Post by salparadise on Jul 3, 2006 2:34:57 GMT -5
Before I get into the 1980's, there are several points that should be brought to the table:
First, it is a crime to have not included Joy Division in either the 70's or the 80's lists for Unknown Pleasures or Closer. These two enormously significant albums deserve better than I have given them, and considering the astounding presence of influence and groundwork that Joy Division provided for the world of good music, here is a bit of side-note in regards to them.
Unfortunately for Joy Division, a band that received copious critical acclaim with both of their only two records, were mostly ignored by the public at large. It wasn't until years after the death of their lead singer, when the remaining members of the band created and had a good measure of success with New Order, that Joy Division was adopted into the suburban angst-ridden gloomy atmospheres of teen-age bedrooms.
But it is important to know just how incredibly significant Joy Division actually was. They practically (and almost by accident - read about them online or buy Greil Marcus' book In the Facist Bathroom) invented the entire Post-Punk / New Wave genre single-handedly in the late 1970's. Their fusion of punk and technology, along with their gloomy fascination with dark, personal themes amounted to an equivilent level of significance for the music of the 80's that the Velvet Underground provided for the 70's.
The important thing to come away with here is that virtually every grey-lining-alto-voiced-minor-key techno and/or post-punk ballad that we identify with in the 80's and beyond is due almost entirely to Joy Division. From Pop singles by A-Ha, Duran Duran, and U2 to less on the radar groups such as the Cure, Siouxsie, the Smiths, Echo, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus and even REM all the way to modern acts like Nirvana and Interpol owe something to Joy Divison.
So show yer respect, bitches.
The next thing to address is that of the all the decades I am creating these silly little lists from, there is no other that is more difficult to narrow down to 5 albums than the 80's. I personally think it was the best era for music. I own more music from the 80's than any other decade, and just about everything went downhill after 1989.
So, in honorable mention of the great great's that didn't make the top five cut, I hereby salute:
The Meat Puppets
Husker Du
REM
Aztec Camera
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
XTC
The The
The Happy Mondays
The Smiths
Dead Kennedy's
Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Camper Van Beethoven
The Replacements
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Stone Roses
Echo & the Bunnymen
The Feelies
The Chameleons
Cocteau Twins
PIL
The Minutemen
Kate Bush
Bauhaus and
The Violent Femmes
-Sal
First, it is a crime to have not included Joy Division in either the 70's or the 80's lists for Unknown Pleasures or Closer. These two enormously significant albums deserve better than I have given them, and considering the astounding presence of influence and groundwork that Joy Division provided for the world of good music, here is a bit of side-note in regards to them.
Unfortunately for Joy Division, a band that received copious critical acclaim with both of their only two records, were mostly ignored by the public at large. It wasn't until years after the death of their lead singer, when the remaining members of the band created and had a good measure of success with New Order, that Joy Division was adopted into the suburban angst-ridden gloomy atmospheres of teen-age bedrooms.
But it is important to know just how incredibly significant Joy Division actually was. They practically (and almost by accident - read about them online or buy Greil Marcus' book In the Facist Bathroom) invented the entire Post-Punk / New Wave genre single-handedly in the late 1970's. Their fusion of punk and technology, along with their gloomy fascination with dark, personal themes amounted to an equivilent level of significance for the music of the 80's that the Velvet Underground provided for the 70's.
The important thing to come away with here is that virtually every grey-lining-alto-voiced-minor-key techno and/or post-punk ballad that we identify with in the 80's and beyond is due almost entirely to Joy Division. From Pop singles by A-Ha, Duran Duran, and U2 to less on the radar groups such as the Cure, Siouxsie, the Smiths, Echo, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus and even REM all the way to modern acts like Nirvana and Interpol owe something to Joy Divison.
So show yer respect, bitches.
The next thing to address is that of the all the decades I am creating these silly little lists from, there is no other that is more difficult to narrow down to 5 albums than the 80's. I personally think it was the best era for music. I own more music from the 80's than any other decade, and just about everything went downhill after 1989.
So, in honorable mention of the great great's that didn't make the top five cut, I hereby salute:
The Meat Puppets
Husker Du
REM
Aztec Camera
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
XTC
The The
The Happy Mondays
The Smiths
Dead Kennedy's
Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Camper Van Beethoven
The Replacements
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Stone Roses
Echo & the Bunnymen
The Feelies
The Chameleons
Cocteau Twins
PIL
The Minutemen
Kate Bush
Bauhaus and
The Violent Femmes
-Sal