Rio is the second studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 10 May 1982 through EMI Records. The band wrote and demoed most of the material before recording the album at AIR Studios in London from January to March 1982. Colin Thurston returned from their 1981 self-titled debut studio album as…
New Order Power, Corruption & Lies is the second studio album by English rock band New Order, released on 2 May 1983 by Factory Records. The album features more electronic tracks than their 1981 debut Movement, with heavier use of synthesizers. The album was met with widespread acclaim, and has been included in music industry…
Tears for Fears, released on 25 February 1985 by Phonogram Records. The album peaked at number two in the UK and at number one in the US, becoming a multi-platinum seller and the band’s most successful studio album to date. Songs from the Big Chair spawned the commercially successful singles “Mothers Talk”, “Shout”, “Everybody Wants…
The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead (1986) If “How Soon Is Now” off The Smiths’ previous album was the starting-pistol shot announcing their intentions to delve into darker territories, then the title track off The Queen Is Dead was rhythmic strafing to the same effect. But the devastating melancholia quickly morphs into the sardonic lyrical meglomania that made…
Talking Heads: Remain in Light (1980) For their fourth and finest record, the Talking Heads (along with producer/collaborator/all-around musical badass Brian Eno) trotted out their African influences in full force. Polyrhythmic, lyrically cryptic and featuring one of the most awesomely weird guitar solos of all time (Adrien Belew’s blippy genius on “Born Under Punches”), Remain in…
Elvis Costello: My Aim is True (1977) Costello’s debut album bridged the gap between the roiling punk energy of the mid-70s and the staid tradition of literate, intimate, popular songwriting that traces from the Gershwins, Berlin and Porter to Buddy Holly and Lennon/McCartney. The record (with the country-tinged ballad, “Alison,” the straight-up rockers “Mystery Dance” and…