1984 Deep Dive : Top 25 Albums

     I recently became a patron for a YouTube album ranking channel called Tastes Like Music. The channel was started by Jason, then a few years years ago he was joined by his friends Joe and Kramzer. At the beginning of this year, Kram left the channel, so now it's just Jason and Joe. They mainly rank albums by year or artist. I became a patron because I wanted to support the channel, but also to have a vote in what artist discographies they rank. We just finished Paul Simon and up next are Jethro Tull, Ween, Cake and Prince. I'm not super excited about any of those, but Paul Simon was better than I thought, so I'll keep an open mind. This year, they are also doing deep dives on all the anniversary years; 1984, 1994, etc. I wrapped up my 1984 top 25 albums ranking a couple weeks ago and thought I'd share it on Sound Mind as well. 1984 was a difficult year to find 25 albums I really liked. As I've mentioned before, the 80's were more of a singles decade, rather than a decade for great albums. The bottom of my list is mostly albums I don't even have in my collection. If you recall my Mt. Rushmore's for 1984, the top 4 remain the same.

1. R.E.M. - Reckoning ( 5 Stars ) All of R.E.M.'s IRS albums are 5 stars for me, but Reckoning is my 

                                                     favorite. There is not one bad song on this album, not even Camera.

                                                     I'm looking at you Stephen Malkmus. Stand out track is Rockville.

                                                     If I ever had a band it would be called Rivers of Suggestion.

2. The Pretenders - Learning to Crawl ( 5 Stars ) Peak Pretenders. Middle of the Road. 'Nuff said.

3. Iron Maiden - Powerslave ( 5 Stars ) This is peak Maiden and peak New Wave of British Heavy Metal. 

                                                              Every song is a banger. Bonus points for references to The 

                                                              Prisoner and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 

4. U2 - The Unforgettable Fire ( 4.5 Stars ) My favorite U2 album and I love the title track. 

5. RUSH - Grace Under Pressure ( 4.5 Stars ) My love for RUSH is well documented. This is an 

                                                                         excellent transition album, but a slight step down from

                                                                         Moving Pictures and Signals. Love Between the Wheels.

6. The Replacements - Let it Be ( 4.5 Stars ) Unsatisfied is so good. 

7. Hoodoo Gurus- Stoneage Romeos ( 4.5 Stars ) This is my favorite discovery from this deep dive. I only

                                                                              had a vague recollection of the song I Want You Back, 

                                                                              but this whole album is great. I don't have this in my 

                                                                              collection, but it's on my radar now. 

8. Let's Active - Cypress ( 4.5 Stars ) I used to have this, but got rid of it when I downsized at some point. 

                                                           It's a fantastic album and I will have to acquire it again.

9. Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries ( 4.5 Stars ) During the dark days of the late 90's, I turned to jazz 

                                                                                  New Age. This is when I discovered the insane 

                                                                                  guitar stylings of Michael Hedges. His alternate tunings

                                                                                  and percussive playing were totally unique.

10. SRV - Couldn't Stand the Weather ( 4.5 Stars ) Cold Shot is a killer track. He single-handedly got me

                                                                                into the Blues for awhile. 

11. Sade - Diamond Life ( 4.5 Stars ) One of my 80's guilty pleasures. Love her style. Great album.

12. The Fall - The Wonderful Frightening World of The Fall ( 4.0 Stars ) The title says it all. I like how the 

                                                                                                                   album has a wonderful side and a

                                                                                                                   frightening side.

13. The Kinks - Word of Mouth ( 4.0 Stars ) This album gets crapped on, but I think it's fantastic. Tracks 

                                                                      like Do It Again and Living on a Thin Line rank up there with 

                                                                      their best material. 

14. Midnight Oil - Red Sails in the Sunset ( 4.0 Stars ) Fiery political album by one of the most important 

                                                                                      bands in the world. 

15. The Smiths - The Smiths ( 4.0 Stars ) I have finally come around on Johnny Marr and this album is

                                                                 4 stars just for his riff on What Difference Does It Make.

16. XTC - The Big Express ( 4.0 Stars ) A really good, solid album but it lacks the high points of their

                                                               other releases. 

17. Tony Carey - Some Tough City ( 4.0 Stars ) This is the first of two appearances on this list by Tony

                                                                            Carey. Good album with two outstanding singles; Fine,

                                                                            Fine Day and Tinseltown, 

18. Dream Syndicate - Medicine Show ( 4,0 Stars ) This one starts out slow, but really picks up in the 

                                                                                  second half. John Coltrane Stereo Blues is the stand out

                                                                                  track.

19. Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry ( 4.0 Stars ) Maybe a surprising choice, but this is one of the best metal

                                                                        albums of the 80's. 

20. Husker Du - Zen Arcade ( 3.5 Stars ) I put this on the list for its major influence in the indie rock genre. 

                                                                 It's good, but I prefer Sugar and Bob Mould solo.

21. RATT - Out of the Cellar ( 3.5 Stars ) Back in the day, I wore the crap out of this cassette. Of all the hair 

                                                                  metal albums this one still stands up. Round and Round!

22. Flock of Seagulls - The Story of a Young Heart ( 3.5 Stars ) Solid album, but not as good as the debut.

23. Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasure Dome ( 3.5 Stars ) Relax is great and so is the 

                                                                                                                           cover of Born to Run.

24. The Fixx - Phantoms ( 3.5 Stars ) Love this band and Phantoms had a couple stand out singles. 

25. Planet P - Pink World ( 3.5 Stars ) Solid, dystopian concept album by Tony Carey's other outfit. 

     You probably noticed that once again I have snubbed Springsteen, Van Halen and Prince. Are they really worse than Planet P? I do have them all as 3.5 stars, but yeah, I like this other stuff more. I eliminated Prince for the same reason I didn't include Talking Heads Stop Making Sense; soundtracks. Tomorrow I will post my top 20 songs of 1984. Peace.