Best Album of the '80s - And the winner is ... on page 14

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

I remember getting my first CD player for my 13th birthday and my mom, no musical maven, bought me Paula Abdul and MC Hammer CDs to go with it.

I bought my first CD a couple weeks later and it was Public Enemy's "Apocalypse '91: The Enemy Strikes Black."

I believe her reaction when she first heard it bumping from my bedroom was, "What the hell are you listening to??" I don't think "Yo Nigga" was what she had in mind when they bought me the CD player.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

Maybe she preferred One Million Bottlebags?

Speaking of that album, it's hard to believe that By Time I Get To Arizona got blanket airplay on MTV considering its a fantasy about assassinating Evan Meacham, the then-governor of Arizona who opposed a MLK holiday.

Though I'm glad it did because it has one of the most crushing bass samples of all-time, borrowed from Two Sisters Of Mystery by Mandrill.

The original ...

Public Enemy's ...

There's no rap artist or group that has come close to the kind of shit PE was doing in its heyday.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

That would be me, thank you. LOVE Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time is a great record, and I knew it didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, so I just went with it.

ijag will also be pleased to know that I voted for Tracy Chapman, too.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

The Eddie Vedder holy war alone will be worth reading a 1990s tournament thread.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

East
1 Thriller (Michael Jackson) vs. 9 Brothers In Arms (Dire Straits)
5 1999 (Prince) vs. 4 Like A Virgin (Madonna)
11 Pretenders (Pretenders) vs. 3 Born in the USA (Bruce Springsteen)
10 1984 (Van Halen) vs. 2 Raising Hell (Run-D.M.C.)

South
1 It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (Public Enemy) vs. 8 Like A Prayer (Madonna)
5 Remain In Light (Talking Heads) vs. 4 Synchronicity (The Police)
6 Master of Puppets (Metallica) vs. 3 Sign O' The Times (Prince)
10 So (Peter Gabriel) vs. 2 Appetite For Destruction (Guns N' Roses)

Midwest
1 Purple Rain (Prince and the Revolution) vs. 8 Hysteria (Def Leppard) --- extremely close call
12 Let It Be (The Replacements) vs. 4 Graceland (Paul Simon)
6 Paul's Boutique (Beastie Boys) vs. 3 Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A)
10 War (U2) vs. 2 Back In Black (AC/DC)

West
1 The Joshua Tree (U2) vs. 9 Bad (Michael Jackson)
5 3 Feet High and Rising (De La Soul) vs. 13 Beauty And The Beat (The Go-Go's)
11 Disintegration (The Cure) vs. 3 Murmur (R.E.M.)
7 Run-D.M.C. (Run-D.M.C.) vs. 2 Licensed To Ill (Beastie Boys)

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

Also on my top five. That's a damn strong album top to bottom.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

Born In The U.S.A. is Bruce Springsteen's sixth-best album. Maybe seventh.

And the Joshua Tree is about U2's third/fourth-best album.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

That thread could be, as my son would say, boss.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

Guess work: Nevermind, Ten, OK Computer and The Chronic as the No. 1 seeds? Maybe Illmatic or Ready to Die as the rap choice.

Edit: Looked. Three out of four (in the right order, too) ain't bad. And I love the rap choice, just not as much as the three I suggested.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

I've argued for a long time (in vain) that side one of "The Unforgettable Fire" is U2 at its peak. Those songs certainly showcase The Edge as well as any others, with "Wire" a forgotten gem IMHO. And I didn't buy that album until after I got into U2 via the Joshua Tree.

Many U2 fans champion "Achtung Baby" as their best, but that's an argument for Mr. C's next bracket ...

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

To these ears, U2's best might still be Boy.

 

Re: Best Album of the '80s - A Tournament (First-round results on page 6)

I'd put Joshua Tree no. 1 for them, and it's not even close. It has consistently been one of my stranded on a desert island CD choices as well.

And the magic in that collection is really beyond the singles on side one--it's side two that packs the wallop with some magestic tunes, back to back to back--Red Hill Mining Town, In God's Country, Trip Through Your Wires, One Tree Hill. And the structure on Where the Streets have No Name with the jangling guitar bringing in the intro and closing out the coda to bring it home is a thing of beauty.