NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Do talk back

??

What’s Going On - Marvin Gaye
5
8%
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
7
11%
Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
10
15%
The Clash - The Clash
7
11%
Marquee Moon - Television
10
15%
Swordfishtrombones - Tom Waits
3
5%
The Band - The Band
0
No votes
Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan
9
14%
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon
5
8%
Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
10
15%
 
Total votes: 66

User avatar
Darkness_Fish
Posts: 7793
Joined: 27 Jul 2015, 09:58

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby Darkness_Fish » 23 Aug 2016, 11:32

Deebank wrote:It's clear that editorial dictat had it that not under any circumstances can anything with the slightest whiff of heaviness be allowed!
No Hendrix, Sabs, Zeppelin.

Heavy rock/metal was fit only for ridicule in NME at this time as I recall... Now it's chock full of half-arsed wuss-rock bands.

Steven Wells among a select crew of others as well as bands like Napalm death, Extreme Noise Terror, Electro Hippies and Bolt thrower would redress that balance in years to come fortunately and then towards the end of the decade they'd all discover how they actually liked Zep more than The Redskins all along1 :o

I remember when I used to read the NME regularly, back in the early 90s, they used to mock Kerrang! magazine pretty much on a weekly basis, they hated metal with an absolute passion. At the time Kerrang! used to outsell it quite easily, something they never thought to mention. Note that the bands you mention were at the more extreme of metal, and really closer to hardcore punk than metal in their earlier incarnations, were all John Peel favourites, and therefore acceptable enough to escape mockery.

Still, I'd rather have that heavy-hatred than the classic-rock acceptance that exists now. Not having Zep in there, not having Beatles automatically at the top of lists, it's much more interesting than the dull-canon-groupthink state of current music criticism.
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

User avatar
Deebank
Resonator
Posts: 24733
Joined: 10 Oct 2003, 13:47
Location: Ina beautiful place out in the country

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby Deebank » 23 Aug 2016, 12:15

Darkness_Fish wrote:
Deebank wrote:It's clear that editorial dictat had it that not under any circumstances can anything with the slightest whiff of heaviness be allowed!
No Hendrix, Sabs, Zeppelin.

Heavy rock/metal was fit only for ridicule in NME at this time as I recall... Now it's chock full of half-arsed wuss-rock bands.

Steven Wells among a select crew of others as well as bands like Napalm death, Extreme Noise Terror, Electro Hippies and Bolt thrower would redress that balance in years to come fortunately and then towards the end of the decade they'd all discover how they actually liked Zep more than The Redskins all along1 :o

I remember when I used to read the NME regularly, back in the early 90s, they used to mock Kerrang! magazine pretty much on a weekly basis, they hated metal with an absolute passion. At the time Kerrang! used to outsell it quite easily, something they never thought to mention. Note that the bands you mention were at the more extreme of metal, and really closer to hardcore punk than metal in their earlier incarnations, were all John Peel favourites, and therefore acceptable enough to escape mockery.

Still, I'd rather have that heavy-hatred than the classic-rock acceptance that exists now. Not having Zep in there, not having Beatles automatically at the top of lists, it's much more interesting than the dull-canon-groupthink state of current music criticism.


Indeed, but the NME's mid '80s stance was to wield the stalinist airbrush to anything 'heavy' and worship anything 'black' - with the obvious exception of Hendrix who spanned both camps :lol: presumably his heaviness trumped his blackness.

I'm not saying that James Brown and and Marvin Gaye et al didn't deserve their status at the time, I just think that in this kind of 'classic' music field you'd think Hendrix, Zep and Sabbath at least would deserve some recognition.
I've been talking about writing a book - 25 years of TEFL - for a few years now. I've got it in me.

Paid anghofio fod dy galon yn y chwyldro

User avatar
Deebank
Resonator
Posts: 24733
Joined: 10 Oct 2003, 13:47
Location: Ina beautiful place out in the country

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby Deebank » 23 Aug 2016, 12:16

Osgood wrote:
Deebank wrote:
yomptepi wrote:God the eighties were completley shit , weren't they.What an embarrassing list. Was everyone who voted a complete cunt or what?


It's clear that editorial dictat had it that not under any circumstances can anything with the slightest whiff of heaviness be allowed!
No Hendrix, Sabs, Zeppelin.

Heavy rock/metal was fit only for ridicule in NME at this time as I recall...

I remember a later list (1988 I think) which was even worse, with The Smiths, JD and Jesus and Mary Chain at the top.


Sounds good to me!
I've been talking about writing a book - 25 years of TEFL - for a few years now. I've got it in me.

Paid anghofio fod dy galon yn y chwyldro

User avatar
clive gash
wannabee enfant terrible
Posts: 17219
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 00:32
Location: down the rabbit hole

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby clive gash » 23 Aug 2016, 12:39

The Sounds list of a year later had a heavier feel, and more Punk, but if you were trying to carve out a musical niche for yourself, admittedly guided by NME diktats, rock and HM (and it wasn't called classic until much later) was as uncool as it got - older brother music.

It took hip hop sampling to get Led Zep rehabilitated, Sabbath had to wait until Grunge.

I'm not sure we're better for it, let the squares have it.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

User avatar
Deebank
Resonator
Posts: 24733
Joined: 10 Oct 2003, 13:47
Location: Ina beautiful place out in the country

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby Deebank » 23 Aug 2016, 12:47

clive gash wrote:older brother music.


Funny you should say that.. :?
I've been talking about writing a book - 25 years of TEFL - for a few years now. I've got it in me.

Paid anghofio fod dy galon yn y chwyldro

User avatar
clive gash
wannabee enfant terrible
Posts: 17219
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 00:32
Location: down the rabbit hole

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby clive gash » 23 Aug 2016, 12:48

Poor sod, at least you survived The Boomtown Rats.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

User avatar
Deebank
Resonator
Posts: 24733
Joined: 10 Oct 2003, 13:47
Location: Ina beautiful place out in the country

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby Deebank » 23 Aug 2016, 12:49

clive gash wrote:Poor sod, at least you survived The Boomtown Rats.


:o Tonic For The Troops is a classic!
Last edited by Deebank on 23 Aug 2016, 12:52, edited 1 time in total.
I've been talking about writing a book - 25 years of TEFL - for a few years now. I've got it in me.

Paid anghofio fod dy galon yn y chwyldro

User avatar
clive gash
wannabee enfant terrible
Posts: 17219
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 00:32
Location: down the rabbit hole

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby clive gash » 23 Aug 2016, 12:52

You could get re-programmed?
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

User avatar
Deebank
Resonator
Posts: 24733
Joined: 10 Oct 2003, 13:47
Location: Ina beautiful place out in the country

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby Deebank » 23 Aug 2016, 12:56

clive gash wrote:You could get re-programmed?


We had our differences.
I dug The Police while he was more AC/DC. There was much argy bargy over the stereo as you can imagine!

Of course I love AC/DC now and he even went to see The Police on their Synchronicity tour IIRC, so all's well that ends well.
I've been talking about writing a book - 25 years of TEFL - for a few years now. I've got it in me.

Paid anghofio fod dy galon yn y chwyldro

User avatar
Deebank
Resonator
Posts: 24733
Joined: 10 Oct 2003, 13:47
Location: Ina beautiful place out in the country

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby Deebank » 23 Aug 2016, 12:57

Deebank wrote:
clive gash wrote:You could get re-programmed?


We had our differences.
I dug The Police while he was more AC/DC. There was much argy bargy over the stereo as you can imagine!

Of course I love AC/DC now and he even went to see The Police on their Synchronicity tour IIRC, so all's well that ends well.


We both liked Blue Oyster Cult though.
I've been talking about writing a book - 25 years of TEFL - for a few years now. I've got it in me.

Paid anghofio fod dy galon yn y chwyldro

User avatar
clive gash
wannabee enfant terrible
Posts: 17219
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 00:32
Location: down the rabbit hole

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby clive gash » 23 Aug 2016, 13:05

A stopped clock and all that ;)
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

User avatar
John_K
driven by lists
Posts: 13315
Joined: 02 Nov 2004, 14:01
Location: The Black Hole of BCB...

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby John_K » 23 Aug 2016, 13:38

I have all 10, but went for Marquee Moon, it's the one I play most often from the list these days...

User avatar
clive gash
wannabee enfant terrible
Posts: 17219
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 00:32
Location: down the rabbit hole

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby clive gash » 23 Aug 2016, 13:50

Marquee Moon was the one that really knocked me out when I heard it, so alien and metallic. It's like a string quartet or something.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20251
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby naughty boy » 23 Aug 2016, 16:30

Yeah, but most critics still tend to ignore it and go for Simon and Garfunkel, Pink Floyd or Fleetwood Mac instead - stuff that the NME used to regard as the very dullest 'classic rock'.

I really thought they had it all sussed, and I was happy in my little bubble...


...and then I joined the Mojo boards, where the mainstream was celebrated in a way I'd honestly never imagined possible among rock fans.

Ho hum.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

User avatar
clive gash
wannabee enfant terrible
Posts: 17219
Joined: 29 Sep 2007, 00:32
Location: down the rabbit hole

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby clive gash » 23 Aug 2016, 16:39

There was something joyous about hearing all that Classic Rock years later though, kind of listening to the forbidden. I think we got it the right way round, approaching it with mistrust and being surprised with how great some of it was.
It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

Diamond Dog wrote:...it quite clearly hit the target with you and your nonce...

...a multitude of innuendo and hearsay...

...I'm producing facts here...

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20251
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby naughty boy » 23 Aug 2016, 16:58

Ahhhh.....I don't know!

Maybe.
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

User avatar
naughty boy
hounds people off the board
Posts: 20251
Joined: 24 Apr 2007, 23:21

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby naughty boy » 23 Aug 2016, 17:02

The 1974 list (one of the first of its kind in the UK, I believe) is a touch more conventional, a bit more Rolling Stone...

1. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
2. Blond On Blond - Bob Dylan
3. Pet Sounds - Beach Boys
4. Revolver - The Beatles
5. Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
6. Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix
7. Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendeix
8. Abby Road - The Beatles
9. Sticky Fingers - The Rolling Stones
10. Music From Big Pink - The Band
11. Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones
12. Layla - Derek & The Dominoes
13. The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground
14. Golden Decade Vol 1 - Chuck Berry
15. Rubber Soul - The Beatles
16. Tommy - The Who
17. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
18. Hunky Dory - David Bowie
19. Beggar’s Banquet - The Rolling Stones
20. Disraeli Gears - Cream
21. Piper At The Gates Of Dawn - Pink Floyd
22. My Generation - The Who
23. Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash
24. The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones
25. Imagine - John Lennon
26. Tapestry - Carole King
27. Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
28. Freewheelin’ - Bob Dylan
29. Back In The USA - MC5
30. Deja Vu - Crosby, Stills & Nash
31. The Band - The Band
32. Gasoline Alley - Rod Stewart
33. A Hard Day’s Night - The Beatles
34. Every Picture Tells A Story - Rod Stewart
35. Led Zeppelin 4 - Led Zeppelin
36. The Doors - The Doors
37. In The Court Of The Crimson King - King Crimson
38. Exile On Main Street - The Rolling Stones
39. The Beatles - The Beatles
40. The Soft Machine - Soft Machine
41. Hot Rats - Frank Zappa
42. Traffic - Traffic
43. Trout Mask Replica - Captain Beefheart
44. Music From A Dolls House - Family
45. Talking Book - Stevie Wonder
46. Anthology - Smoky Bacon & The Miracles
47. Strange Days - The Doors
48. Led Zeppelin 2 - Led Zeppelin
49. Otis Blue - Otis Redding
50. Stand Up - Jethro Tull
51. Impressions, The - Big 16
52. Love - Forever Changes
53. Young, Neil - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
54. Taylor, James - Sweet Baby James
55. Byrds, The - Fifth Dimension
56. Wings - Band On The Run
57. Bowie, David - The Man Who Sold The World
58. Mothers Of Invention, The - We're Only In It For The Money
59. Rolling Stones, The - Get Your Ya-Yas Out
60. Beck, Jeff, Group - Beck-Ola
61. Stooges, Iggy & The - Raw Power
62. Beach Boys, The - Smiley Smile
63. Morrison, Van - Astral Weeks
64. Velvet Underground, The - Loaded
65. Franklin, Aretha - Greatest Hits
66. Beatles, The - With The Beatles
67. Mitchell, Joni - Blue
68. Mothers Of Invention, The - Freak Out
69. Young, Neil - After The Gold Rush
70. Stills, Stephen - Stephen Stills
71. Winter, Johnny - Johnny Winter And
72. Cocker, Joe - With A Little Help From My Friends
73. Yes - The Yes Album
74. Morrison, Van - Moondance
75. Rundgren, Todd - A Wizard, A True Star
76. Lennon, John - Plastic Ono Band
77. Jefferson Airplane, The - Crown Of Creation
78. Doors, The L.A. Woman
79. Sly & The Family Stone - There's A Riot Going On
80. Who, The - Who's Next
81. Country Joe & The Fish - Electric Music For The Mind & Body
82. Johnson, Robert - King Of The Delta Blues Singers
83. Beach Boys, The - Best Of The Beach Boys Volume 1
84. Mitchell, Joni - Songs For A Seagull
85. Mayall's, John, Bluesbreakers - Bluesbreakers
86. Traffic - Mr Fantasy
87. Dylan, Bob - Bringing It All Back Home
88. Presley, Elvis - Greatest Hits Volume 2
89. Velvet Underground, The - White Light/White Heat
90. Moby Grape - Moby Grape
91. Big Brother & The Holding Co. - Cheap Thrills
92. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
93. Doctor John - Gris-Gris
94. Wonder, Stevie - Music Of The Mind
95. Roxy Music - Stranded
96. Beach Boys, The - Surf's Up
97. Newman, Randy - 12 Songs
98. Spirit - The 12 Dreams Of Dr Sardonicus
99. Miller, Steve, Band - Sailor
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

User avatar
toomanyhatz
Power-mad king of the WCC
Posts: 29992
Joined: 07 Apr 2005, 00:01
Location: Just east of where Charlie Parker went to do some relaxin'

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby toomanyhatz » 23 Aug 2016, 17:27

I like that list better.
Footy wrote:
The Who / Jimi Hendrix Experience Saville Theatre, London Jan '67
. Got Jimi's autograph after the show and went on to see him several times that year


1959 1963 1965 1966 1974 1977 1978 1981 1988 2017* 2018 2020!! 2023?

User avatar
toomanyhatz
Power-mad king of the WCC
Posts: 29992
Joined: 07 Apr 2005, 00:01
Location: Just east of where Charlie Parker went to do some relaxin'

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby toomanyhatz » 23 Aug 2016, 17:27

toomanyhatz wrote:I like that list better.


Though a lot of stuff (Carole King, CSN, etc.) is WAY too high.
Footy wrote:
The Who / Jimi Hendrix Experience Saville Theatre, London Jan '67
. Got Jimi's autograph after the show and went on to see him several times that year


1959 1963 1965 1966 1974 1977 1978 1981 1988 2017* 2018 2020!! 2023?

User avatar
Matt Wilson
Psychedelic Cowpunk
Posts: 32515
Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 20:18
Location: Edge of a continent

Re: NME Top 10 Albums 1985

Postby Matt Wilson » 23 Aug 2016, 17:34

As if the 1985 list isn't a bit Rolling Stone?


Return to “Yakety Yak”