Could you pick 10 albums from each decade?

[James from London]

Can anyone explain to me why this looks like one of the most iconic 80s LP covers?

It looks like a cover of Vogue (the magazine) transposed onto an record cover. I don't know if Vogue is especially associated with the '80s, but I guess it is glossy and affluent, which are kind of '80s-ish attributes.

 

[Angela Channing]

I struggled to think of 10 great albums from the 1970s that I would be happy to listen to on a regular basis. So my list is really 7 great albums plus 3 which are pretty good and chosen to make up the numbers. I'm not saying which albums fall into those 2 groupings.

The 1970s in no particular order:

What's Going On - Marvin Gaye

Off The Wall - Michael Jackson

ABBA: The Album - ABBA

Diana Ross - Diana Ross

Exodus - Bob Marley & The Wailers

Oxygene - Jean Michel Jarre

The Specials - The Specials

Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

Let It Be - The Beatles

Tapestry - Carole King

 

[Willie Oleson]

This was also difficult but for a different reason.
Again, in chronological and quasi-alphabetical order:

1. Helen Shapiro - Helen In Nashville (1963)

I have nothing in particular to say about the album itself except that the tracklist doesn't look like a compilation of familiar cover versions (assuming these are cover versions), except for "It's My Party" of course.
But none of that means anything in the grand scheme of things because a best of 1960s simply wouldn't be complete without the fantastic and very unique voice of Helen Shapiro.

2. Nina Simone - I Put A Spell On You (1965)

I honestly don't know if this is Nina's best album but it does make old-style jazz music more accessible to me. Her gritty "Southern gothic" vocals make it sound distinctively older than it really is, but in a spellbinding kind of way. So, mini-conclusion: it does what it says on the tin.

3. Michel Polnareff - Michel Polnareff (1966)

The mix of folksy balladry and French mod conjures up images of young Alain Delon on a beach. Not a bad choice for Music To Despair On A Deserted Island By (my angle for these 10 favourites).

4. Simon And Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme (1966)

Similar to my 1980s choice for the Pet Shop Boys album this Simon & Garfunkel LP does not feature my favouritest hits, but as an album experience it sounds otherworldly gorgeous and properly conceptual. It's almost too delicate to play.

5. The Rolling Stones - Aftermath (1966)

A lot of music greatness had to be sacrificed in order to narrow it down to 10, and in this case it was a choice between the Bealtes' stoned up album RUBBER SOUL and the Stones' beatled down AFTERMATH.
And since the whole world suddenly thinks that the Beatles are "overrated" I'm sure that my choice will earn me a nod of approval.

6. Four Tops - Four Tops Reach Out (1967)

Including the smash hits REACH OUT and BERNADETTE and I just love the drama and urgency in all of their songs. If there's one band that should "sing the proverbial telephone book and turn into etc bla bla" then it's the Four Tops.

7. Neil Diamond - Just For You (1967)

I had not expected to find such a great pre-seventies album by Neil Diamond. It has "Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon", "Solitary Man", the original "Red Red Wine" (gasp) and the original "I'm A Believer" (double gasp).
I'm not sure if my Greatest Hits CD will suffice anymore...

8. Kaleidoscope - Tangerine Dream (1967)

No big hits to speak, certainly not outside the UK I presume, but there's something about their vocals that balances between utterly enchanting and slightly unnerving. (actually, utterly and slightly is not in balance, but whatever).
This is the kind of psych-folk album that a hip Californian person in 1967 or 1968 could impress his hip Californian friends with. Not much use on a deserted island I guess, but I also happened to like the songs.

9. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Nancy & Lee (1968)

This turned out to be another battle as I had considered SERGE & JANE, but Nancy and Lee were having none of it. And to be honest, Serge & Jane sounds a bit more novel and maybe also too close to the sound of the seventies.

10. Barry Ryan - Barry Ryan Sings Paul Ryan (1969)

The opening track indicates that this is a force to be reckoned with, and indeed, it kinda refuses to be genred. Symphonic pop-rock perhaps, or Simon & Garfunkel on acid. Better not to overthink this and simply enjoy the many gems created by the Ryans. "Eloise" just happens to be the most famous one.

Long live the Eighties!

 

[Mel O'Drama]

This is such a fun concept and I'm so enjoying seeing everyone's choices.


Just for reference, I've decided to only include an artist once per decade and I'm mostly avoiding live albums, seasonal albums and compilations (apart from some "various artist" type soundtracks).


As it seems a starting point for several others, I'll dive in with....

The Seventies




1. Jaws: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - John Williams

Unconventional as it may be to have a film score as my #1, there's so much iconography here - from the legendary poster image to the instantly-recognisable theme - that it captures the Seventies at its visceral best. And beyond those two deep notes and frenetic Stravinskiesque strings there's some beautiful music and a stirring action-adventure score. The only bad news for me is that with John Williams already represented here, Superman: The Movie has had to bow out.






2. Love To Love You Baby - Donna Summer

There's so much choice when it comes to Donna's albums from the Seventies. With concept albums and double LPs galore, there are others which are more ambitious, expansive and creative. But there's just something so perfect about the one that really put Donna on the map and set the tone for an entire era. The (almost) seventeen minute title track takes up one entire side, while the reverse showcases some different sounds and facets of Donna and Giorgio's collaboration: sometimes plaintive, sometimes country-sounding, sometimes driving. Always extremely listenable.






3. Grease: The Original Soundtrack From The Motion Picture - Various Artists

This is unique among my choices for this decade in being the only one of these albums I actually listened to in the Seventies. All the others were later discoveries, but this became one of my most-played albums for many years and, while I hardly ever play it these days, it stands the test of time while still speaking to me on a very nostalgic level.






4. Voulez-Vous - ABBA

Before I settled on my "no compilation" rule, Greatest Hits Vol. 2 was a shoo-in. I've found ABBA's earlier studio albums of the decade rather patchy affairs, with some truly great songs padded out with novelties and whimsy (not that I'm dissing them. I suspect I'd view the early albums very differently if I'd discovered them before I was older and more cynical). There's no real filler here, though. Voulez-Vous may not be their most "ABBA"-sounding album of the decade, and they also arrived at the disco party just as everyone had their coats on to leave, but there's no denying they did the genre justice and still managed to put their very special stamp on it.






5. Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track - Bee Gees et al.

With the hits from this being omnipresent in the late-Seventies, I'm of an age where several songs from this album are part of some key formative memories from childhood. I just have to hear some of those opening notes and the hairs on my arms start to move of their own accord.






6. Something - Shirley Bassey

This is one of those selections that came down to two albums this artist gave us at opposite ends of the decade. 1979's The Magic Is You is a very special Bassey album: probably the only one of her studio albums I listened to during childhood, and with a great sound that breaks out into full-on disco with a new version of her anthem This Is My Life. Oh, and it gave us a soulful, female-belted version of George Benson's The Greatest Love Of All seven years before Whitney made it hers. But Something feels more creative and special. It was a pretty big deal for her at the time, with her career being in a bit of a slump before it came along and reinvented her image. This moved her away from the showtunes and into a cooler, hipper, more contemporary sound. From The Doors and Blood Sweat & Tears to The Beatles and Sinatra. Bassey puts her own special stamp on the songs and makes a cohesive and satisfying experience from what is on paper a mish-mash of randomness.







7. Hold On - Lisa Hartman

While a couple of the songs - the poignant mid-tempo ballad Don't You Love Me Anymore and the rocking version of You Keep Me Hangin' On - featured in Cathy-era Knots Landing, I finally got to properly discover this album in 2011 when her albums were reissued on expanded CDs. They were well worth the wait. She's in great voice here. There are the ones she belts out (Hold On, I'm Comin'; Get Ready/Gimme Some Lovin'). The ones sung in a gentler head voice (Steal Away Again; Don't Say No To Me Tonight). And then there's Oh Me, Oh My, where she effortlessly flows between the two. The opening bars of Then He Kissed Me have always made me think of the Crossroads theme. Now I'm watching that series I realise it's how the Wings version might sound if they'd started with the intro from the "standard" Tony Hatch version.






8. Horizon - Carpenters

How time flies. I thought I'd only purchased this album at some point late last year, but we're actually looking at the best part of two years ago now. As mentioned in the Carpenters thread, this was a very meaningful discovery for me as I listened. It's reminded me I need to continue seeking out their studio albums as there are still some gaps. This one will be extremely difficult to top, though.







9. The Omen: Original Soundtrack - Jerry Goldsmith with Lionel Newman

One of Jerry Goldsmith's most inspired scores, throwing in demonic Latin phrases chanted by a choir, and a rhythmic driving sound that gets the foot tapping even as it gives you the heebie-jeebies (not to be mistaken for the most prolific artist on the Saturday Night Fever album)...






10. Thank God It’s Friday: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Various Artists

As a disco soundtrack, I favour this to Saturday Night Fever in many ways. For a start it has no less than three Donna Summer songs (five if you include a reprise and the one she co-wrote and sang with her sisters), one of which won an Oscar and a Grammy, which isn't bad going for a film considered such a turkey (it actually isn't that bad, if you're in the right mood). The other tracks and artists are nothing to sniff at, either. I suspect had I a longer relationship with this album it would be near the top of this list. Even as things stand, this well and truly deserves its place here.

​

Special mentions to:



The Divine Miss M - Bette Midler


Wet - Barbra Streisand


Loleatta - Loleatta Holloway


Marcia Shines - Marcia Hines

 

[Angela Channing]

Before I go forward to the noughties, I'll do the 1950s which is probably as far back as I can go. Although some of my favourite artists including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby, released some great albums in the 1940s, I think I would struggle to come up with 10 from different artists.

The 1950s, in no particular order:

Songs For Swinging Lovers - Frank Sinatra

Jacques Brel No. 4 - Jacques Brel

Carmen Jones Film Soundtrack - Various Artists (features the vocals of Harry Belafonte who died recently but it's Dorothy Dandridge who was the outstanding performer on this album. She was also stunning in the film).

Lotte Lenya Singt Kurt Weill

Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Songbook (so many contenders for which of Ella's albums I was going to choose but this probably my favourite at the time of writing).

That's All - Bobby Darin (easily the best of all his albums).

The Platters - The Platters (A favourite of my mum's that later became a favourite of mine).

Du Chant A La Un! - Serge Gainsbourg

Love Is The Thing - Nat King Cole

 

[Willie Oleson]

It looks like a cover of Vogue (the magazine) transposed onto an record cover. I don't know if Vogue is especially associated with the '80s, but I guess it is glossy and affluent, which are kind of '80s-ish attributes.

That makes sense, but maybe it's one of those records that always pop (in the background) whenever an 1980s movie or tv character visits a record store.

Before I settled on my "no compilation" rule, Greatest Hits Vol. 2 was a shoo-in

I wouldn't be surprised if this has been their best-selling LP because everybody had it (or so it seemed at the time).
And actually there is something unique about it: it was their first compilation that includes Gimme Gimme Gimme which was never released on album.

One of Jerry Goldsmith's most inspired scores, throwing in demonic Latin phrases chanted by a choir, and a rhythmic driving sound that gets the foot tapping even as it gives you the heebie-jeebies

I've always thought that THE OMEN was one my all-time favourites films but when I re(re-re)watched it a few weeks ago I felt a bit underwhelmed.
It has terrific death scenes but in essence it's nothing more than a spiritual slasher and we have to believe that it's happening because of Damien simply because they say so.
And I think it's precisely that audaciously bombastic soundtrack that makes it look so much better than it really is.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I wouldn't be surprised if this has been their best-selling LP because everybody had it (or so it seemed at the time).

Absolutely. In a way I feel grateful that Gold ended up as the ABBA compilation that refuses to die. Firstly because it's nice to have both, but more importantly because GHV2 is so special I'd feel sad to think of it being re-packaged and re-marketed ad nauseam the way Gold continues to be.

And I must say I was extremely chuffed when I bagged myself a copy of GHV2 on CD seven or eight years back.

And actually there is something unique about it: it was their first compilation that includes Gimme Gimme Gimme which was never released on album.

True. And on this note, while I'm thinking ahead to later decades I really want to talk myself into including a specific compilation album on the basis that I love the new tracks recorded specifically for the album. But then I'd be breaking my own rule so you'll understand I'm conflicted.

I've always thought that THE OMEN was one my all-time favourites films but when I re(re-re)watched it a few weeks ago I felt a bit underwhelmed.

Oh, that's a shame. It's some years since I re-(re-re)-watched it but my memory is of a mostly really good film.

And I think it's precisely that audaciously bombastic soundtrack that makes it look so much better than it really is.

And perhaps the fact that I've listened to that soundtrack in isolation many, many times in the years since I last watched is part of the reason I remember the film being so good.

 

[Ome]

This is such a fun concept and I'm so enjoying seeing everyone's choices.

Yes, I was a little unsure if it would take off and now it has its fascinating seeing everyone’s favourite albums.

I'm mostly avoiding live albums, seasonal albums and compilations

I originally thought about asking for favourite studio albums and then looking at compilations and live albums as a separate list. I wish I had now.

Maybe we could do a favourite 20 songs from each decade.

 

[James from London]

it's one of those records that always pop (in the background) whenever an 1980s movie or tv character visits a record store.

I guess the boring explanation for that would be that it's such a simple stark design. You see it in the background and immediately think "Phil Oakey's face on a white background, it can only be the Human League's Dare; we must be in the early 80s." Other albums are just strongly associated with that era - Soft Cell's Non Stop Erotic Cabaret, ABC's Lexicon of Love - but those covers are darker and a bit busier, so it's probably gonna take the brain a second or two longer to register them.

 

[Willie Oleson]

And I must say I was extremely chuffed when I bagged myself a copy of GHV2 on CD seven or eight years back

I didn't know it was on CD, probably because I never looked for it. However, your information has changed the situation.

but my memory is of a mostly really good film

I think it looks like a good and sophisticated horror film, but it's not as creepy and scary as the other demonic child films The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby.
Like I said before the soundtrack signals at least 50% of the story's urgency. To be fair, the end result is the only thing that matters.

Maybe we could do a favourite 20 songs from each decade

This reminds me of another (recurring?) music thread here on very tellytalk. But what was it?

 

[Willie Oleson]

I guess the boring explanation

I don't like boring, I want things to be diffult and overthink-y.

 

[Ome]

My 90s gave me another headache and I'm still gutted I had to drop a few.




Spiders – Space



Coming Up – Suede



Different Class – Pulp



Happiness – The Beloved



I Say I Say I Say - Erasure



I’m Breathless – Madonna



Gold Mother – James



The Division Bell – Pink Floyd



Bat Out of Hell II (Back into Hell) – Meat Loaf



Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 – George Michael

 

[Angela Channing]

The 00s, in no particular order:

Illinois (aka Sufjan Stevens Invites You To: Come On Feel the Illinoise) - Sufjan Stevens

The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga (I picked this over "The Fame" as it additionally contains one of my all time favourite tracks "Bad Romance").

The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem

Elephant - The White Stripes (and not just because it contains the song that inspired the "Oh Jeremy Corbyn" chant, it's a brilliant and well balanced album from beginning to end).

Blue - Diana Ross

A Grand Don't Come For Free - The Streets

Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded - Rihanna

Picaresque - The Decemberists

Back To Black - Amy Winehouse

The Blueprint - Jay-Z

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Eighties





1. Super Trouper - ABBA

It’s appropriate that my top choice should also be the earliest album of the decade to feature in my top ten. This is that rare beast: an album of great songs that’s also a great album (the two don’t always go hand-in-hand). This was the first ABBA studio album I ever heard in full, and - somewhat shamefully - remained the only one with which I was familiar for a few decades afterwards. It was much-played in our household and I have fond-if-fragmented memories of riding home on the bus with my Mum the wet, grey day she purchased it, and the excited anticipation of that first spin. It didn’t disappoint and my fondness for this album has only grown over time. The rich breadth of topics still astounds. Where else would divorce; a study of the Id/Ego/Superego; blind faith in leaders with ulterior motives; the grim melancholy of the passing seasons and the sad reflection of lost opportunities be so foot-tappingly accessible.






2. Like A Virgin - Madonna

Madonna was my pop-singer-of-choice for the second half of the Eighties and much of the following decade. I could easily have included her four studio albums from the decade plus the Who’s That Girl soundtrack. None of these would have been a poor choice when picking just one to represent her here. Madonna sums up her dance roots. True Blue is a wonderful mix of joyous bubblegum pop and more sophisticated numbers. Like A Prayer is her most creatively rich album of the decade. But LAV feels somehow exquisitely perfect in capturing Madonna’s appeal as she entered the public consciousness and broke the top of the charts. Nile Rodgers’ catchy basslines and Madge’s squeaky voice were a match made in heaven. Helping my decision, this was my gateway Madonna album.* My first awareness of Madge was that 1984 TOTP performance where she performed the Like A Virgin single and immediately captivated me (only Madonna could make the heightened fakery of badly lip syncing in a bright pink polyester wig come across as a creative choice and therefore truly authentic). There’s a magic here, and Like A Virgin was a special moment in pop history.​

• My copy was the 1985 European reissue which had Into The Groove added and came on a virginal white cassette with black print. Looking on Discogs I’m astounded how many variants of the album there were on cassette alone. This explains why my “late to the party” copies of The First Album (on black cassette with silver label) and Like A Virgin didn’t match the style of all her subsequent Eighties albums, all bought on release day and all of which came with cool clear cassette bodies.​

3. Make It Big - Wham!

Ugh - doing an image search for the album cover, 90% of the images that appear are for the ugly American cover. This iconic original British one is apparently going the way of the Red Squirrel. What an injustice.

My mid-Eighties journey with Wham! has many parallels with that of Madonna, including the fact that I their sophomore album was the first one I heard in full. Here as there, the artist reaches mainstream pop perfection with the second album. The track list speaks for itself. The only track I was never particularly fond of was Like A Baby (re-listening today after many years it’s a decent track with a good vocal, but there’s just something indulgently introspective about it which is one of the hallmarks of George Michael’s later solo stuff, most of which simply isn’t my thing). Something that I hadn’t consciously considered before is that for all its glorious Eightiesness, there’s quite a retro sound to many of the tracks. It’s no doubt been screamingly obvious to most all along, but back in the day I simply enjoyed the music for what it was and never really gave any thought to its roots or influences. Off the back of this, I’ve started seeking out some more Wham! on CD as it’s been far too long since I’ve played them.






4. The Kids From “Fame” - The Kids From “Fame”

This is one of those inclusions that required some weighing up. I’d love to have included the soundtrack to the 1980 film, but felt it had to be one or the other. There’s no denying that the series itself is a somewhat diluted echo of the powerful film, but what it lacks in substance it makes up for in heart. Much of that heart revolves around the music, and most of the best music is included here, which makes this a very attractive prospect. While I’d been obsessed with Irene Cara’s single which was heavily played and replayed, I hadn’t been permitted to watch the film. The TV series, though, was appointment TV for me, and the album landed at the height of Fame-mania and my copy on gatefold album (a birthday present from a neighbour) became a prized possession and I think was the first album I fully owned rather than purloining my parents’ records. I was thrilled in 2000 to walk into an HMV store and unexpectedly stumble upon a copy newly released on CD. It’s still an album I come back to fairly regularly and while there is some Eighties cheese, many of the songs hold up really well. But then there are such familiar songwriters as Bruce Roberts, Carol Bayer Sager and Rick Springfield, so perhaps it shouldn’t be too surprising. I was also fond of The Kids From Fame Again which came shortly afterwards, even though it was much more naff.





5. Letterock - Lisa Hartman

With TV being more my “thing” than music during the Eighties, a number of the featured albums came to my attention through that medium. Anyone with even a passing awareness of Knots Landing (i.e. all of us on this site) will know exactly how this one came to my attention. While several of the tracks - and Lisa Hartman herself - hit my radar in early 1987 when her episodes first aired here, it was many more years before I knew of the album’s existence, and still more decades before I bagged myself a copy. Indeed, it was only with Wounded Bird’s expanded reissues of her first three albums back in 2011 (her fourth having been released two years prior) that I finally owned Letterock. Once again, off the back of this thread I’ve been listening to a lot of LH in recent days and realised all over again that Letterock stands as a strong album on its own merits. Miss You (Like I Do) is getting a lot of play at the moment. Many (perhaps all) of the tracks are covers - album tracks featured in Knots alone include covers of Dobie Gray, Rick Springfield, Spider and Phoebe Snow. But they’re good covers, arranged and orchestrated for Lisa’s voice and sound. While I can’t include it here under my self-imposed rules, Lisa’s following album ’Til My Heart Stops would also be worthy of a place here. Since this thread’s appeared many of that album’s tracks have been played quite a bit, with Ooh, I’m Satisfied being a current favourite.






6. E. T. - The Extra-Terrestrial: Music From The Original Soundtrack - John Williams

While, back in the day, I had the 7” single featuring Flying (re-titled Theme From E.T.) and Over The Moon, I shamefully didn’t own the soundtrack album in any form until last year when I bought the 40th Anniversary edition. I can’t include the expanded version here, but the original 1982 album’s sequencing contains most of the key pieces. If there’s a film score that sums up John Williams, this is it. Even out of context, it’s difficult to hear the two pieces mentioned above without being stirred in some way.






7. Jaws 3-D: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Alan Parker*

While John Williams was busy with E.T., the second shark sequel was underway with recasts all round… and the composer was no exception. Much like the film itself, the score hits many of the same notes without having anywhere near the impact of its predecessor(s). That’s not to say this album is entirely without merit. The use of Williams's “shark theme” might be clunky and cynical, but Parker takes a different direction with the rest of the material. Scenes of suspense feel cold, dark and metallic, perfectly capturing the murky look of the film. There are deep bass notes galore to represent the even larger shark (this isn’t a film, sadly, where less is more). And these are all balance by bursts of light and joy. Representing the latter, one of my most-played tracks is It’s Alive/Seaworld Opening Day/Silver Bullet which is guaranteed to energise. By its very nature, it’s derivative in nature, but Parker does this with flair, showing his classical knowledge by interpolating hints of classical pieces here and there (most notably, Dance Of The Earth from Stravinsky’s Le Sacre Du Printemps is prominent as the film reaches its explosive finale). It’s a pretty bad film (though one I enjoyed very much at the time and still take a little peek at every now and then), but it’s by no means a bad score.


** Not to be confused with the director of Fame fame.






8. Return To Eden: Original Television Soundtrack - Brian May**

Now this was a shocker when it suddenly appeared on CD in 2010. Firstly, because it seemed so very unlikely that music from an old Aussie show would appear on home media almost a quarter of a century later. But secondly because I had no idea that Varèse Sarabande had released an album with an identical track-list back in 1985. The album gives a nice taste of both the cracking 1983 mini-series and the fun-but-iffy serial that arrived on-screen in 1986. Brian May bringing a sense of cohesion to the two projects’ differing tones. The jazzy opening credits for the full series are here and it even includes the preview music that always preceded it (both are curiously mis-labelled Closing Titles). There’s also the slower variant used in the opening episode of the 1986 series. Big Business also beautifully incorporates the Main Title into the body of the series. Other highlights include the suspenseful Corporate Espionage; the über-dramatic Confrontation; and the Herrmannesque Jill’s Crack-Up, the latter two of which both come from the mini-series. It’s a great taste of the series.

** Not to be confused with big-haired Mr Anita Dobson of Queen fame.






9. Walt Disney’s Fantasia: New Digital Motion Picture Soundtrack - Irwin Kostal

This one would be difficult to categorise. A re-recording of the soundtrack to a film score which in turn is entirely made up of well-known classical pieces. Forgetting the film itself, there’s no denying that Disney employed many of the most talented musicians, and many of these particular versions feel like the definitive recordings of these pieces. Back in 1982 I had no idea this album existed. It only came on to my radar when I bought the 4-disc Legacy Collection version of the Fantasia soundtrack some eight or so years ago where the Kostal re-recording made up the final two discs. It’s been a favourite ever since.






10. Another Place And Time - Donna Summer

It wouldn’t be the Eighties if Stock, Aitken and Waterman weren’t present. While I’d heard and loved a number of Donna songs for around a decade before this era, the first time I was able to put a face to the name (and properly put a name to the music) came somewhere around This Time I Know It’s For Real from this album (oh, and Dinner With Gershwin from the previous one). Not putting the pieces together properly, I deduced she must be a SAW discovery akin to Kylie. Wrong as I was, it certainly is a highlight of her Eighties career. I certainly find this her most accessible and cohesive album since Bad Girls a decade earlier (despite the occasional gem, I find most of her Eighties albums very patchy, and I’m sure this contributed to her career slump of the decade as much as the alleged homophobic comments she made about AIDS). True, there’s something rather hollow and sausage factory about any SAW album, but Donna’s strong, joyous vocals mean this is SAW at their very best. With ten tracks and a total running time under 40 minutes, this album’s brevity is another strength. It hits the spot without outstaying its welcome. And when it’s good, it’s great. Love’s About To Change My Heart was a song that passed me by at the time and would probably be a Top Five Donna track for me today: even if I were considering her whole career.

​

Special mentions to:



Silk & Steel - Five Star


Love Sensation - Loleatta Holloway


Kylie - Kylie Minogue


Back To The Future: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Various Artists


Mud Will Be Flung Tonight! - Bette Midler








Extra Special Mention to:


The Best Of BBC-TV’s Themes - Various Artists

This was heavily-played by me for many years after I got it as a Christmas present in 1987. Around a decade-and-a-half-ago I was thrilled to discover there was a CD version and immediately bagged myself a copy. It’s still a great album beginning to end (it includes arguably the best renditions of the Knots Landing and Dallas themes, as well as Simon May's EastEnders and Howards' Way, along with plenty of other diverse and great-sounding themes). Unfortunately, it's disqualified since it's technically a compilation, but I couldn’t not mention one of my most-loved albums of the decade then and now.

 

[Angela Channing]

4. The Kids From “Fame” - The Kids From “Fame”

This was a near miss from my top 10, it's a brilliant album with some great songs which I still listen to from time to time. Starmaker, in particular, is a great track.

 

[Payton Cross]

Before I start posting my top 10 albums from the 90's I wanted to try to post a Top 10 of my favorite albums from the 60's, and luckily I succeeded.

1960's

Barbra Streisand - My Name Is Barbra Two… - (1965)


Elvis Presley - Elvis NBC-TV Special - (1968)


Lulu - Lulu's Album - (1969)


The Sound Of Music (Movie Soundtrack) - (1965)


Cliff Richard - Sincerely - (1969)


Anne Murray - This Way Is My Way - (1969)


Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman (1968)


Bee Gees - Horizontal - (1968)


The Supremes - The Supremes A' Go-Go - (1966)


Johnny Mathis - Love Theme from "Romeo And Juliet" (A Time for Us) - (1969)

 

[Barbara Fan]

My 2000s - in no order

Sailling to Philapdephia = Mark Knopfler



Fallen - Evanescence



Be Not Nobody - Vanessa Carlton



Back to Black - Amy Winehouse (eat your heart out, boring, bland Adele)



Eyes Open - Snow Patrol



Magic - Bruce Springsteen



Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes



Hot Fuss - Killers



False Smiles - Amy Studt



All that you cant leave behind - U2
thanks to Salmon Rushdie and the beautiful The ground beneath your feet which featured on TFI Friday and I played to death

 

[Long Lashes]

OK Computer - Radiohead

Urban Hymns - The Verve

The Red Shoes - Kate Bush

Gold Mother - James

Coming Up - Suede

Republic - New Order

Violater - Depeche Mode

Automatic For The People - REM

Different Class - Pulp

Made In Heaven - Queen

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Nineties





1. Evolution - Martina McBride

Martina had the most flawless trilogy of Nineties albums with The Way That I Am, Wild Angels and Evolution and followed them up with a cracking Christmas album to boot. I could argue the case for any of them being here. Even though Evolution has a couple more noticeable lows than the earlier two (the opening track is a “novelty” Easter egg featuring a precocious seven-year-old Martina performing), most tracks range from incredible to amazing in their quality, the musicians do incredible thing with sound separation (A Broken Wing was one of a handful of songs I used when testing headphones recently. The opening bars and the abundance of detail going on in the first verse sound incredible) and I don’t believe Martina has ever been in finer voice than on this album.







2. Psycho: The Complete Original Motion Picture Score - Joel McNeely and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Herrmann’s Psycho soundtrack enjoyed some terrific revivals in the Nineties. There was Esa-Pekka Salonen’s 1996 recording with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Danny Elfman’s more rock-sounding redux was the best thing about the ill-advised 1998 remake. Both are great, and the Salonen version in particular has some dark, gritty deep string sounds that reach one’s very bowels (but I excluded it as it’s not complete), and my promo copy of the complete Elfman score is much-played. I opted for the McNeely recording which is particularly pleasant on the ears, even out of context, owing to its slightly lighter more classical sound. And it has the best cover. The McNeely/RSNO’s 1995 recording of Vertigo is also highly recommended.







3. The Commitments: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack - Various Artists

When I first watched the film back in the early Nineties, the soundtrack wowed me right from the opening titles. It was a very short time before I raced out to buy this album (followed, a short time later, by Volume 2). It was responsible for opening my ears and mind to soul music, and its polished arrangements and heartfelt vocals from Andrew Strong, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle and others make these tracks feel like definitive recordings. There isn’t a weak track on the entire album and this is one of those rare albums that can be enjoyed it its entirety without skipping a single track.







4. Mandy Barnett - Mandy Barnett

Mandy’s one of many artists I discovered back when we were regularly doing Soapchat Standards. I bought this debut album almost immediately after hearing her voice and played it all the way through, not just once, but several times. She's been a favourite of mine since, and I've sought out all her albums and some other projects where she appears. This album's fairly traditional “countrypolitan” sound meets a very different need in me to Evolution's more country pop style. From what I’ve seen, Mandy’s profile is quite low - perhaps criminally so - though she seems to be respected and admired by those familiar with her work. And rightly so. She’s had some excellent albums since this one, but the purity of this original was the best way to discover what she's all about.







5. Steptacular - Steps

1999 was a huge year for Steps. They began and ended the year riding high in both album and single charts (in the first week of January, the phenomenon that was Tragedy and it’s double A-side Heartbeat finally made it to #1). They ended the year the same way, thanks in no small part to their second album. Steps were at the height of their powers here, their pop sound perfected and the writing and vocals more confident than ever. Feelgood bubblegum is occasionally broken up by a ballad and it mostly works great. There are a couple of iffy moments (I could happily live without the ghastly H warbling My Best Friend’s Girl to a pseudo-Tamperer beat), but also some great material beyond the hits. Never Say Never Again, I Surrender and Just Like The First Time are bot single material (as is Just Like The First Time if we're including international editions). Faye's solo Since You Took Your Love Away and the album's coda: the soaring, piano-led ballad You're Everything That Matters To Me show a surprisingly grown up and classy side to the group. As Nineties pop albums go, this is essential.






6. Portrait Of Terror - John Ottman

One of the reasons Halloween H20 is one of my favourite films in the series is thanks to Ottman’s score, which moves away from the Carpenter/Howarth electronica and into more traditional, more expansive territory. His score was later infamously hacked to pieces on the instructions of the Weinsteins, and much of it replaced with Marco Beltrami music pilfered from their other properties (Scream and Mimic) to give it more teen appeal. Fortunately, the intended Ottman score was released on CD, though marketed without using the Halloween H20 title (presumably for legal reasons). It’s a cracking score, clearly influenced by Bernard Herrmann - which is no bad thing - and far classier than any score from the slasher genre has a right to be. Which might well be why it was killed at birth.







7. The Silence Of The Lambs: The Original Motion Picture Score - Howard Shore with the Munich Symphony Orchestra

Another film score with seriously classical sensibilities. Howard Shore’s score barely registered with me on my first several viewings of the film, not because it’s inconspicuous (there are moments of pure bombast in amongst the fragile beauty) but because it fits each moment so incredibly well. It’s criminal that on the night that Silence swept the boards at the Academy Awards, winning the “big five”, Shore’s score wasn’t even nominated. It’s one of my more frequently-played scores and it still holds its power even in isolation.







8. I’m Breathless - Madonna

Once again there was a choice to be made. It was either this or Ray Of Light (the soundtrack from Evita was also under consideration at one point). Ray Of Light is probably more impressive artistically and feels the more serious album (one that might actually be considered by music buffs who would dismiss most of Madge’s work). This is another Like A Virgin/Like A Prayer situation, and once again I’m opting for the cheesier, poppier option on the basis that good, simple pop isn’t easy to do but this does it in abundance. Yes there’s some silly stuff here - Cry Baby and Now I’m Following You (Part 2) aren’t exactly tracks to be sought out - but there is a certain balance of diversity and cohesion. The immortal Vogue would seem to have little in common with Sondheim numbers and the obligatory cynical attempt to get pearls clutched with Hanky Panky. But it all works. Sooner Or Later remains a Top Three Madge track of all time and the album is worth it for that alone.







9. The Carry On Album - Gavin Sutherland with The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra

A Carry On project that doesn’t focus on the films’ bawdy image is novelty enough, but this one goes to the other extreme by employing a fairly highbrow composer to arrange themes and suites and conduct a full orchestra. This shows that despite its frequently jaunty comic tone, there’s also a real heart to the compositions Eric Rogers and Bruce Montgomery did not just for this series but also the appropriately music-themed Raising The Wind, which came from the same team but never gained the Carry On prefix. The Anglo-Amalgamated Fanfares are the icing on a cake that’s occasionally naughty and always nice.








10. In Deep - Tina Arena

It’s telling of In Deep’s quality that it yielded no less than TEN SINGLES across its various international editions. And it’s a testament to its diversity that those singles include uptempo pop, soulful ballads. a rock cover and stage anthems. And in three languages to boot. Foreigner’s Mick Jones produces, and the end result shows that these two really get one another.


​

Special mentions to:



The Talented Mr Ripley: Music From The Motion Picture - Gabriel Yared et al.

Scream and Scream 2: Music From The Dimension Motion Pictures - Marco Beltrami

For The Boys: Music From The Motion Picture - Bette Midler et al.

Real Life: The Songs - Victoria Wood

Tomorrow Never Dies: Music From The Motion Picture - David Arnold et al.

In Dreams - Brenda Cochrane

Alien 3: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Elliot Goldenthal

 

[Jimmy Todd]

Before I start posting my top 10 albums from the 90's I wanted to try to post a Top 10 of my favorite albums from the 60's, and luckily I succeeded.

1960's

Barbra Streisand - My Name Is Barbra Two… - (1965)
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Elvis Presley - Elvis NBC-TV Special - (1968)
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Lulu - Lulu's Album - (1969)
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The Sound Of Music (Movie Soundtrack) - (1965)
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Cliff Richard - Sincerely - (1969)
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Anne Murray - This Way Is My Way - (1969)
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Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman (1968)
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Bee Gees - Horizontal - (1968)
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The Supremes - The Supremes A' Go-Go - (1966)
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Johnny Mathis - Love Theme from "Romeo And Juliet" (A Time for Us) - (1969)
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The Kids from Fame had some nice songs on it. I had it back then, but lost it. I tried finding a CD or download in years since, to no avail