The 1984 Listening Post - Tones on Tail - Pop

Tones on Tail - Pop

#90

1984 Housekeeping

Tones on Tail

Pop

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

War

Hey, look! It’s ANOTHER Bauhaus member side project! This time it’s Daniel Ash. And he’s not NEARLY as depressed as David J. he’s alllllmost as weird as Peter Murphy’s Dalis Car, but who’m I kidding? That was bad. 

Remember when The Cure suddenly stuck their tow in some strange rockabilly “Love Cats” sound? That’s what this makes me feel like. But, not in a bad way. This is a bridge between the darkness of Bauhaus and the pop of Love & Rockets but only if everybody took a LOT of acid on that bridge and decided to become a dance band for half a minute. But just that minute cuz, boy does this get weird.

When Ash and company stick to the twisting of musical styles to bend them to their will, they hit it out of the park. When they miss, though, like on “The Never Never (is Forever)” it’s by a mile. But here’s the thing: All the bones of Love & Rockets are in that song (and “Real Life”).  Earth, Sun & Moon is where he gets this right. But, ya gotta wait a few years cuz the taste of this song has to leave your earholes. In the meantime you get to listen to Bauhaus doing their best impression of The Residents in “Slender Fungus”. They fail, but, hey, they try. 

The link is for a double album release. The first 9 songs are Pop.

https://open.spotify.com/album/2HLe3MOLEKEhuGIbrGSN3i?si=YH_Cka3xTd-4TP-3xmigVQ

The 1984 Listening Post - Adrenalin O.D. - The Wacky Hijinks of Adrenalin O.D.

Adrenalin O.D. - The Wacky Hijinks of Adrenalin O.D.

#89

1984 Housekeeping

Adrenalin O.D.

The Wacky Hi-Jinks of Adrenalin O.D.

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Corporate Disneyland

I swear to whatever god of the moment human beings have decided rule over them that if this fucking band can get a record deal, my college band just wasn’t fucking trying. (We weren’t, but damn it. we were at LEAST as funny as these guys.)

When my second band played SXSW we went to see a friend’s band. For no reason whatsoever the opening band was a scatalogical weirdness called “SHAT”. To my chagrin it was NOT a band based on the musical stylings of William Shatner. I’m thinking about SHAT because their music and show was about as ridiculous and hilarious as this.

Also, since it’s only available on Spotify and I am an Apple Music user, it’s kind of brilliant to have “Going to a Funeral” and “Corporate Disneyland” broken up by app commercials. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2gYUydsjzLWGokXK0d18af?si=IOWBaM1IS8mN620wHn-4nw

The 1984 Listening Post - 7 Seconds - The Crew

7 Seconds - The Crew

#88

1984 Housekeeping

7 Seconds

The Crew

3.75 out of 5

This is the Angry Pt. 2

Clenched Fists, Black Eyes

Still hate that sludgy Black Flag we all had to listen to? I do. Hankoring for some hardcore? Generally not since the 80s…But, if you are, and you just can’t listen to that Suicidal Tendencies record again, give this a shot. Because these guys SOUND like they are having a blast. Example: “Clenched Fists, Black Eyes” which has that gang of idiots that “TV Party” is renowned for but Actually want to hang out with these guys. 

Dive in and chances are you can get that thirst sated in between 55 seconds and a minute and a half. Since that’s what the average length is here.

Lots of anti-war sentiments and the go-to punk stances. Makes me wonder where the bands like this are today? 

FWIW, 7 Seconds finally broke up last year. 

Wow.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMy-cxFDINM

The 1984 Listening Post - Rush - Grace Under Pressure

Rush - Grace Under Pressure

#87

April 12 1984

Rush

Grace Under Pressure

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Distant Early Warning

The Body Electric

Fuck, I forgot this was on. It’s literally jabbing into my earholes and I am writing down the names of songs and thinking about…wait…there’s that plastic castle again…

This is a lot like Signals. Bombast and synthesized sounds but nothing for me to really hold on to. I miss the Rush of yore. There’s no doubt that these guys are masters. And they prove it on every songs. I especially like “The Body Electric”. This drummer is ok. I bet he has a future. ;)

I you like Rush, you’ll like most of this. I can’t fault it. It just isn’t as great as I’ve known them to be. I just wish there were…fuck, what’s that called…?

Melodies. This album is bereft of them. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/grace-under-pressure-remastered/643436349

The 1984 Listening Post - REM - Reckoning

REM - Reckoning

#86

April 9 1984

R.E.M.

Reckoning

5 out of 5

Highlights:
Harborcoat

7 Chinese Brothers

So. Central Rain

Pretty Persuasion

(…you know I could just list the whole record…..)

Don’t Go Back to Rockville

Little America

I know this is blasphemy but…for my money…Reckoning is actually a better album than Murmur. I know! I know! Stop. Ouch!

The album *could* be read as Murmur II but it’s not. Touring for the debut must have taught them a lot about playing together because they are t.i.g.h.t. And energized. Does Bill Berry get his due? Do enough people understand just how important he was to this band’s success? 

Stipe said this about Reckoning on the fantastic blog “Popsongs”. 

“"That’s Reckoning for you — nearly every song on the record in some way deals with the aftermath of an event, and at least half of them are traumatic. It’s an album about mourning your losses, taking stock of changes, owning up to guilt, and, in the end, moving on. In this way, the recurring theme of water in the lyrics is extremely appropriate. Just as with the fire of Document, the floods of Reckoning are destructive, but also purifying. There may be panic and trauma on Reckoning, but it’s ultimately a record about finding maturity after a period of chaos. “

I would say that it’s also a perfect moment. 80s college kids looking for rock heroes to throw up the charts and finding them on their own radio stations. Taking over the stations to play the bands that would one day define the era. 

This album is perfect. Stop reading and go listen to it right now. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/reckoning/562454899

The 1984 Listening Post - Nena - 99 Luftballons

Nena - 99 Luftballons

#85

April 8 1984

Nena

99 Luftballons

3.75 out of 5 (rating based on this being an amalgam of the previous two records)

Highlights: 

99 Red Balloons

Kino (which was on the last album, too)

Leuchtturm (see Kino)

Rette Mich (See Leuchtturm)

Wait, didn’t we do this already?

I actually really liked their 83 album and instead of doing their german language follow up I wanted to hear if Nena’s songs hold up…in English.

The first thing I realize is that in a matter of months this pop-n-fresh upbeat New Wave sound has all but disappeared from the pop landscape. And I miss it, dammit. Everyone is taking themselves SO seriously. 

At least I’ve answered the important question: “How much Nena is too much Nena””?”

Answer. 1983. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/99-luftballons/217274461

The 1984 Listening Post - Ultravox - Lament

Ultravox - Lament

#84

April 6 1984

Ultravox

Lament

4 out of 5

Highlights:

One Small Day

Dancing with Tears in My Eyes

It’s been a while since the brilliant 1-2 of Systems of Romance and Vienna. And Midge & Currie’s output since then has been…well…boring. 

Lament is a bit more upbeat at first than the title would suggest and one could look at songs like “One Small Day” and “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes” as sell outs or as forerunners of the movement claiming what was theirs from Simple Minds and U2 who obviously owe them a debt. 

The second side is more hypnotic and moody and only really clunks toward the end with “When the Time Comes (I’ll Cry)”. 

A solid closing chapter in the Ultravox book. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lament/1179109720

The 1984 Listening Post - Kim Mitchell - Akimbo Alogo

Kim Mitchell - Akimbo Alogo

#83

April 5 1984

Kim Mitchell

Akimbo Alogo

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Go For a Soda

That’s a Man

Rumor Has It

Loverboy. Toronto. Doug and the Slugs. Martha and the Muffins. Bryan Adams, Barenaked Ladies.

When you are the nicest country with the nicest people you are going to put out competent, oftentimes excellent music. Currently that list includes Black Mountain, New Pornographers, & Japandroids among many others. 

I love me some great white north and I love me some good rock. Whoever Kim Mitchell is he makes that happen in spades here. All the bullshit blues that Kevin Ayers tried to pass off earlier is brushed aside by a guy who actually seems to love the music he’s making. I wonder what a Kim Mitchell Joe Perry team up would’ve sounded like. It’s very possible that this is a very good record and it’s also very possible that, listening to it contrapuntally with Vanilla Fudge has altered my perspective. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/akimbo-alogo/41815103

The 1984 Listening Post - Vanilla Fudge - Mystery

Vanilla Fudge - Mystery

#82

April 1 1984

Vanila Fudge

Mystery

1.25 out of 5

The mystery here is…why does Vanilla Fudge sound like a shitty Bon Jovi cover band? 15 years after their last record, and I assume looking at Moody Blues’s success, Fudge enlists…checks notes…Jeff Beck for this…wait, what? That’s Jeff Beck? Can we just rename this band Jeff Blech? Jeff’s off doing his thing in the studio, so it’s not all on him. He’s just there for the crapfest of a ride. 

Terrible. Infantile. Useless. This album doesn’t sound like a band influenced by a host of artists that have come in their wake as much as it sounds like a bunch of bored guys who are stealing the sound of those artists. From Foreigner to Glam Metal bands.  They manage to mangle covers ranging from their atrocious “Walk on By” to “My World is Empty”. These guys should never have put this out. Some legacies need to remain just that.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mystery/204722671

The 1984 Listening Post - Steve Perry - Street Talk

Steve Perry - Street Talk

#81

April

Steve Perry

Street Talk

2.5 out of 5

You know what’s the worst part of this record? 

Steve Perry’s voice. 

It’s absolutely perfect...for the soaring theatrics of arena rock but on wanna be R&B or trash can doo woo it’s overblown and screechy. It’s not until the end of Side One that Steve shows any energy AND vocal restraint. “It’s Only Love” isn’t any good and it proves what a poor singer with a singular talent he is. However, if there’s a battle between which Journey breakaway project was better, Perry’s wins. He has his sights squarely set on the Michael Bolton fan base and, if he had decided to, I bet he could’ve spared us all that garbage. 

I considered putting “Oh Sherrie” in the highlights but, you know what? It’s not worth it. And that would mean that it would come up when I play my “loved” songs in Apple Music and I don’t think I want that to happen. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/street-talk-expanded-edition/357689123

The 1984 Listening Post - Andy Summers and Robert Fripp - Bewitched

Andy Summers and Robert Fripp - Bewitched

#80

March 1984

Andy Summers and Robert Fripp

Bewitched

2.75 out of 5

Highlights:

What Kind of Man Reads Playboy?

In the 80s I was really into this one side of one album by Brand X, Unorthodox Behavior. The cover was all new age-y but the music was just tight instrumentals with Phil Collins (!!!) on drums. They were jazz fusion. Fine. What does that have to do with this? Not much. This isn’t jazz as much as it’s rock/pop/ambient instrumentals that sound like they might’ve spawned from some intense jam sessions, ala jazz.

Some of it, like “Train” & the title track, is just monotonous, droning rhythms with Summers (or Fripp) noodling over it and I guess I’m supposed to lose myself in the hypnotic rhythms and soundscapes…I don’t.

But all in all its very listenable and noodly and fine. It’s no Brand X. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G01xgl9OkWI&list=PLUvGZbminaAIcVrGtiHp5WLE6ZTtoiXRu

The 1984 Listening Post - The Icicle Works - The Icicle Works

The Icicle Works - The Icicle Works

#79

March 23 1984

The Icicle Works

The Icicle Works

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Chop the Tree

Love is a Wonderful Color

Lover’s Day

A Factory in the Desert

Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)

Boy, does this album start off strong. “Chop the Tree”…a relentless opener that counters hyperactive percussion with the melody of a ballad. And I love it. I missed Icicle Works, mainly cuz their hit was ubiquitous and their name sounds like so many other New Wave synth-bands. I tossed them off as just another one hit pop knock off. Instead this record is some kind of lovely dream pop/psychedlic rock piece of near perfection. 

Side Two opens the way you’d want a second side to open: like a new chapter. Ian McNabb has a story to tell, most of it is about love or some such but this isn’t just a collection of tunes. He’s crafting an album. And while that opener “In the Cauldron of Love” is a bitt too hippy dippy for my taste the textures they weave around that song are too enticing for me to find fault. 

Thank you, Listening Post for bringing this into my life. Also, fuck the label label for not having this available for streaming.

Like Howard Jones earlier this year, the album is so much better than the hit song let on. This is a hidden classic of 84. This is the U2 album for people who don’t like U2 but kind of want to. And Chris Sharrock can pound Larry Mullen’s skins into the dirt. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWrj9UXYlrE&list=PLBJ7ztNazTVCPhE-1C2Ezekd56qg6r3D0

The 1984 Listening Post - Saxon - Crusader

Saxon - Crusader

#78

April 16 1984

Saxon

Crusader

3.25 out of 5

You know why this record sounds so good?

Two words. Sound. City. 

It’s that magical mixing board + a solid rhythm section, laser focused licks that help propel this record despite the tired subject matter and songwriting. Case in point: “Bad Boys Like to Rock and Roll”, which kicks ass musically and sonically (although it’s a wee tinny) but the song craft is middling Kiss, at best. I mean, is there anything more Paul Stanley than Saxon’s “Rock City”? 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/crusader-remastered-bonus-tracks/693422650

The 1984 Listening Post - Laura Branigan - Self Control

Laura Branigan - Self Control

#77

April 1 1984

Laura Branigan

Self Control

3.25 out of 5

Highlights: 

Self Control

Heart

In the battle of Sheena and Laura and Madonna (and Patty and Kim and and a host of these new wave blue eyed disco divas) Laura is...tight there. 

This is a collection of songs that, to be honest, anyone could have sung. It’s a testament to anonymity. 

Branigan would’ve come in 7th on American Idol. But I probably would have voted for her. 

That said, her hit singles are perfect MOR stuff and hit me right in my I-need-something-to-cook-to needs.

Although this link includes “Gloria”, that song wasn’t on this release. It’s a welcome addition, though. ;)

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/self-control/1384487463

The 1984 Listening Post - Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II

Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II

#76

April 1984

Meat Puppets

Meat Puppets II

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Split Myself in Two

Climbing

Lake of Fire

Meat Puppets get it. Its about songs. It doesn’t matter if you sound like you’re falling apart. It doesn’t matter how hard you thrash or if you can even keep time. Rock is about falling apart. Rock is about organized disorganization. It’s about disorganized organization. It’s about so much that is out of control. Controlled chaos? Sure. Am I saying the same thing over and over but in slightly different ways? Yes. Because that, too, is rock. 

So much of alternative music can be found in the second two Meat Puppets records (I was not a fan of their first go round). They can be intrusively ugly (“We’re Here”) and then drunkenly attempt beauty (“Climbing”) and while they fail they succeed in the rawness of that failure. On the other hand, Meat Puppets are probably more responsible for Nirvana than any other band.

https://open.spotify.com/album/5JFZRr2UTCkcuT5LSXSbJ9?si=1hu9GyazRb65-QstuZXyGQ

The 1984 Listening Post - The Long Ryders - Native Sons

The Long Ryders - Native Sons

#75

April 1 1984

The Long Ryders

Native Sons

4 out of 5

Highlights:

Final Wild Son

Run Dusty Run

Tell it to the Judge on Sunday

Gone is the sound of power pop, seemingly forever and in is the roots rock revival with another band that fell through the cracks. The late 60s garage sound swirls around gems like “Still Get By” and 

There was no radio play for this kind of stuff and college radio was awash with, well, jangle rock and synth-wave and should have sound room for this stuff but, maybe it just looked too country (which it does) and maybe it sounds too steeped in 1968 psychedelic rock (it is) but that doesn’t mean it isn’t pretty terrific. Their determination to update The Byrds sound never really sounds edgy enough, and REM would take that to whole new place in these guys’ stead. 

If you’re of the mind, look these guys up. They released some new stuff a few years ago and are apparently working on a new album after years apart pursuing different interests. For those who think, “Hey, I thought you weren’t doing ‘country’!”, we aren’t. This is about as deep we will get with a toe in that water. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/14EzB1aqtLehKLUohRdZEV?si=ZypX-j-7RUKfNp1PTxEJRA

The 1984 Listening Post - Christian Death - Catastrophe Ballet

Christian Death - Catastrophe Ballet

#74

April 2 1984

Christian Death

Catastrophe Ballet

3.75 out of 5

Highlight:

Androgynous Noise Hand Permeates

Electra Descending

Cervix Couch

This Glass House

The sound of death influenced by The Doors’ darkest impulses. It is impetuous and ambitious while at the same time raw and amateurish. It’s also a deep dive into the mind of a somewhat disturbed person from Pomona, California and, unlike so many others who found solace or catharsis in music, Lead Singer and band founder, Rozz Williams killed himself 14 years later. There’s plenty more of his music in the world, this is but one example. It’s fine but it won’t make you feel good about yourself, the world or anything, really. This is most an excuse for Rozz’s “poetry” and reflections. But, occasionally the band as a whole gives value to the proceedings and they really seem to come in to their own as the album concludes. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2rTsb2jZYMhjTPYXaVRrCJ?si=EM45cmUWSpKFrVIcyLCdSQ

The 1984 Listening Post - Missing Persons - Rhyme and Reason

Missing Persons - Rhyme and Reason

#73

February 1984

Missing Persons

Rhyme & Reason

2.75 out of 5

This Missing Persons album, which was the follow up to their smash debut, hit #43 on the charts and yet isn’t available for streaming on the major services.

Maybe because it’s uglier than their previous entry. It’s condensed and crowded sounding. The single, “Give” shows the band tipping hard to cocaine fueled disco that it’s impossible to dance to and could cause epileptic fits. 

It’s not that the album is “bad”, it’s that it’s boring. Dale’s hiccup-y vocals aren’t cute and she sounds like she’s playing catchup to Madonna who has already written the script for this.

When they momentarily hew back to their New Wave roots (“Clandestine People”) they are almost winning but the charm has worn off, sadly. And why Dale is posing like a chanteuse on a piano when the only keys on this record seem to be digital, is a mystery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRlwxGvuLaU&list=PLm9smEh4bd5jtitY4zIpEM7fBarKvxFnO&index=8

The 1984 Listening Post - Agnostic Front - Victim in Pain

Agnostic Front - Victim in Pain

#72

1984 Housekeeping

Agnostic Front

Victim in Pain

4 out of 5

Highlights:

Victim in Pain

United and Strong

My mother would have loved this album. And by “love” I mean, burst into my room, ripped the LP off my turntable and broken it in two, slamming the door on her way out.
And that would be because I would have been blasting this loud enough that it could be heard 2 houses away. 

At 15 minutes, I’m not sure how this can be thought of as an “album” but, they get in, they spit their fury, they get the hell out. And the production isn’t terrible. Not great, but, it’s punk. It’s supposed to sound like it was put together for $1.50. (I know, Black Flag sounds like that, too, but, theirs is significantly worse) and these guys are closer in relation and sound to Suicidal Tendencies and ST is better. We all know that. 

A pretty great example of the Lower East Side NY Punk scene committed to vinyl. (And yes, I am listening to it with 2019 ears and I still like it.)

https://open.spotify.com/album/39hGav62pfB42d5UiqkiPW?si=fIgDw9PpS0WKH_FWM5Tycw

The 1984 Listening Post - Section 25 - From the Hip

Section 25 - From the Hip

#71

March 1 1984

Section 25

From the Hip

2.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Looking for a Hilltop

I love Brian Eno’s ambient records. And I’m a big fan of the great Jean Michel Jarre records of the era and Xex’s debut is one of the greatest techno records you’ve never heard. I’ve never really fallen under the spell of Kraftwerk’s minimalist entries but…

Section 25…is a hybrid of sorts. 

If Joy Division’s Bernard Sumner wasn’t deeply involved in this project I’m not sure we would have taken it for a spin. And, for that I would have been unfortunate. 

If you have some Molly on hand, this would be a great way to spend it. “Looking for a Hilltop” could be the template for rave music and the aurally epileptic “”Reflection” & Jarre rip “Program for Light” will either induce vomiting on the dance floor or send you to a party apotheosis. The Joy Division influence on select songs (“Prepare to Live” “Beneath the Blade”) are awful. Skip them at all costs. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2dswbx8y071mvykFQui3WI?si=xoSQDjRWSPmukjfO1RuDPg

The 1984 Listening Post - Warlock - Burning the Witches

Warlock - Burning the Witches

#70

March 1984

Warlock

Burning the Witches

2.25 out of 5

Doro Pesch rocks harder than Lee Aaron could ever dream. 

Trouble is it’s all chukka-chukka/ambiguous standard issue shredding and not much more than that. Anonymous metal I can get from a basket of Twisted Rioting Ratts attending Girlschool on a Jett. 

A weird thing happens halfway through this album: At first I really appreciated Doro’s Wendy O Williams but on key screeching and I felt that the musicianship was rote. By the end I was dreading every time she would come on and detract from the band who I started to believe might actually have had some potential. Fortunately, there are 3 more Warlock records after this until 1987 when they stop recording. 

Unfortunately, Doro goes solo and records, i shit you not, 14 albums between 1989 and today. 

Yay….

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/burning-the-witches/218840693

The 1984 Listening Post - Soft Cell - The Last Night in Sodom

Soft Cell - The Last Night in Sodom

#69

March 1984

Soft Cell

This Last Night in Sodom

3.75 out of 5 (I wanted to give this a 4 but the numbers worked out to 3.5 and I added the extra .25 for flavor)

Highlights:

Mr. Self Destruct

The Best Way to Kill

There’s just no getting away from Marc Almond. I’m not entirely sure how he did it and there must be a book or documentary about this guy who just…keeps…recording….

The opening track is a hard left turn away from the synth-o-dance pop of yore. There’s more energy in this soundtrack for a swinging 60s super spy than on the last Soft Cell record (and it’s more interesting than most of Marc and the Mambas, dammit) and it burns directly into the controlled chaos & cacophony of “Slave to This” and the the energy doesn’t stop there. The dark dance stuff here is almost an assertive shrugging off of the very synth-wave stuff Almond held invent. He brings you back to those glory days, if only hinting, toward the end, tho. 

The deep theatricality of some of the offerings hit all the right notes for me and I find myself lamenting that this is the end of Soft Cell. But then I remember that Marc Almond is a prodigious recording artist so, there’s going to be more weirdness coming from him. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/this-last-night-in-sodom/584926454

The 1984 Listening Post - Kevin Ayers - Deja...Vu

Kevin Ayers - Deja...Vu

#68

March 1984

Kevin Ayers

Deja…Vu

1.75 out of 5

Who’s in the mood for some white boy blues? 

The best I can come up with here is that Ayers seems to be a blues version of Harry Nillson. “Thank God for a Sense of Humor” is actually mildly more entertaining than it’s title. 

Ayers’ ego is dripping all over this record. 

But it isn’t until his cover  of “Lay Lay Lady” that I want to throw this record—nope. Not gonna go that way. I also had jokes about time traveling back to recording of this and murdering Kevin’s cat—-and something about regretting this whole project—-

It’s just so very very awful. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dei%C3%A0-vu/285024998

Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth

Julian Cope - World Shut Your Mouth

#67

March 1984

Julian Cope

World Shut Your Mouth

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Kolly Kibber’s Birthday

I’m one of those people who thinks The Teardrop Explodes was a better name for a band than the music they created. The second song, “Metranil Vavin”, with it’s disjointed change in tempos is half a good song, marred by it’s determination to be…weird for the sake of. 

All I remember about Julian Cope was the rumors about drug use. And that’s when I wasn’t getting him confused with Jules Shear. Which makes zero sense. I’m really just tap dancing through this record. There’s not much here for me to hang on to, get excited about or even really all that interested. 

There’s a lot of confessional warbling here but no real songs. It’s like…poppy Smiths. 

The more you sit with Julian, the more he grows on you. And the more I feel bad for him. Whatever he’s going through, he should get some help. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/world-shut-your-mouth/598334393

The 1984 Listening Post - Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve

HSAS - Through the Fire

#66

March 1984

Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve

Through the Fire

2 out of 5

Highlights:

Valley of the Kings

[Phone rings]

“Cabo Wabo! Hagar here!”

“Sammy! Neil!’

“Schon-ey wone-y! What’s up?”

“About our supergroup.”

“Yeah!”

“I’m thinking. During each song, I’m just gonna play bog noodley solos all over the place. Cool?”

“Wait, you mean…all over the verses or even the choruses, like, whenever you feel like it?”

“Yes! Whaddya think?”
“Excellent!”

“Also, what’s our name gonna be?”

“How about just our initials, man?”

“ooooohhhh…..H-S-A-S! LOVE IT!”

“So will the DJs. And the fans. It just trips off the tongue.”
“See you at the studio, Sam.”

“Nah. I’ll just lay down my vocals and you can play whatever you want. I’ve got my phone patched in to the mixing board. Yeeeeeeaaahhhhh! There. That’s the chorus to our single.”

What is it with Sammy Hagar and the supergroups? If I ever wondered what Journey would sound like fronted by Sammy and stripped of all the charm and theatrics that made their songs hits it would sound like this. 

Overblown, self important, and worst of all, boring. But kudos, really, for managing to make a classic like “Whiter shade of Pale@ sound more boring and more bombastic and pretentious all at the same time. 

Give me Asia over this anyway. Or Chickenfoot. Yeah, Chickenfoot II is better than this. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/through-the-fire/1448434273

The 1984 Listening Post - Golden Earring - N.E.W.S.

Golden Earring - N.E.W.S.

#65

March 1984

Golden Earring

N.E.W.S.

2.25 out of 5

Opening with a song that sounds so much like “The Twilight Zone” I am nervous that this album is an attempt to recreate the success of that middling record from 82. 

I’m sure there are Golden Earring fans out there. Like, die hards. Mostly from Holland, I imagine. And this must be a fine entry for them. If “Radar Love” and “Zone” didn’t turn you into adoring consumers of what they are selling, this isn’t going to be the album that suddenly changes that.

I bet they thought they were being super-edgy on “Fist in Glove” and “Orwell’s Year” and the title track but those are  just annoying aural assaults by a band that seems to have lost whatever script they were following. 

 While there is another song titled after a popular golden age television show “Mission Impossible”, it’s so bereft of anything interesting that it render the band callous and craven. 

Weirdly, the last song, “It’s Over Now” (which I applaud as I would any band that tells it’s audience that they made through a piece of garbage and they are done) sounds almost NOTHING like anything I’ve heard GE lay down, unless I’ve forgotten. It almost sort of kinda works. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/n-e-w-s/98634659

The 1984 Listening Post - Black Flag - My War

Black Flag - My War

#64

March

Black Flag

My War

.75 out of 5

Was this recorded in a closet? 

We’ve heard some great punk on this project. Well, I have, cuz I started this back in 78. 

Suicidal Tendencies. Minor Threat. Dead Kenndys. Circle Jerks. Hell, The Dickies. The Wipers. Fear, for god’s sake. (That album is terrific)

One thing I’ve never understood is, outside “TV Party”, which, for all intents and purposes, was a novelty song with all the tv show name checking that immediately dated the song. That’s fine. Punk is of the moment, I guess (although, let’s be honest, Plastic Surgery Disasters is timeless.), Black Flag never did much for me. I didn’t really love Damaged (Although my brother owned it so that might be the reason I didn’t care for it back in the day…why did you own that record, Jon???) 

This is nearly unlistenable trash. No one can really play their instruments, Henry can’t sing. My ears hate this. Every song sounds like it was rejected for the Repo Man soundtrack and then someone threw away the recordings and someone else retrieved them from the trash and then tried to rerecord everything but degraded the tape so much that it almost fell apart and then they gave up when they started to be able to see through it. 

Side two is nothing but sludge metal that has absolutely zero to offer and less going for it. If you listen to it, after this warning, I can’t help you. You’ve been warned. 

The (good?) news is that Black Flag released THREE albums in 1984 after settling a contract dispute that disallowed them from releasing music. This was how they decided to celebrate.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/my-war/117618702

The 1984 Listening Post - Scorpions - Love at First Sting

Scorpions - Love at First Sting

#63

March

Scorpions

Love at First Sting

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Rock You Like an Hurricane

The Same Thrill

Crossfire

Two years after Blackout, which was a reckoning of an album for the band after the abysmal Animal Magnetism, Scorpions come back with a collection of ago-glam metal that satisfies just fine. It’s not reinventing the medium, it’s just feeding the beast. Thing is, you can either be Survivor and feed the beast gruel or you can be Rudolf Schenker and come up with a series of shredtastic licks and high energy rawk. 

Most of it is middling at best and you don’t really need to hear it but, late in the album is “Crossfire” which took me very much by surprise. It’s not great, it’s rather juvenile in it’s approach to unnecessary war, blah blah blah, but it was so earnest in its appeal for peace that it sort of grabbed me. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-at-first-sting/1425261347

The 1984 Listening Post - Run-D.M.C. - Run-D.M.C.

Run-D.M.C. - Run-D.M.C.

#62

March 27 1984

Run-D.M.C.

Run-D.M.C.

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Rock Box

It’s Like That

Yes, we are going to cover an occasional rap album. No, we aren’t going down the rabbit hole of A Tribe Called Quest and the like. This isn’t Yo! MTV Raps, ffs. But we can’t deny the fact that rap and rock intersect and that starts, pretty much, right here. Yes, you can expect some P.E. and Beastie Boys and maybe even a few others, but let’s be honest, “Run DMC first said a DJ could be a band” as Chuck D said. And he’s right.

The riff on “Rock Box” is metaltastic. The perfect nexus of the nascent form and the old, tread worn style. 

That said, the repetition and redundancy runs thick. By “Sucker M.C.’s” the beat box echo machine has worn out its welcome and I can’t wait to flip the record over and see if there’s any magic on the other side to keep me interested. 

This must’ve sounded ground breaking in 84, but timeless it is not. It’s obvious that everyone involved is still figuring out how to make this work.

I’m not reviewing it through the lens of “What must this have sounded like back then?” This is now. Does it hold up or not? 

Not. 

As a relic in an archeological dig, it’s important, though. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/run-dmc-deluxe-version/281812827

The 1984 Listening Post - Ratt - Out of the Cellar

Ratt - Out of the Cellar

#61

March 27 1984

Ratt

Out of the Cellar

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

You’re in Trouble

Round and Round

The Morning After

Before I offer my own thoughts on this record, please, allow to post this reader review on Allmusic’s page:

Steve Loschi wrote: “When you were in high school in the mid-80s, it was common practice to steal just enough liquor from your parent's collection of gin and vodka to not be noticed, and make a pseudo-deadly concoction of alcoholic poison in a mason jar. The second thing to do was hide the bottle and tell your parents you were going to a football game, and then promptly just drive around the strip with your buddy, mixing this God-awful alcohol with Mountain Dew, blasting "Out of the Cellar", windows down, until you had to pull over and vomit out the car door. The next thing to do was wake up with a brutal hangover, and throw up out your bedroom window in the fear that you would certainly be caught by your parents, only for them to think that you ate something that didn't agree with you. It's a win-win situation for everyone involved- you, your buddy, your parents, and the platinum-selling members of Ratt. This is the single best power metal album put out by an LA hair metal band in the '80s, and this includes that band with Tommy Lee in it. (Although you're pretty certain you tossed your cookies to "Too Fast for Love," as well.)”

Ok. That’s hilarious. And it really sums up this album. It’s sleazier than Motley’s, more mall-ready than Anvil and the video features Milton Berle, ffs.

My spider sense is tingling with the knowledge that a slew of these bands are on the horizon and, truth be told, I adore glam rock and I love me some metal so, it should not be a surprise that I can find love in my heart for stuff like this. 

Sure the chukka-chukkas on “The Morning After” and “I’m Insane” are hyper familiar, to the point of being expected had they not exist, but that doesn’t detract from them for me. 

This is a perfectly good entry into the Aqua-Net Metal category. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/out-of-the-cellar/301643462

The 1984 Listening Post - David Gilmour - About Face

David Gilmour - About Face

#60

March 27 1984

David Gilmour

About Face

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Love On the Air

Blue Light

Cruise

I hated Gilmour’s solo debut. Terrible. Unmemorable. So, I was not looking forward to this. 

From the opening strains of “Until We Sleep” I feel like we are in for something a bit different and I start to love “Murder” until it gets unnecessarily weird with it’s muted Pino Paladino bass solo. The ship rights itself just in time and gets me back to familiar Floyd territory.  The excellent “Love on the Air” fills me with mixed emotions inasmuch as the lyrics are by Pete Townshend  (who also wrote the words for “All Lovers are Deranged”) and they are the most accessible on this album. While the musicianship almost carries the day, the flatline 80’s cocaine fueled production almost drags the whole thing down, but I can overlook that as long as there’s tasty non-Floydian energy like that found on “Blue Light” and “All Lovers Are Deranged”. Roger would never have let these sorts of things get in the way of his plodding 4/4 mid-tempo musings. 

And the epic, elegiac instrumental “Let’s Get Metaphysical” makes me happier than almost anything Marillion has ever put my ears through.

Honestly, this gets another .25 if the production didn’t suck. I expect better mixing and mastering from an old studio hat like Gilomour.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/about-face/323420860

The 1984 Listening Post - The Go-Go's - Talk Show

The Go-Go's - Talk Show

#59

March 22 1984

The Go-Go’s

Talk Show

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Head Over Heels

Turn to You

Beneath the Blue Sky

How good is “Head Over Heels”? It’s a piece of power pop confection. “Turn to You” could be a hit in the 60s or the 70s. It’s smart and crafty and doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, the Go-Go’s want you to rock and, if you put this on the turntable, chances are you will. 

The blisteringly dynamic “I’m the Only One” is followed up by the return-the-Cool-World-favor “Yes or No” written by Jane Wiedlin with Sparks which answers the question, what would Sparks have sounded like if they were a traditional power pop rock band. (I know, they had all the instruments on their records but they never sounded like a “band”, always like the Ron/Russell project).

I don’t know why we all turned away from the Go-Gos in 1984. Talk Show is even stronger than Vacation, which is a terrific record. And, it’s much more mature and assured in playing and songwriting than their (excellent) debut. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/talk-show/360959

The 1984 Listening Post - The Del Lords - Frontier Days

The Del Lords - Frontier Days

#58

March 20 1984

The Del Lords

Frontier Days

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live

Double Life

I Play the Drums

Burnin' in the Flame of Love

In the cow-punk/roots rock revival derby I was on team X & The Beat Farmers. The Blasters were great, of course but I had made my allegiances. I loved me some Dave Edmunds, sure and of course, Rockpile and soon enough I would fall for Mojo Nixon’s schtick.

All of that might’ve been different if I had heard of The Del-Lords. 

This tasty assortment of determined and solid rock and roll missed me entirely. It’s infectious and terrific. Side One is a smorgasbord of singles ready could’ve been hits. Turn the record over and, well, you’ve got more good songs. 

This band, from the guitarist for The Dictators reminds me that the rock landscape is littered with albums from bands who were great at what they did and never really got a fair shot. 

The production suffers from, well, 80s. They aren’t reinventing the wheel but, in a world where the fucking Hooters could have hits, the Del Lords were short changed. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/frontier-days/1437293872

The 1984 Listening Post - The Style Council - Cafe Bleu

The Style Council - Cafe Bleu

#57

March 16 1984

The Style Council

Cafe Bleu

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Mick’s Blessing

The Whole Point of No Return

The Paris Match

My Ever Changing Moods*

You’re the Best Thing

Headstart for Happiness

A spectacular way to open the record, “Mick’s Blessing” tells you all you need to know about what you’re gong to get into here. The band can play, they’ve got the songs and they can’t wait to show them to you.

It’s a smart open because it’s followed directly by the brilliant coffee shop entry, “The Whole Point of No Return”, which, to me, show the bridge between the Jam’s frenetic mod-punk take and this moody-mods. It’s possible that Paul Weller is (one of) the greatest songwriters of the 20th Century but his disdain for that celebrity and inability to sit still keeps him from being the household name in America that he might’ve been. 

Perhaps it’s the preponderance of instrumentals (Side One has three!) that kept audiences away. But Paul doesn’t care. He’s making the music he loves, music he grew up with, the soundtrack to a Europe vacation and he’s doing it with style. 

At least on Side One. 

Side Two opens with Hip Hop. You read that. “A Gospel” which is…let me put it this way…it’s no “Ant Rap”. Ugh, atrocious. 

There are other missteps here as well, like the R&B Big 80’s Dance Jam Track, “Strength of Your Nature”.

However it fully recovers. 

But, make no mistake. Like Body and Soul, which came out the same week, the air waves are being deluged with music for your grandparents. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/cafe-bleu/765897885

*the version on the Apple Music release is the mellow, piano & vocal version, which could pass as a demo. For the full effect, seek out the single. 

The 1984 Listening Post - Joe Jackson - Body and Soul

Joe Jackson - Body and Soul

#56

March 14 1984

Joe Jackson

Body and Soul

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Cha Cha Loco

You Can’t Get What You Want (Til You Know What You Want)

Go For It

Happy Ending

Be My Number Two

Disappointment. Malaise. Regret. Loss. Indecision. 

I met Joe Jackson once. He came cross as angry and very bitter. Such a vastly talented guy who seems so freaking unhappy. He also seems to know how talented he is. So much so that he feels he can traffic in any style he wants. This is done to superb effect in his New Wave offerings (Look Sharp & I’m the Man) to lesser success in ska & punk (Beat Crazy), perfectly in jive jazz (Jumpin’ Jive) and I was less thrilled by his Gershwin take (Night and Day). 

Which brings us to the smoky Vegas casino of Body and Soul. More often this sounds like your grandfather’s record, no doubt that’s what Joe is going for. 15 year olds are not his target audience here, the straight out of the 60s retro cover, washed out orange, cigarette and saxophone resplendence is aimed square at Uncle Joe’s heart. 

And the music therein backs that up. Joe’s in great voice here, his band is spot on, the music is crafted like he stepped out of the Great American Songbook. At times it’s a little (or a lot) too calculated. But if you listen to it back to back with The Style Council (which I did) it makes for a nice duo).

With Body and Soul, Joe really proves that he is what he believes he is and that will be borne out again on a future record, Big World, a personal favorite. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/body-and-soul/306571498

The 1984 Listening Post - The Cars - Heartbeat City

The Cars - Heartbeat City

#56

March 13 1984

The Cars

Heartbeat City

5 out of 5

Highlights:

Hello Again

Magic

Drive

Stranger Eyes

You Might Think

Why Can’t I Have You

This album was massive. I never owned it, however. For some reason, even though I had Shake It Up on cassette (and possibly because of that) I just passed on buying this, even though it shouted to me at Tower Records in the Village every time I went in there. 

The Cars and Candy-O are two parts of a great story that went sort of off the rails with Panorama and then was half a great album on Shake. 

So, even though I’ve heard all the hits here (who hasn’t?) I’ve never heard the album as one whole. Time to change that.

Interesting that they changed from Roy Thomas Baker, who had a hand in each of their first 4 records and switched to the hitmaker-of-the-80s, Mutt Lange to take them into the stratosphere. However, I don’t think it’s Lange that takes this record to the heights it reaches. I think Ocasek finally figured out how to hit the pop notes that had eluded him on his journey of art rock exploration. Based on his successful production of Weezer a few years later, I think I’m correct here. That said, if you crank this one and wear headphones it will blow your brains out. Mutt really understood how to run a mix. 

“Drive” is a master lesson is New Wave ominous balladeering while the Side One closer “Stranger Eyes” outdoes all the pretenders to the synth pop throne. Even the lesser tunes, like “It’s Not the Night” and “I Refuse” bring something hook-laden and worthwhile to the table. The album plays like a greatest hits because it virtually is. This is the sound of a New Wave band at the height of it’s powers. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/heartbeat-city/1088528654

The 1984 Listening Post - Marillion - Fugazi

Marillion - Fugazi

#55

March 12 1984

Marillion

Fugazi

2.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Assassing

Punch and Judy

I’ve been dreading this album, loathing Marillion’s Script for a Jester’s Tear as much as I did in the 83 LP. 

I’m having a deeply different reaction this time around. “Assassing” is hitting all the right giant prog-metal-stadium notes. If this continues I might have to go back and listen to that other one again just to be sure I didn’t judge it too harshly. 

On the surface something like “She Chameleon” is a prog-horror with some questionable lyrics, but when I dove into those lyrics they presented something more insidious than their colorful, almost comical album covers belie. Some of this stuff is brutal. Amateurish and somewhat puerile but brutal ,nonetheless. 

However, the promise of the first couple songs is not held up as the album marches to its eventual bombast of mediocre Genesis. But those tracks are enough to vault it way higher than the debut.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fugazi/693414115

The 1984 Listening Post - Berlin - Love Life

Berlin - Love Life

#54

March 12 1984

Berlin

Love Life

3 out of 5

Highlights:

Touch

No More Words

Fall

I’m sorry, Terri, I’ve got little patience now for mediocre synth pop. Pleasure Victim was somewhat edgy. This is not. 

I’ve seen Berlin in concert (the 80s festival thing I went to last fall) and the words NO one ever wants to hear in 2018 is “Here’s something from our new album” from Berlin. 

Terri sounds great here but the songs are, for the most part, not. The singles work, though, and I guess that’s enough for them.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-life/364429

The 1984 Listening Post - The Pale Fountains - Pacific Street

The Pale Fountains - Pacific Street

#53

February 1984 (Housekeeping)

The Pale Fountains

Pacific Street

3 out of 5

Highlights:

Natural

The first 30 seconds of “Reach” suggest one kind of band and the, the song takes a hard left turn to semi-twee, dream pop and I’m in. Then the second song starts off, just like “Reach” with some crooning introduction and they do it again, only this time they spend a little more time on the ballideering than the rock and I’m out. Hmm…
They seem to have one gear, treacle, and I’m about to give up until they kick up the jams on “Natural”, which comes in the nick of time. 

But the rest of the record is so smooth and comfortably confident it’s almost easy to forget that the songs aren’t really that great. Not much to hold on to, I found myself longing for Paul Weller to step in and fix them. 

This album is only available for streaming (and incompletely) on Youtube. Sorry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cztytBTEICw&list=PLEEE6B346AE9E7DC9

The 1984 Listening Post - Trouble - Psalm 9

Trouble - Psalm 9

#52

March 

Trouble

Psalm 9

3.25 out of 5

So, I’m riding around my neighborhood, listening to “The Tempter” by Trouble and thinking, “Ugh. MORE death metal? How much of this stuff is there?” And, then, as I’m cruising around to “Revelation (Life or Death) I start comparing them to other Gloom Metal bands of the era and the only one I come up with is Saint Vitus, which was released just a month before. Because every other metal band I can think of is either not really Doom or they came later. 

So, I look em up. And, lo and behold, they are one of the first practitioners of the model. 

Their roots are obviously in Sabbath and Purple and even Zeppelin and if I am being honest, this is not my cuppa. But, if I am comparing it to Saint Vitus I would say that this is the superior entry. That said, I could live without hearing this stuff but for what it is, it’s effective. How’s that for wishy washy?

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/psalm-9/1218648512

The 1984 Listening Post - Howard Jones - Human's Lib

Howard Jones - Human's Lib

#51

March 9 1984

Howard Jones

Human’s Lib

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Conditioning

Hunt the Self

New Song

Equality

Everything Thomas Dolby gets wrong Howard Jones seems to have gotten right. 

Maybe it’s that I decided to take this one out for a spin on a beautiful California day, 71 degrees and sunny, on the bike path to the ocean but every track, even the ballads, seemed to hit all the right notes. The technology works in service of the songs but the songs wouldn’t be worth their salt without the technology.

Often calling to mind Jean Michel Jarre’s better work (I’m a big fan of Magnetic Fields, even more so than Oxygene), but with lyrics, Jones manages to do something that so many of techno-synthpop bands couldn’t: make a truly great album, top to bottom. So much so that the big hit, “What is Love” is one of the weakest entries on it. 

I take it as a badge of honor that Christgau lists this as one of 1984’s “Must to Avoid” records. Dean, my ass. This album is great.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/humans-lib/1243013214

The 1984 Listening Post - Hoodoo Gurus - Stoneage Romeos

Hoodoo Gurus - Stoneage Romeos

#50

March 

Hoodoo Gurus

Stoneage Romeos

4.75 out of 5

Highlights:
(Let’s All) Turn On

I Want You Back

Leilani

Tojo

I Was a Kamikaze Pilot

Just when I lament the serious lack of interesting or valuable music in the calendar year I’m triple shotted with excellence.

The purpose of the project in the beginning to fill in the gaps of my musical youth. What did I miss because a child’s/teen’s access is based on limited resources. So went the Gurus into the bin of “I knew the name but didn’t have a clue who they were” and Eric didn’t have their records. 

This is an example of using all the techniques of the 80s, melding it perfectly with the 60s Zombies sound and updating it for the 80s college set. If The Replacements sounded more like this I would have given them higher marks. These are the kind of songs I expected from The Flesh Tones but didn’t get. Nor the production, which betters the offerings by both those bands.

There’s even a hint of The Vapors on the excellent, “Tojo”. That thrills me. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/stoneage-romeos/200970005

The 1984 Listening Post - Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force

Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force

#49

March 5 1984

Yngwie Malmsteen

Rising Force

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Black Star

Far Beyond the Sun

Little Savage

Ok. Malm can play. So can Steve Van, though. We proved that a few records ago. Is there any need for a band to play with him on this? Is he just taking his chops out for a walk?

Is this worth your eartime?

Oh…

Oh…yes he can play.

This….this…is…remarkable.

I have not too many more words. You will either out your headphones on full blast and let Yngwie melt your ears or you’ll look on it as a piece of pretentious self-aggrandizing. I’m not sure there’s a middle ground. For me, it is extraordinary.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rising-force/1954426

The 1984 Listening Post - Spinal Tap - This is Spinal Tap

Spinal Tap - This is Spinal Tap

#48

March 2 1984

Spinal Tap

This is Spinal Tap

5 out of 5

Highlights:

Hell Hole

Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You (Tonight)

America

Big Bottom

Stonehenge

I don’t usually include soundtracks. This one is special and different. Nevermind the fact that I saw them in concert at the vaunted and famous CBGB concert with John Seven. (I think Thor was there, right?) This album seems to be coming at the exact right time. In private conversations with Sheffield and John and my brother and my wife I have been lamenting the DEARTH of interesting or quality music in 84. It’s a bad year. I’ve never seen so much garbage. Only 5 albums crack 4 stars out of the first 47 listened to. 

So, Spinal Tap. This album is the poke in the eye that points out, decidedly, that the tropes we got used to in the 70s are in dire need of review. “Hell Hole” & “Heavy Duty” render Manowar or Venom or Ratt or any of those bands that will still factor for the next few years redundant and silly. “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You” is the last word on Glam Metal (Yes, I know it will explode soon) They take the piss out of Kiss and all the boogie rock that should play State Fair with “Puppet Show”. 

But Tap loves that music as much as they point out the ludicrousness. Their love for it makes for great tunes. And also makes it impossible to see that music through any other lens. “Stonehenge” is a commentary and perfect recreation of ROCK’s excesses. I dare you not to Air Mandolin along with Nigel. 

We could talk about the impact of the movie for days. Albert Brooks was there with Real People first but Tap changed the world in it’s presentation and earnestness. But this record is something more than a soundtrack and more than a comedy record. It’s a reflective revelation. 

There’s BST and AST in the Encyclopaedia Rawk. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/this-is-spinal-tap/1079641230

Scott Walker - Climate of the Hunter

Scott Walker - Climate of the Hunter

#47

March 1 1984

Scott Walker

Climate of the Hunter

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Dealer

Track 3

Track 7

Who is Scott Walker? A balladeer who listened to too many David Bowie & Lou Reed records while hanging out at Limelight at 2 in the morning with the members of Dead Can Dance? Or, based on the cover photo, is he Garry Shandling caught in a moment of jaywalking? 

The musicscapes are really captivating and hypnotic. I would fall into their trance were it not for the lyrical/singing contributions of the creator. By the end of side one I’ve come to terms with Ferris/Bowie and decided that they probably stole from him 15 years before and he’s the real progenitor of their sound. 

Judging from this record, it’s no surprise walker ends up on 4AD in the 00’s. 

Historical production note. The musicians were recorded separately, with little or no knowledge of the other player’s parts so there could be no “pocket” for the band to fall into. Many songs have no titles so as not to give weight to any part of the content. On one or both of these concepts the album should fail. It doesn’t.

 It’s weird and marvelous. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/climate-of-hunter/714488005

The 1984 Listening Post - Prefab Sprout - Swoon

Prefab Sprout - Swoon

#46

March 1 1984

Prefab Sprout

Swoon

3 out of 5

Highlights:

Don’t Sing

You know, I’ve always heard OF Prefab Sprout but, now that I come to think of it, I’ve never heard them. Oh…there’s that smooth bass…but it’s not so overt that it threatens to overwhelm everything. Probably because all the other instruments are real. 

I’ll accept, based on what I’ve read and their longevity, that Prefab Sprout is one of those bands that hadn’t sprung, fully formed on their debut and that were still getting their shit together. 

It’s not yet. Like on the song, “Green Isaac”. It take s long time to get there and then, once it arrives, I realize that Nate (fun.) Reuss’s first band The Format, must have heard this and tried to rewrite it as a pop rock song. He got close. So did Paddy McAloon.

There’s hints of XTC, Steely Dan, Joe Jackson. But the albums is way too confused. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/swoon/272876423