80's albums that hold up on any level

[The Mirrorball Man]

Whoever said that I should have mentioned Computerwelt instead of Die Mensch-Maschine is absolutely right.

 

[Avon]

also thumbs up for Propaganda because one of their songs was the old bbc rallying theme

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

The greatest soul band of all time? I should say so... Which song are you referring to?

I believe in the US they are only known for "Come On Eileen".

Ah! Well, yes, that was a big hit here too, but it's not their best song by a long chalk. In fact, if I never heard it again, I wouldn't feel I'd lost anything. Not with the richness of the rest of their catalogue.

What I always found funny about the VH1 Classic program "One Hit Wonders" was the American-centric tilt of it.

A lot of groups we consider one-hit wonders had great careers elsewhere.

Falco had a #1 hit here in the U.S. with Rock Me Amadeus and a minor hit with Vienna Calling, but surprisingly not with Der Kommissar. Yet he had many, many songs chart in other countries, mostly European.


I think Asia-Asia holds up very well for me. I have a really well re-mastered "Best Of" CD from Asia. Several songs from that first album are on it.

The obvious two tracks, Heat Of The Moment & Only Time Will Tell are songs that defined the decade of the 80's, yet sound in no way dated. Same with the other songs, but those two were so huge, it would be easy to relegate them to 80's pop culture.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Falco had a #1 hit here in the U.S. with Rock Me Amadeus and a minor hit with Vienna Calling, but surprisingly not with Der Kommissar. Yet he had many, many songs chart in other countries, mostly European.

The cover of Der Kommissar was a top ten hit. Damn you, After the Fire!

 

[C.E. Evans]

I believe in the US they are only known for "Come On Eileen".

Ah! Well, yes, that was a big hit here too, but it's not their best song by a long chalk. In fact, if I never heard it again, I wouldn't feel I'd lost anything. Not with the richness of the rest of their catalogue.

What I always found funny about the VH1 Classic program "One Hit Wonders" was the American-centric tilt of it.

A lot of groups we consider one-hit wonders had great careers elsewhere.

Falco had a #1 hit here in the U.S. with Rock Me Amadeus and a minor hit with Vienna Calling, but surprisingly not with Der Kommissar. Yet he had many, many songs chart in other countries, mostly European.

It's not that surprising given that "One Hit Wonders" is a U.S. show on a U.S. cable network that deals with how well various songs did in the U.S. Other countries likely have many otherwise successful American acts regarded as one-hit wonders on their charts.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I was listening to Permanent Waves by Rush yesterday at a friends house, and I was thinking how well the music holds up. But the production... my god, it is absolutely appalling. To think they actually co-produced themselves, the mind boggles.

Geddy Lee may as well have been playing the bottom 4 strings of a guitar rather than a bass. The sound was that lacking.

Vapor Trails was worse.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Falco had a #1 hit here in the U.S. with Rock Me Amadeus and a minor hit with Vienna Calling, but surprisingly not with Der Kommissar. Yet he had many, many songs chart in other countries, mostly European.

The cover of Der Kommissar was a top ten hit. Damn you, After the Fire!

That's the version I remember.

The Falco video I remember seeing, German version of course.

 

[marillion]

Marillion's "Misplaced Childhood" and "Clutching at Straws" both hold up very well, IMHO... It helps to have a soft spot for prog/concept albums, of course, but I think both still work...

And yes, I'm incredibly biased... So there..

 

[DalekJim]

Marillion - Script For A Jester's Tear, Misplaced Childhood
Genesis - Duke

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Def Leppard Hysteria holds up!

 

[1001001]

Def Leppard Hysteria holds up!

"You got the peaches, I got the cream"

 

[Pingfah]

Hysteria holds up in the sense that it is just as awful as it ever was.

Honestly I think the older Def Leppard material like On Through The Night is less dated because it is not half as slick and obviously 80s hair era, and thus more likely to appeal to a new listener these days.

 

[Rincewiend]

Well, this one:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDXzLeFUkpc[/yt]

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Well, this one:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDXzLeFUkpc[/yt]

Yeah it seems like such a no-brainer when I mentioned it way back on post #39, but no one - no one - high fived my good tastes, so now I'm bitter and resentful.

 

[Chaos Descending]

I give another shout out to Paul Simon's Graceland.

I'll list a few others that still hit me in the right spot.

Uriah Heep - Abominog
S.O.D. - Speak English or Die
Danzig - Danzig
Beastie Boys - Licened to Ill

 

[jayceee]

Hysteria holds up in the sense that it is just as awful as it ever was.

The first time I played the Hysteria record, initially I thought I was playing the wrong record. At the time, I thought Hysteria sounded like a slightly heavier version of Duran Duran.

 

[1001001]

Graceland is a fantastic album.

 

[Lookingglassman]

Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi, any 80's Journey Album

 

[M'Sharak]

Hysteria holds up in the sense that it is just as awful as it ever was.

Honestly I think the older Def Leppard material like On Through The Night is less dated because it is not half as slick and obviously 80s hair era, and thus more likely to appeal to a new listener these days.

I think Def Leppard really hit their peak around the second half of the song "Let It Go". By the time Pyromania came along, everything was already sounding like "product".

 

[CorporalClegg]

I'm a little confused as to the intent of this thread. If it's not strictly to list the best albums of the decade but to distinguish ones that have the classic 80s "vibe" and mojo but still hold up under modern listening, then I have a few that I don't think have yet been listed yet--but apologies if they have.

August -- Eric Clapton
Blackout -- Scorpions
Building the Perfect Beast -- Don Henley
Eliminator -- ZZ Top
Freedom -- Neil Young
Full Moon Fever Tom Petty
Georgia Satellites -- Georgia Satellites
Heart -- Heart
Heart Shaped World -- Chris Isaak
In My Tribe -- 10,000 Maniacs
Kick -- INXS
Learning to Crawl -- The Pretenders
Once Bitten... Great White
So -- Peter Gabriel
Songs from the Big Chair -- Tears for Fears
Sports -- Huey Lewis and the News
Synchronicity -- The Police
Tuff Enuff -- Fabulous Thunderbirds
Uh-Huh -- John Mellencamp