I have nothing in my calendar for January, so let's once again begin with an album that was released at an unknown time during this particular year. The video above displays The Europeans performing Acid Rain, one of the best songs on their second full length studio album Recurring Dreams, which also was their last since the group disbanded the following year.
The well written, melody driven pop / rock songs of the British group went largely unnoticed at the time, but prog fans may recognize future Marillion vocalist Steve Hogarth singing on the video above. Acid Rain closes the album; another brilliant song called Don't Give Your Heart to Anybody precedes it and is equally recommendable for checking out.
February got under way with similar melody driven pop / soft rock. On the 7th, The Alan Parsons Project released the follow-up to their 1982 masterwork Eye in the Sky. As was to be expected, the new album Ammonia Avenue had no chance of matching the high expectations set by its predecessor, but by no means was it a failure either. I was particularly impressed by the title track, embedded above. Not only is it a beautiful song but it also has thought provoking lyrics.
At this point, the Alan Parsons Project enjoyed an exceptionally productive phase in their career. They would be releasing a second new studio album at the end of this very same year. And just like Ammonia Avenue, it would also contain one truly beautiful standout song that in my opinion is even better than this one. We will be coming back to it following the next blog entry, when discussing the year end. Both appear to be obvious choices to join the list of unmissable tracks of the year.
One week later, it was Valentine's Day. As if on cue, Laurie Anderson aped the Alan Parsons Project and released her follow-up to the 1982 masterwork Big Science. It was called Mister Heartbreak and even though it didn't quite live up to its predecessor on the whole, it did contain my all time favorite Laurie Anderson song, embedded above, that I felt even surpassed the magnificent O Superman.
Anderson was a close collaborator with Peter Gabriel who also appeared on the album. He did not sing, however, on Blue Lagoon which seemed to have filed an unbelievably strong claim to the title of the best short track of the year already this early in the year. The song is a breathtaking, monumental work of art - how could anything released later surpass it? We'll see how that goes; at least it will be getting one very close competitor a little later in the year.
On 5 March, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour released his second solo album About Face and by so doing most likely disappointed no one. Gilmour's debut had already been an almost impeccable collection of memorable songs, and so was this new album. At the time, I was most impressed by its closing track Near the End, embedded above, but must admit that there are plenty of other great tracks on offer as well. By this point, Gilmour's solo work was much better than Pink Floyd's.
On 12 April, yet another follow-up to a 1982 masterwork came out. The new album by Rush called Grace Under Pressure was initially a turn-off for me. It sounded like the group was trying to reimagine itself as a more techno oriented "modern" outfit with a more accomplished and less rocking sound. Even the group photo on the back cover of the album was distinctly uncool. It was only after repeated listenings that I came to appreciate the strength of the songwriting, perfectly exemplified by Distant Early Warning below.
Considering that the rest of the album was just about as good as this song, Grace Under Pressure gradually grew from initial disappointment to a strong contender to win the Album of the year title - already won by the hard rocking Canadians for the first time only two years earlier.
April also marked the release of the seventh studio album by the British futuristic pop group Ultravox who should finally be mentioned here for the first time. I hadn't been particularly impressed by their career so far, but by now had to admit that their artistic development was extremely rapid. Ultravox would be releasing their absolute masterwork a couple of years later, but already now, the title track of their new album Lament as well as the strangely moving song Dancing With Tears in My Eyes really captured my attention.
On 11 May, one of the less interesting Stephen King film adaptations called Firestarter had its US premiere. At best, the film itself could be called mediocre but its soundtrack contained some genuine highlights. Like last year, Tangerine Dream had once again scored a horror film and succeeded exceptionally well. The main title of the film has been embedded a little further down. Before we get to it, let's make an important statement.
Mid-eighties were the all time greatest period for pure pop music, and this is where it's starting to show. Since virtually no progressive rock of any true significance was made, we might as well touch all bases here and mention some pop classics that easily put to shame what is out there today. One of the first indications of this golden era of pop came out on 14 May and was called Chicago 17. It was as if the seventies jazz rock group had been neutered, yet as a pure pop album this was - and still remains - a landmark.
Regardless of how wimpy Chicago of 1984 may sound, the new album contains not one or two but three undying pop classics that I cannot help but place on the unmissable tracks of the year list. They are called Hard Habit to Break, Remember the Feeling and You're the Inspiration. I am too ashamed to embed them here but please check them out if you're interested in eighties power ballads sung at an exceptionally high pitch.
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