1986...the last good year for music?

Obviously there's been great stuff since '86, but if you think about it, a lot of classics were put out by major (at least to me and my friends) artists. Let's list a few, shall we?

1. New Order had Brotherhood, perhaps a dud on arrival but a refined and respected classic since

2. The Smiths put out the Greatest Album Ever, The Queen Is Dead, which kinda makes up for the atrocity of Hand In Glove. They would break up the next year, thus never able to equal or surpass this milestone

3.REM put out my favorite of theirs, Life's Rich Pageant, the perfect LP for someone unfamiliar with their "gangle" style

4.XTC put out Skylarking, an *excellant* album that has some great stuff on it (SuperGirl, Earn Enough for Us, Dear God)

There are many others which I can't remember right just now, but overall '86 was a classic year, imo.....

I think there was a whole host of great albums from 89/90 with great stuff from the 'order/PSBs /Cure /PrimalScream /Mondays /Stone Roses/ De La Soul/ ATCQ and lots of other bands I like...

Like I said, lots of good stuff after 86, but to have the best Smiths album, a fantastic Cure compilation, arguably one of NO's finest moments (BLT) and the like, 1986 was a stellar year

Might as well have chucked the whole album on there! It was good I thought - but not THAT good. TIALTNGO was superb though, a worthy no.1

Originally posted by Seb Briggs I think there was a whole host of great albums from 89/90 with great stuff from the 'order/PSBs /Cure /PrimalScream /Mondays /Stone Roses/ De La Soul/ ATCQ and lots of other bands I like...

I'm with Bigger Breasts on this one.

xtc? 86 was a good year?????

The Queen is dead is a great album, but 86 was not as good as 89.

isnt it funny, here we are debating the relative musical merits of 86 and 89, when the general critical and popular consensus/belief is that musically the 80s were crap(with a few exceptions notably the smiths and the pixies). a few months ago Q did a 50 best albums since 1986 poll and only a few 80s albums got in, including "the queen is dead" and "the stone roses". if you look at those 100 best albums ever type polls 80s albums also do remarkably poorly. Ok im blethering on a bit now, but it does annoy me that the decades music is so derided, it discourages kids from giving it a chance and frankly theyre missing out as a result.

Originally posted by Allen Jarvis Here's Peel's Festive 50 from 1986. Lots of students in black Levi's and Docs that year, from what I remember?The Smiths seem to dominate here, but at least the Fall provide some light relief... 1 Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out 2 Age of Chance - Kiss 3 The Fall - Mr Pharmacist 4 Primal Scream - Velocity Girl 5 Smiths - Panic 6 Smiths - I Know It's Over 7 Smiths - The Queen Is Dead 8 Shop Assistants - Safety Net 9 Jesus and Mary Chain - Some Candy Talking 10 The Fall - US Eighties - Nineties 11 Smiths - Ask 12 Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again 13 Weather Prophets - Almost Prayed 14 Half Man, Half Biscuit - Trumpton Riots 15 The Fall - Living Too Late 16 Wedding Present - Once More 17 Soup Dragons - Hang Ten! 18 Wedding Present - This Boy Can Wait 19 Bodines - Therese 20 The Fall - Bournemouth Runner

Twas a good year, that one. The Shop Assistants were excellent live, a cheap tinny guitar, boomy bass and two kettle drums for percussion. Early Wedding Present wasn't quite as acceptable as they became two years later. The autumn 86 Fall tour was their finest time live for many years. Supported by The Beloved. New Order did some excellent shows, with real variety and back catalogue in the set lists. I had my own radio show at the campus radio station, and played most of the above most weeks !

We shouldn't care about what snotty nosed little fuck faces are listening to. Shame on Barney for listening to his little squirt tell him the Pumpkins were worth a shit. The biggest scar on NewOrders name came with Billy Corgan appearing on their album in my opinion and that can be down to what "kids" want to hear. Let the world think all 80's music is crap while any jerk with a guitar and some distortion is a genius. Popular opinions on music are dire and distasteful.

89 was better than 86 in my opinion but the whole stretch 86-89 was pretty good.

Maybe.

But maybe i'm right. They could have used effects on Barney's voice to achieve an annoying whine similar to mr. corgan's obnoxious tone. oh well, it's a problem i'll have to work out alone. bands like the Smashing Pumpkins were made popular by big companies pushing their products and by MTV playing their videos into the dirt, forcefeeding a generation of clueless kids, boring music. Their concept double album reeks of self indulgence. I think if the late 80's were a great time for music, then the early 90's has to be the worst period. Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins-----and all the followers who are still imitating their styles are horrible, hideous acts of inhumanity and producers of unlistenable garbage. The day Cobain killed himself was one of my finest days of college. I put up flyers reading Grunge is Dead all over campus...i still see losers walking around in Cobain tee's here in Seattle. He wasn't worth the bullet.

still fuming about Cobain/Corgan etc...he left a daughter in the world without a father because his pathetic life was too difficult to live. Sounds real tough doesn't it, tons of money, fame and whatever else you want. Too bad he wasted it on heroin and not on seeing the pure beauty of his child and the joy she could bring to his life. Big Fucking Loser should be written on his tombstone. I think i'll grab my markers and head out..............

Originally posted by Brian Geoghagan still fuming about Cobain/Corgan etc...he left a daughter in the world without a father because his pathetic life was too difficult to live. Sounds real tough doesn't it, tons of money, fame and whatever else you want. Too bad he wasted it on heroin and not on seeing the pure beauty of his child and the joy she could bring to his life. Big Fucking Loser should be written on his tombstone. I think i'll grab my markers and head out..............

erm... would we all be here if Ian Curtis had not.....

Looks like we have a new Martin Gray....Rant on, Brian

I think both Ian and Kurt found it hard to deal with their new realities, so selfish as it was, I don't think you can condemn them

I think so too. Their difficulties probably made their music far more poignant, and gave us an opportunity to have a window into their(tortured)personalities. I don't think it is our right to condemn them.

I think Ian is the more tragic of the two, as Hooky said he missed his chance for fame by a week. That's all he ever wanted, and right on the cusp of it he ends his life. Kurt's also tragic because he realized how empty and hollow fame really is

Who gives a fuck about the fame when you have a new baby in your life? Cobain was a junkie who got lucky. Right place, right time. Ian's death is different in my eyes since his pain was what did him in, not being famous, rich, powerful etc...Cobain was weak. I admire strength in people not weakness. We have all had problems that we worked through no matter how bad they seemed. He gave up and selfishly affected the life of an innocent child. I do feel passionately about this subject so i could be a bit out of line here but it's so frustrating that people make a martyr/idol out of a human being who couldn't handle life. Maybe if NewOrder stage Barney's death (Abbey Road style) he'll be seen as a voice of our generation by the masses. Peter Saville could have something interesting to design for the next sleeve. Perhaps a factory cataloge number with FAC250IF written on a yellow and black striped beam. Fans would discuss the meaning of the cataloge number for a few days before someone from Neworderonline figure out that Barney would have weighed 250pounds (don't know how many stones that is but it should make a nice big pile) if he had lived. We could hold a vigil in Manchester outside of some plush condo's singing RunWild at the top of our lungs.

Brian, tell me about the state of public transport in seattle. :D the king is dead, long live the king

Kids are pure (not jaded like me)

British weather is just like seattle weather and the only place i'd ever live besides here is England

I've given my opinion on Grunge

neil, i see by your profile you're a man of incredibly good taste. Must be the only one to choose the other 2 as favorite side project. are seattle's public transport issues world news? do you know about the sound transit fiasco? seriously, don't get me started. Marin Gray will never be replaced. I think i had too many cups of tea today with nothing better to do than submit my opinions to this forum.

Geography,while I agree with most of your opinions regarding music,I don't claim to be able to see the world, through Cobain's eyes, so I cannot condem his decision to die,in his defence he was married to Courtney Hole, mitigating circumcisions.Therefore my reason for hating grunge is, I think it was foisted upon us, to prolong the careers of the, mainly, white middle-class, rock journos who could not accept the traditional singer, bass player,guitarist and drummer were not the future. In so doing, some of the cream of the early nineties weren't given a fair crack of the whip IMO especially One Dove and surely World of Twist should have been bigger stars.In it's place we got retro rockers Oasis impersonating Stone Roses pretending they were just digging The Beatles. One time someone accused me of trying to look like Cobain(wouldn't mind but I was wearing Katherine Hamnet at the time, cheeky fucker)but I recall saying to him "Nirvana sound to me like The Pixies with a bad singer" and then didn't Cobain go and admit he'd copied the Pixies all along.Anway I've had a few, not sure if this will make any sense in the morning ,whatever.

i used the word "kids" when i actually didnt mean kids at all, more people of my age(im 23). i do wonder why my own peers (and often very intelligent ones) are so closed minded. by this age youd think theyd cease to be constantly swayed by the vagaries of fashion. i must be the only person i know in their early to mid 20s who gives the 80s the time of day (apart from those who listen to NOW compilations for the nostalgia kick). and yes in this sanitised age most folk know fuckall about good music (particularly if they rely solely on Q for their opinions)and arent prepared to put the time and effort in to explore and base their opinions on something concrete. im not hugely bothered about it really, i just think its curious and a shame. oh and brian heres some bad news, my 16 year old sister is falling for the smashing pumpkins. copies of "siamese dream" and the one with the poncy title have been seen floating around her bedroom, shes also been talking enthusiastically about getting their best of. I hate the little bitch but still i want to save her from her inevitable obsession with baldy fuckwit..shes been obsessed with the manics and jeff buckley for 3 years now, and i can feel shes getting bored of them.. We shouldn't care about what snotty nosed little fuck faces are listening to. Shame on Barney for listening to his little squirt tell him the Pumpkins were worth a shit. The biggest scar on NewOrders name came with Billy Corgan appearing on their album in my opinion and that can be down to what "kids" want to hear. Let the world think all 80's music is crap while any jerk with a guitar and some distortion is a genius. Popular opinions on music are dire and distasteful.