One of my favorites:

Error in the System - Peter Schilling.

Everybody knows it for Major Tom (Coming Home), which was a fluke top 15 hit in the US. But it was really a solid album in its entirety. The Noah Plan is a great song... about the end of the world, as it veers into the sun, and humanity has to escape out into space. I Have No Desire and Only Dreams are very melodic, smart pop-rock songs - sound vaguely Cars-influenced. The title song is another song in the Major Tom mode that should have been a single in the US. I believe this have never been released on CD in the US. The original German language version is still available, but the English version - only released on CD in Japan, and copies are going for outrageous prices on EBay. (Last I checked, the copy on Ebay right now is $89.00). I burned my vinyl copy onto CD and it sounds pretty darn good. An excellent forgotten 80's album, if you have a chance to check it out I highly recommend it.


I'd be interested to know if any of ya'll have any favorites from the 80's that are forgotten, out of print, neglected, etc..... I'm going through another 80's phase, and need something new and different to check out.

Great thread. Assuming you mean great albums that have simply fallen off the radar and not already found on a million "best of the 80's lists" (i.e. "The Joshua Tree", "The Queen Is Dead", "Murmur").

Here are a few of my forgotten favorites:

The Alarm - STRENGTH
Billy Idol - REBEL YELL
Big Country - THE CROSSING
Donna Summer - THE WANDERER
Grace Jones - NIGHTCLUBBING

Opal - Happy Nightmare Baby

This is the band David Roback formed prior to creating Mazzy Star - anyone who likes that band should definitely seek this album out. It's similar to Mazzy Star, but with a harder edge and a more pronounced psychedelic fee;.

Who remembers "A Fierce Pancake" by Stump?

i just looked it up on gemm.com to see if i could find a cheep copy of it....

http://www9.gemm.com/c/se...ce+pancake


guess not!!!

ooh, and how'sabout THIS album?

Joan Armatrading - The Key (1982)

The executive producer for this one was Steve Lillywhite the guy who's known for the famed Lillywhite sessions of the Dave Mathews Band's project "Everyday" back in 2001. This album is Joan just letting us have it music wise. She kills us with her songcrafting and musicianship on this record. It includes great rock cuts like I Love It When You Call Me Names, Drop The Pilot (which was covered recently by Mandy Moore) and Foolish Pride. Plus, some new wave with the title track. Also there were great songs that only Joan Armatrading could do like the down low, double life number "Tell Tale," the dark, brooding snarl of "The Dealer" and the wistful pop rock of "What Do Boys Dream." The ballads are great on this album, too. "Everybody Gotta Know" and "I Love My Baby" make you just want to light a candle, wave it in the air and sway from side-to-side. From beginning to end, this album is like a ride in a fun house. You go through so many twists and turns and then when it's over you'll want to go through the turnstile and ride again. A hands-down great record that I highly recommend owning.

Joan Armatrading - Secret Secrets (1985)

Includes great cuts like Temptation, Moves, Persona Grata and one of my favorite 80s songs "Talking To The Wall." A very solid and criminally underappreciated album.

*Both of these albums are sadly out-of-print.*

Anxiety said:

I never heard this particular album, but I like Giant an awful lot...

The dB's - "stands for decibels"

Ramonachris said:

great album!!

Love 'em or hate 'em - there was no-one like 'em!

As an angsty teenager, they were THE most exciting thing like, EVER.

Morris day "Color of sucess" and "Daydreaming"- very good all the way through.....

Brain May's "Star Fleet Project" with Eddie Van Halen.

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions-1984-1989-Ok, it's not an actual album perse, but there's not one duff track.A perfect album to listen to all the way through. I think I need to track down the original albums.
[This message was edited Sun Jul 18 11:07:12 2004 by PhilG]

David Sylvian - Brilliant Trees
Bill Nelson - On A Blue Wing
Ambitious Lovers - Greed
Kajagoogoo - Islands
Rupert Hine/Thinkman - The Formula
Eurogliders -Absolutely
Thomas Dolby -The Flat Earth
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia
[This message was edited Sun Jul 18 11:38:41 2004 by paligap]

oops!
[This message was edited Sun Jul 18 18:35:41 2004 by Marrk]

I have to add these to that list...

Thomas Dolby--"Aliens Ate My Buick"
Kissing the Pink--"Naked"
Wendy O Williams--UltraFly and the Hometown Girls (the FIRST rap/metal album!)
Icehouse--"Man of Colors"
Bros--an album I can't remember

good to see the Thomas Dolby love.... The Golden Age of Wireless and The Flat Earth (especially) are 2 of my favorite 80's albums. The Flat Earth is one of my fave albums of any decade. Aliens Ate My Buick is a step down, IMHO, but still a good record.

Two that are great but forgotten in my mind:

Adrian Belew-Mr. Music Head: Yes, Bowie's Adrian Belew. Great album. Bad Days, 1967 and Oh Daddy are my personal favorites.

Oingo Boingo-Dead Man's Party: Not sure this one counts since it's more well known, sure, but still not as remembered as they should be. A classic.

Tears for Fears-Sowing the Seas of Love: Still a favorite.

More that I'm sure I'm forgetting now, since there's so many that were overlooked or got popular and faded from memory.

Oh shit-forgot something edit!
[This message was edited Tue Jul 20 3:55:11 2004 by subhuman09]