The 50 Most Underrated Albums: 1980 - 1987

 

By Nicholas Sheffo

 

 

 

Before a number of factors caused the implosion of the entire music label system, part of it being a movement later in the 1980s to ignore their history and legacy as if they could throw away their catalog and history, there was pride and people running the labels for the most part who knew and loved music.  They were willing to take risks and promote more than just pop tarts or junk they knew would sell, but really never liked.

 

Though some music has survived and thrived into our early 21^st Century as currently relevant, especially Funk and Soul music, especially when sampled in newer song releases.  That leaves entire music genres behind and as many of you are aware, the death of quality mainstream music, along with a decline in Rock music (staring with the infamous hair bands) sowed the seeds of the major label’s implosion all the way up to their inability to deal with the Internet, the video age in the long term and failure to secure a new format to succeed the very aged compact disc.

 

Part of the problem is a new sense of censorship that has befallen the industry, helping to kill it and drive the more creative artists to alternate and independent outlets.  Though the following material is diverse, as the releases of the industry once were, they all have a certain heart and soul in common that made them outstanding releases in their time and as you are about to see, enduring ones, no matter how tastes have changed and especially in how tastes have declined:

 

 

Adam & The Ants – Kings Of The Wild Frontier (1980) – Before personal troubles and many attempts to become an actor, Adam Ant was the Britain’s pop music bad boy and on his own terms.  Though known in the U.S. for his U.S. solo hit Goody Two Shoes, he was on the cutting edge of New Wave/New Romantic music with his band and this more than demonstrates that with songs like Dog Eat Dog, Ant Music and the title song.  That the Music Videos were subversive only makes it more interesting, but it holds up sonically without them.

 

The Art Of Noise – Who’s Afraid Of The Art Of Noise (1984) – After ending The Buggles and singing for Yes, he was still producing Yes and everyone else who could afford him, but Trevor Horn still managed to launch another band and the result was the starkly innovative The Art Of Noise.  With its innovative video for Close (To the Edit), the band had a big surprise hit and further set himself up as one of the most important creative forces in the entire industry to this day.

 

Pat Benatar – Crimes Of Passion (1980) – On her second album, Benatar’s combination of vocals, material, attitude, sexuality, femininity, energy and arrangements never falter in the best album she’ll ever make.  The guitar-based classics include Treat Me Right, Never Wanna Leave You, Prisoner Of Love, Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights, Hell Is For Children and a song originally intended for Rick Springfield, Hit Me With Your Best Shot.  All ten tracks are perfect, no female Rock vocalist since has delivered such a great album and it is a masterwork that should not be forgotten.

 

Birthday Party - Birthday Party (1980) – The long, prolific journey of the amazing Nick Cave began with his debut in the band Boys Next Door and though they were credited as the band who made the album Birthday Party originally, that name was dropped and they renamed themselves after the album’s title.  The result was a career that ran until 1983, before Cave struck out in other units and as a solo artist, but the eleven tracks here hold up as a turning point for all involved including Mr. Clarinet and Happy Birthday.  Cave has not peaked since, even moving into film, while fellow members Mick Harvey, Tracy Pew, Phil Calvert and Rowland S. Howard continue to be some of the most formidable musicians in the Australian Rock scene, with Howard moving on in 1982.  They disbanded in 1984.

 

Black Flag – Damaged (1980) – When the original cycle of Punk was over, the genre survived in a less potent but formidable form and this album by the Henry Rollins-fronted band of that era helped serve as a template for how Punk would endure.  Made while fighting with their record label, songs like T.V. Party and Rise Above quickly became favorites and the band was on its way, as well as Rollins long after their demise.

 

Blondie – Autoamerican (1980) – Proving to be more than a fluke, disco act or novelty, this fifth album by Debbie Harry and company showed their diversity, that they had not sold out to Pop as much as Punk critics had said and the result were classic, even innovate hits like The Tide Is High and Rapture, which featured (however lite) the first Rap vocal on a major hit record.

 

David Bowie – Scary Monsters (1980) – Before succumbing to broad and sometimes empty quick-money pop in the 1980s, Bowie made this impressive set that essentially ended the original phase of his career as uncompromised, innovative artist.  It had hits too, including the title song, Ashes To Ashes and Fashion.  Audiophiles can also obtain it in the SA-CD format.

 

Lindsey Buckingham – Law & Order (1982) – Needing a place to channel his unique creativity after Tusk, the underrated vocalist/guitarist from Fleetwood Mac made this remarkable solo debut album while working on the more pop-oriented Mirage with the band.  It even produced a hit in Trouble, but also offered some stark cover songs (September Song, Satisfied Mind) and a few songs too graphic or would to ever make it to mainstream radio.  Even more than the wild, impressive Go Insane, this is Buckingham’s best work outside of Mac and possibly one of the most personal, dense solo albums ever made.

 

The Clash – Sandinista! (1980) – Before having a few surprise pop hits, one of the greatest Punk bands of all time dared to make this three-album studio blast, adding Rap, reggae and politics in a package to rival Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk in size and featuring ideas as relevant as ever.  Too bad not enough people were listening.  It may just be the peak of the band, but is only one chapter in one of the most amazing runs in Rock history.

 

Crowded House (1986 self-titled debut album) – After the amazing run of Split Enz, Neil Finn launched a new band and the result was more accessible hit music, still retaining the depth and substances the he and his brother Tim were known for putting in their music.  This is the album that produced the memorable hits Don’t Dream It’s Over and Something So Strong, but there are other singles issued that did not fare as well in the U.S. (World Where You Live, Now We’re Getting Somewhere, Mean To Me) but also secured the band an 11 year run.  They have reunited since.  Audiophiles can find the album in the DVD-Audio format.

 

The Cure – Pornography (1982) – Before Goth Rock became a cliché, it had substance and of all the Cure albums, this is the boldest of all.  Robert Smith has never been so empathetic and the band was beyond any categorization, though they too were part of the New Wave in their own way.  Songs like the title track, The Hanging Garden and Cold continue to resonate.  If you need to know why they are an important and influential band, this fourth album will deliver the answer.

 

DeBarge – Rhythm Of The Night (1983) – The last major vocal group to find success at the original Motown Records, DeBarge was considered very lightweight and a singles group at best.  But their 1983 outing was a stronger Pop/Soul set, even if the title song was a bit on the bubblegum side, it also featured the somewhat mature Who’s Holding Donna Now? and the underrated You Wear It Well.  They were never more ambitious vocally and can always site this release as their top rate best.

 

Depeche Mode – Some Great Reward (1984) – Though it arrived at the tail end of their growth period, this is the band’s often neglected masterwork with bold hits as diverse as Master & Servant, People Are People and Blasphemous Rumours, but the album is remarkable overall as only their fourth release and the nine songs hold up very well for their age.  The singing is terrific and producing/engineering a breakthrough for the band.

 

DEVO – Freedomofchoice (aka Freedom of Choice/1980) – Though their later New Traditionalists is a close runner-up, their 1980 album proved that they were not just an anomaly or gimmick, but one of the savviest of all Punk/New Wave units with the title song, Girl U Want, Gates Of Steel and the unbelievably huge hit success of Whip It, a hit that is still all over the place today.  As relevant as ever, the band was warning of bad things to come.  Sadly, not enough people listened or believed them.

 

Echo & The Bunnymen – Ocean Rain (1984) – Donnie Darko may have used, then dumped their great record The Killing Moon, but it album of origin remains one of their best and no filmmaker’s indecision can change that.  The nine-track album was their fourth and with Ian McCulloch’s remarkable vocals, the whole album is as striking as the famous-all-over-again hit.  Silver and Seven Seas were also hits, but this is almost a theme album with the likes of Crystal Days, My Kingdom and the title track.  Sadly, the band folded in 1988, but reformed a few times.  Impressive.

 

Emerson, Lake & Powell (1985 self-titled album) – The late, great Cozy Powell temporarily succeeded Carl Palmer in the ELP line-up and being a more Rock oriented drummer than the Jazz-strong Palmer, gave an edge to the much ridiculed Progressive Rock trio in this project likely inspired by the comeback of Yes.  Touch & Go was the big hit, but this is a stronger album than many may remember and proved so-called “Prog Rock” was not just a relic stuck in the early 1970s.

 

Eurythmics – Savage (1986) + Soundtrack to “1984” (1984) – The great duo was on a big roll in the 1980s, but the irony is that their two best albums hardly made it to the public.  With increasing tensions between Annie Lennon and Dave Stewart, Savage was the powerful peak of their work to date, including recent reunions as they’d go all out on 12 very powerful, rich tracks that were harder Rocking than anything they did before or since.  Beethoven (I Love To Listen To) was not a big hit, but sampled to death over the years, while I Need A Man, Shame and You Have Placed A Chill In My Heart were also singles, but from end to end, no other studio album they ever made is more accomplished, clever, sonically superior or this well produced and engineered.  Two years before, they made a music soundtrack for the mixed Michael Radford film of George Orwell’s all-time classic book that Radford made the fatal mistake of excluding from his film.  On its own, it is truer to the book than his or anyone else’s film or TV adaptations to date, but has rarely been issued by Virgin Records (instead of home label RCA) as their film unit co-funded the film.  Songs like Sexcrime, Room 101, I Did It Just The Same and Julia are remarkable and deserve to as rediscovered as any lost movie music of the 1980s.  After hearing both, you realize how great they really were.

 

The Fall – The Wonderful & Frightening World Of The Fall (1984) – Though fans will not necessarily like this because it ignores eight years of key history, the band (Mark E. Smith’s vehicle with many member changes) has issued many albums, but this impressive album is the biggest transition of all from their early lean years and richer, more polished work that shows why the band and its name have survived.  Split into two sides, “Frightening” and “Wonderful” (4 & 5 tracks respectively) you could almost call it a concept album, but like Joe Jackson’s Night & Day (also on the list) that is not necessarily the case.  Lay Of The Land, Copped It and Disney’s Dream Debased pull no punches in this very interesting effort.  The band continues, even if it has not had a big commercial album, but they may just want it that way.

 

Fleetwood Mac – Mirage (1982) – Though Lindsey Buckingham dubbed it “Rumours II” and it was part of some weird payola scandal at the time, this turns out to be their last fully realized release until they reunited for The Dance after years of fallouts and personnel changes.  The hits include Hold Me, Gypsy, the middling Love In Store and amusing Oh Diane, but also offered Straight Back (which surfaced in two versions after Nicks and company decided to tamper with the arrangement) and Empire State among its dozen tracks.

 

The Go-Gos – Talk Show (1984) – Despite the limited commercial success of the album, the third and last album the band made in its original run of success, it turns out to be their strongest and most competent studio work ever, with hits like Yes or No, Turn to You and the slick Head Over Heels.  Here, they prove to be more than just a retro novelty girl group that got lucky, but a formidable Pop/Rock unit that could have continued for years to come, but the members went on to solo careers for years before any reunions and new albums, none of which recaptured their energy and chemistry here.

 

Aretha Franklin – Jump To It (1982) – When The Queen of Soul finally left Atlantic Records, many expected it to be a permanent blow to rich R&B music and it was, but Franklin surprised the entire industry with this amazing album, a labor of love from the late Luther Vandross.  He wrote, produced and even sang on the eight tracks including the uncompromising title song and other gems like (It’s Just) Your Love, This Is For Real and Just My Daydream.  The result is one of the last great Soul vocal albums before Rap, Michael Jackson. Hip Hop and apathy ruined the genre in this, its purest form.

 

Hall & Oates – Private Eyes (1981) – Another act who left Atlantic Records and known for Soul, Daryl Hall and John Oates had already left for RCA in the later 1970s and after few hits, revamped their sound (with Punk and New Wave playing a role) and following Voices, proved that their comeback was no fluke with this genre-buster.  I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do) by topping more diverse charts than any song previously had paved the way for Thriller and eventually harder-core (with Jackson’s following albums) for Rap/Hip Hop to overtake Rock on the mainstream Pop charts, even killing them to a great extent (for now?) and the title song was also a #1 hit.  However, the hits continued with Did It In A Minute and Your Imagination, but also offers less-heard gems like Unguarded Minute, Head Above Water and Motown male vocal group tribute Looking For A Good Sign.  H2O may have sold more copies and had about as many hits, but is not as strong or soulful a follow-up.

 

Don Henley – Building The Perfect Beast (1984) – The Eagles were split when most of their members were releasing solo projects, but none have been more enduring, bold, diversified or as successful as this second solo album by Henley, which is as strong as any album he ever made with his immortal band.  Besides the chilling title song and classic hits like The Boys of Summer, Sunset Grill, All She Wants to Do Is Dance and safer Not Enough Love In The World, Lindsey Buckingham joins him on You Can’t Make Love and Henley scores what should have been another hit with Drivin’ With Your Eyes Closed.  Add the great producing and engineering and you have a real winner here.

 

Joe Jackson – Night & Day (1982) – Another great singer/songwriter with Attitude form the New Wave, Jackson stunned the industry with this brilliant Cole Porter tribute, featuring nine new songs.  The first four tracks were more subtle and laid back, while the rest kick in with classic hits Steppin’ Out and Breaking Us In Two, but also featured the bold single Real Men, closing balled A Slow Song and enduring Cancer.  Get the bonus Deluxe Edition CD set and you get more versions of these great songs.  Jackson continued to try other genres and do them very well, but this is a winner all the way and a worthy tribute to Porter.

 

The Jam – Sound Affects (1980) – One of the greatest British bands of all time, and most underrated all around, the trio of Paul Weller (later of Style Council,) Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler have the kind of high amount of chemistry and talent that have made for the most successful trios in all of music.  This 11-track album including the hits Start! and That’s Entertainment, catching the group in rare, good form at a turning point they’d never reach again.  You can start anywhere and see how good they are, but this is recommended over most of their works.

 

Elton John – Too Low For Zero (1983) – The first collaboration with Bernie Taupin since 1976 was a huge comeback work and a masterwork of healthy cynicism, strike against homophobia and loaded with more Rock attitude than anything he had done since Captain Fantastic or since.   I’m Still Standing is a classic (even without its classic Music Video) and safer commercial hit I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues, but more gems are here including the title song, Crystal, One More Arrow, Religion and underrated single Kiss The Bride.  The happy days of the past may officially ended, but John was here to stay and has been back on top ever since.

 

Grace Jones – Inside Story (1986) – When Grace Jones left her longtime home of Island Records, many wondered if her career was over and her TV ad with Adam Ant selling a motor scooter was a low point to many.  However, with Nile Rodgers on her side, the album was one of growth and proved she had more individual talent than she was getting credit for.  Songs include the title track, Crush and especially memorable hit I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect For You).

 

Howard Jones – Human’s Lib (1984) – Jones was announced as the next big thing and this debut solo album when heard now backs that claim, though some of the hit singles (What Is Love) did not back that.  A strong debut work, the real gem here is New Song, a New Wave masterwork that deserved better than it got and should have pushed the album forward more than it did.  Jones had more hit albums and singles, all of which he can credit to this, which deserves revisionist thinking to its advantage.

 

Cyndi Lauper – She’s So Unusual (1983) – The New Wave/Punk singer took the music industry by storm with her solo debut and with hits like Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Time After Time, All Through The Night and silly She Bop, her music is still with us, even if this album does not get he credit it deserves.  Audiophiles can also obtain it in the SA-CD format.

 

Paul McCartney – McCartney II (1980) – As Wings was about to wind down, McCartney decided to respond to New Wave and Punk with this smart, amusing second solo album that included the electronic studio version of Coming Up, hits Waterfalls and Temporary Secretary among the unusual tracks his solo work became more broadly pop oriented and radio safe, good as they were.

 

Midnight Oil – 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (1983) – Five years before their big, tough hit Beds Are Burning, the band released it best album here with lesser-known songs like Scream In Blue, Power & The Passion, Read About It, Outside World, Only The Strong and Somebody’s Trying To Tell Me showed their politics and their talent integrated well.  Their later hit did not betray this at all, but anyone interested in the band should consider starting with this fourth studio album.

 

Missing Persons – Spring Session M (1982) – Later copies dropped this album’s original title, an anagram of their name, but lead singer (and former Playmate) Terry Bozzio was the perfect semi-robo-emoter on hits like Words, Windows, Destination Unknown and Walking In L.A., but the album has been too often dismissed despite its accomplishments and is a great time capsule of the time as well as fun romp, even down to those all-over-the-place synthesizers.

 

The Motels – All Four One (1982) – Martha Davis was the amazing lead singer of this band, which she was the founder of.  Originally, the band’s third album was planned to be Apocalypso, but circumstance caused it to be complete rerecorded and this huge hit album is the result.  As a result, Take The “L” gained them serious attention and Only The Lonely was a huge international smash.  Fortunately, the rest of the album is very good, including Art Fails, So L.A. and Forever Mine.  The band continued for a while having hits, but never touched the critical, artistic and commercial success of this album again.  Davis eventually made a solo album and reunited the band in a new form, while reuniting with the original members on a TV show, while a CD reissue featured the original versions for the abandoned album with the final tracks here.  Audiophiles can find the slightly alternate cut of Only The Lonely that has always circulated since 1982 turned up on the DVD-Audio Women On Top in a 5.1 mix.

 

Diana Ross – Swept Away (1984) – Just when it seemed Michael Jackson had made her irrelevant, Ross made her last fully-realized album with Bernard Edwards producing many of the tracks.  The lead-off hit was the safe Julio Iglesias duet All Of You, though Daryl Hall wrote, produced and sang on the title song and Lionel Ritchie did the same for the other big hit and best of the Marvin Gaye tributes of the time, Missing You.  However, it is in Edwards’ other tracks you can hear the how strong this set really is.  Skipping safe remakes of Rescue Me and Forever Young, hear Telephone, Nobody Makes Me Crazy Like You Do, It’s Your Move and Touch By Touch and you’ll wonder why this was not a bigger album.

 

Rufus – Stompin’ At The Savoy (1983) – Before her solo success, Chaka Khan cut her last outright Soul-rich album with her celebrated band before they folded for good, one side live, the other with studio cuts including the great hit Ain’t Nobody.  Rufus continued without her and vice versa, but things were never the same again for either, though Khan finally became the commercial success she deserved to be if compromised by some material and not getting her financial due.

 

Sade – Promise (1985) – Between the huge commercial success of Diamond Life and Stronger Than Pride, the Jazz/Soul/Vocal units sophomore album is underrated, but with great songs like hit The Sweetest Taboo, Never As Good As The First Time and Is It A Crime, it endures and shows what a great band they really are.

 

Split Enz – True Colors (1980) – The greatest band in New Zealand history began as an answer to the Peter Gabriel Genesis, but with more to offer in their singing, songs and lyrics.  While Gabriel left his band, the members of this one stuck together and built up to this even more amazing album, their fourth, produced by David Tickle and featuring 11 tracks held together by a few memorable instrumentals (Double Happy, The Choral Sea) played by their most formidable line-up.  Tim Finn, Neil Finn, Noel Crombie, Malcolm Green, Nigel Griggs and Eddie Rayner deliver classic after classic, including Shark Attack, What’s The Matter With You?, I Hope I Never, Nobody Takes Me Seriously, Poor Boy and the biggest hit (especially in the U.S., where MTV could not play it enough), I Got You.  By this time, they were far past any Genesis comparisons and The Finn Brothers proved to be the driving force until the band folded in 1984.  Luckily, they have reunited in recent years.  Get this album!

 

Donna Summer (1982 self-titled album) – After overtaking Diana Ross as the Dance/Soul diva of the moment in the Disco era, many wondered if Summer would go the way of other disposed-of Disco acts.  Instead, her self-named 1982 Geffen Records release was another Quincy Jones production the same year as Thriller and has rich, stronger, more mature hits like The Woman In Me, State Of Independence and Love Is in Control (Finger On The Trigger) that proved Jones was on a roll, Summer was still a force to be reckoned with and Disco simply became dance music, though these are more Funk and Rock oriented than Summer’s previous hits.

 

Swing Out Sister – It’s Better To Travel (1987) – As a trio in their debut album here, the smooth combination of Soul, Rock, New Wave and Pop worked well on singles like Fooled By A Smile, Surrender and Twilight World, but nothing could stop Breakout from being a huge international hit and an undeniable classic.  Corrine Drewery’s vocals are some of the most distinct of the era and the album is fun throughout.

 

Talk Talk – It’s My Life (1984) – The title song may have spawned a big hit remake by No Doubt, but Talk Talk was more than just a singles act and the album it comes from is their impressive sophomore effort.  The nine tracks include It’s You, The Last Time, Does Caroline Know? and underrated hit Such A Shame.  Lead singer Mark Hollis is as good as any of the New Romantic/New Wave voices and the album can go a few rounds with anything U2 did at the time.

 

Tears For Fears – Songs From The Big Chair (1985) – It amazes me that despite the fact the hits from this album (Head Over Heals, Shout and Everybody Wants To Rule The World) are still heard often today, the album still does not get the credit it deserves for being as great as it is.  It is also one of the earliest albums to have so many remixes done to its many songs, but this is the great album it comes from and to only see it for its singles is a major mistake.

 

Theater Of Hate – Westworld (1982) – While The Clash moved into a Pop direction of sorts, writer/co-founder/guitarist Mick Jones let out more of his Sandinista! feelings with this band and this challenging Punk album that does not get the attention it deserves.  Judgment Hymn, Love Is A Ghost and Do You Believe In Westworld? are among the thought-provoking tracks.

 

Tina Turner – Break Every Rule (1986) – Though it was not as amazing as Private Dancer, this follow-up features a side of Turner we had not seen before or since, despite drifting at times to middle-of-the-road material.  Back Where You Started, Typical Male, What You See Is What You Get, Afterglow and Two People delve into new directions for Turner and produced a few hits on the way.  Later releases were more Pop and Rock, but here, Turner’s uniquely mature twist was surprising instead of a bombastic, sellout album to cash in on her success and she’ll never get credit for it.

 

Tuxedomoon – Half Mute (1980) – A very interesting album from an often overlooked band, they were one of the first to combine Punk with Classical and made it work.  A ten track studio set, highlights include James Whale, Loneliness, Tritone (Music Diablo) and What Use?  It is amazing you do not hear more about them, but they will be rediscovered sooner or later.

 

Ultravox – Vienna (1980) – If any album solidified the beginning of the New Romantic movement, it is this fourth album by the great U.K quartet and was a breakthrough hit album for them, though they ironically lost a few members.  Songs include the title track, Sleepwalk, All Stood Still, Mr. X and Passing Strangers.  As fresh as ever, it deserves serious revisiting.

 

Suzanne Vega – Solitude Standing (1987) – Known now as the album the first of endless versions of Tom’s Diner came from, the singer/songwriter’s second album remains her most successful, yet never gets the credit it deserves.  Though Luka, a remarkable song (and even more remarkable hit) about child abuse is as relevant as ever and was the biggest hit, the whole album is that thoughtful for the most part and remains one of the last great albums the original A&M Records ever released.

 

Dionne Warwick – Hot, Live & Otherwise (1981) – This release became infamous for its release battle between Arista Records and the music chains of the time.  With a big price tag at the time, Warwick had juts made a comeback, but to cash in behind the backs of those chains, Arista sold the album on TV ads spouting how you could get it for less than it cost in stores.  The chains retaliated and it become one of the costliest cut-outs in music history and promptly went out of print.  Too bad, because the combination concert, studio singles set (four songs) is not bad, though the concert is one of the best of hers ever recorded, from her Specter Records classics to new hits.  That is why it finally got the CD reissue it deserved.

 

Yes – 90125 (1982) – After being their lead singer, Trevor Horn turn into Yes’ producer and with original singer Jon Anderson back, shocked the industry when this album became a huge critical and commercial success, as well as generating the chart-topping Owner Of A Lonely Heart.  With Trevor Rabin on as their new guitarist, a new generation discovered the band and other gems included Leave It, It Can Happen, Our Song, Changes and the terrific instrumental Cinema.

 

Neil Young – Trans (1982) – The most subversive and one of the most personal of all Young projects, his answer to New Wave, Electronic music and even the New Romantic movement was a tribute to his autistic son.  The theme is one of communication, the lack thereof and the battle between technology and human existence.  Panned by the press, torpedoed by an unhappy Geffen Records and a as shock to fans used to his acoustic work, it was not as grating as Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music and is an honest risk by the artist, whose career would not recover for years.

 

 

If you can name 50 albums this good and underrated from 1988 to date, good luck.  We doubt you can!