80s Cup R5M1 - GNDT 10-17 Hightea

[Penk!]

A

Steve Winwood - Night Train



B

REM - Harborcoat

[Dayodead]

Easiest vote of the entire cup so far....Vote B

[C]

A very robust match - very even.

Arc of a Diver is a phenomenal album - beautifully recorded - I love the bass.

A delightful REM track from a great LP.

Tonight it's

-+A+-





.

[toomanyhatz]

As "60s and 70s rockers trying desperately to keep up" go, I like this period of Winwood more than most - he's younger than his contemporaries, so it seems slightly less desperate, and his voice being his best attribute, he still sings great, and he's enamored enough of acoustic instruments to still use them the old fashioned-way. Mind you I do look forward to Rayge's rant to the contrary.

Sadly, none of that seems to apply to A's pick, an overly slick snooze and shmooze fest complete with tacky drumbeats into the void (for 7 minutes!) and 'victory lap' guitar solo. So much yuck here I don't know where to begin. And from an album where I suspect I like everything else. But I know I'm in the minority here on both counts.

I could go on and on about how overrated that period of REM is, and I probably have, but even "a splinter in your eye that reads react" is a more inviting invitation than Skippy's coke party where the music sucks and the emergency exits have been blocked off.

B, swallowing the bile back down as best I can.

[The Modernist]

A epitomises that smooth 80s yacht rock sound. I don't mind its slick, processed sound though there's nothing there to really raise the spirits.
I'm generally in favour of 80s REM, but this is one of their weakest songs from that period. Entirely forgettable.

Not a great start for me.. A

[Deebank]

Harborcoat - top pick.
It may be 'slight' but it's subtle and has that classic REM happy/sad yearning quality.

B

By many light years

[Darkness_Fish]

Hmm, A has a really thin production aesthetic and farty bass, but I like the high end synth/sequencer spots that float around in the distance. I'm kinda hoping the main synth line and guitar goes away, and something more interesting happens. Sounds like something you'd expect of an early 80s Genesis track, the nice sequencer thing is a red herring.

REM. It's hard to think of an awful lot interesting to say, I guess there's a nice post-punk persuasion to this, but there's also a jauntiness that's fairly off-putting. It's a fairly workmanlike effort again, working hard at sounding as much like a mid 80s US indie effort as possible, without adding much in the nature of colour or style. I think it just nicks it for the occasional nice bit of harmony.

B

[Samoan]

A

[Diamond Dog]

Z.

Oh okay B

[Purgatory Brite]

a Steve Winwood every time for me!

[Polishgirl]

You grumpy buggers!! I really enjoyed both, and it's tough to choose.

A

[fange]

Both are just ok for me, which is a bit frustrating as i like/love both of these artists. Fishy's comment about A having a Genesis feel is almost exactly what i was thinking, though in my head i said Phil Collins. This is not always a bad thing, but is most of the time. B sounds like REM doing The Police a bit, but those vocals save them.


B

[T. Willy Rye]

B

[Penk!]

So that's what a "Prog Cruise" sounds like! I actually quite liked A, despite it being preposterously naff. There was nothing to it as a song but it had a nice bounce and that '80s slickness can sometimes be alluring.

Early REM is always a bit hit-and-miss for me; this one is more hardcore jangle than they often sound and has some promising moments, but sounds frustratingly lazy and underpowered just when it should take off.

A for some reason.

[Hightea]

A- Pop Winwood annoying synth, bad guitar riffs even the vocals(agree a bit Phil Collins) doesn't save it

B- classic REM and as someone who lived on a harbor always loved this song. Great beat, harmonies and guitar work.

B easily.

[Ranking Ted]

Things like A really should be beyond the pale but I find I dig their airless muso groovings quite a bit. Reckoning is my favourite REM record - something about it retains a mystery and freshness - and while this is a lesser track, its only because some of the others are TKOs.

B

[kath]

i like A. i'm glad to see it as a pick. yes, it sounds fairly dated now, but at the time, it got a fair number o' spins in my neck of the swamp. while the track wouldn't be the song i would choose from the album, it still has its level of nostalgic happiness.

but it's up against harborcoat. (there are those times when ranking ted and i really line up.) reckoning is my fave REM album. if i had gotten a list submitted in time, there would've been a track from this album on it. i still remember the first time i played this album. how it hit me. as the opening track, it's all about the chorus. that chorus is my sweet spot. it rises above and floats me even now.

i still play reckoning. can't say the same for solo steve.

sigh.

[Rayge]

Sorry to disappoint, hatz, but I'm short of time and all ranted out about this guy, and he is on The List. I just had to listen to the REM tune to make sure it wasn't a terrible load of old bollocks, and, as it turned out, it was a slightly less than terrible load of old bollocks, so it gets my vote here. How did that mumbling buffoon ever get a carer as a rock vocalist, though?

B

[Jumper K]

B.

[WG Kaspar]

B