Comser said:

damn, and to think all 4 have left us in these last years

IstenSzek said:

Also the deserved Grammy-winner The Joshua Tree, Apetite for Destruction, Floodland, Tango in the Night, Dawnrazor, Electric, Diesel and Dust, Surfing with the Alien, Kick, That Total Age, Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, Music for the Masses, Document, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, Sister and Songs About Fucking.

[Edited 2/10/17 16:05pm]

MotownSubdivision said:

IstenSzek said:

damn, and to think all 4 have left us in these last years

That's what makes this bittersweet. The fact that Madonna is the only 80s megastar left and all the others have died within the past near 8 years is disheartening. Thankfully, their music will live on continuously.

true. they left behind some amazing catalogues of songs

MotownSubdivision said:

I just realized this but 2017 will be the 30th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Bad in August, Prince's Sign O The Times in March, Whitney Houston's Whitney in June and George Michael's Faith in October. All landmark releases from 4 of the 5 megastars of the 1980s, all of which have passed on. Man... 1987 was stacked. [Edited 2/10/17 14:56pm]

As someone noted, I'd add The Joshua Tree to that. It certainly took U2 to a whole new level in the worldwide realm.

spacedolphin said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Not sure if you guys will think this belongs on your list but also in 1987, Terence Trent D'arby released his very successful debut, "Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'arby." I know he may not be as famous as the others mentioned in this thread but many consider him a contemporary of the many of the artists mentioned in this thread.

spacedolphin said:

Also the deserved Grammy-winner The Joshua Tree, Apetite for Destruction, Floodland, Tango in the Night, Dawnrazor, Electric, Diesel and Dust, Surfing with the Alien, Kick, That Total Age, Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, Music for the Masses, Document, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, Sister and Songs About Fucking.

You may be my new org crush.

MotownSubdivision said:

I was mainly getting at the idea that this year marks the 39th anniversary of the 4 biggest names of the 1980s and that each of them are dead. Generally speaking about seminal 1987 albums, The Joshua Tree definitely counts.

Ugg I hate that this is even a thing. But I gotcha.

TrivialPursuit said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Wasn't trying to be a downer or a killjoy but man... it's crazy how all 4 artists released an album in the same year and now all 4 are gone. It's definitely a bitter pill to swallow As for 1987 in general, that year saw many significant releases. It's probably the most stacked year of the decade next to 1984.

It's not a downer; just truth.

I'd agree that 1987 seems to be a reboot to music in general. MJ had new sounds on his record, Whitney certain took WH to a new level - a tough task considering how big the Whitney Houston record was in 1985. She changed up her sound, too. Went with the late 80s synth-heavy Ric Wake type sound. Folks had to keep up with that Taylor Dayne sound.

It was a watershed for Prince too, with a new band, and a double record.

Then GM comes out of the gate talking sex in an age of AIDS (ironically it was a message of monogamy, not casual sex), and was one of the first albums to be recorded digitally. People forget that George Michael played most every instrument on there, and wrote all the songs, or at least co-wrote with his friend David Austin ("Look At Your Hands"). He wrote, played, produced... sounds like someone we know.

MotownSubdivision said:

So yeah, 1987 wins. However, the closest year we get for the Big 3 of the 80's ((Michael, Madonna and Prince) each releasing an album is 1984 when Prince had Purple Rain, Michael had his contributions on Victory and Madonn had Like a Virgin.

Yes, I certainly agree about those Pop names making their grandest artistic statements in 1987. Don't taze me bro but I subscribe to the thought that Bad presents his most unified sound and cohesive production, it functions brilliantly as a concept album and captures a fragment of time more effectively than any of his other work (aside from the god-awful title track, thankfully I only have to push skip at the very start on that album). Faith was George at his very best as a songwriter and SotT as we know is Prince's magnum opus. That whole year in general, so many artists left their most creative stamps, from a non-US perspective I do have to mention Diesel and Dust by Midnight Oil. It was huge in Australia and was the first high-profile album to address white history, Indigenous issues and land rights; even to this day white racists squirm in fury and resentment when it is named in any top 20 countdown, I love it so much.

The more I think about 87, the more I believe it to be the most solid year of the decade - but then, upon reflection, I just miss the 80s overall and every year had shining lights for me. We did touch on 1984 in your other thread, so I think we could also throw Born in the USA into that mix there, ol' Bruce was certainly quite a big name around then, although he was on that threshold between pop and rock. If we look at that year purely from a seminal viewpoint again, there was also Ride the Lightning by Metallica, The Smiths and Diamond Life by Sade, so yeah, another strong year altogether.

[Edited 2/11/17 18:32pm]

1987 is my favorite year of music overall.

TrivialPursuit said:

I love all of those albums, SOTT is the clear #1, but Bad is real close. Bad is my favourite Michael Jackson and it is just perfection but not as adventorous or as varied as Sign. Still nothing on Sign sounds as good as Smooth Criminal or the Way you make me feel, yet Michael could never pull off a ballad like Adore.

.

Faith and Whitney are up there too. Howcome no one is counting the 2 Madonna releases - You Can dance and Whose that girl soundtrack (Okay it only had 4 songs of her, but Whose that girl" is a great song).

.

Not only are Sign and Bad classic albums, they are really peaks for both artists in my opinion and pretty much defined the trajectory of each artist's career. They are also surrounded by brilliant albums. Michael with Thriller and Dangerous and Prince with Parade and Lovesexy (Black does not really count, as it only saw official release in 1994).

.

There was a 5th seminal album too - Terence Trent D'Arby's intorducing the Hard Line. Although here in NZ, it only really hit in early 1988.

.

Fleetwood Mac also released the brilliant comeback album - Tango in the night.

[Edited 2/12/17 2:08am]

MotownSubdivision said:

I just realized this but 2017 will be the 30th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Bad in August, Prince's Sign O The Times in March, Whitney Houston's Whitney in June and George Michael's Faith in October. All landmark releases from 4 of the 5 megastars of the 1980s, all of which have passed on. Man... 1987 was stacked. [Edited 2/10/17 14:56pm]

Wow, this was very perceptive of you to recognize this feat!

I was almost ten in 1987 and I remember my parents playing all of these albums non-stop save
Bad; even my parents knew that after Thriller, Jackson had become too corny.

Dasein said:

Adorecream said:

spacedolphin said:

NorthC said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Dasein said:

Wow, this was very perceptive of you to recognize this feat!

I was almost ten in 1987 and I remember my parents playing all of these albums non-stop save
Bad; even my parents knew that after Thriller, Jackson had become too corny.

Is this sarcasm?

Nope! I was truly impressed.

NorthC said:

Bad definitely didn't have the same impact that Thriller had, but it's almost impossible to top that. 1987 also saw the release of Introducing the Hardline Acvording to Terence Trent d'Arby. But, you know what, I think you could easily make 20, 40 & 50 year anniversaries this year... Or any other year...

Yeah, but the context of this thread is "seminality" and considering that all four recording artists
have died within the past ten years or so while being four of the biggest pop stars of all time, I
don't think "any other year" is quite so easily selected.

This means, obviously, that TTD's debut, although it was pretty good, doesn't belong on this list.

Dasein said:

Dasein said: