2. music
  3. 191912-2135

Pop album that has stood the test of time

I found a used CD copy of Sinead O’Conner’s “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” in Easy Street Records and snatched it up.  I remember liking it in the 90s when it came out and may have a lousy cassette copy somewhere, but I had not seriously listened to it with the better systems I have now.  Listening now, I am impressed by the material, the performance, and the recording quality, and it occurs to me that as an overall concept, it could have come out in 2024 and still sound poignant.  There are a few rock hangovers from the 80s, but even those are well delivered.

I am wondering what pop albums you have that you think have aged well in terms of material, performance and production.

kn

knownothing
slaw's avatar
slaw
23,825 posts
 

Eddie Money "Life for the Taking"

rettrussell's avatar
rettrussell
211 posts
 

+1 slaw  Bruce Cockburn - Stealing Fire

Saw the album tour in London, Ontario where the bass /lead used a Chapman “Stick” to amazing effect….the simultaneous, repetitious runs were done with it and made for a mesmerizing show.

Of course, Bruce is a virtuoso guitarist/songwriter who should be experienced in concert.

Juluka - Scatterings of Africa with Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu is another great 80’s release that shouldn’t be forgotten.

mbmi's avatar
mbmi
621 posts
 

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars...Bowie.

emergingsoul
1,334 posts
 

Jazz pop would be Chuck Mangione and the Great album titled main squeeze.

Also outstanding jazz trumpet player Don Ellis, Live at Fillmore East was a remarkable Orchestra performance. He did the soundtrack for French connection the music is a little bit unconventional.

mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,239 posts
 

Bruce Cockburn’s "Stealing Fires" is good, but I really love his "Night Visions" album. It’s got an instrumental "Islands in a Black Sky" that is hauntingly spectacular, and a good one to pull into system demos. The whole album is pretty cool despite not being my normal fare. The vintage LP I have of it sounds GREAT.

As mentioned by others - I also love Joe Jackson’s "Look Sharp".

I’m not mentioning more because a lot of material I like would probably not qualify for sounding "fresh" today, though that line has become quite blurred by the whole retro/synth wave genre. It’s all quite subjective, I suppose. I’m a big fan of Level 42, and their recordings on 80s vinyl generally sound pretty amazing. For the modern new wave "revival", a few of my favorite bands are:
Wild Nothing (especially "Nocturne" and "Indigo"),
Miami Horror ("All Possible Futures" - spectacular sound on vinyl)
The Midnight (they use an an analog recording chain).

More to discover