10 More Perfect Rock Albums Of The 80s With No Bad Songs

Welcome to the exciting jungle of '80s rock.

Guns N Roses Appetite For Destruction
Geffen

The 1980s was a time of bleak political rule both in the US and the UK. Ronald Reagan was painting the American political system with a wash of new-conservatism, and Maggie Thatcher did her upmost to weaken Britain's working class and undermine the middle class. Conservatism was rife across the Western world. Social unrest was fuelled by economic uncertainty. Although, there has been something of a recent trend, of looking at the '80s through rose tinted glasses, times were in fact, tough.

All this made for a great source of inspiration for rock musicians, however, who were always searching for something to rail against. But it wasn't all doom and gloom, many of the great records of this time were explosive celebration of joy, that served to distract from all the political nonsense plaguing the world.

Music saw the emergence of new-wave, hip-hop, hair metal and grunge. It was a time when rock was finding new avenues to explore and new ways to manifest. Rock has come to encompass a broad and widely varying collection of sub genres, and this was a decade that saw many of the most innovative and exciting genres develop.

10. Remain In Light - Talking Heads (1980)

This was one of the more enjoyable and enduring sub genres to come out of the 1980s. When the ugly beast of hair metal was cut down by grunge - to slink slowly into the realms of the obscurity - new-wave was able to boogie around on the peripheries of the rock scene for years to come.

This is just over 40 minutes of exquisite dance rock. There are no distorted guitar riffs or raging solos vying for your attention. Whether it be the guitar, the bass, the synth or all the varied percussion instruments, everything is working together to create textured melodies, that you can't help but move to.

Rhythmically, this album is all over the place in the best possible way. David Byrne and the band were hugely influenced by Fela Kuti, and took an approach of incorporating multiple rhythms, played simultaneously, in a manor reminiscent of African funk music.

The two singles, Once in a Life Time and Houses in Motion, became huge hits. The former being an upbeat dance track, with all manor of strange samplings, and lyrics that spoke of the trappings of a sleepy suburban lifestyle. The latter contained a robot-disco groove that wouldn't be out of place in an underground club on Tatooine. Even to this day this record sounds cutting edge.

 
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Before engrossing myself in the written word, I spent several years in the TV and film industry. During this time I became proficient at picking things up, moving things and putting things down again.