Best 80's music

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

And yeah, Tom Waits released some of the best work of his career in the 80s. And XTC had Black Sea (1981), English Settlement (1982) and Skylarking (1986), all of which are fanfriggintastic.

 

Well, they set their standards pretty high, so I guess the 80s stuff was a decent followup considering the pressure they must have been under.

 

On the list it's The Smiths, overall my favourite are The Butthole Surfers.

[Jack_Bauer 0]

The Smiths from what's on the list. Seen Morrissey on Thursday, and he was amazing.

 

Iron Maiden would be my favourite band from the 80s though.

[KTID 0]

When you're talking about 80's music, The Smiths are really the only band you can consider.

 

This list is a bit poor all the same as the only other band on there deserving of their mention are New Order. The Clash were, obviously, also a great band, however their 80's work isn't exactly anything special. There are also a number of glaring omissions from the list (U2, The Cure) which are rather unforgivable.

[Star Ocean 3 0]

I'm sure you'll get over my poll choices eventually. Just breathe deep and find peace.

[Murmuring Beast 0]

Where's the REM love??

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

If you're going to say the kind found on retro 80's radio, then REM, U2, and Tears For Fears rule it all.

 

"If you listen to The Smiths, you're gay." - Brian Warner

[Guest El Satanico]

Where the hell is Falco?

 

 

 

 

Amadeus! Amadeus! Rock me Amadeus!

[The Czech Republic 0]

If you're going to say the kind found on retro 80's radio, then REM, U2, and Tears For Fears rule it all.

 

"If you listen to The Smiths, you're gay." - Brian Warner

aw fuck Manson, the Smiths rule.

[Gary Floyd 0]

If you're going to say the kind found on retro 80's radio, then REM, U2, and Tears For Fears rule it all.

 

"If you listen to The Smiths, you're gay." - Brian Warner

Oh yes, we should all listen to Mr. Manson, king of cool, who will ruin...er, I mean cover Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus", and who's Anti-Christ act was dull from day one IMO, and who would do anything for attention.

[Zorin Industries 0]

I'm going to pump for Cabaret Voltaire to be right up there as well, I really like Klaus Nomi as well. Lovecraft231, most of your choices were dead on as well

 

EDIT: Forgot to add Japan as well

[ZGangsta 0]

U2

Guns n Roses

Van Halen

Iron Maiden

REM

Michael Jackson

Metallica

 

You pretty much left out the most sucessful (financially and critically) and memorable bands of that decade.

Of the bands that are there I'd vote for the Clash, but I always consider them a 70s band. Their peak, London Calling, came out in 1979.

 

My pick for best band of the 80s: U2

[Guest El Satanico]

Weren't the 90s REM's big decade.

[DCMaximo 0]

Best on the list: The Smiths

 

Best of the 80's: The Smiths.

 

Followed by The Specials (Coventry represent!), Dexy's Midnight Runners, REM, Orange Juice (Edwyn Collins=the UK's most underrated songwriter) and *mumbles* Tiffany

[spiny norman 0]

It could've been Tiffany. But I think we're alone on that.

[DCMaximo 0]

"If you listen to The Smiths, you're gay." - Brian Warner

Hopefully that means he wont destroy any Smiths songs in the same way he did "Tainted Love" or "Personal Jesus" then.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Manson actually likes the Smiths, though. That's the fun part.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

If you're going to say the kind found on retro 80's radio, then REM, U2, and Tears For Fears rule it all.

 

"If you listen to The Smiths, you're gay." - Brian Warner

Oh yes, we should all listen to Mr. Manson, king of cool, who will ruin...er, I mean cover Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus", and who's Anti-Christ act was dull from day one IMO, and who would do anything for attention.

You're a moron.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Considering the Antichrist act was only for one album...yeah.

 

But yeah. I can't get the Smiths love by anybody. All I hear is some pasty white guy complaining. If I wanted that, I'd listen to Dashboard Confessional. Oh, wait, that guy has a tan!

[The Czech Republic 0]

Considering the Antichrist act was only for one album...yeah.

 

But yeah. I can't get the Smiths love by anybody. All I hear is some pasty white guy complaining. If I wanted that, I'd listen to Dashboard Confessional. Oh, wait, that guy has a tan!

I don't know how to rationally explain it beyond "the difference is that Morrissey and Johnny Marr don't fucking suck."

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

But yeah. I can't get the Smiths love by anybody. All I hear is some pasty white guy complaining.

THE CURE > all on the list.

 

Puzzling.

[B. Brian Brunzell 0]

Weren't the 90s REM's big decade.

They were big in the 90s, but Document was pretty fucking huge back in '87. So was its follow-up.

[The Czech Republic 0]

But yeah. I can't get the Smiths love by anybody. All I hear is some pasty white guy complaining.

THE CURE > all on the list.

 

Puzzling.

I get it, he can't handle more than one Smith

[Gary Floyd 0]

Considering the Antichrist act was only for one album...yeah.

 

But yeah. I can't get the Smiths love by anybody. All I hear is some pasty white guy complaining. If I wanted that, I'd listen to Dashboard Confessional. Oh, wait, that guy has a tan!

I don't know how to rationally explain it beyond "the difference is that Morrissey and Johnny Marr don't fucking suck."

Exactly. The Smiths were a great band. Marylin Manson, IMO, is nothing but a joke, a poor man's GG Allin. In other words, Manson sucks. Sure, maybe the whole anti-christ thing was done on one album, but it was done years earlier by better artists.

[Gary Floyd 0]

If you're going to say the kind found on retro 80's radio, then REM, U2, and Tears For Fears rule it all.

 

"If you listen to The Smiths, you're gay." - Brian Warner

Oh yes, we should all listen to Mr. Manson, king of cool, who will ruin...er, I mean cover Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus", and who's Anti-Christ act was dull from day one IMO, and who would do anything for attention.

You're a moron.

Sorry if I offended you with the fact that I don't like Mr. Manson. I don't want to piss anyone off, I'm just saying my opinion.

[nl5xsk1 0]

To everyone that's saying "you missed (fill in the blank)" it's pretty obvious that the poll is just a certain genre of music. The title is a bit misleading, but it doesn't take a MENSA member to figure out the poll isn't really an all encompassing best of the 80s.

 

I voted for someone else, with the someone else == The Talking Heads.

 

On the list, it'd be Depeche Mode with the Smiths & New Order not far behind. The Violent Femmes have one great album, but it takes more than 1 to get nl5's vote.

 

In general, though, I'd put my top 5 artists of the 80s as:

1 Phish (their '88 & '89 stuff is awesome)

2 Black Flag (everything up to the Rollins years)

3 Iron Maiden

4 Dag Nasty

5 Descendents

 

And, I agree with the Manson haters. He's about as entertaining as testicular cancer.

[Gary Floyd 0]

I'm going to pump for Cabaret Voltaire to be right up there as well, I really like Klaus Nomi as well. Lovecraft231, most of your choices were dead on as well

 

EDIT: Forgot to add Japan as well

FINALLY, someone here agrees with my recomendations! I thought I was alone in here.

 

While I'm at it, I can't believe I left these ones out

 

Current 93 (Currently more folksy, albeight still with occult themes. There early stuff however, is the stuff of nightmares, especially "Dog's Blood Rising)

 

The Cramps (Songs about b-movies and comics...before Rob Zombie, all in an excellent punk/rockabilly/psychobilly hybrid. Fun for the whole family!)

 

23 Skidoo (Post-punk with ethnic,free jazz, funk, and industrial tendencies. Bass line from song "Coup" sampled by Chemical Brothers in "Block Rockin' Beats")

 

Liquid Liquid (Funkier version of 23 Skidoo. Their song "Caravan" was sampled by

Grand Master Flash in the song "White Lines (Don't do It)")

 

ESG (Yet more post punk/funk. Song "UFO" heavily sampled by many a hip-hop artist)

 

Boogie Down Productions (With the incomperable KRS-One)

 

Ultramagnetic MC's (Featuring Kool Keith. Album "Critical Beatdown" is a must for old school hip hop denzines)

 

Pet Shop Boys (Album "Actually" a Synth-pop classic, and definitive guilty pleasure)

 

Cybotron (Electro outfit, and originators of the Detroit Techno. Next time you hear Eminem say "Nobody Listens to techno" in "Without Me" remember that his hometown is a crucial place for the genre.)

 

Oh, and yes, Japan were awesome, as were ABC, Sonic Youth, and...my God, the list just goes on!

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Considering the Antichrist act was only for one album...yeah.

 

But yeah. I can't get the Smiths love by anybody. All I hear is some pasty white guy complaining. If I wanted that, I'd listen to Dashboard Confessional. Oh, wait, that guy has a tan!

You might as well say any two metal bands sound exactly the same. Stupid logic.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

If you're going to say the kind found on retro 80's radio, then REM, U2, and Tears For Fears rule it all.

 

"If you listen to The Smiths, you're gay." - Brian Warner

Oh yes, we should all listen to Mr. Manson, king of cool, who will ruin...er, I mean cover Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus", and who's Anti-Christ act was dull from day one IMO, and who would do anything for attention.

You're a moron.

Sorry if I offended you with the fact that I don't like Mr. Manson. I don't want to piss anyone off, I'm just saying my opinion.

It's cool to not like him, that's your thing. However, since you do not claim to be a fan, then I highly doubt you own any of his albums or own any of his DVDs/seen interviews etc. Manson is so beyond the 'shock rock' genre it isn't even funny, and anyone who has even remotely followed his work would know he is a brilliant song writer and performer.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Considering the Antichrist act was only for one album...yeah.

 

But yeah. I can't get the Smiths love by anybody. All I hear is some pasty white guy complaining. If I wanted that, I'd listen to Dashboard Confessional. Oh, wait, that guy has a tan!

You might as well say any two metal bands sound exactly the same. Stupid logic.

It's easier to confuse two random metal bands than Dashboard Confessional and The Smiths. Geez. I'd say The Smiths are closer to REM by way of their jangle-ness than they are to Dashboard.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

...I'm not saying the music's the same. I'm saying if I wanted to hear an entire album filled with somebody pissing and moaning, like every Smiths song I've heard (except for the Lost Boys song, I'll admit that song is good), then I'd go find an emo band.