A Bone Through Her Nose
Valerie
Dead Man’s Handle
Cash Down, Never Never



Confession. I owned a copy of Henry the Human Fly and never listened to it. Not once. So, that’s about $13 I owe myself. 
Richard writes songs. I don’t think he’s trying to push any envelopes, just trying to write songs that amuse him and, hopefully, the audience finds as interesting as he does. 
When he does it well, I do, when he doesn’t, well, I guess there’s always more to come. 
Mitchell Froom is on this thing. 
And he and Richard occasionally play the Theremin. (“Cash Down, Never Never”)
I like that weirdo instrument. Unfortunately, a few of these tracks are from live cuts and that’s not really a good representation of the album, just the songs, but I’ll take it. 
I like this album. A lot of it sounds like other stuff by him but I don’t fault artists for that too often. Once you have an idiom it’s hard to break away. See: Mountain Goats. I think there might be a day when I need to go back and listen to everything in Richard’s catalog. He very rarely disappoints. 




 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svgo1NW1vaU&list=PLBJ7ztNazTVDtBYYCAoJUXD6RDKZP4FmU

The 1986 Listening Post - The Nails - Dangerous Dreams

The Nails - Dangerous Dreams



#254/1379
June 1986
The Nails
Dangerous Dreams
Genre: New Wave
3.75 Out of 5


Highlights:
Dig Myself a Hole
The First Time




I don’t know why but I’m reminded an awful lot of New Model Army. I say it this way because, as we all know, it’s hard for me to retain what sounds like what as I blast through tens of records at a clip but NMA impacted me at the time and this one, despite being maligned by some other sources, is a pounding, throbbing goth inspired rocker that I can’t quite pigeonhole. Maybe it’s a bit of Sisters of Mercy as well. 
I didn’t hear the first Nails record so I can’t compare but this one feels a lot like what the Ramones follow up to Too Tough to Die should have sounded like. It’s…wet, the record. Thick and pulsating in ways that I found myself really enjoying. Maybe a little too much Doors in the mix, though. 
“Things You Left Behind” is an obvious redux of their hit “88 Lines about 44 Women”. Hey, it worked once…




The 1986 Listening Post - Missing Persons - Color in Your Life

Missing Persons - Color in Your Life




#253/1378
June 1986
Missing Persons
Color in Your Life
Genre: Rock
4.25 out of 5




Highlights:
Color in Your Life
No Secrets
We Don’t Know Love At All



I was in High School, holed up in my room, most likely not studying for a Geometry final (which makes it really hard for me to come down on my daughter for not doing well in math) and listening to WDHA, “The Parkway to Rock”(!!!! It was Jersey, y’all).
I knew the answer to some dumb question they asked and called in on my private phone my parents got me. Yes, I had my own phone line. No, I didn’t really have any friends to call. Not a lot, that is. Sigh. 
My prize? A Missing Persons record. Spring Session M
But I would have to go IN the studio to pick it up. 
It wasn’t worth it to me. 
My next experience with Missing Persons was seeing a taping of “Hit Me Baby, One More Time” a mid-sos game show with one hit wonders vying for attention. They appeared, played “Words” and a Kylie Minogue song. Animotion was on that show as well, but I forgot that until I looked it up. I did recall that P.M. Dawn won that episode and they really shouldn’t have.

This MP album is crunchier than their previous stuff. It’s bigger. Assertive. Muscular. I think I like it more than their others. Terry Bozzio is on fire here. You know who this reminds me of? A 2000s Los Angeles band called Powder. I didn’t connect how much they owed to Missing Persons. Which explains their ultimate lack of success, I guess.

Color me in the minority. I loved this poundingly senseless record. Especially how it closes on some weird Peter Gabriel wannabe track that is unlike anything I’ve heard them do before. 




The 1986 Listening Post - Dag Nasty - Can I Say

Dag Nasty - Can I Say



#252/1377
June 1986
Dag Nasty 
Can I Say
Genre: Pop Punk
4.25 out of 5

Highlights:
Justification
I’ve Heard
Under Your Influence


I miss melodic punk. Taking their cues from Shred Metal this thing moves at lightning speed. 
I wish there was more melody in the songs than just yelping angrily. But this is a great step in the direction of Pop Punk. Like a hybrid of Megadeth and The Dickies. 
I can’t say I would seek them out. I need them to become better songwriters but, for what they are, I kind of dig it. 


The 1986 Listening Post - Madonna - True Blue

Madonna - True Blue



#251/1376
June 30 1986
Madonna
True Blue
Genre: Dance Pop
4.75 out of 5


Highlights:
Papa, Don’t Preach
Open Your Heart
Live to Tell
True Blue
La Isla Bonita
Jimmy Jimmy



I was on a road trip in Texas. 
It was miserable. I was miserable. I’m saving it for my memoir. A crazy experience, stuffed in a motor home crossing the state with people I didn’t like for the better part of 10 days. 
At the time I decided to work on my Listening Post series, taking to heart a comment by one reader that all the stuff I was listening to was male driven. Where were the women? Was I leaving them out on purpose? Was there bias? 
I decided to dive in to Madonna as a starting point to begin rectifying that glaring hole in the series. 
And I was really nervous about it cuz I was fully expecting to hate most of it. The singles, of course not. I would love those. I knew those. 
The whole experience was edifying in a way that was wholly unexpected. 
And this album was the apex. Somewhere around Houston is where I got to it. For me this record is more than just dance pop of the era. It’s endless vistas of desolate Texas roads. It’s eating cactus and fresh tortilla chips. It’s a cool breeze in sweltering humidity.

There is no weak track on this platter. It doesn’t try to break any new ground, save for content, perhaps (looking at you, “Papa, Don’t Preach”…RIP Danny Aiello) this is an artist at the height of her powers. 


The 1986 Listening Post - Eurythmics - Revenge

Eurythmics - Revenge




#250/1375
June
Eurythmics
Revenge
Genre: Rock
4 out of 5




Highlights:
Missionary Man
When Tomorrow Comes 
The Last Time



Perhaps I should have looked at Eurythmics as more than just a singles band for me to reject in my youth. After three really strong records in a row, belying genre pigeon holing, they come up with Revenge. An album so richly produced it shames about 75% of other stuff we’ve been listening to. It’s a factory record. Annie and Dave are the confectioners and they have the formula for the ear candy. 
It’s not Be Yourself Tonight. It’s not even as surprisingly satisfying as Sweet Dreams. But it’s better than In the Garden and I imagine that’s because of the sheer song crafting involved. 



The 1986 Listening Post - Savatage - Fight for the Rock

Savatage - Fight for the Rock



#249/1374
June 30 1986
Savatage
Fight for the Rock
Genre: Hair Metal
2.25 out of 5


REQUISITE 80s COVER WATCH:
Badfinger’s “Day After Day”. Relentlessly pointless attempt at an MTV Hit Single nostalgia grab. 
Free’s “Wishing Well”. Pedestrian and useless.


I read that the band was forced to make this record sound “commercial” and that they hate it, the label hated it, everyone hated it. 
I hated their first one. I don’t care for this one, either. 
That’s it. That’s the review. 



The 1986 Listening Post - Gene Loves Jezebel

Gene Loves Jezebel - Discover



#248/1373
June 30 1986
Gene Loves Jezebel
Discover
Genre: Alternative
3.75 out of 5


Highlights:
Desire (Come and Get It)
Sweetest Thing


Maybe it’s me. When I started this record I thought, “How come U2 and not GLJ?”. And, right around the big single, “Desire”, I realized that these guys just didn’t have whatever it was that Bono and the boys did. They seem to both have been pushing the same sound envelope at the same time but, for whatever reason, U2’s songs could catch you, grab you and pound them into your life’s soundtrack and Gene just disappears. 
I forgot this while I was listening to it, which is not reflected in the rating because I rank each song as I listen to them. So, the average rating is higher than the full experience, which was not memorable. To me. TO ME.


The 1986 Listening Post - Eastenders - Contenders

Easterhouse - Contenders



#247/1372
June 27 1986
Easterhouse
Contenders
Genre: Rock
3.5 out of 5


Highlights:
Out On Your Own

Is this The Smiths? The Cure? The Chameleons?

That’s the problem here. I wanna love it cuz they sound so much like those bands at their tightest. But, dang it, it just isn’t AS good as those bands at their best. There’s a reason I said “Easterwhat?” when I read this band’s name. There’s some good jangle in there but it’s a muddy, poorly mixed mess. 
Dang it. 


The 1986 Listening Post - Eyeless in Gaza - Back From the Rains

Eyeless in Gaza - Back From the Rains



#246/1371
June 27 1986
Eyeless in Gaza
Back From the Rains
Genre: Big 80s Rock
4 out of 5


Highlights:
Back From the Rains
Catch Me
New Love Here


Want some simile?
Tears for Fears meets The Alarm meets Duran Duran meets…4AD moody bands? 
This is lush and confident and feels like a swan song to an entire musical genre. 
I might not have cared for this when it came out, there really isn’t anything catchy or hummable but, lo these many years later, I am caught up in it’s spell. 



The 1986 Listening Post - Lou Reed - Mistrial

Lou Reed - Mistrial



#245/1370
June 26 1986
Lou Reed
Mistrial
Genre: Wannabe Poet, Talentless Songwriter
0.75 out of 5


No. In no world should Lou Reed RAP!!!
This isn’t cheeky fun rapping like Adam Ant or Blondie, this is Marky Ramone garbage rapping and why why why isn’t anyone talking about this abortion?

I’m not going to go too far into it. We all know how I feel. Lou can’t write songs. Can’t sing songs. Blah blah blah. Here he uses drum machines and it just makes it all so much worse.

But, he loses lots of points for “Don’t Hurt a Woman“. Now, look, I guess he should get points for being honest and confessional but he just comes across as a fucking asshole. 
“I was angry, I said things I shouldn't say
But please don't turn your back
Sometimes I get so upset
But I take it all back

Please don't go, I know I was wrong
Sometimes I don't know what comes over me
But I try to remember
Don't hurt a woman”

Yeah, you keep TRYING to remember that, Lou. 

Fuck off. 


The 1986 Listening Post - Peter Cetera - Solitude/Solitaire

Peter Cetera - Solitude/Solitaire




#244/1369
June 23 1986
Peter Cetera
Solitude/Solitaire
Genre: Better than David Foster
2.25 out of 5



You know what? That opener, “Big Mistake”? That’s not a half bad track…for 1982. With all the plinky synths and angularity. 
And if treacle is the jam for your biscuit, please try the theme to Karate Kid II, “Glory of Love”. Harmless and saccharine sweet.

Michael Omartian is all over this record and every time his name pops up I can be assured that the record will be pretty meh and that I will always wish that he was an actual Irish person from Mars. 


The 1986 Listening Post - Rod Stewart - Every Beat of My Heart

Rod Stewart - Every Beat of My Heart



#243/1368
June 23 1986
Rod Stewart
Every Beat of My Heart
Genre: Rock
2.25 out of 5



Here’s what I will start this review by saying that, despite my never ending dislike of Rod, that first track, “Here to Eternity”, while being a mid-tempo lackluster piece of 80s pap, is also something that has been sorely listening from the music we are listening to: A story song. Like “Jack and Diane” or “Thunder Road”, Rod is writing about characters and telling their stories. At least on that track. And I appreciate that. 


The Device team of Holly Knight/Michael Chapman are back, fyi. They wrote the theme song for the movie Legal Eagles (which I saw in the theater and am not better for it) and Rod sings it. That’s it. That’s the review. Garbage music. 
AND! Not to be left out of the current trend…a gospel tinged funereal cover of “In My Life” that no one needs.


This album is aggressively mediocre. There’s little reason to be including Rod in this project moving forward. 




The 1986 Listening Post - Live Skull - Cloud One

Live Skull - Cloud One




#242/1367
June 17 1986
Live Skull
Cloud One
Genre: Post-Rock
4.25 out of 5

Highlights:
Fort Belvedere
Haircut for Pigs
Bell Shaped Heads


This is so much better than the last Live Skull record. I’ve seen reviews that bring up Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth and other Noise Rock bands like Swans. But this is nowhere near as poundingly turgid as Swans nor is it as pretentious and self aware as Sonic Youth. It comes close to both, though. 
The Ascension by Branca is one of the greatest experimental noise albums of the era and this doesn’t get to that level but I appreciate what they are doing here more than on Bringing Home the Bait.
Even when they get funereal on “Bootcamp” & “Wallow In It” I fall in under their spell more than reject the pretentia. Stuff like “Fort Belvedere” and “Haircut for Pigs” show where this sound is going to end up, no doubt Sonic Youth grifted this poppier noise for Goo and made a fortune while Skull languished in the underground. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1MRoskMNBA&list=PLeGqzSIJFvAatmNF_dk-d9f_dtBI5tFQR

The 1986 Listening Post - Krokus - Change of Address

Krokus - Change of Address



#241/1366
June 16 1986
Krokus
Change of Address
Genre: Let’s be The Scorpions!
2.5 out of 5



Why does Krokus sound like Loverboy? Like JUST like Loverboy. That opener, “Now (All Through the Night)” is “Turn Me Loose”, no? Also, Scorpions. 

Krokus is that band that I really want to be good and hard and metallic and edgy and, man, they are just so by-the-numbers pedestrian, no?

Lemme check…is there a shitty and unnecessary cover? Oh, yes. (“School’s Out”) Do they bring absolutely nothing to it? Yep. 
Just when you think, “Hey…this isn’t a bad example of the form.” (“Burning Up the Night”) you listen to lyrics and think, “fuck, I’d rather listen to the Bay City Rollers than this garbage. No slight to BCR. They are the jam. 
Kind of liked “World on Fire”, though. Derivative as it is. 


The thing is, outside of Hardware, which I think is overrated, Krokus has, to Listening Post date, not released any album worth a damn. But, they will keep recording until 2013. Which says more about human beings’ ability and desire to consume garbage. 

I blame these people for Climate Change. And anti-vaxxing. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZSAKBO5Ceo&list=PLBJ7ztNazTVALBRwNqNSQISwcoE07pmdB




The 1986 Listening Post - Kim Mitchell - Shakin' Like a Himan Being

Kim Mitchell - Shakin' Like a Himan Being



#240/1365
June 13 1986
Kim Mitchell
Shakin’ Like a Human Being
Genre: Rock
2.25 out of 5



This album does not shake. The human being that made it barely grooves. Whatever good will Mitchell engendered on that last one is all but gone for me. This is dull & bored with itself. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-4uP-zhcUo&list=PLBJ7ztNazTVBLvzUcGe9U18QKYhOafpL7  

The 1986 Listening Post - The Sisterhood - Gift

The Sisterhood - Gift



#239/1364
June 11 1986
The Sisterhood
Gift
Genre: Electronica
4.25 out of 5

Highlights:
Jihad
Finland Red, Egypt White

From the ashes of Sisters of Mercy (and apparently as a legal ploy to prevent name usage?) comes this platter which is EXACTLY the kind of music I would have expected to her wannabe DJs “spin” at a house party off La Brea to a bunch of 30 somethings who had just discovered Ecstasy and were numbingly grooving with mouthfuls of lollipops. 
“I’m spinning at Gregg’s on Saturday night.” is the douchiest thing I’ve ever heard for “playing records”, but it was a thing and I was there and I’m super glad that era is over. 
As it descends into it’s more recognizable gothiness it loses some of it’s timelessness but that doesn’t diminish it to me.
This is terrific. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-fyNAh5Uso&list=PLBJ7ztNazTVBXmboluinqxK9898iWcIsV

The 1986 Listening Post - White Wold - Endangered Species

White Wolf - Endangered Species



#238/1383
June
White Wolf
Endangered Species
Genre: Survivor/Journey lite
2 out of 5


Highlights:
Just Like an Arrow 

It’s really picking up steam, guys. The hair metal sound has always been there, fighting for ground, but, now we’re hearing less Devil Metal and more glam. Not a lot but I feel like it’s about to break big. 
It’s a sound l like but don’t love except when it’s great and then I adore it. 
This is as middling as it gets. 
Another blow to Canada, though. That mysterious candy floss that permeated the Great White North’s repertoire has taken a back seat to mediocrity. 



The 1986 Listening Post - Shonen Knife - Pretty Little Baka Boy

Shonen Knife - Pretty Little Baka Boy



#237/1382
June 15 1986
Shonen Knife
Pretty Little Baka Boy
3.25 out of 5

For my birthday one year the bass player in my band gifted me with a shonen Knife album and...I didn’t really get it. 
Here we are, 16 years later and...

I still don’t. 

This sounds like a what “supai da man” would if it was a record. A knock off that doesn’t really care or understand the original. 

Thing is: Supaida Man was actually sanctioned by Stan Lee, who worked on it so that, to me, gives even more credibility to my simile. 

There’s just a touch of cred in this and that’s enough to not make me hate it. But I can not love it. 


The 1986 Listening Post - The Smiths - The Queen is Dead

The Smiths - The Queen is Dead



#236/1381
June 15 1986
The Smiths
The Queen is Dead
Genre: Alternative
4.75 out of 5



Highlights:
Frankly, Mr. Shankley 
Cemetry Gates
Bigmouth Strikes
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out


Wait, what?
This is...I love this. 
There’s a buoyancy to the band here. It isn’t muddy and muggy. There’s joy and humor and the sound of a band that really enjoys playing with each other. 
The actual instrumentation and melodies feel more assured and less experimental and that way Morrissey’s odd phrasing and plaintive style actually enhanced the songs rather than detract the way i felt previous albums did. 
“Bigmouth Strikes” is the funniest I’ve ever heard M. 


The 1986 Listening Post - Brighton Rock - Young, Wild and Free


Brighton Rock - Young, Wild and Free


#235/1380
June 15 1986
Brighton Rock
Young, Wild and Free
Genre: Rawwwwwk!
3.25 out of 5


Guys, we found it. 
It was elusive and I wasn’t sure it was out there but…dammit….we found it.
A big 80s rock band from Canada whose album sounds…

Muddy. Muddled. Uninspired. Everybody is buried in the mixes and unable to break out so, sonically, it’s spinach to my ears. Too bad. It’s right in the Kick Axe wheelhouse. 
Everything about this record sounds like a band that was put together to sound like Quiet/Kiss/Leppard?Jovi but ready made as pinups for teenage girls’ bedrooms. 
And generic. Shiny and echoey and without personality. 
Too bad. But, it’s dopey enough (“We Came to Rock”, “Jack is Back”) that I can’t hate it entirely. 






The 1986 Listening Post - Saccharine Trust - We Became Snakes

Saccharine Trust - We Became Snakes



#234/1379
June 15 1986
Saccharine Trust
We Became Snakes
Genre: Post-Rock Free Form Jazz Fusion
2.75 out of 5


I’m not sure why we’re slipping down this tributary, save for the fact that this is on SST’s label and Mike Watt produced it. 
Like any of this stuff I often harken back to Zappa, I think because he’s the most well known purveyor of it. It’s not my jam. 
It’s like this record was made so that Silver Lake coffee shops and record stores would have something to play for the people who smoke hookahs in the basement. 
Pass. 



The 1986 Listening Post - Exciter - Unveiling the Wicked

Exciter - Unveiling the Wicked



#233/1378
June 15 1986
Exciter
Unveiling the Wicked
Genre: Metal
4 out of 5




So, I’m listening to this in an empty house on a Tuesday and it’s going full blast and I find myself reading the manual/rule book for Gloomhaven. 
Now, instructions are my Kryptonite. My brain doesn’t really process that stuff. Doesn’t matter if it’s written out, bullet pointed, graphed, I have a ton of trouble with sorting information. 
But, since I’ve been playing the game for a few weeks now I have a solid bedrock of info to draw on and I can now sift through what was abstract at the beginning and make concrete this unwieldy, holy mess of information. 
Exciter is exactly the sort of band that would attract Gloomhaven players. It’s all…doom. And satanic battles and such. Punishing drums and frettastic mind melting guitar work all in support of one of the highest screeches I have ever heard. 
And here’s what’s weird: I was able to put that in the background and gain higher understanding of the rules. And I don’t know if that’s a testament to my ability to push the album into the background or if it enhanced the reading. 
Somewhere around “Living Evil” I realized: this is the attempted hybridization of Van Hagar and Priest/Maiden.



The 1986 Listening Post - Flux of Pink Indians - Uncarved Block

Flux of Pink Indians - Uncarved Block




#232/1377
June 15 1986
Flux of Pink Indians
Uncarved Block
Genre: Punk/Post-Punk
2.75 out of 5




I keep coming back to Big Audio Dynamite every time I start to jot my thoughts about this record down. They aren’t the same, but they aren’t too dissimilar. Punk band morphs into highly percussive rhythm machine with their attitude intact but subdued and the anarchy replaced by occasional…saxophones?
It doesn’t inspire nearly as much as BAD or the first McLaren record but it isn’t bad enough to run from. 
The kind of thing that one might see a video for halfway through an episode of Night Flight. 
In the end, it’s piffle. 


The 1986 Listening Post - The Pandoras - Stop Pretending

The Pandoras - Stop Pretending



#231/1376 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY
June 15 1986
The Pandoras
Stop Pretending
Genre: Paisley Garage
4.75 out of 5


Highlights:
In and Out of My Life (in a Day)
Anyone But You
That’s Your Way Out
Stop Pretending
It Felt Alright

I missed the first Pandoras record when we started this project and I’m sad about that. As sad as I am that I didn’t know that half of this band would form The Muffs and that Kim Shattuck died this year. 
This album packs a wallop and I usually think organs in rock tend to Archies everything up, turn it into bubblegum and soften all the edges but this is hard stuff, Melanie Vammen, it could be argued, is the driver of this album. The Go-Gos might have paved the way for this but they have this lane all to themselves here. 



The 1986 Listening Post - Piledriver - Piledriver

Piledriver - Piledriver



#230/1375
June 15 1986
Piledriver
Stay Ugly
Genre: Satan’s Metal
4.25 out of 5


Highlights:
The Incubus
The Lord of Abominations

Piledriver is back for one more and, just like before, they nail the genre with tongues firmly planted in cheeks. 
As seriously as other bands take themselves in this style they (all bands with “witch” or “wytch” in their names) Piledriver doesn’t and yet they are more honest about the sheer aggression and lunacy. Its as though Spinal Tap was a shred metal band and they never let anyone in on the joke. 
At just under 30 minutes, Stay Ugly doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. It just about runs out of steam at the end but knows exactly when to close the curtain. 


Friday, December 20, 2019

The 1986 Listening Post - fIREHOSE - Ragin', Full On

fIREHOSE - Ragin', Full On



#229/1374
June 15 1986
fIREHOSE
Ragin’, Full On
Genre: Alternative
4.5 out of 5



Highlights:
Brave Captain
Locked In


I love that the Minutemen guys pressed on. The first side of this record sounds like a bunch of guys who are getting something OUT. Like this is how they are dealing wih the shocking loss of D. Boon. It's a spleen vent of magical punkfunk It’s like Minutemen on steroids. It’s relentless.
And then Side Two is more…melodic. More Paisley. With funky rhythm. And an obvious inspiration for Jeff Mangum and Neutral Milk Hotel. And I’m all over it.




The 1986 Listening Post - Piledriver - Stay Ugly

Piledriver - Stay Ugly



#230/1375
June 15 1986
Piledriver
Stay Ugly
Genre: Satan’s Metal
4.25 out of 5


Highlights:
The Incubus
The Lord of Abominations

Piledriver is back for one more and, just like before, they nail the genre with tongues firmly planted in cheeks. 
As seriously as other bands take themselves in this style they (all bands with “witch” or “wytch” in their names) Piledriver doesn’t and yet they are more honest about the sheer aggression and lunacy. Its as though Spinal Tap was a shred metal band and they never let anyone in on the joke. 
At just under 30 minutes, Stay Ugly doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. It just about runs out of steam at the end but knows exactly when to close the curtain. 


The 1986 Listening Post - The Prisoners - In From the Cold

The Prisoners - In From the Cold



#228/1373 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY
June 15 1986
The Prisoners
In From the Cold
Genre: Garage Revival
4.75 out of 5


Highlights:
All You Gotta Do is Say
Come Closer
In From the Cold
Find and Seek


I love this record. As much as I did Last Fourfathers. It’s all energy and love and respect for genre in ways that Thee Mighty Caesers just can’t make happen.
It also seems to have injected itself with the DNA of “A Little More Conversation” and I am there for it. 
If there is one band that I completely missed and am grateful to this project for it’s The Prisoners. 


The 1986 Listening Post - Pete Shelley - Heaven and the Sea

Pete Shelley - Heaven and the Sea



#227/1372
June 15 1986
Pete Shelley
Heaven and the Sea
Genre: Not Nick Lowe
3.25 out of 5


Highlights:
I Surrender


Just mention the song “Homosapien” and I immediately have that chorus in my head. It’s an ear worm that also doesn’t overstay its welcome. So, Shelley gets points for that. And, of course, for his Buzzcocks stuff. Who isn’t an “Orgasm Addict”?
Sadly, when he tries his hand at straightforward rock the songs aren’t there and his nasal Bowie vocals prevent him from accessibility. 
Pete will never be what he seemingly wishes he was: in the pantheon of British songsmiths ala Nick Lowe, Difford/Tilbrook/Elvis Costello. He just doesn’t have it. 




The 1986 Listening Post - Breathless - The Glass Bead Game

Breathless - The Glass Bead Game



#226/1371
June 15 1986
Breathless
The Glass Bead Game
Genre: Shoegaze
3.75 out of 5

Highlights:
Count on Angels

The real hero here is the percussionist Tristam Latimer Sayer. Everyone else, including the vocalists, are hanging on his pulsing, determined rhythms. 
This is early Shoegaze, if I am not mistaken. And, at times, I hear them as a conduit between that burgeoning sound and the lofty elegies of the Moodies and other post sixties hippy sounds. 



The 1986 Listening Post - Thee Mighty Caesars - Acropolis Now

Thee Mighty Caesars - Acropolis Now



#225/1370
June 15 1986
Thee Mighty Caesars
Acropolis Now
Genre: Garage Revival
2.25 out of 5



And, just like that, the bloom is off the rose. Thanks for everything, Billy Childish but you seem to have lost the thread. This sounds like you recorded it all by yourself in a poorly lit room on a 4 track. I wouldn’t mind so much if the songs were there. They aren’t. 




The 1986 Listening Post - Device - 22B3

Device - 22B3



#224/1369
June 15 1986
Device
22B3
Genre: Trash
1.25 out of 5



I always thought Holly Knight was the Holly from Holly and the Italians. She isn’t. That’s Holly Vincent. I was disabused of that about 15 years ago. 
That didn’t stop me from never investigating the solo works by either. I did know, however, that Holly Knight wrote a ton of hit songs. What I didn’t know was that she teamed up with Mike (glam writer/producer supreme) to craft this one off of…mediocre mid-tempo non-rock. 
It sounds like what you get when a R&B-dance band tries it’s hand at rock. Which is a damned shame since both Knight and Chapman have actual rock bona fides. 
But, also…WHY ARE THESE SONGS 5 MINUTES LONG??????



The 1986 Listening Post - Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Criminal Tango

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Criminal Tango



#223/1368
June 13 1986
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
Criminal Tango
Genre: This could easily be Loverboy
3.75 out of 5



It worked for “Blinded by the Light” so Mann tries it again, opening this album with a big 80s synth for the stadium cover of The Jam’s “Going Underground”. And here’s the thing. I really liked what I was hearing but I didn’t recognize it until “And the public gets what the public wants” and then I keyed in and had to do a double take. I didn’t hate it, to be sure, it’s just freaking weird. 
Mann is trying, you can hear it. The world is changing around them but there’s a lane for this. It’s not terrible by a long shot but it feels like it’s getting stale. Although I really liked the cover of “Bulldog” cuz it’s equally weird, man. 



The 1986 Listening Post - Glass Tiger - The Thin Red Line

Glass Tiger - The Thin Red Line



#222/1367 LISTENING POST ADMIN DISCOVERY
June 11 1986
Glass Tiger
The Thin Red Line
Genre: Big 80s
4.5 out of 5 (a rating guaranteed to lose credibility)



Highlights:
The Thin Red Line
Don’t Forget Me When I’m Gone
Ancient Evenings
I Will Be There




You know that big 80s sound. The Alarm. U2. Big Country. It’s epic, kind of celtic, you wanna tap your foot to it or head off into the frozen tundra to do battle with frost giants. 
That’s where this album lives. Or wants to, because the big hit from it sounds more like what happens when Culture Club abandons it’s New Wave cuteness and goes for the bigger stadium sound.
Maybe it’s that elusive Canadian component but this is lush and bright and catchy as hell and I think it’s a very worthy inclusion into the pantheon of “80s Rock” that should pop up on a Sirius radio station or Pandora mix and make the listener very happy. 
Most interesting aspect of this record is that the singles, “Don’t Forget Me” and “Someday” sound less like anything else on the record. And not as good. 
That said, I really liked this. Maybe it’s the meds….




The 1986 Listening Post - The Call - Reconciled

The Call - Reconciled



221/1366 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY
June 11 1986
The Call 
Reconciled
Genre: Rock
4.5 out of 5


Highlights:
I Still Believe
The Morning
With or Without Reason

Why didn’t The Call get the call? Did they sound too much like a U2 wannabe band? This whole album feels like a primer on how to craft a record that college kids in the mid 80s would love.
It’s a surprise. Each track is as good as the last and will make you forget the previous one. Not because they are piffle, but because the next is just as good or better than the one that came before. 




The 1986 Listening Post - David Foster - David Foster

David Foster - David Foster



#220/1365
June 11 1986
David Foster
David Foster
Genre: Make it stop
1.5 out of 5




Many years ago I got caught shoplifting at the mall. Little things. Action figure stuff. Nothing big. The reason we got caught is that one of my co-horts got caught shoplifting a tiny container of model paint from Macys. Or Sears. I can’t recall. For all I know the stuff we pilfered is still in that locker at the livingston mall. 
I didn’t really get in much trouble for it. I wasn’t allowed to go to the mall for a while. Had to hang out at my parents’ store instead of home alone. That sort of garbage. 
The universe, to my surprise, held off my actual punishment until today. When I had to listen to David Foster’s debut record for this project. 

This is made for no one. Maybe, MAYBE, some middle aged, paunch bellied, jackass in sunglasses driving a new Chrysler Le Baron convertible around the block at Beverly Hills High or something. 
That’s it. This is music of the louche. 



The 1986 Listening Post - Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus - Metallicus

Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus - Metallicus



#219/1364
June 10 1986
Candlemass
Epicus Doomicus Metallicus 
Genre: Doom Metal
4.5 out of 5



I was sitting in the dentist chair about 11 years ago, listening to Sound Opinions Talk about one of their favorite records of the year. A Sabbath inspired Metal band called Black Mountain. I took their advice, listened, loved it and forgot it. I’m not inclined to listen to dark metal all that often. 
Buy it was good. 
We talk a lot about Sabbath in respect to where Ozzy took his brand of radio friendly metal and that shit is great but we often forget what those first Sabbath records sounded like. 
This album is the direct Descendents off those first four. Dark, plodding, rich and epic. 
There are no highlights because all of it is equally of the same Grande Epic operatic quality. 


The 1986 Listening Post - Genesis - Invisible Touch

Genesis - Invisible Touch



#218/1363
June 2 1986
Genesis
Invisible Touch
Genre: Rock
4 out of 5 


Highlights:
Invisible Touch
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
Land of Confusion

From my review ten years ago: 
I’m sorry if this is lazy reviewing but I actually reread my old review and nothing has changed. 
I have not changed my opinion one bit. Also, I’m very under the weather as I write this. 

“Well, well, well. We are deep into that 80s sound now, huh? Where everything sounds like a montage from an urban comedy ala Working Girl or About Last Night or Tootsie or St. Elmo's Fire or White Knights......
This was one of THOSE albums in the era. The only song not released as a single was the instrumenta; track. This album had no less than 6 singles AND the 10 minute opus, Domino, charted anyway. That might have had something to with the two halves of it released as a pair of b-sides.

I'm going to give some props to the guys here. Not for the music, as that's pretty much by the numbers by now. No, for actually letting Tony Banks have some say in the songs. Hang on a sec. I know he's the guiding force behind the Mama band. Listen to that single. It could have fallen off No Jacket Required, easy. Or even Mike + the Mechanics. Its the flourishes that make it all geneside. That's a song that is a ready made top forty hit. And it was. Such a sad time for music. (When is pop music not sad, though?)
The second track is actually a redeemer in a way. It's the band channeling their inner Gabriel. Latter day Gabriel. “Tonight, tonight, tonight” is somewhere between his work and “In the Air...” Moody, redolent and ominous. It's a gigantic epic and it really works. More and more I am beginning to understand just how omnipresent and affecting Genesis was on the cultural landscape in that decade.
While we all remember the “Spitting Image” puppet video for “Land of Confusion”, it's actually not a half bad song. These guys are more socially conscious and also very adept at what they do. I like this song. I always have.
The whole first half of this record were singles. So, 86 was also the year of Genesis. “In Too Deep” was also part of the musical landscape. It was impossible to get away from. It wouldn't get you laid, even though it sort of promised to. 
If you took a Lamb Lies era Genesis fan, put him/her in a box and sent them to the future 20 years and played this song, they would laugh in your face as you told them who it was, so far removed from where this band started....
The mania of “Anything She Does” draws me in in ways that other Tony Banks creations don't, usually leaving me cold. But, it's immediate as anything from the era.
“Domino” is a return to Genesis of old, in a way. It's a sprawling, mythological tale. But, without the crazy time signature changes that marked the old Genesis, its just a long disco epic.
Even though “Throwing it All Away” might as well be a Phil Collins solo track, by this point in the record, I'm kind of won over. So, it really doesn't bother me. And it's kind of catchy.

Invisible Touch is a solid record. Much more accessible than the previous one, probably because the band has decided that MOR is where they wanna live. I can see why this was a hit. “


The 1986 Listening Post - Alphaville - Afternoons in Utopia

Alphaville - Afternoons in Utopia



#217/1362
June 5 1986
Alphaville 
Afternoons in Utopia
3.5 out of 5

Highlights:
Lassie Come Home


Weird coming off Erasure’s offering that Alphaville would engender a response as close. It’s not ground breaking but it’s a perfectly fine disco Synth offering. 
I have little to say except that it’s got a good beat, you could dance to it. 




The 1986 Listening Post - Belinda Carlisle - Belinda

Belinda Carlisle - Belinda



#216/1361
June 2 1986
Belinda Carlisle
Belinda
Genre: Pop Rock
3.5 out of 5


Highlights:
Mad About You

Where ex-Go Go’s Jane Wiedlin’s solo debut was a bunch of tracks she wrote or co-wrote, the same can not be said about this record and Belinda is better off for hiring the right people. 
Billy Steinberg
Tom Kelly
Susannah Hoffs
Charlotte Coffey
Lindsey Buckingham
Tim Finn
others
These people provided the water and the well for Belinda. It took three writers I have never heard of to write what sounds like a mid-80s Bruce Springsteen track, the opener super catchy “Mad About You”.
Trouble is, for me at least, after the first few tracks the pop joy seems to just evaporate. Any sense of adventure or fun give over to mid tempo commercialism (And the requisite cover is turgid). 
There’s some girl group stuff and synthetic steel drums but Belinda is no Madonna and, without her punk-turned-GoGo bounce she’s hollow. 
Still, it’s more accessible than Jane’s. 


The 1986 Listening Post - Erasure - Wonderland

Erasure - Wonderland



#215/1360
June 2 1986
Erasure
Wonderland
Genre: SynthPop
4.25 out of 5


Highlights:
Who Needs Love Like That?
Reunion
Love is a Loser
Oh L’Amour



We keep calling this “SynthPop”. It’s disco, right? 

Anyway. When I learned that Erasure’s massive The Innocents was my girlfriend’s favorite record I went to Amoeba records and bought her the entire Erasure catalog on vinyl. Yes, I was wooing. But it was also not very expensive woo, to be sure. This was the early 00s and Vinyl hadn’t made a comeback yet. But we had a turntable that she had bought for me for my birthday and I returned the favor with all of these records. 
Of course I was never gonna listen to this, right? 
Um…sure…
Well, I never did get to Wonderland. But, The Innocents? Hell yeah. That shit was the bomb-shizzle. (It was the aughts, man)

This is Yazoo part two. Like, In the Next Room Over But Still Upstairs at Eric’s. 

Man, Andy Bell sounds like Allison Moyet. No?

Better than most of their peers, assured and eminently listenable, lo these 33 years later. 


The 1986 Listening Post - Queen - A Kind of Magic

Queen - A Kind of Magic



#214/1359
June 2 1986
Queen
A Kind of Magic
Genre: Rock/Soundtrack to Highlander
3.25 out of 5


Highlights:
One Vision - Movie title track. Fist pumper that ends with “Fried Chicken” after invoking Martin Luther King and I don’t know what the fuck Freddie is trying to say. If anything.
A Kind of Magic  - a catchy ditty and not something I run from when it comes on. It just has no direction. Fades away. As Queen seemed to be trying to do.
Who Wants to Live Forever - It kills me that, even though this thing has been covered a bajillion times, no one ever mentions that it’s a suicide dive call by the Hawkman Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon. Way to take your inspiration, Bri. 
Princes of the Universe - Someone sobered Freddie up enough to contribute the most “Queen” track on the record. 


Midlights:
One Year of Love - The first track that sounds like it was written for the movie and also proves that John Deacon can really only write about being in love with his wife. 


Lowlights:
Pain is So Close to Pleasure  - See cliche axiom/write song. You’d be surprised at how often Queen does this. And it’s annoying once you recognize it. 
Friends Will Be Friends - See above. 
Gimme the Prize  - Nobody, not even the rain, likes this song. - e.e. cummings. 
Don’t Lose Your Head - See above and above that and also above that. 


I have searched for a personal anecdote about this record outside of remembering that I bought it at Tower Records uptown and schlepped that Yellow bag back to the Path train on my way to hoboken to go home for the summer. 
That’s it. That’s my memory of this.
I’m a huge Queen apologist. But even I have trouble with this one. So I will just review it in the Highlights.


The 1986 Listening Post - John Parr - Running the Endless Mile

John Parr - Running the Endless Mile


#213/1358
June 1 1986
John Parr
Running the Endless Mile
Genre: AOR
3.5 out of 5



Remember when Hollywood tried to make Mitch Gaylord a star in the movie American Anthem?
No?
I bet John Parr does. Cuz he was tapped for the theme song and it’s terrible. Like the movie. And Mitch Gaylord’s acting. 
John Parr has no personality of his own so he synthesizes every male, MOR musician and creates listenable but dull music. Except for “Don’t Leave Your Mark on Me”, I almost liked that. And “Blame It On the Radio” cuz it sounds the most like Rick Springfield. Mid-era Rick.