70's ROCK bands that changed in the early 80's...

[jmjk]

I mean, come on; the ska revival? That was as much a part of the New Wave scene as the B52s, not a response to it.

As I stated above, I think I misinterpreted Rooster's question, as did a few of us here. So "I mean, come on" yourself.

And ska revival is no joke, so ya better show some respect.

[Jazzmoose]

Okay, I'm misinterpreting the question as well, or at least my youthful prejudices are showing. "Back in the day" (today's version of "when I was your age"...), at least in my crowd of New Wave fans, we looked at our music as a continuation of the Punk revolution against earlier rock. So when I think "reaction to New Wave", I'm thinking of dinosaur bands fighting back against the New Wavers. In other words, I think of stuff I despise, like big hair rock, that was the response to....wait a minute. I just realized something. We weren't "New Wavers"; we were "Mods". Shit, no wonder we liked Quadrephenia

Anyway, you can see how my prejudicial thinking of the time (I see the above as all pretty silly now, believe me!) affected my responses...

[Rooster_Ties]

By "reaction to the New Wave", I meant (for better or worse) rock bands embracing some of the same things that New Wavers were doing at the time, synths and like, and probably some drum machines too.

And now (by this point in the thread), I realize probably shouldn't have used the term "New Wave", since it really means quite a large range of things, and can easily mean different things to different people.

The best examples of what I'm trying to get at are Yes's "90125" and probably some Rush from the early 80's. And probably Robert Plant's more upbeat ('mod') output from the early 80's (although I haven't heard any of it in years, so I'm going from memory).

And like somebody else said earlier, the aesthetic of The Police's last three (or maybe four) albums -- when they got less 'punkier', for lack of a better description.

Maybe also some of Jethro Tull's early 80's output???? (Which I also haven't heard in years, or ever - for that matter.)

[kulu se mama]

i've beevn listening to 2 of my favorite '80's albums all week. "the crossing" by big country and "this is the sea" by the waterboys. boy do those 2 bring back memories. particularly "the whole of the moon" and "chance."

[A Lark Ascending]

By "reaction to the New Wave", I meant (for better or worse) rock bands embracing some of the same things that New Wavers were doing at the time, synths and like, and probably some drum machines too.

This was what saddened me at the time. It just seemed like people who had a character all their own were forced to adopt certain approaches in a vain attempt to stay 'relevant'.

The young punk/New Wave/New Romantic or whatever scene of the 80s I could happily accept even if it left me stone cold. After all that's what happens; music moves on to something else and the previous generation finds it hard to keep up.

But there was something of the 'Embarrassing-middle-aged-uncle-strutting-the-latest-dance-styles-on-the-wedding-reception-floor' about 60s and 70s stars going synth. Shame on you Joni!

You really hear this in the Clapton 'Crossroads' box. 3 1/2 discs where Clapton plays to his strengths within his characteristic style. And then half a disc of 'staying relevant' which just sounds over-cluttered, over-produced and far too desparate.

[AfricaBrass]

Good point, Bev.

I remember back in '85 Clapton released his Behind the Sun album. The album featured production by Phil Collins with that fabled Phil Collins drum sound.

Yuck!

Listening to that album now, it's sad to see how it is ruined by the production. If you like the sound of over effected cardboard, then that fabled drum sound is for you.

Yuck!

That's how I feel about most eighties production. It was fine when it was confined to new wave artists, but when you applied it the classic rockers. The results varied.

Oof!

[Quincy]

As far as meeting your criteria I'll repeat 7/4's recommendation and echo Robert Fripp (solo) and King Crimson.

With King Crimson you have a disbanded '70s band that used a mellotron reformed that wasn't afraid to use new technology. Guitar synthesizers, Frippertronics, electronic drums, and (bass) stick were used in '80s (and some still used today.)

Adrian Belew toured with the Talking Heads (he's on the later cuts on The Name Of The Band Is Talking Heads) and some people criticize his vocal style as ripping off Byne's. I don't really agree but I thought I'd put that warning out there. I'd say Discipline is the one to check out if you missed it in '81. If you're willing to risk more try the double live disc Absent Lovers as King Crimson is best heard live (and you'll hear the better material from the 1st 3 '80s albums.)

Not meeting your criteria, but I can't let an '80s thread go by without mentioning The Replacements. Let It Be, Hootenanny, Pleased To Meet Me...Yeah!

Gotta love a band that has songs entitled "Gary's Got A Boner" and "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out."

[Rooster_Ties]

That's how I feel about most eighties production. It was fine when it was confined to new wave artists, but when you applied it the classic rockers. The results varied. -- Oof!

Indeed, but I'm really glad you said that the results "varied", because sometimes the results were interesting. Maybe not as good, but occasionally (or even more than occasionally), artists have been able to embrace change (often influenced by the then 'current' winds of change), and create something really unique.

I suspect that most of the suggestions that come out of this thread will be exambles of various artists' work that show them not at the top of their game. No one will probably ever argue that the Rolling Stones, or Jethro Tull's best sides were when they "went comercial" in the early 80's (or worse, some might say, when they "sold out").

Still, in some cases, I can't help but think that there might be something interesting to be found when there is a clash of styles, resulting in some weird hybrid that is clearly a product of a certain place and time.

[AfricaBrass]

Good point, Rooster.

I have a hard time thinking of classic rock musicians that did interesting work with 80's production. I guess the most interesting performer to me would have been someone like Robert Plant. His solo stuff was really different from Led Zeppelin, but it was interesting to me on it's own (even with the eighties style production).

It also was an era where a lot of classic rockers really lost their way. Neil Young's Landing On Water is a case of that to me. The production just strangled his personality out of the music IMO.

I think some of the new wave production styles were really cool in the late seventies and early eighties, but by the mid-eighties, it seemed to have become very formulaic. A band that I really liked was the Cars. Their first two albums were great IMO, but there later stuff (though it was really popular) seemed to have lost its' edge. I guess that's what 80's synths and drum machines took away from rock and rollers, to me, was the edge.

[Adam]

My general faves from the 80s are The Waterboys (Fisherman's Blues was the first CD I ever bought) and the Pogues.

Prince

Bruce Springsteen avoided all references to New Wave, and Born in the USA and Tunnel of Love are both very good. And The River is 1980, I believe.

Echo on the Replacements.

Some early rap.

Some Elvis Costello

And Costello comes closest to "New Wave."

I have to say I don't have much from the 1980s in my life.

[DrJ]

Yeah, the Waterboys were cool - IN A PAGAN PLACE is my personal favorite for the spine-tingling "All the Things She Gave Me" and "Church Not Made with Hands," especially the former which has some of the best imagery in a rock lyric outside of Dylan (one of Mike Scott's big heros I hear).

With all due respect to contrasting opinions, the music of the 80's was easily (if not more so) as eclectic as the music of the 60's and certainly 70's. You just had to know where to look, since the era of truly monolithic, mass audiences for popular rock performers had passed (due to market expansion, and "multiple formats" hitting radio).

The thing I loved about the best of the 80's rock (including the late 70's pioneers that began the movement) is that it has a sense of exhiliration and abandon that was almost completely lacking in much of the music of the 70's. So while I do certainly enjoy some material by, let's say, Yes - such as the fine CLOSE TO THE EDGE album - it is not the music I turn to when I want to tap into the youthful energy of rock and roll. By the mid-70's the situation was desperate - mainstream rock was essentially repertory music, often played by disinterested, burned out, disillusioned junkies, deader than a doornail and twice as boring. Yes, there were some really interesting people still working at the fringes, and some of the greats were still turning out fine albums (e.g. THE WHO BY NUMBERS, ON THE BEACH, etc). But this was the era of legions of FM rock mediocrities, who couldn't hope to compete with the Beach Boys and Beatles revivals that were triggered by the release of ENDLESS SUMMER/SPIRIT OF AMERICA and the "red" and "blue" 2 LP greatest hits sets, respectively. Great music to be sure, but clearly there was a huge artistic void that was waiting to be filled with these retreads - not unlike the current situation in pop at all, where classic music reissues pretty much reign supreme for most with discerning tastes.

By contrast, the Pixies' first couple of albums DO embody the core, unbridled energy and passion rock had for kids when people like Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard hit the scene.

Some of the 80's era stuff that I think has held up best (many actually recorded at the end of the 70's, but who's splitting hairs?) includes:

1. The whole Minneapolis scene - not just Prince, who I thoroughly enjoyed, but the lesser known but mighty Husker Du and Replacements, each of whom turned out at least a couple of classics.

2. The UK ska scene - particularly the Specials and the English Beat, who turned out at least 2 masterpieces in their debut LP and then SPECIAL BEAT SERVICE (OK, the latter a bit uneven but any album that has "I Confess," "Jeanette," and "Save It For Later" is a keeper IMHO)

3. The Jam - actually began in the late 70's but belongs with the 80's for sure. Probably the single most impressive body of work of all these acts IMHO. Having just finally plumped for the boxed set DIRECTION REACTION CREATION, I've been fondly (and loudly) revisiting this body of work lately! One of many so-called "punk" or "new wave" bands that, in retrospect, was FIRMLY in the classic rock lineage (for God's sake, Weller worshipped the Who and 60's soul, covering many tunes from each canon, and just LOOK at them in those photos...)

4. The Clash - LONDON CALLING. Life affirming, even dinosaur rockers should enjoy this one. The breadth of rock from the start, in 2 neat LP's worth. Again actually at the end of the 70's, but in spirit a very 80's album

5. Elvis Costello - KING OF AMERICA. One of the finest albums of all time, period. Transcends time and genres. Given that Costello had been slogging away for quite a few years by this point, I think this album is one that gives the lie to the idea that all verteran rockers were forced to hire hot remixers and make embarrassing 12" dance mixes to continue to be relevant. How about jazz, swing, bluegrass, country, blues, and other influences and a sound recording that (finally) sounded like it was made by people who really understood engineering and record production?

6. New Order - LOW LIFE (Quest). They peaked here artistically, though they'd continue with a series of fabulous 12" singles and isolated tracks, and their recordings just kept sounding better and better. Still, from a songwriting and sheer force standpoint - combining the kernel of their later keyboard-dominated sound with the earlier, Joy Division-influenced guitar and bass grind - this was the one. Amazing.

7. X - UNDER THE BIG BLACK SUN. Rockabilly, really, pure and simple, just put through a magnifying lens both lyrically and musically. Punk? Well, maybe, but that was also a convenient marketing label...

8. XTC - SKYLARKING. The most beautiful rock album ever. MUMMER and ENGLISH SETTLEMENT take honorable mention for that award, by the way. I may have changed my mind about that "lifetime consistency award" I gave to The Jam a minute ago...

9. The Smith's - THE QUEEN IS DEAD. Perfection. Morrissey at his most pointedly angry and least whiny and absurd. Johnny Marr well to the fore.

10. Crowded House - WOODFACE. Just gorgeous, highly crafted pop, pure and simple (albeit with deceptive complexity). Again, by this time the Finn brothers had been at it for well over 20 years and were just starting to peak - and again, no embarrassing "80's moments" to be seen.

11. Pixies - SURFER ROSA/COME ON PILGRIM. Fantastic, and way ahead of their time. The blueprint for all the best bands of the 90's. Picture perfect production for this type of music - drums that sound like they're ambient mic'd, reverberating off your garage walls, guitars whining and spitting, and KIM DEAL when she was still a major presence in the band, people - KIM DEAL. That's: KIM DEAL. 'Nuff said.

12. The Fall - THIS NATION'S SAVING GRACE. Much of this group's work is downright impenetrable to me, but they reached a real artistic and (by their standards) accessibility peak with this wonderful record.

There are of course many more favorites, but these leap to mind right off the bat.

Some more obscure stuff:

- Bonnie Hayes and the Wild Combo's first album, GOOD CLEAN FUN. This one never got much play outside the Bay Area, apparently, but it's a blinder, at first listen a glorious throwback to 50's girl vocals pop but on further listens a very world-wise, uplifting record (Hayes was after all a lot older than most of the people she was playing for). The follow-up EP BRAVE NEW GIRL was nearly as good, and in fact a couple of the tunes ("Night Baseball" especially) were at least as strong as the best of the LP.

- THROWING MUSES (4AD), the debut album. Stunning, artsy, in your face, haunting, harrowing, and, most importantly, it still rocks like anything. They never came anywhere close to matching this. Recently available in a 2CD edition that included a roughly contemporary EP that, while good, still gives little hint of what is in store on this fantastic record.

- Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - any of their stuff, but especially RATTLESNAKES and MAINSTREAM. The former, their debut, is great start to finish, a neglected masterpiece of the era. The latter more spotty, but worth it for the fantastic "My Bag," a microencapsulation of a whole subset of 80's culture, and a few other great ones.

- Todd Rundgren - A CAPELLA. Yes, you read that right, Todd. An album made entirely from the sound of his voice, layered and often processed to emulate instruments. Sure, the sound has an 80's thing, but he's also doing some of the best songs he's ever written, and the effect is startling when you realize it's ALL his voice. Check this one out if you enjoy Todd, deserves a wider hearing. And again - another "dinosaur" making really creative music with not a hint of pandering.

**********

Obviously, I'm a big fan of much that went down in the 80's. The dross to quality ratio, by my read, was absolutely no different than in any other era.

I have to say the whole way this discussion began was kind of kooky and is the type of thing that, while well-meaning, ultimately really sells the 80's scene short. There were plenty of bands that essentially never touched a synthesizer during this time (most of those listed above, actually) and made great, rocking, intelligent music. And many who DID go in for synths (e.g New Order) that made great music too that didn't pander to any pop or dance hit mentalities but was still great danceable pop.

**********

Finally: I also don't agree about ALL the old vets all sounding lucicrous with the "new sound" trappings. There are several examples to the contrary above. And Peter Gabriel really benefitted from being stripped of the turgid, meandering sounds he had wallowed in before...albums like the third PETER GABRIEL (melting face cover), SECURITY, and even the more poppy SO were to my ears easily his most interesting and best conceived. There are other examples, too. Robert Plant, on his 80's solo dates, sounded positively reinvigorated and made some really creative music, again nearly all firmly guitar based (Robbie Blunt - whatever happened to him? - was on fire!). The Stones did some interesting things in the 80's too, mostly not really impacted in the least by the prevailing sound (and those that were, like some of the best of the album UNDERCOVER, were pretty far afield from the pop mainstream, some downright spooky). And Joni made maybe 1 or 2 dogs in the 80's, but she quickly returned to form with stuff like CHALK MARK IN A RAIN STORM, not one of her very greatest but a fine album.

What REALLY was annoying was the sudden "return to roots" movement in the 90's, signified in "let's cash in" terms especially by the "unplugged" lemming-fest. So we got to hear (and unfortunately see) aging, no longer relevant (or talented) rockers warble in cruelly bare, unforgiving settings. Oh joy. Followed by the geriatric arena rockers - Aerosmith, Ozzy, The Who, etc etc - returning to arena rock, tights 'n all. Even Neil Young, who I love, I find highly guilty of this - hobnobbing with Pearl Jam, turning out stale riffs and slogans in the form of songs like "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World." Please...this was what we were given by the man who made literally scores of classic albums in the 70's and, at least continued to bamboozle and try different things (albeit with little success) in the 80's? Give me TRANS any day.

Edited October 3, 2003 by DrJ

[ghost of miles]

Haircut 100 was an incredible band that suffered because of their name. Lotsa shit happening underneath the reggae/ska rhythms and blue-eyed soul with them.

Hey jmjk, you ever check out Nick Heyward's solo album NORTH OF A MIRACLE?

Great thread (I haven't even finished reading it and I'm already posting). I was a total Rush-head when I was 13 (2112, baby, 2112--"don't annoy us further!" didn't realize until Joe Milazzo hipped me that that whole trip was Rand-inspired) and actually saw 'em on the MOVING PICTURES tour (some Canadian band called Max Webster or something opened for them, and Geddy Lee came out in a Nixon mask and sang their one hit with them). I didn't follow them as much after 1982, although I liked the album with "New World Man" on it too. I kinda left 'em for the Police (still love GHOST IN THE MACHINE), then got obsessed w/U2 & R.E.M. and then into the American indie underground. SO many albums from that era--felt like I was discovering a band a week. (Discovered a band NAMED Felt, in fact.) To be continued in another post after I finish reading the thread...

[DrJ]

Yes, that album with "New World Man" would be SIGNALS, probably Rush's crowning achievement. In my day I was a huge fan and, funny enough, also saw them on that same tour David, in San Francisco, with Max Webster opening!

Still, I don't think most of Rush's music (at least of that era - I lost touch after the album POWER WINDOWS) holds up well at all - it sounds rooted in its time, heartfelt and harmless but hardly something I care to return to much.

[DrJ]

Don't mean to saturation post, but this topic excites me (we seldom get much discussion of this era on the boards!).

1. Another thing I loved about the 80's - it signified the return of the single! Granted, it was often a 12", 33 RPM, remixed single, but a single nonetheless. An format that had all but disappeared as an outlet for "serious" musicians after the mid-70's (and indeed was often derided as inferior, because hey, you could hardly fit a 20 minute mock-opera on a 45, so it MUST be inferior, right?) returned with a vengeance in the 80's.

This was highly significant if for no other reason than this: let's face it, for a great many pop music acts, 1 or 2 quality songs is the most they're ever gonna come up with. You could leave 'em in a locked room for 20 years or more, with pad and pencil, and they'd still only come up with a couple of keepers. There were a bunch of what I'd pretty much consider one-hit wonders in the 80's, but often those lone or dual hits were really great, some of the best of the era (witness the best of bands like Romeo Void, Translator, and Wire Train from the Bay Area alone)

So the beauty of the 80's is that you got to hear (and if you wanted, to buy) those keepers as nice, concise singles, and you DIDN'T have to buy the whole album and suffer through all the other tunes that sucked (and hey, even if you did buy a lemon album, those sucky tunes were SHORT sucky tunes, not side-long sucky tunes).

So we were able to enjoy truly great tunes like the John Lydon/Afrika Bambaataa epic "World Destruction," Romeo Void's "Never Say Never," Book of Love's "I Touch Roses," and the Clash's immortal "Radio Clash" and "Magnificent Seven" that would probably have never seen the light of day a few years earlier.

2. As a related further thing I loved about the 80's - a return to the danceable basis of popular music! Not unlike the demise of jazz as a mass-audience scale popular form of music after the 40's resulting in part from the move away from danceability, rock foundered partly in the 70's as it drifted further and further away from the dance hall. Just try asking the girl you've been pining over to dance to "Roundabout" (and yes, in junior high, I did just that with the predictably shudder-inducing results!). With the 80's, truly high quality musicians were no longer afraid or ashamed to make music kids could dance to. And they did, long and hard. Again, the exhiliration of youth infused pop music again, if only for a short time.

Edited October 3, 2003 by DrJ

[Rooster_Ties]

Wow, I have lots to respond to (since my last post in this thread), but let me start here...

It also was an era where a lot of classic rockers really lost their way. Neil Young's Landing On Water is a case of that to me. The production just strangled his personality out of the music IMO.

Man, "Landing On Water" is (oddly enough) one of my favorite Neil Young albums. I know, I'm weird (I've been accused of this for many reasons), but there's something about Young's synth-heavy albums that really works for me. I know, I'm in the minority on this, but even "Trans" is a winner in my book. (OK, not every track on "Trans", equally so. But half of "Trans" is really cool -- again, at least in my book it is.)

PS: What I really like, even more than "Landing On Water" or "Trans" are some live recordings I have of Neil, from about 1986 - featuring some of that material performed live, with Neil singing through the 'vocoder', even on a few of his earlier tunes too, if I remember right. The live recordings are a little more successful, IMHO, than the studio versions (particularly the "Trans" material), but it's all good to me.

I don't say that Neil in the 80's is his very best work, but I certainly like it - in my own weird way.

[Jazzdog]

PS: What I really like, even more than "Landing On Water" or "Trans" are some live recordings I have of Neil, from about 1986 - featuring some of that material performed live, with Neil singing through the 'vocoder', even on a few of his earlier tunes too, if I remember right. The live recordings are a little more successful, IMHO, than the studio versions (particularly the "Trans" material), but it's all good to me.

I don't say that Neil in the 80's is his very best work, but I certainly like it - in my own weird way.

I have been curous about this recording from that period that was reissued a few years back. "Life". If I am not mistaken this was recorded with Crazy Horse essentially with Steve Jordan on drums. The Geffen period is generally not considered to be "Good" Neil, though the "Good" Neil is better than most artists' best work!

Now, as for Rush, the 80's is generally seen to be the prime period of thier music. I would say that the albums from this period, even including Hemispheres from 1978, are their best work. Many true Rusheads consider the Power Windows and Hold Your Fire albums as part of their downward spiral, but in my opinion that didn't happen until the '90's.

I really didn't start paying attention to music until about '81 or so. That would have made me about 7 and KFRC AM used to play the top hits of the day. Then MTV got going real good and the visual aspects of the music were played up tremndously. Two artists who used that medium to the fullest effect were Peter Gabreil and David Bowie. It was a short lived effect though, as that also coincided with their music becoming increasingly commercial. Bands like Big Country, Madness, The (English) Beat, Grace Jones, Prince, The Police and Tom Petty were the vanguard, and the video medium increased their standings in the pop world. So this period, up until about 85 or so, when Miami Vice became popular and the whole thing spiraled downwards from there.

[Rooster_Ties]

I have been curous about this [Neil Young] recording from that period that was reissued a few years back. "Life". If I am not mistaken this was recorded with Crazy Horse essentially with Steve Jordan on drums. The Geffen period is generally not considered to be "Good" Neil, though the "Good" Neil is better than most artists' best work!

I like "Life" (and my name's not Mikey!!! )

But seriously, I think "Life" is a pretty good Neil Young album. Maybe not a 4 or 5 star album, but not any less than 3 stars (and personally I'd probably give it 3.5 stars). Well worth picking up if you find it used for cheap. (And if you like "Landing on Water", then you'll probably also like "Life". I like 'em both.)

[Jazzdog]

But seriously, I think "Life" is a pretty good Neil Young album. Maybe not a 4 or 5 star album, but not any less than 3 stars (and personally I'd probably give it 3.5 stars). Well worth picking up if you find it used for cheap. (And if you like "Landing on Water", then you'll probably also like "Life". I like 'em both.)

Yeah, I am real picky with my Neil. I don't like the really folky stuff (aside from his first couple of efforts)and and my favorite albums of his are the dark, dirgey mid 70's stuff.

But not to get this thread on a Neil Young note...It's kid of like Dylan flirting with the mainstream, He's just not that type of artist. Leave that to the Collins' and the McCartneys of the world!

[Jazzmoose]

Ah...Romeo Void...

I'd better get off this thread, or I may decide to chuck all this jazz crap and rediscover my youth...

[jmjk]

Hey jmjk, you ever check out Nick Heyward's solo album NORTH OF A MIRACLE?

Oh yeah. I have a nice vinyl copy of North of a Miracle (I don't think it was released on cd domestically, just in Japan?).

I think the single "Whistle Down the Wind" is one of the most beautiful singles of the 1980s, and is Heyward's greatest achievement as a songwriter. That being said, the remainder of the album leaves me a little flat. I haven't listened to it in many years, so I should revisit it soon. To exhume our discussion of 12" singles from a few months ago, the "Whistle Down the Wind" 12" also graces my racks...got a pristine copy about a year ago for 50 cents!

I totally agree with Tony about his comments on the 1980s as an era, and the musical merit to be found. There are as many strokes of brilliance in the music of the 1980s as there were in past decades, but it's just more difficult to sift through the awful in order to embrace the stellar. Music became so much more image oriented in the 1980s. MTV became an artist's primary marketing tool, and, as usual, the media showed only what the suits up above paid for us to see.

[jmjk]

(Discovered a band NAMED Felt, in fact.)

Felt--another great band! Fantastic guitar playing and composition, but I hated the singer's voice, so my excitement for them only went so far. I think I checked them out initially only because Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins produced a few albums.

Oooh, I'm NOT going to start a Cocteau Twins discussion. I could praise them all day, and I haven't got the time to write everything I'd like. Robin Guthrie is one of the reasons I play guitar the way I do, though.

[DrJ]

Ahh, the Cocteau Twins. VICTORIALAND is a personal favorite, tranquil and breathtakingly pretty. Also really enjoyed THE PINK OPAQUE, a compilation of much of their strongest and most tuneful earlier stuff. Both were on the 4AD label.

Picking up on the Haircut 100/Nick Heyward topic: there were more than a few bands that did the jazz-influenced thing in the 80's where it really worked. You can hear it in Haircut 100 for sure; and how about the Style Council's great one MY EVER CHANGING MOODS? The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy's stuff?

Edited October 3, 2003 by DrJ

[AfricaBrass]

I have been curous about this [Neil Young] recording from that period that was reissued a few years back. "Life". If I am not mistaken this was recorded with Crazy Horse essentially with Steve Jordan on drums. The Geffen period is generally not considered to be "Good" Neil, though the "Good" Neil is better than most artists' best work!

I like "Life" (and my name's not Mikey!!! )

But seriously, I think "Life" is a pretty good Neil Young album. Maybe not a 4 or 5 star album, but not any less than 3 stars (and personally I'd probably give it 3.5 stars). Well worth picking up if you find it used for cheap. (And if you like "Landing on Water", then you'll probably also like "Life". I like 'em both.)

Sorry Rooster,

I got confused, I was thinking of Landing On Water, the album that came right before Life. Life was pretty good.

You guys have been bringing up some interesting music.

I loved that Nick Heyword single you mentioned, jmjk, I'd love to hear it again.

I was a big Jam fan and I dug the Style Council too. Heck, I even like Paul Weller's '90s albums.

The Cocteau Twins were great. I learned a lot about guitar effects from them. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I really loved the band, Lush, that Guthrie produced. It was pretty similar to the Cocteau Twins, but more poppy.

In the early 80's here in Southern California, the radio station KROQ was amazing. I miss being able to turn the radio on and here such great music. Stuff like, XTC, Bauhaus, Adam and the Ants, the English Beat, Madness, etc... It was a great time to be a kid.

[DrJ]

Hey AfricaBrass, nothing to be embarrassed about in liking the band Lush, as far as I'm concerned. I still have and really enjoy their CD GALA (actually a compilation of early EPs and outtakes). "De-Luxe" is remarkable.

[AfricaBrass]

Thanks Tony. I guess I'm gunshy about Lush. My old roomates used to give me grief for listening to it.

Those first two albums are good. Deluxe is excellent.

BTW - Nice avatar! Trust is an excellent record.