Madness is one of the most well-known ska-punk bands. Their first albums were really good, but as they got to their fourth album, their ideas were already running short. This album has a few phenomenally good songs, but it's too long and gets boring by the end. Rise & Fall and especially Tomorrow's (Just Another Day) have beautifully catchy melodies and the sounds with weird organs and horns are beautifully carried out. The band's probably biggest hit Our House is overshadowed by these two songs, even though this would also be quite a good song without the fairly irritating chorus. This album starts with so much potential that it's really disappointing how boring it gets later on. That's why it's only on the tenth place this year. Listen to the album on Spotify.
The Clash is probably my favourite band of the first wave of punk. By the 80's their best moments were in the past though. After the amazing London Calling, they could not rise to the same level again. Combat Rock still has few bright moments though. The opening song, Know Your Rights, is a great composition of marching rhythms and ominous melodies. The band's few big hits can also be found on this album. Should I Stay or Should I Go and Rock the Casbah are rock classics known to everyone. The punk sound and ideology is fairly distant from these songs and the lack of attitude makes this album a bit flat. The Clash can however use influences from various different genres keeping the interest up for the most parts of the album. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Martin Gore has called Depeche Mode's second album their worst album. I don't agree with him. A Broken Frame's sounds resemble those of Kraftwerk's golden years, but the melodies are dark and ominous. Production is not as commercial as on their later albums and that makes this album sound better to my ears. Big hits are absent, which actually works for the band's advantage. The opening song, Leave In Silence, is in my opinion among the best songs by the band. Nothing to Fear is a great electronic and instrumental art piece resembling OMD's industrial synth sounds. The album cover is beautiful, even though this might lead the listener to expect a heavy metal album rather than electronica. Listen to the album on Spotify.
XTC is one of those bands that have earned my interest, but have failed to impress me with their albums. Their individual songs are fairly good, but the whole albums lack something. English Settlement comes closest to being a great album. Post-punk and Beatles-like pop-melodies come together beautifully in some of the songs on this album. Ball and Chain, Senses Working Overtime and No Thugs In Our House are pure hit material. It's really difficult to define the genre of this band. It has pieces of pop, punk, folk, progressive rock and funk. you can't blame the band for making inventive and changing music. The only problem is that they fail to make albums that would be pure dynamite from start to finish. Listen to the album on Spotify.
As my frequent readers know, I've praised this Australian band many times during the 80's part of this blog. Every time The Church manages to surprise me pleasantly. The band's second album The Blurred Crusade is beautiful guitar-pop at its best. The melodies are light and airy, sounds rely on clean guitars and beautiful cooperation amongst the rhythm section. At times the sounds have a bit too much echo and remind me of the 80's bad sides. Most of the album is, however, really well produced and the songs have enough hooks to keep me interested. I think this album requires me to listen to it more times to reveal all the sides of it. The first few times catch my attention, but I need to really get into the songs to truly appreciate them. Listen to the album on Spotify.
This is the Cure I was introduced to first. Scary and dark melodies, ominous rhythms and misery and melancholia. Pornography is in my view the last album to portray this kind of Cure, which made its own music uncompromisingly. There are no hits and not many radio-friendly songs, but the artistic sound of the album is much better than on some of the later albums. This is what true goths were about in the early 80's. The psychedelic album cover adds to the scary atmosphere. This album is an explanation of why The Cure is one of the most original bands in the world. No other band sounds like this. I'm not big enough The Cure fan to grade this album the best of the year, but it well might be the most original piece of work this year. Listen to the album on Spotify.
I found Dexy's Midnight Runners a couple of years ago and was immediately hooked. It was the first album back then that caught my attention, but Too Rye Ay is a great album as well and it probably has the most well-known hits, like Come On Eileen. Dexy's Midnight Runners' music is a mix of post-punk, ska, pop, folk and rock. The horn section gives this band a unique lift. This music works great for dancing and jumping up and down. I can only imagine the atmosphere on their gigs in the early 80's. The bit off-key singing voice must have been an inspiration to many alternative bands later on. Unfortunately their third album didn't rise to the same level with the previous two and the band was then forgotten. Listen to the album on Spotify.
I already brought up this band once. Go-Go's pop has some punk influences, but it's mostly about great pop songs. It's like a breath of fresh air in the middle of all the industrial and cold artists and on the other hand it has a lot better sounds than those of average radio pop band's. The sounds are actually good enough that this band could be mistaken for some hipster band of the 2000's. I don't know why this band has not become more famous at its time. It has similarities to Blondie, which was huge at this time. The visual side of the band is extremely 80's. The album cover reeks of it. This band really knows how to write catchy melodies. If you're a fan of Blondie, but haven't heard of Go-Go's I suggest you get right on it and listen to the album on Grooveshark.
The Jam is one of the best finds for me while making this blog. I've known about The Jam for a long time, but I had never really listened to their music. They mix post-punk, funk and catchy pop-melodies to write great pop-songs with punk attitude. Their style has influences from the 60's mod movement. The Gift is the band's final album. You can hear their experience in skilful playing, but the attitude is not quite what it was when they were starting out. Songwriting is really good though. Funky song Precious is probably my favourite. The intensity in that song is superb. Even though The Jam is often linked to the punk movement i think a lot of people who don't like punk will still enjoy The Jam due to its melodic approach. Listen to the album on Spotify.
I have deliberately left many Finnish singing bands out of these lists, because I haven't been able to make my mind, whether they sound good for non-Finns. Now I must lift a Finnish band singing in Finnish to the first place, since this is something very special and I've grown up with this band. And a good news for you non-Finns is that the band also made an English version of this album. I think the songs work better in Finnish, but the translations are fairly good as well. Hassisen Kone plays dark and shamanistic post-punk. They use some unconventional instruments such as xylophone and their bass lines are absolutely fantastic. Ismo Alanko's vocals range from hypnotic quiet baritone to great rock screams. Listen to the Finnish version on Spotify or the English version on Youtube.
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