Best Trio of Albums 1977-1982

kinda tough call - although a bunch of these trios have at least one crap album in them, so I narrowed it down to the one with zero stinkers and that put it at either Numan, Talking Heads, the Ramones, Kraftwerk, EC, Bowie... er okay that didn't narrow it down at all.

Gary Numan FTW!

kraftwerk vs magazine vs wire for me. tough one!

talking heads, magazine, wire, or bowie. not sure

bowie, gabriel, kraftwerk, fela, or talking heads. best period of music ever

The Birthday Party would get it if the Bad Seed/Mutiny in Heaven collection was included instead of Hee Haw.

The Fall, Bowie, Kraftwerk, Fela, PIL, Saints, Talking Heads, Wire can all make a good case (the three Culture albums released between 77-79 might be better than the lot though.) jaxon OTM about the period.

Bowie, Clash and Kraftwerk.

The Bowie is missing Scary Monsters.

Out of those, Japan.

The Fall should get it, though Slates isn't an album <pedant>.

Wire.

Great poll idea...I was boring and went with Bowie, when my heart wanted to vote for The Fall

The Birthday Party would get it if the Bad Seed/Mutiny in Heaven collection was included instead of Hee Haw.

Intriguing point: Do they have to be consecutive? should we be allowed to substitute an ALTERNATE trio of albums by any of the above as long as they're within the same time frame? (Back when bands regularly produced at least one new LP every year!)

My own choice depends on whether or not we have that option...

Wire

maybe Kraftwerk

Of this list, Kraftwerk, but I really want to vote for Dirty Mind/Controversy/1999 or One Nation Under a Groove/Uncle Jam Wants You/The Electric Spanking of War Babies.

The alternate albums for Birthday Party, Bowie, Clash, Fall, Numan, Police, Ramones, Siouxsie, Ultravox and XTC all would be reasonable, and they don't have to be consecutive. I skipped albums for Blondie, The Cure, The Damned, XTC, and maybe others. Just mention what you'd include when you vote. I was tempted to put Dragnet for The Fall, but I know Slates is a big favorite here. Vote with your heart, your head or your naughty bits!

You know it was an awesome era when it's really hard to choose. I should have included Joy Division, even though Still was just an odds 'n' sods, instead of La Dusseldorf, whose first album was 1976. Oops. I'd have included Prince and Funkadelic if I had more space.

it's gotta be either wire or the clash, right?

the english BEAT!

Voted for Talking Heads though I've always been partial to 77 over More Buildings. Easily could have put Name Of This Band Is on the list of 3 in place of one of the studio LPs.

Japan, Magazine, Talking Heads, Numan (though replace Tubeway Army with Telekon)

it's gotta be either wire or the clash, right?

Yes. It would be The Clash hands down if we could swap Give Em Enough Rope with Sandinista. But we can't. Same goes for Costello, Trust for My Aim Is True. But as it's written, it's Wire.

The Fall.

For the record, Springsteen released Darkness On The Edge of Town, The River & Nebraska in this time period. Not bad.

Like, those are good Fela records and stuff, but they don't tower above the rest of Fela's catalog the way the peak-era Fall does over both earlier and later Mark E Smith recordings.

Trust over My Aim Is True? That's a new one. I do kind of like the production on Trust, but felt at least half the songs were sub par. I think The River is a total dud, but it is sandwiched by good ones. I just don't usually associate that era with The Boss. Ian's right about Fela -- those '77 albums are some of his best, but he has more many great ones between 1970 and 75.

I'm always curious to know how people who are not my age perceive that time period. I was only 7-13 during that time, but my first three albums were Pleasure Principle, Fear Of Music and Armed Forces. But most of it I didn't hear 'til I was older, as my tastes also veered into ELO, Styx, Queen, Rush, etc. It was like a secret world that I had brief glimpses of through reading Creem magazine at the time, and opened up more when I discovered Trouser Press and the record guide. 30 years later and I'm still discovering albums I hadn't heard before thanks to reissues like Martha & The Muffins, The Individuals, Pylon, etc. I'm absolutely slavering over the double disc deluxe reissue of A Different Kind Of Tension (I have the 2004 remasters of the first two Buzzcocks). Each album has imperfections, but everything fit together so beautifully, including their album art and even show posters.

I took my all time top 1000 list and tallied the ones with three albums, and scored it like a cross country race. It mostly looked about right, thought I think there's a few albums I would rethink:

01. Talking Heads, 133
02. Wire, 243
03. Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band, 250
04. David Bowie, 345
05. Birthday Party, 547
06. The Buzzcocks, 560
07. The Jam, 819
08. The Clash, 928
09. X, 928
10. Elvis Costello, 1036
11. The Fall, 1090
12. The Sound, 1135
13. Pere Ubu, 1162
14. Comsat Angels, 1169
15. Gang Of Four, 1170
16. The Damned, 1474
17. Magazine, 1564
18. Fela Kuti, 1664
19. La Dusseldorf, 1668
20. XTC, 2443
21. Gary Numan/Tubeway Army, 2529
22. The Stranglers, 2620

The Fall, though Kraftwerk are tempting. Wire too.

Kraftwerk fall off quite a bit with Computer World. Do people really like that album that much? I would have thought I'd have more soul and reggae, but both were kind of winding down. Plenty of great reggae in the late 70s, but few artists seemed to be holding multi-album peaks. I guess Dennis Brown (Wolves & Leopards, Visions, Words Of Wisdom) qualifies, maybe The Gladiators, Cedric Brooks, Ras Michael, Marley of course. A lot of reggae artists of that era had key albums in 1976. As far as disco, perhaps Chic, though I'd actually never heard an entire Chic album.

Human League - Reproduction, Travelogue, Dare must be #51 on the list.

CHROOOOOOME!

How could you leave out Throbbing Gristle, btw?

Guess I never really listen to them anymore, though I have Second Annual Report, D.o.A. Heathen Earth, 20 Jazz Funk Greats.

Computer World is my favorite Kraftwerk album!

(nb: I have not heard all of them)

do kind of like the production on Trust, but felt at least half the songs were sub par.

It falls apart on side 2. but side 1 is the best thing he ever did. I wouldn't even rank My Aim Is True in his top 5. The songs are great, but I'm not so crazy about his backing band on that one, clover. Which later mutated into The News, of Huey Lewis fame.

20 Jazz Funk Greats is one of the greatest albums of all time, IMO. Check Drew Daniels of Matmos' recent 33-1/3 series entry on it.

'The Second Annual Report' and 'D.O.A.: The Third and Final Report' are the other two I'd go for. They birthed the entire 'industrial' side of noise/music, and this sounds terrible until you remember how awesome first-gen industrial was (Coil/TG/Cabaret Voltaire, not Skinny Puppy and the like).

Also props to Chris and Cosey, if you like the track 'Hot on the Heels of Love'.

And Psychic TV, of course.

the fall vs. pil for me. leaning towards pil.

chrome might've bested them both if you'd put red exposure instead of blood on the moon. is that some bizarre typo?

woah, human league is a huge omission, i didn't even notice. they'd be top two or three from this list for me for sure...but i think it has to be wire.

Exactly which four Peter Gabriel albums would this be? He he released four albums named "Peter Gabriel" during this time interval.

Anyway, either combination would have to include his second, and weakest, album. Which is why I didn't vote for him.

KRAFTWERK w/talking heads, bowie & the clash nipping at their heels.

If you switch out Let There Be Rock for Back In Black AC/DC becomes much harder to ignore.

Still voted for Bowie in the end.

Had it been "Station To Station" through "Heroes", Bowie had become a very obvious contender to me. I feel that "Lodger" was slightly weaker.

But there are so many fantastic three album runs in this list that the competition gets very strong. Bowie, Costello, Cure, Gabriel, Japan, Jam, Magazine, Squeeze: All of them very fine three album runs.

And in the case of Ultravox, their next three albums until 1982 would have deserved inclusion.

This is the toughest call thread of the week!

Amid stiff competition, too.

Went with Buzzcocks, in the end.

Oh, and it's Buzzcocks, not The Buzzcocks...

Bowie, Kraftwerk or PIL.

Yeah, nearly went Pil.

This is way harder than I thought it'd be. AC/DC, Elvis, Stiff Little Fingers...or maybe X, Motorhead or possibly the Jam. Then again I could go with The fall but what the hell, The Ramones are my choice even though I find it hard to disagree with anyboby's vote here.

Bowie, Iggy, Wire or Talking Heads.

Is "New Values" any good? I think I'm leaning towards Wire.

Any three consecutive Stevie Wonder albums. Oops, where's that choice?

Ha. I'm listening to In Square Circle as we speak!

Those Buzzcocks albums are now out as 2CD Deluxe editions, not too expensive either...

AC/DC -

Numan!

I could go Thin Lizzy if the years were '74-'78

New Values is great!

Think this has to be Kraftwerk, though Wire and the Fall are tempting and this poll will get me to dig out my less-listened-to Devo and La Dusseldorf albums.

Kraftwerk fall off quite a bit with Computer World. Do people really like that album that much?

Yes! Huh, I'd put The Man-Machine as the weak one from that trio myself.

I know that this poll couldn't possibly include every band putting out records during that time period, but the ommission of Rush doesn't make sense to me. They put out 5 of their greatest albums in those years. Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures are pretty much untouchable. Throw in either Hemispheres or Signals and you have my pick for this poll.

Moodles otm...and I'm still undecided.

From the actual list, I'd probably pick Wire because each of those 3 albums is so strong.

Probably my favorite from the list is Talking Heads, but I think that More Songs... is much weaker than the other two, so that pick doesn't work for me so well as a trio.

Those Buzzcocks albums are now out as 2CD Deluxe editions, not too expensive either...

What do you consider not too expensive? They're $22 on CD Wow. Better than $30 I guess.

I got the New Values reissue for cheap a couple years ago and sold my twofer with Soldier. I guess that was reissued too, but I don't miss it.

Sorry 'bout leaving out Rush, but not about Wonder. He only had two albums in that period, Secret Life of Plants and Hotter Than July. Don't really compete with 50+ other artists at their peak.

Is "New Values" any good? I think I'm leaning towards Wire.

New Values is great. Doesn't quite have that "Berlin" Eno/Visconti sound of the other two, but the songs are fantastic. Took me longer to warm up to it, but it has some of my favorite songs of those three records.

T. Heads, although the debut needs to be on there for me, and I can't decide whether to eliminate More Songs or Fear Of Music. Definitely a band on a creative roll.

Or Bowie, but I would keep Lodger and drop Heroes to make the trilogy Low/Lodger/Scary Monsters.

I could also make a case for XTC swapping the debut for Go2, or maybe even Drums and Wires/Black Sea/English Settlement.

They are £8.99 at HMV (UK) which is ok.

It's not just me being old, is it? 1977-82 was pretty awesome. I considered Costello, Kraftwerk, the Ramones, and Talking Heads, but went with Bowie.

I could also make a case for XTC swapping the debut for Go2, or maybe even Drums and Wires/Black Sea/English Settlement.

― Dan Peterson, Wednesday, October 22, 2008 9:38 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^this (w/ English Settlement, that is)

Um, shouldn't they be Trio sequence of albums?

i.e. if you have Talking Heads' debut, their second one "Songs Buildings Food" would have to be a given for this?

Rush is a bad omission.

Not to sound like a cliche, but I would nominate Black Sabbath for Never Say Die (totally underrated), Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules.

I'd have included Cheap Trick, if I had done this.

Sorry if it's not clear, but I mentioned in the intro that I just picked my favorite three from within those years. I thought it would make it more interesting? The ones I chose that were out of sequence were Blondie, The Cure, The Damned, The Police and XTC, maybe some others. I did not choose the fourth Gabriel album sometimes known as Security. Debate is welcome, and again, if you did vote for one but felt an album should be substituted, just mention it.

They are £8.99 at HMV (UK) which is ok.

Plus £4.50 airmail for me. Ouch.

yeah, Drums And Wires through English Settlement wd make this v interesting for me, as would 17 Secs-Faith-Porn

I'd have included Cheap Trick, if I had done this.

Their first album is classic, but don't you think In Color is kind of weak? I need to listen to Heaven Tonight again, as I can't remember any of the songs other than the two big ones.

In Color has some classics, but a lot of stinkers. Same goes with Heaven Tonight. First is the best.

The Ramones first album is 1976 though...

I surprised myself by voting for Elvis Costello. Ramones and Talking Heads were the closest runners-up (even though the first Ramones should rightfully be excluded, as Mark says).

Yes, another mistake. Just make that Leave Home, Rocket to Russia and Road To Ruin.

^^^^^Lotsa great stuff up there, but of course everyone has their own personal pet-peeve omissions (Parliament, Van Halen, Prince, etc.) I was prepared to say Motorhead, choosing an alternate trio than the one above, but finally went with Beefheart. Predictably, perhaps, I easily would've chosen MX-80 Sound if I had the optioin.

Going with Wire because they make the most sense as a trio of albums. Logical, but unforseeable, development from one to the next. They cover the most ground while staying true to some core of sound/idea. And at this point in time, they seem the least dated to me.

B-52S WILD PLANET MESOPOTAMIA

Has to be The Fall although Kraftwerk, Wire and PIL all great.

aha i was just coming in here to talk up Van Halen. not sure if i'd go VH s/t -> W&CF (probabaly the consensus pick) or VHII -> Fair Warning. I just love FW so v. much.

B-52's represent!

I was totally gonna do a write-in vote for The B-52's, and then thought, erm, Mesopotamia? Adore the band, like the EP.

Dang, I forgot that MX-80 had three albums, because I have two on one CD. I first heard Mesopotamia (technically an EP) cuz my MOM bought it for herself!

if there is a lone devo vote, its me, btw

it has to be pere ubu. it doesn't get more classic than the modern dance, dub housing and new picnic time.

What about ABBA: Voulez-Vous, Super Trouper, The Visitors?

And for the born-again Dylan fans: Slow Train Coming, Saved, Shot of Love.

The Stranger! 52nd Street!! Glass Houses!!!

Of the ones listed, I think I just might have to go with X.

(Though if Ramones debut was included, I might have to re-think.)

what a fucking awesome thread idea!

first off: Kraftwerk fall off quite a bit with Computer World. Do people really like that album that much? ... DUDE, WHAT? that's my desert-island kraftwerk disc. actually, no, that'd be trans-eur ... no, radioactivity ... no, fuck it, it'd be computer world. i hear it as the acme of what they were trying to achieve.

secondly: if the human league was on the list, i'd vote for them like a shot -- although there is the caveat that "dare" was made by what was basically a completely different band to the first two albums, so i'm not gonna cry too hard.

i think OMD are going to edge it for me. if you'd extended this to 1983 and swapped the first album for "dazzle ships", i wouldn't be giving it a second's thought. wire, the fall, talking heads, ultravox!, PiL, magazine, kraftwerk, the cure and -- of course -- bowie are all contenders, but i'm going to vote with my heart, and i guess those albums are more a part of me than pretty much any others, within the context of this poll or not.

so: yeh, OMD it is.

seriously, though, this thread just makes me want to take the next week off and listen to pretty much all of these. superb.

Between Chrome and the Damned, for me.

But there are a LOT of strong contenders who fall short because one LP out of three is just a bit duff. (And, yes, I'm going to have to rethink both 'Blood on the Moon' and 'Black Album')

For better or worse, I think my musical taste was formed in this period. And it's such a looooong time ago!

Willie Nelson: Stardust, Honeysuckle Rose, Always on My Mind - would be a strong contender

the Blondie sequence is wrong. Plastic Letters preceded Parallel Lines, no?

I know it's not a great or popular record, but you're all forgetting Music for Pleasure, The Damned's 2nd album!

Aaargh! Well spotted, and I had managed to forget that one. Does that include them out? Or include the Birthday Party in?

Also Blondie's 1st album was 1976

I guess that's why their first album wasn't mentioned in the sequence either. Although the best Blondie sequence was obviously the first three.

Lot of dubious third albums I'd like to hear again. 'Lodger' probably comes up looking pretty good, I'd wager.

Talking Heads or Pere Ubu for me...

Talking Heads. That's an unimpeachable trio.

Erm, Geir:

Blondie – Blondie, Parallel Lines, Eat To The Beat

OK. The mistake here is that "Plastic Letters" should have been there instead of "Eat To The Beat". Except that sequence began in 1976.

For me Priest or AC/DC are unimpeachable over the three, for sure, but never quite top some of the great individual albums included here.

Another factor is whether you heard this stuff at the time: Chrome's music never far from me now, but I didn't listen to them until the early nineties.

I still stand by Japan. Their first two albums were rubbish, but the next three were all downright fantastic.

This would be intriguing, but I haven't heard the whole albums:

Hall & Oates: Voices, Private Eyes, H2O

A marvelous sequence, and each gets progressively better.

I'd have included Cheap Trick, if I had done this.

I might have gone with Cheap Trick if they were included also.
Looking back Wire, Buzzcocks and Bowie are all strong contenders.
Awesome thread and a great era of music. I don't think I actually dislike anything on the list.
I might need a second job so I can fill in the gaps in my collection.

It's clearly Wire, much as I'd love to go all contrarian on this one.

The suggestion that Joy Division's two LPs are so great you could handicap the band with a double LP of muddy outtakes and they'd still win going away is true enough, but....

The Pop Group (if you count the We Are Time LP, and I do) had a good three LP run, as did the Ex (if you go by Dutch release dates, which you should). Also depending on how you count (you could argue against those 45rpm mini-LPs), the Minutemen might be worth a mention.

And I don't know where the love for the Wipers' first three is, but they're better than at least half the list offered above.

Yes to all of this! Bonus points for thinking of the Ex.

"The suggestion that Joy Division's two LPs are so great you could handicap the band with a double LP of muddy outtakes and they'd still win"

There's the rub - even as a partisan follower of many of he bands listed, I couldn't claim three albums in the given period that anyone would struggle not to like.

The best Cheap Trick run was "In Colour" through "Dream Police". The debut is overrated and underproduced.

this came down to Blondie, David Bowie, The Cure, Talking Heads or XTC.

will vote the Cure for the run of Seventeen Seconds, Faith, Pornography but if you did throw in Joy Division than all bets are off. Talking Heads is the solid number two.

I voted Birthday Party w/ the sequence being Prayers, Junkyard, EPs (and pretending the EPs came out in uh '82 which it appears they didn't.)

I like Hee Haw just fine to vote for it in place.

Would vote for if you'd got the albums right: XTC

Most underrated: Ultravox, by miles.

Probably the best: Wire

Who I'm going to vote for: Magazine

...if that makes sense.

Very surprised no one's nominated Devo. I would say Kraftwerk, Devo, and Blondie, if it's those three albums in the OP. The Siouxsie ones are good too. By the way, most official-type sources say Blondie's debut LP came out in early '77; the "X Offender/In the Flesh" single was definitely '76 though.

I meant "X Offender/In the Sun."

XTC's best run was from 1986 to 1992.

My pet peeve ommission is Simple Minds (Life In A Day, Reel To Real Cacophony, Empires 7 Dance, Sons & Fascination, New Gold Dream)

Not sure which act I'll choose though.

the misfits would've swung my vote without a second thought:

static age, 12 hits from hell, walk among us

(of course, very few have heard 12 hits from hell)

Re Blondie - AMG sez Dec 1976, but that could easily be wrong, seeing as it's AMG and all.

Re Re Blondie: In the bio Making Tracks Harry & Stein say the 1st LP was finished in Sept. '76 & released in Jan. '77. The liner notes of the 2001 CD reissue also say Jan. '77. At least we've narrowed it down to two months.

oh yeah, Magazine.

The Fall – Grotesque, Slates, Hex Education Hour

If you'd said Dragnet, Grotesque, Slates ...

This is a good poll! Between Wire, Bowie, and Kraftwerk

Indeed a tough one. Went with Costello, but Ramones, Talking Heads and X are right behind.

seriously, though, this thread just makes me want to take the next week off and listen to pretty much all of these. superb.

Seconded! Actually, I'd rather forget the end date and make it a month to have time for the write-ins.

I explained twice how for the purposes of this poll, the albums don't have to be in sequence, and you can substitute, but nobody listens. Does the word "trio" instead of "three" suggest sequence? It shouldn't have to, but it does here I guess. At any rate, I'm enjoying re-listening to stuff. Looks like it's inspiring others to do so too.

A few years ago I bought ABBA's The Visitors for a gf who likes most of their stuff. We both thought the album was awful. Good thing Blondie is '77, cuz otherwise you'd have to include Plastic Letters or Autoamerican. I downloaded those first two Human League albums several years back and thought they were interesting but not worth a second listen, much like the first Kluster and Kraftwerk albums. Guess I'll give 'em another go. I should have included Pop Group with We Are Time. And they should finally issue that and For How Much Longer on CD... I'd have included Simple Minds were the poll not limited to 50, though would anyone really vote for them? Finally, in many ways I think the first Birthday Party album is their best. Because it's more subtle, I think it's more intense, scary, creepy...

I downloaded those first two Human League albums several years back and thought they were interesting but not worth a second listen

you must give them another go. and report back. without wishing to be hyperbolic, i think those are two of the greatest achievements in the history of recorded sound.

I would like to say you avoided hyperbole there, but can't, in all conscience.

I like early Simple Minds (a lot), but voting for them over Magazine would be criminal.

Also, 100 tons, what exactly DO you mean when you call Wire the "best" choice yet vote for Magazine? All I take away from that is that Wire is more critically accepted--and more boring.

It means I've only heard one of the Wire albums, and great as it is, Magazine have this element of lucid cruelty and musical theatre that warms me to them, regardless indeed of the most "perfect" creations (which I'd imagine Wire are responsible for).

I am on the crack. I do have the Human League albums on CD. I just have too damn many and can't keep track. I remember now, I originally got a CDR from Simon Reynolds years ago when he was working on the postpunk book. I gave him some prog and a few obscure things, and he gave me some stuff. Obviously they were worth a second listen, as I bought the CDs. Now for a third or fourth listen...

I envy anyone who gets to hear two of the three great Wire albums for the first time.

I only bring it up because Wire has always left me cold. I own their first three albums and have literally not listened to them in maybe 5 years. Pink Flag is way too punk for my tastes (a lot more punk than Real Life), Chairs Missing has some good tracks but is ultimately forgettable for me, and 154 has a few too many failed "artsy" experiments that just grate. I've never considered any of their albums strong.

So, basically, you called Wire the "best" simply because critics regard them so warmly! Why not just allow that Magazine are a "better" band? Because they are!

No they're not. Fite.

Nah I've been on a Chairs Missing tip recently, and I think it's ingeniously constructed (N.B. I'm not a particularly punk-friendly listener either); I also think I'd really enjoy 154. Magazine are more "me", if that makes sense. A better band maybe (certainly in the frontman and keyboard depts), but their albums seem a little more damaged than Wire's (which is no bad thing, but also means that objectively I'd expect Wire to win every time). Gah, I don't know. I voted for Magazine because I wanted to, that's all.

Wire didn't really have a frontman... or a keyboard player

Exactly!

I could of course hear 154 and reverse my decision.

I quite like Magazine, but they never did anything surprising, all a bit too conventional for me

You goad.

No no. Also I like Wire's punky, we're-learning-this-as-we-go-along thing

Hmm.

There is a real spirit of exploration to Chairs Missing, I guess. Magazine are more...confident I guess, so they ramp up the drama. Comes across as manic and unhinged at points, but this I like. Both Wire and Magazine are unpredictable, in different ways. As I say, it's splitting hairs, and as I've only VERY recently gotten into Wire, they may well accelerate beyond. Magazine are hardly conventional IMO.

I LOVE Magazine to death, but I think I'd have to prefer Wire. 154 is such an interesting album...even in the arty songs that grate, somewhere, like 2 minutes in, there will suddenly be a totally beautiful and sublime moment. And the 15th and Map Ref. are both beautiful enough to offset the more archly arty leanings. Pink Flag is punk, but is really a minimalist art experiment at the same time, and Chairs Missing is a perfect combination of the two. And listen to the first song on Pink Flag again, it's not the like the entire record is made up out of tuneful little class of 77 ragers.

The Fall – Grotesque, Slates, Hex Education Hour

If you'd said Dragnet, Grotesque, Slates ...

― Ich Ber ein Binliner (Tom D.), Thursday, 23 October 2008 13:42 (2 hours ago) Permalink

ha, I thought I was the only fall fan who doesn't rate HEH very highly

but let's pretend we can switch them out so fastnbulbous' head don't explode

ha, I thought I was the only fall fan who doesn't rate HEH very highly

I thought I was the only one! Well, me and my brother.

I'm baffled by "pink flag is too punk" - makes it sound like a rudimentary peni album or something. sure it has "punk" moments but there are so many other types of moments on it. if "ex lion tamer" were on an rem album I don't think anybody'd call it a punk rock song. and if "fragile" had a bigger backline and a harmonica solo it wouldn't be out of place on exile on main street.

Agreed- "Mannequin" could easily be by Squeeze or The Cars. It's hardly that abrasive.

And I voted Wire!

It is still pretty damn punk!

Not "Mannequin", the album

i'm tempted to vote for the Associates or the Comsat Angels just because no one's mentioning them--although The Affectionate Punch and Fiction aren't up to the best of the other ones... ALSO, isn't anyone else missing DAF's Alles Ist Gut, Gold und Liebe, Fur Immer?

but let's pretend we can switch them out so fastnbulbous' head don't explode

I was just trying to keep it flexible for all the folks who can never be satisfied. Yall just like rules too much!

I thought the D.A.F. albums were hard to find but they've been available on CD since '98, Amazon has 'em for $12 each. I guess it's possible it's been a decade since I last checked. This poll is gonna be expensive.

Interesting points on both Magazine/Wire. I think Magazine has better lyrics, but the music is more homogeneous, in mostly good ways. Wire stand out more for me mainly because there's more songs that stick for me.

love magazine to death but wire edge it for me cos they're more singular, and the conceptual logic of those 3 albums is just irresistible

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/2761/136460ze0.jpg

Apropos of nothing, I guess, except maybe the mildest self-righteous outrage over the Wipers' omission here, I'd like to make the argument that dollar for dollar, or even pound for pound, the three-cd set that Greg Sage will sell you for $17 that comprises Is This Real?, Youth of America, and Over the Edge is the best three-consecutive-album value you'll find anywhere, though I admit that the outtakes and miscellany bring nothing to the table. (The first three albums are so pure, without even an unnecessary note among them—as true for the 10-minute sweep of "Youth of America" as for the minute-and-a-half rabbit punch of "Telepathic Love"—that including half-baked attempts distracts more than teaches.)

http://www.zenorecords.com/shop/cd.htm

wire

Meant to provide this link to the best Wipers footage I've found. You do have a wait a minute (yeah, song reference) or two for them to launch into a great version of "Over the Edge." But the Northwest scenester talking heads have their moments—and, if nothing else, look like they could take the Manchester Musicians Collective in a rumble.

(Speaking of the Manchester Collective, LTM has just put out a comp cd of the Object Music label. Many great things, and some very intersting things, among them "Cake Shop Device" by the Manchester Mekon, the song that provide the riff/progression for "Love Will Tear Us Apart.")

XTC's best run was from 1986 to 1992.

Very untrue.

birthday party without even looking at the rest

Whoever mentioned Chic upthread was otm. The only band that comes anywhere near the Fall for overall output over the broad timescale IE Witch trials/Dragnet/Totales turns/Grotesque/Slates/Hex/Room to live/lots of good singles V Chic/Cest Chic/Risque'/Real people/Take it off/Tongue in Chic.

But that isn't the questioin.

But Chic should still have been in it. I mean they're better than Kosmat Angels and fucking Squeeze...for fuck's sake?

Questioin = question in soberworld.

I bought that Wipers set when it was reissued several years back, and it is indeed great value. I played them all again a few months back and though I love parts from all of them, I didn't think the albums were consistent enough to reach the heights of most of the ones listed already. Nevertheless, an under-appreciated American band from that era.

Dome 3 & 4 are great for fans of Wire who want to follow their experimental arc, along with the Colin Newman albums. Thanks for reminding me, I hadn't gotten the Dome 1 & 2 reissue yet.

I admire the craft of what I've heard of Chic, but I have huge doubts that I'll ever enjoy them as much as Comsat Angels or Squeeze.

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That's right Schmuck, does it make sense now? I'm the one who mentioned Chic upthread too. Wouldn't it be better if you were out drinking with friends rather than home alone?

beers cost like three times as much at a bar as they do at the corner store!

Well to each his own, but for me most of the Comsat Angels is powerfully listless, while the lion's share of Squeeze has them charming bantamweights. At least when compared to the articulate power the Wipers achieved in songs like "Tragedy," "Telepathic Love," "Wait a Minute," "Nothing to Prove," "Can this Be," "Over the Edge," and a dozen others.

There is kind of a UK, New Wave, and Post Punk slant to this list (and the responses), no? To the (not total, I admit) exclusion of the ballsier side of things.

There is kind of a UK, New Wave, and Post Punk slant to this list (and the responses), no?

Hell yea, without a doubt! What else is there? Seriously, as far as epochal albums, postpunk owned that era. By "ballsier," do you mean metal? Cuz I loves me some Angel Witch, Riot, Ozzy, Raven, Girlschool, Saxon, Quartz, Angel City, Tygers of Pan Tang, Heavy Load, Accept, Venom, etc. They just don't make my top 50. Or are you talking U.S. hardcore/postpunk? Besides the Wipers (who have more in common with Comsat Angels and The Sound than anything else on the list) and others already mentioned like Chrome, Pere Ubu and X, who had three classic albums out by 1982? Who's missing?

Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were both pretty killer during these years.

For sure. Priest are in there so you can vote for them.

Hah I didn't see them. Iron Maiden still holds. Don't know who else he mean't. King Sunny Ade? Gregory Isaacs? Dennis Brown? Prince Far I? Culture? Burning Spear?

"Cuz I loves me some..."

There's no need to go all sarcastic and affect the voice of some yahoo, as if there's some equation between rocking and idiocy. It's certainly possible to be ballsy and non metallic. Maybe you need more downtime with the Pagans. Nobody's championing Saxon; nobody said that the Wipers have nothing in common with the Sound and Comsat Angels. They certainly share a mood. I do at times find those two UK bands a little dull, but there's no denying their overall worth, or that they belong on the list above with their peers. And I was careful to say "slant" (meaning that the list, perhaps naturally, tends in that direction), not "bias" (which would have implied things were left off, perhaps unnaturally, owing to the compiler's prejudices). It does seem that post punk bands, perhaps especially UK ones, were a little more likely to release mulitple albums. But to leave out groups like the Wipers, the Minutemen, MX-80, The Ex, S.Y.P.H., Geisterfahrer, Cheap Trick, The Flesheaters, and Crass does suggest the list is a touch tilted in favor of less hard hitting outfits like the Associates and Japan. There is fifty-item limit to the list, of course, so choices were necessary, I'm just saying that the list (and one of the meanings of "list" is to tip to one side) is a little less punk than it could be. And the responses tend to value the less-rocking, too. On the other hand, you could have kicked out more punk bands and thrown in the Spherical Objects, The Pop Group, and the Durutti Column, to name a few. So maybe the list is just right.

To be completely left field here... I think a case can be made for Some Girls, Emotional Rescue, Tattoo You

Still, I voted for Blondie

Sorry 'bout leaving out Rush, but not about Wonder. He only had two albums in that period

Yeah, I think what happened there was I read the years wrong and somehow thought it was a full decade. Still, throw in Musiquarium and it's almost worth considering.

There's no need to go all sarcastic and affect the voice of some yahoo...

Sorry but there was no sarcasm. It's tricky when people are from around the globe but we don't know exactly where everyone's from. That "yahoo" voice is my own. I'm a metal-loving midwesterner, born and raised in Iowa, educated in Minnesota, live in Chicago. See my site to verify.

If I had more than 50 options, I would have gotten to Crass. Penis Envy is a classic. Love The Minutemen, they just didn't have three albums in that period. The Pagans didn't release any albums in that period. Flesh Eaters could qualify, I'd just never heard those entire early albums. I'll have to fix that. Can't say I've even heard S.Y.P.H., Geisterfahrer or Spherical Objects. Thanks for the tips.

hah. grew up in Maine, where we loves us some pretty boy metal, too. Though Maine never offset that with any post punk of note. Had to move to Boston for that. My fault for taking your comment as laying it on a bit thick, not enthusiastic. The Pagans definitely didn't have LPs, but you can slip the Minutemen in if you're willing to go with 45 rpm 12" mini-lps--dodgy, I know. S.Y.P.H. and Geisterfahrer were, as you might suspect, German post punk bands with aggressive guitars and an industrial lurch. S.Y.P.H. had connections to Can, Geisterfahrer to Mayo Thompson of Red Crayola. If you poke around online, you can find stuff by them both. Earlier is usually better, of course.

Also missing in action: Thomas Leer, SPK

ac/dc today.

Mix Up-The Voice of America-Red Mecca

I think I went with Numan, probably because I picked up a nice cheap copy of Replicas the other day and I've been listening to it a ton.

I've been listening to tons of Fela Kuti's Shuffering and Schmiling and Zombie lately. I probably would have went with him, but I haven't heard Sorrow Tears & Blood. No Agreement was recorded in the same time period, however, and is maybe my favorite thing he ever recorded.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

So I picked up a copy of Flesh Eaters' A Minute To Pray, A Second To Die and it sounds absolutely horrible. I remember why I could never get into them, Chris D's thin, strained warble is unbearable. Mine was supposed to be a new copy on Slash/Rhino, but it doesn't appear to be the recent remaster, unfortunately. The one song I used to play on my radio show 20 years ago is the classic "Cyrano De Berger's Back." The rest is hard to stomach, despite such enticing connections to The Blasters, X and Gun Club. Not one to give up, I also picked up a used copy of the 1983 A Hard Road To Follow, which is definitely a remaster on Atavistic. I'll report back when I give it a proper listen.

The poll may not be definitive due to the limit of options, but the thread as a whole will serve a great reference guide for me at least. It's always exciting to think there might be some classics I've missed, so many years after the fact. Thanks everyone.

and this thread is a great antidote to all the steely dan/balearic/whatever! thanks!

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Interesting. So only 13 of the 50 didn't get any votes. At least another dozen got write-in votes. That says a lot for the overall quality during that time.

How many of them performed songs from that era in the last few years? I know for sure that Wire, The Fall, X, AC/DC, Buzzcocks, Police, English Beat, Undertones and Pere Ubu did. I'm guessing maybe Kraftwerk, The Cure, Numan, Judas Priest, Blondie, Motorhead, Siouxsie and Pretenders.

So anyone think there's a chance of Talking Heads and Magazine reunions?

Best Trio Album of 1977-1982

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc900/c905/c90505cnp61.jpg

From Wikipedia:

"It was confirmed in July 2008 that Howard Devoto and Magazine are to reform for five dates in February 2009. Their lineup will include Devoto, Formula, Adamson and Doyle.

On September 18, the bands official myspace confirmed a second performance at The Forum in London.

On October 1, the bands official myspace confirmed a further two performances, in Glasgow and Manchester. [13]

It's said that cake will be openly, and unashamedly, on sale at these gigs."

How many of them performed songs from that era in the last few years?

you should seek out the thread where my psychological wellbeing takes a knock following OMD's "architecture and morality" tour ;)

So I picked up a copy of Flesh Eaters' A Minute To Pray, A Second To Die and it sounds absolutely horrible

w/r/t ILM, Talking Heads are a more insidious version of Steely Dan

and I kinda wish I and a few more others had voted Wire now I've a) seen the poll results and b) heard 154

Altho a late-80's equivalent pitting Talk Talk's last 3 against The Smiths would probably blow me a fuse when Morrissey's bloodless bunch of preening amusical cunts steamroller their inevitable way to a crushing and entirely undeserved victory