What albums from the '80's don't sound dated?

I wanted to start a thread about the few albums from the '80's that don't suffer from "80's production syndrome." I'll start with a few off the top of my head and let it go from there...

Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones
Bonnie Raitt - Green Light

Ah... this might be a tough one.

 

Paul Simon - "Graceland"

 

The Smithereens Especially For You and Green Thoughts

 

The Wall

Well, OK. Technically, it's 1979.

 

Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden

 

Earth, Wind & Fire-Faces

 

I'd say that a lot of the alt. 80s stuff that predated the 90s grunge boom still holds up...ecpecialy all the The Pixies stuff.

And Air Supply of course...


...just kidding.

(On a similar note, I just bought Todd Rundgren's GH set. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the early 70s stuff to the late 70s/80s stuff...ugh! Mainly because of the production values. It reeks of 80s.)

 

Oh! And everything REM from Chronic Town to Fables.

LRP is close to qualifying, but the drum sound might be considered 80s. That album, to me is when REM started getting "in" with the production values of the times.

Document and Green on the other hand, are 80s albums...with that Scott Litt production...but in a good way. IMHO.

 

That many of us are having trouble coming up with albums doesn't say much good for the sound of the 80s...

 

Cyndi Lauper...?

I like her.

Seriously, though - The Joshua Tree.

 

Great pick, Paul. I'm going one step further and go with, Tom Waits' "Rain Dogs" Two great productions!!

 

Crowded House of course!

 

She's So Unusual--Cyndi Lauper

Jonathan Sings--Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

Prince--1999 & Purple Rain

Proof Through The Night--T-Bone Burnett

Blue Angel--Blue Angel(Cyndi's band before she went solo)

Bruce--Nebraska

U2--The Joshua Tree

Peter Gabriel--So

John Fogerty--Centerfield & Eye Of The Zombie

Los Lobos--How Will The Wolf Survive?

Juluka--Scatterlings

Chris Isaak--any of his Lp's

Nico--Behind The Iron Curtain

Julee Cruise--Floating Into The Night

Husker Du--Land Speed Record

More to come....maybe....


ED

 

The Police - Synchronicity

 

Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair
Toto IV

 

Any album or song from SRV. Boy, do I miss him.

 

The Replacements-Let It Be
The Replacements-Tim

 

Jesus & Mary Chain--Darklands

 

Don't know if many will agree but
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

 

I'd agree that the overall sound is not too dated. On the other hand, shouting things like "yowza" and "take that one to heart!" at the end of a song seem corny-er to me now, than they did in high school.

 

I'd say all the Replacements albums except "Don't Tell A Soul" do not sound dated. DTAS sounds VERY dated.

Another one... how about Lou Reed's New York?

 

Talking Heads "Remain In Light" (and everything else they did, for that matter)

BOY, would I love Steve to get his hands on their catalog.

On another note, I gave up my old Cyndi Lauper "She's So Unusual" CD when I needed some cash awhile ago (I figured there were tons of them around for $5.99 if I ever wanted it back). Then I bought the remastered album to replace it - man, did they ruin that with compression/limiting. So if you still have the original CD (the album's truly a masterpiece), don't give it up......

 

Agree 100% on the Pixies. The drum sound on Bossanova might be just a tad 80s-esque but maybe that's just me.

 

Anything by The Blasters. Straight ahead rock then, and now!

 

I TOTALLY AGREE. I was just thinking the other day about how real the drums sound for that era. From Rick Allen's fake snare to Tommy Lee's triggered drum madness, this is one record's production that stands the test of time.

I think musically, some rock records from that era hold up well, even if the production doesn't - Whitesnake - Whitesnake; Def Leppard - Hysteria; Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet etc.