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

Treasure, by the Cocteau Twins. They were already out of the early 80's semi-goth sound by the second album Head Over Heals, but this one really stood them out.

The Swing, by Inxs. Probably the only Inxs record that I think isn't date-able given the completely different sound they went for. The haven't done it again since then either. My personal favorite of theirs.

Lone Justice, S/T. Just a good record.



Joel

 

LOL

I dunno Ed, just because there aren't many "audience recorded, live, boombox recordings" commercially available doesn't make it sound any less like generic 80's hardcore to me. (although I do love it)

 

PG "So" sonically sounds dated. Material is great, but the CP-70 piano is a dead giveaway. Love that piano sound tho.

I think albums like Joe Jackson's "Body and Soul" and "Night & Day" hold up well.

I'd add Phil's Collins' "Face Value" and "Hello! I Must Be Going!" to the mix.

Rush "Moving Pictures" (I would add others, but based on my criteria, an album like "Power Windows" or "Hold Your Fire" clearly mark them in the mid-late 80s).

Police - "Synchronicity" and "Ghost in the Machine"

Paul McCartney "Flowers in the Dirt"

Bryan Adams "Reckless" and "Cuts Like a Knife"

I'm sure I'd come up with more ...

 

Amy Grant-Lead Me On doesn't sound dated, IMO, at all and in fact, a lot of the songs hold up more than the hits from "Heart In Motion" which followed "Lead Me On" in 1991 and does have a lot of the trappings that make it the early 1990s recording it is, while "Unguarded" from 1985 definitely is sonically dated while some of the music such as "Find a Way" (this song definitely has the clues that album overall is sonically dated), "Everywhere I Go," "Love of Another Kind," "Wise Up," (another song with the signs that has the clues that the album overall is sonically dated) all from Unguarded and songs such as "Angels," "Thy Word," and "Where Do You Hide Your Heart from 1984's "Straight Ahead," are among her best of that time period.

 

Living Colour - Vivid
Journey - Escape
Bangles - Greatest Hits (good songs; not as time trapped IMHO as the Go-Go's)
Prince - Purple Rain (some electronics, songs transcend them here ...)

 

I'd have to agree with this choice. There are a lot of "Indie" bands trying to pass this sound off as their own, but that's because it's great.

 

Sting - Dream of the Blue Turtles
Steve Winwood - Arc of a Diver
throw in some John Cougar Mellencamp
maybe some Suzanne Vega (always underrated)
Begrudgingly, I'd probably throw "Thriller" in there
Queen - Works
Van Halen - 1984
Huey Lewis - Sports
Travelling Wilburys - Volume 1
Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever (was that '89 ?)

Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms

 

Steely Dan - Gaucho
AC/DC - Back in Black
Styx - Paradise Theater
Billy Joel - Glass Houses

 

Michelle Shocked "Short Sharp Shocked" 1988 Produced by Pete Anderson.

King Crimson "Discipline", "Beat", and "Three of a Perfect Pair"

Lyle Lovett "and his Large Band" 1989 Prod. by Tony Brown, Billy Williams, and Lyle.

Frank Zappa "Tinsel Town Rebellion" and "You Are What You Is" 1981 Produced by FZ.

Dwight Yoakam "Hillbilly Deluxe" 1987 Produced by Pete Anderson.

King's X "Gretchen Goes to Nebraska" 1989 Prod. by Sam Taylor.

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones "S/T" oops that one is from 1990. Better stop there.

Tony

 

My favorite albums of the eighties could have been recorded in the sixties or last week:

Tracy Chapman - TRACY CHAPMAN (1988)

One of the first "DDD" discs I bought, but I won't hold that against a perfect album, produced with characteristic polish and care by David Kershenbaum, who adds just enough details to avoid monochrome exposure. Oh, the songs and singing were pretty amazing, too. One of the great debut albums.

Julia Fordham - PORCELAIN

One of the great unknown voices in contemporary music, at least in the U.S., this is her best album. It's also her least dated, thanks to Hugh Padgham's organic settings. Fordham's voice is a wonder. Check the album-closer, "Your Lovely Face": unlike most songbirds, she can hit the low notes as well as the dog whistle.

Lou Reed - NEW YORK (1989)

Very simple, well-recorded rock quartet. One of the best-sounding CDs when it first came out, and my favorite non-Velvet Underground Lou.

Richard & Linda Thompson - SHOOT OUT THE LIGHTS (1982)

The Thompsons recorded this album twice, after Richard vetoed the entire LP as produced by Gerry Rafferty, fearing the production was too slick. Re-recorded with Joe Boyd, whose laissez-faire negligence was just what these incredible songs needed: an air of spontaneity and simplicity.

Suzanne Vega - SOLITUDE STANDING (1987)

Although the hit single, "Luka," was big enough to get "dated" as a classic eighties track, this album remains fairly timeless, featuring baroque decoration of story-songs that could have quickly deteriorated into self-parody without a deft touch. Reportedly mastered for headphone playback, Vega's near vibrato-less delivery is spookily present. The only thing that marks this album's decade of origin is the lack of sampled hip-hop bits, now SOP for even the fairest singer-songwriter.

Lucinda Williams - LUCINDA WILLIAMS (1988)

Hard to imagine such a basic-sounding record could take eight years to record, but this one did. Not sure if she kept re-recording it to perfection, or was merely outwaiting intrusive producers.

 

Gordon Lightfoot-Dream Street Rose and Shadows both do not sound dated at all in fact, there are hardly any Lightfoot albums that sound sonically dated, IMO, only the strings on a lot of his 70s recordings are what dates them 70s albums.

 

Joan Armatrading- Walk Under Ladders

Lindsey Buckingham- Law and Order

Elvis Costello/Attractions- Trust

Hall & Oates- Private Eyes

Adam & The Ants- Kings Of the Wild Frontier

Dire Straits- Brothers in Arms

Bob Dylan- Infidels

Stones- Tattoo You

The Smiths- Strangeways, Here We Come

The Bongos- Drums Along The Hudson


Dated or not, these 10 are all Great to listen to.

Regards,

B/F

 

The whole concept of this thread irks me a little... Give me "dated", if that's what you want to call it, over the crap production of the 00's anyday. I know some of you guys love the 80's as much as I do, but even what you would consider "cheezy" 80's sounding drums or whatever is so 1000% better than what is on the top 40 right now it's insane. Give me "cool" 80's, dated 80's- it's all good!! Literally, I can look at the top 100 or top 200 albums from any year 80'-'85 and see nothing but good music. A lot of it that I didn't get into at the time, I can discover and enjoy now.

How about 80's music that was ahead of its time and still sounds fresh now? I think Big Audio Dynamite for starters was very innovative and still sounds fresh as a daisy now. Much more "now" sounding than the crap on the radio.

James

 

Metallica's "Master Of Puppets" LP. 'Specially the DCC

 

I'd say none of EC's 80's albums sound dated really, except for obviously Goodbye Cruel World and Punch the Clock, and maybe Spike.

 

T-Bone Burnett- "Proof Through The Night"
Eric Clapton- "Money and Cigarettes"
The Kinks- "Give The People What They Want"
Marshall Crenshaw- (debut-1982)
Crowded House (all four)
George Harrison- "Cloud 9"
Stevie Ray Vaughan- (all five)
John Lennon- "Double Fantasy"
Grateful Dead- "In The Dark"

 

Soft Cell | Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
Flock of Seagulls | A Flock of Seagulls
The Human League | Dare
Frankie Goes to Hollywood | Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Sorry, wrong list.

 

GNR- Appetite
U2- Joshua Tree
P. Gabriel - So
P. Collins- Face Value
N. Young- Freedom

 

hmmmm....that one sounds dated to me.....it's got that "birth of the compact disc" chilliness to it. The music is great though.

 

I agree - there are a lot of great albums from the first half of the 80s that I have discovering only recently,and I am sure there are many more.
Certainly the production on some of them tells you right away when it was recorded, but does that make it bad music?

-George

 

EW & F and Ronnie Laws various works.

 

The patent and copyright date on the CD cover show 1989. What a great album. I really pushed this when I was working in music retail.

 

What is it with Land Speed Record lately? Everybody seems to be talking about it, well at least two of you.

I agree with you Ken. I'd go with their first Warner album Candy Apple Grey. "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" is one fine song. Great video too.