Pleasure Victim
Artist: Berlin
Community Score: 8.90

Originally released by the fledgling Enigma Records in 1982 and picked up by Geffen in early 1983 when the lascivious novelty single "Sex (I'm A...)" started picking up radio attention, Pleasure Victim is a frankly exploitative little slab of synth pop cynicism, so baldly crass in its positioning of lead singer Terri Nunn as a sex kitten (posing... Read More

Rip It Up - JAPAN BONUS TRACKS
Artist: Orange Juice

Joined by Malcolm Ross (ex-Josef K) and sublime percussionist Zeke Manyika, Edwyn Collins moved further away from the pure pop sound of old and further into cross-rhythms and skinny-white-boy funk on this, Orange Juice's second album. That the band was not wholly submerged or embarrassed by this bold move is a tribute to Collins' skill as a... Read More

Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
Artist: Dexys Midnight Runners
Community Score: 10.00

The crackling stations being switched on the radio and the gang shout followed by the spoken injunction to "burn it down" sound like they should be starting off a Sham 69 record. Then "Burn It Down" actually starts, with its horn section, Hammond organ and Kevin Rowland's utterly unconventional soul vocals. The cult of Dexy's, and this album in... Read More

True
Artist: Spandau Ballet
Community Score: 10.00

By 1983, with the new romantic movement they'd sprung from a rapidly fading memory, the members of Spandau Ballet showed they had no intention of traveling the same path. Always ambitious, the British quintet really got down to business: Gone were the kilts, frilly shirts, and makeup -- as well as the sometimes chilly electronics of their first... Read More

Spring Session M
Artist: Missing Persons
Community Score: 9.55

Although it got lost in a flood of new romantic/new hairstyle dross at the start of the 80s, there is far more substance to Missing Persons' debut proper than the likes of A Flock of Seagulls or Classix Nouveau could ever hope to muster. Sure, there were cheesy synthesizers aplenty and a slick production which threatened to strangle the band's... Read More

Beat Crazy
Artist: Joe Jackson

Before exploring jump blues and early R&B on 1981's Jumpin' Jive and later jazz and Latin styles on 1982's Night and Day, Joe Jackson expanded his power pop and punk m.o. with this, his reggae-tinged third album. Jackson sticks with the short songs and punk feel of his first two releases, but strategically adds rocksteady and jazz elements here... Read More

The Luxury Gap
Artist: Heaven 17
Community Score: 10.00

After creating a marvelous electronic debut, Glenn Gregory, Ian Marsh, and Martyn Ware decided to tamper with their winning formula a bit on Heaven 17's 1983 follow-up to Penthouse and Pavement. The result, which added piano, strings, and Earth, Wind, & Fire's horn section to the band's cool synthesizer pulse, was even better, and The Luxury Gap... Read More

Touch
Artist: Eurythmics
Community Score: 7.30

Eurythmics followed their 1982 breakthrough album Sweet Dreams with the superior Touch, which yielded three hit singles and kept the innovative duo at the forefront of the 1980s British new wave explosion and MTV phenomenon. Mixing cold, hard, synthesized riffs with warm, luscious vocals, the duo crafted some of the most unique and trendsetting... Read More

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Artist: Eurythmics
Community Score: 7.43

The Eurythmics' breakthrough album is a deft mix of electronic thrills, new wave chills, and sultry R&B, the latter supplied by Annie Lennox's warm tenor. Pretty much relying on themselves, Lennox and Dave Stewart slip past the music's usual coldness and into a territory all their own. It can be smug (the new wave here is served with a side of... Read More

Rio
Artist: Duran Duran
Community Score: 9.22

From its Nagel cover to the haircuts and overall design - and first and foremost the music -Rio is as representative of the eighties as it gets, at its best. The original Duran Duran's high point, and just as likely the band's as a whole, its fusion of style and substance ensures that even two decades after its release it remains as listenable... Read More

Duran Duran - FIRST
Artist: Duran Duran
Community Score: 8.12

Duran Duran's eponymous debut artfully coalesced the sonic and stylistic elements of the burgeoning new romantic movement they were soon to spearhead: pumping synths, glossy production, and seemingly impossible haircuts. Ultra-smart singles like "Girls on Film" and "Planet Earth" became instant smash hits both in the U.K. and America, and other... Read More

Visage/The Anvil
Artist: Visage

Polydor combined Visage's first two (and best) albums, Visage and The Anvil, on one cassette in the early '80s. It's not a bad way to collect all of this music at once, but the packaging and sound are a little shabby, and since it's out-of-print and quite rare anyway, it's best to go for the collection. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read More