The wall list is coming along. Well, the contenders anyway for what will ultimately be picked. So far we have Queen's The Game, and Rush's Permanent Waves from 1980, The Smurfs All-Star Show from 1981, Prince's 1999, and Michael Jackson's Thriller from 1982, and Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual from 1983.
1984 has my hands down favorite 80's album of all time, but before we get to that, we've got to make our way through some honorable mentions and eleven other contenders.
Starting off with the honorable mentions we have one that almost made the cut, Van Halen's 1984. This one stayed in the top twelve for quite some time, but ultimately kept getting bumped further and further down until it landed here.
It's joined on the list with the soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop, Alphaville's Forever Young, The Time's Ice Cream Castles, and another soundtrack, Electric Dreams. All of these could have easily been in the top twelve. There were just so many to choose from, and these selections outweighed them all.
Last place goes to Tina Turner for her comeback album, Private Dancer. It has some of my favorite, and most memorable tunes from the year. However, what it lacks, and ultimately kept it so low on the list was perfection from start to finish. The hits are the hits, which are great. However, I couldn't name any other tracks on this record beyond them.
Brian Adams suffers the same fate as Tina, and frankly, they could have easily traded places. In fact, in hindsight, they probably should have. Whereas I frequently skip over Adams when he comes around the shuffle, I'll always listen to Private Dancer, the song. Regardless of retrospective decisions, Reckless features some of Brian's strongest work, Run To You, Summer Of 69', Heaven, Somebody, Kids Wanna Rock, and even the duet with Tina, It's Only Love.
It took me reaching my adult years to fully appreciate the music put forth on Bruce Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A. Mind you, I don't think it's a perfect album from front to back, but it certainly has some deep cuts. It also has an overplayed song I can't stand on it..."Even though I'm just dancin' with Courtney Cox..." Ugh...Hate that song. I suppose even if it were perfect, I still wouldn't select it for the wall. I don't need to be staring at some dude's butt.
Ghostbusters is missing a huge chunk of the score, but it's still an amazing album. Even if it stunk, I mean, come on. It's Ghostbusters. With that said though, I do enjoy all the tracks from this various artist buffet. In fact, another retrospective moment is hitting me, and this one definitely should have been much closer to the number one spot than it is. I'm adding this one to the list of considerations for the wall.
Classic cover and iconic album all in one. The Cars Heartbeat City hits on all fronts between a unique visual, and some of my favorite tunes of the era. It also features my favorite from them, Hello Again. Then on top of that you get, Magic, It's Not The Night, Looking For Love, Drive, You Might Think, and the title track. Good stuff!
Yes, I like Wham, and I'm not ashamed to say it. It's cheesy bubblegum pop at its best. Freedom is probably my all time favorite from the duo, but I'll also take Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Everything She Wants, and Careless Whisper.
I feel bad because I really want a Madonna album for my wall. However, when I get down to the heart of it, she's never produced what I'd call a perfect album. The hits are amazing, no joke, but the problem I've always had with her is that the rest feel like filler. They're just not as good, not as tightly produced, and well...Kind of stink. With all that said, Like A Virgin has some slam dunk banger. Material Girl, the title track, Dress You Up, and Angel will always be mainstays on my shuffle.
Man, there were some amazing soundtracks in the 80's, and Footloose is among them. Of the nine tracks on this one, I love eight of them. The only one I tend to pass up is Sammy Hagar's The Girl Gets Around. Its extremely week as compared to the remaining offerings.
Queen's The Works has the luxury of a bias opinion. I basically think the band can do no wrong, so of course I'm gonna love anything they put out from start to finish. I mean, they could record Freddie on a toilet singing "Aeeiooooo", and I'd buy it...You know, if he were still around that is. The point being, I love The Works.
Who doesn't remember that one and only time all six Jackson brothers came together to record an album. It was a historic music moment, and one that led to a massively successful world tour. Sadly, as I would come to find out much later, the brothers didn't actually work with each other all that much while recording Victory. Instead, they all went to their own respective studios, produced their tracks, and submitted them. Fortunately, the end result was nothing short of spectacular, but still, disappointing to know that they weren't all in the studio together collaborating.
My very first "Weird Al" Yankovic album that I ever heard. My sister and I were sitting in the backyard at my grandfather's house with her stereo and this cassette, and from there, the good times unfolded. Oddly, I went through a phase in my life where I didn't like the guys music. I reached a point where I felt it was lazy, taking someone else's work, and simply changing the lyrics. I'm glad I finally came back around.
My number one album of all time, Prince And The Revolution's Purple Rain. Say what you will about the film itself, the soundtrack, and studio album of the same name is gold. Pure genius on tape. If I was told I could only keep one album in my collection, it would be this one.
Seriously, I could rave all day about Purple Rain, so it's probably best to leave it at that. Instead, let's see where's we're at with the list now that 1984 has been accounted for. There's everything from the first paragraph up for consideration, as well as the Ghostbuster's soundtrack, The Cars' Heartbeat City, The Jackson's Victory, "Weird Al" Yankovic's In 3-D, and of course, Prince And The Revolution's Purple Rain. That's eleven contenders so far. Where will it go with 1985 and beyond? I guess we'll find out.
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