clinkmagazine.com/bestof/1980s/top01-20.html
This is alist of the top one hundred eighties albums as published by Clink magazine rather than just being another list reasons are given.
Good picks on #1 and #2. The Replacements and R.E.M. were the Stones and Beatles of the '80s, except that the Beatles were better than R.E.M. and the Replacements were better than the Rolling Stones. Billy Bragg, on the other hand, made for a poor man’s Dylan/Guthrie.
Replacements at number 1, twice in the top 20, and four times in the 100? Blech, they put out unlistenable crap that only a disaffected college radio poseur could love. In one ear, out the other. Better than the Rolling Stones? Nah, don’t think so.
Joy Division should have been in the top 20. As should have New Order and the Stone Roses. The list betrays its U.S.-centric bias, and not proclaiming as such (i.e. “Full disclosure: we’re all American reviewers”) is a bit bizarre in any discussion of pop music.
Edit: make that, it’s a bit bizarre in an international forum (such as this one) to hold a discussion of pop music with a prejudice to American music. Kinda like talking about bread and giving France but a passing mention.
[quote=“porcelainprincess”]
Edit: make that, it’s a bit bizarre in an international forum (such as this one) to hold a discussion of pop music with a prejudice to American music. Kinda like talking about bread and giving France but a passing mention.[/quote]
Say cheese or wine instead of bread and I agree with you. What’s so cool about French bread?
My contribution to the internationalisation is limited to three albums from Germany and one from Taiwan, all of which belong into an extended list that would include more than just English language albums:
ZhuaKuangGe by Blacklist (Heimingdan Gongzuoshi) TW
Ideal by Ideal DE
Trio by Trio DE
Debil by Die
Well, rock’n’roll is an American art form. Only the British and Australians have successfully copied it on a regular basis. French pop has long been the butt of jokes throughout the world. That nation seems genetically incapable of writing good pop songs. Good painters, though.
So this selection is limited to rock’n’roll? So the Smiths and Billy Bragg are rock’n’roll.
The best album of the 1980s was by the Replacements?
Husker Du and “Marshal Crenshaw”, whoever the fuck that is…
Sorry, this list is by some teenager who born in 1990 trying to sound pretentious.
Sort of equivalent to me drawing up a “Best Albums of the 1960s”, aged 12.
More specifically, 1950s rock’n’roll was an American art form. The Beatles then took it places the Americans never conceived of. And after that the majority of the good post-war music (for lack of a better term) has come out of the UK.
It may well appear that I’m harping on this, or that I’m prejudiced against Stateside sounds, but that’s not true. I adore Sonic Youth, Pavement, Neil Young, the Residents, Pixies, Talking Heads, etc. Nationality doesn’t matter, the music matters. It’s simply an observed statement of fact that the UK (along with Ireland) is a breeding ground for the best post-war music out there.
[quote]So this selection is limited to rock’n’roll? So the Smiths and Billy Bragg are rock’n’roll.
The best album of the 1980s was by the Replacements?
Husker Du and “Marshal Crenshaw”, whoever the fuck that is…
Sorry, this list is by some teenager who born in 1990 trying to sound pretentious.
Sort of equivalent to me drawing up a “Best Albums of the 1960s”, aged 12.[/quote]
Good one!
Bad list.
Some albums are good but why have the same band there like six times?
And I agree with another poster. The replacements are NOT better than the Rolling Stones.
Lists don’t mean much but this one is a yawner.
The Go Go’s???
Maybe Clink should have a list of his favourite toys:
#1 Dungeon and Dragons
#2 Barbie Dolls
#3 Curling iron
I thought the obvious omissions were two heavy metal albums. Metallica- Master of Puppets and Queensryche-Operation Mindcrime. The reason being they proved their could be intelligence in that particular genre and proved metal bands could have an IQ greater than the number of band members.
The replacements are largely unknowns outside of the US. I’ve only ever heard the Goo Goo Dolls covers.
I love the stones but their best stuff came out way before the eighties.
[quote=“hexuan”]
The best album of the 1980s was by the Replacements?
Husker Du and “Marshal Crenshaw”, whoever the fuck that is…
Sorry, this list is by some teenager who born in 1990 trying to sound pretentious.
Sort of equivalent to me drawing up a “Best Albums of the 1960s”, aged 12.[/quote]
I once enjoyed Husker Du to partial extraction, but I cannot listen to them anymore. Not only did their brand of razor-sharp guitar noise get tiresome and monotonous, but their lyrics often got so painfully and earnestly juvenile that only an adult over the age of eighteen living an unexamined life would fail to cringe. I find Bob Mould’s solo stuff to be much the same .
Ironically, having said that, the Huskers managed to pull off one of the most cryptically evocative lines in any song put out in the 1980s. To wit:
“I can hear the treetops in the distance…”
Well, maybe you need to hear that track. Still, it’s a good’un.
After reading the reviews, I find it very difficult to take the list seriously. The first thing I noticed was that they only included albums that were on the KCPR station’s rotations. In my opinion that excluded a lot of good music. Music a lot of you have already mentioned.
I also noticed a lot of the reviews had some kind of link to a childhood memory. (i.e) Making a mix-tape for a girl, where their were working when they first heard the song, or who they hung-out with while listening to the song. I’m not really sure how this qualifies music as good or bad.
Now my favorite reviews included the words “… has some weak spots…” #69, U2 Unforgettable Fire. Now that review makes me think this is one of the best ablims of the 80’s. Or, #16, Camper Van Beethoven Telepone Free Landslide Victory, who is only on the list because of the album cover.
The list is there for personal fun and games. I know I could put out a list just as bad of my favorite 80’s albums.
Go ahead. Start a new thread. My favorite 80’s albums. I sure we could have a lot of fun with it.
Replacements at number 1, twice in the top 20, and four times in the 100? Blech, they put out unlistenable crap that only a disaffected college radio poseur could love. In one ear, out the other. Better than the Rolling Stones? Nah, don’t think so.
Joy Division should have been in the top 20. As should have New Order and the Stone Roses. The list betrays its U.S.-centric bias, and not proclaiming as such (i.e. “Full disclosure: we’re all American reviewers”) is a bit bizarre in any discussion of pop music.
Edit: make that, it’s a bit bizarre in an international forum (such as this one) to hold a discussion of pop music with a prejudice to American music. Kinda like talking about bread and giving France but a passing mention.[/quote]
I agree about New Order being a pivotal band in the 80s. Everything