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

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

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

Too-Rye-Ay
Artist: Dexys Midnight Runners
Community Score: 6.15

For one brief moment, Dexy's exploded into America's consciousness -- and what a song to do it with! "Come on Eileen" combines ramalama rock & roll, soul delivery, and Celtic/country flavor into a perfect musical fusion and an irresistible U.K. and U.S. number one hit. Both the song and its video were such hits that years later, ska/punk band... 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

No Parlez
Artist: Paul Young
Community Score: 6.17

One of the most assured debut albums of the mid-1980s, and one of the finest pop-soul confections of all time, No Parlez was the record that, following on from the stellar success of Young's earliest hits, left him poised to dominate the remainder of the decade like no other vocalist could have.



Three singles laid bare... Read More

Vienna
Artist: Ultravox
Community Score: 7.88

With the departure of vocalist John Foxx and guitarist Robin Simon behind them, Vienna kicked off Ultravox's second phase with former Rich Kids vocalist Midge Ure at the helm. Trading Foxx's glam rock stance for Ure's aristocratic delivery, Vienna recasts the band as a melodramatic synth pop chamber ensemble with most of the group doubling on... Read More

Speaking in Tongues
Artist: Talking Heads
Community Score: 6.21

Talking Heads found a way to open up the dense textures of the music they had developed with Brian Eno on their two previous studio albums for Speaking in Tongues, and were rewarded with their most popular album yet. Ten backup singers and musicians accompanied the original quartet, but somehow the sound was more spacious, and the music admitted... 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

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

Colour by Numbers
Artist: Culture Club
Community Score: 7.50

Colour by Numbers was Culture Club's most successful album, and, undoubtedly, one of the most popular albums from the 1980s. Scoring no less than four U.S. hit singles (and five overseas), this set dominated the charts for a full year, both in the United States and in Europe. The songs were infectious, the videos were all over MTV, and the band... Read More