Reviews (page 3 of 8)
Its not as awful as its global rating suggests, it just hasnt aged very well - sounds super dated and not in a nostalgic way, a bit too 80s cheese.
A highly ambitious work that hits the mark more often than not, Cupid & Psyche 85's precise and crystalline production is the perfect match for Green Gartside's maximalist songs. Tracks like "Absolute" and "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)" are knockouts, pairing Gartside's keen melodic sense with inventive, daring arrangements that bring out the nuances in his songs.
Didn't hate this but it was very 80s and the vocals were giving Milli Vanilli, ironically
Yet more brit pop. At least this is more synth electronica. Still not amazing but slightly better. Didn't outstay its length, but could have been more engaging. I really was not a big fan of the vocals. Also the only way I can describe the emotion of this is by Fukayama's end of history. this is a record of joy untainted by everything bad since, a record from a perceived, but not actually, better time.
3 out of 5. Never heard of them before, ok for 80's pop.
3/5 dicertido pop ochentero, basic igual
Its like a george michael song but missing the wonderful gay flamboyance
this was pretty not great.
🤔
Not my style
Even though I listened to the entire album, it felt like I didn't. Nothing stuck out to me that wasn't already done by every other 80's artist.
Very 80s, maybe of the genre. Fine to throw in the 80s mix.
Ok I actually enjoyed this. Very very 80s, very shploinky. Other than that no other notes. Just something a bit different to what I usually listen to
Me ha parecido una mala copia del sonido de los 80, es como un meme de la música, los intrumentos (falsos) y la forma de cantar de esa época. Lo malo es que es de esa época. Un dos por lo corto que es.
Didn’t care for this.
The best bits are a poor man’s Prince, the worst bits a skint yuppie’s hangover.
cheesy as fk
This is nothing, but also very annoying. Nothing has confused me this much as to why anyone would think I needed to hear it.
Pop avec vibe Michael Jackson, c'était sympa
Sympa
J'ai vraiment kiffé la vibe
Is this the most 80s album of all time? Even Phil Collins would say ‘this is a bit broad’. Probably a 3.5 for me but 10 year old me would have eaten this up, so will round up. Also it was a grey day today and this was a nice tonic so can’t be that bad
This album was not good, in between his vocals and the electronics and it all sounding the same. They are a bad version of Wham, who were not great in and of themselves.
I could do better which I should not say about an album that is “worthy” of such a list like this
Wow that was super boring and annoying. His voice is uber gross and did not like. No need to listen to this before you die.
WHY is this taking up space on this list?? why? it is fluffy, mind numbingly boring, synth/tech 80's brit pop.
In a nutshell: an assault of the senses This was a surreal listening experience and I really don't understand how such a pretentious piece of music became a hit in the UK. It's a strange mix of Culture Club, Wham! and Prince with lots of Fairlight-CMI. And I mean LOTS. Can someone check if that Fairlight okay? Overall: 2/10
Whitest of white-boy ’80s pop-funk, complete with Green Gartside’s breathy, androgynous falsetto. ‘Cupid & Psyche 85’ is super smart, melodic pop-funk with a sleek, pristine sheen, meticulously constructed. It’s almost absurdly polished, but never cold. The songs are deceptively intricate, with seriously clever songwriting lurking beneath the gloss. One of the great, underrated pop records of the ’80s.
Fav song: none Every song sounds the same
This was the first album this site suggested to me. Make of that what you will.
Coming off another Brit pop album, So by Peter Gabriel, this album just feels worse in every way, lyrical, production, and general vocal content.
I have never heard of this group but listening to it got shades of Dirty Projectors, Solange, and The 1975 so I really enjoyed it and need to dig a little deeper.
Starts okay but becomes quite boring. 3 stars or C-.
Pretty awful. Sounds like a weird pastiche of Michael Jackson done by some White English guys. No idea why it's in the book.
Hated it
Faves: Absolute Don't Work That Hard Perfect Way
Quite samey not my thing
Doesnt get more eighties than this.
I have to say that I was very surprised to see an album by Scritti Politti come up. I was about 14 when they came onto the scene and I remember the 2 hit songs, the word girl and wood beez. I was good to hear those 2 again as it bought back some memories but the rest of the album didn’t really have anything of note. This brings me back to my first sentence - I was surprised to see this on the list.
Definitely 80s
first listen incredible shiny production
A slice of 90s pop. A little dated but fun.
Pretty bland. 2/5
Kevyttä kasaria, levy meni autoillessa ihan huomaamatta. Eli oivaa taustamusaa, ei häiritse eikä mietitytä.
Mahtavaa kasaritykittelyä, tarvii tallentaa jos joskus on kasarivibe.
wtf is this super white washed reggae and R&B schlock? Is this here to inform you of the "light rock" this album would influence in the coming years or something? A far better offering for that would be Roxy Music's Avalon (not in this list) Alternative classic from 1985: Dead Can Dance - Spleen & Ideal
I was born in 1985 and this is the most 1985 sounding album I’ve ever heard in my life.
Idk it's fine I guess. Bro sounds like Michael Jackson.
Sad that I have been introduced to them.
this album asks the question, what if we took culture club and made it completely toothless?
Typical 80 album. Nothing special
For me this was a case of amazing bookends, but "good" rest of the album. I thought The Word Girl was a very interesting song and really enjoyed it, and thought Hypnotize was the catchiest song on the album. While this group pales in comparison to Michael, Prince, etc, the production was pretty impressive. I could only imagine "Powerline" performing these hits. 3.4/5 -> 3/5
Obladi oblada
Very generic 80s synth pop. Not my jam
Oh great. 80s brit-pop. Gross.
The only thing I liked about this album was the band's name.
Kind of generic likely won’t return to it
fun but weird but fun. would have to listen again. gives strong MJ vibes but also not? 3/5
It was good generic 80s pop. Reminded me of madonna a bit.
well wasnt that boring?
This is terrible.
Very nostalgic and dated. Like you’d expect to hear in the background of a John Hughes movie.
Enough with the New Wave!
Gross. Threw up in my mouth.
Ok 2/5
Sounds like music for a Caribbean vacation advert. Didn't finish the album. Hard pass.
A very weird mix of Tears For Fears, Wham! / George Michael and Michael Jackson. This trio looked at those artists and copied all the things that made them great, but somehow, the result was just mid and mediocre at best. It's fine if you want to listen to this kind of music, but I'd just rather listen to the originals. 5 / 10
There are worse albums on this list but I’m not sure there’s a more mediocre one.
The source of nearly every iPhone/smartphone notification alert sounds all on one album. You got me, 1001. You got me. Who knew Sritti Politti were such innovators.
Nej, detta var inget för mig. Denna del av 80-tals musiken gillar jag icke. Tråkigt album som inte hade några låtar jag egentligen gillade. Om jag tvingas välja så kanske Absolute. För mesigt och tillrättalagt för min smak.
Not an enjoyable experience!
Careful with this one, you will be trying to wash the smell of the 80s off of you for a week.
Temu Michael Jackson. Very of the era, good quality for what it was trying to achieve but I’d just do MJ if I wanted this vibe.
Schifezza Monnezza
Overall: 3/10 So much cheese that I can't poop. Fav Song: Small Talk
This sounds a lot softer than i would've expected from a group called Scritti Politti.
Y'know, there *are* a few moments here I dig alright, including some of the guitar work in "Small Talk". But overall, this brand/era of synthpop is about as unappealing to me as can be. 1.5/5
lol I kinda loved this, especially The Word Girl? extremely strange but fun stuff happening, but sometimes I tuned it out bc it was a little much
I like how “Flesh and Blood” stood out with its Reggae style. Fun albim
half the album is walmart brand Prince but for boring british people, and the other half is the most inoffensive pop and mid-80s stylings i've heard since the LAST most inoffensive pop and mid 80s-stylings we've heard yawn/5
i had a pretty good time with this one. idk how often i’ll be listening to it again, but it was pretty fun. definitely not what i was expecting it to be.
I put up with a lot of shit from Brit-Pop, but this I cannot abide.
I really enjoyed the Politti but the Scritti was a little much for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENdnlBdvM-4
Like eating an unbelievably big bag of Skittles then throwing up. I liked it for a second, but it’s way too saccharine and soured my stomach 🤮
The music sounds like it's written to make money. The production is overlayered and unpleasant, the vocals are extremely weak. I don't like to feel like I'm consuming a product when I'm listening to music, and this feels like an unabashed attempt at it. To add insult to injury, it's not even well crafted.
Feels like something angelica’s mum would listen to
Low 3? Started a little higher but musically just didn't go many places for me
Awful
Typical 80s Replay. Sure
Still better than nick cave
1.3
Thank God that ended
felt like one looong commercial jingle
Didn’t like the lead singer but the music underneath was alright
Embarrassed to admit I had this on cassette as an early teenager. Couldn’t be gayer. It’s just so over the top.
Euro pop. Ugh
🌽🏀
Maybe the most average record so far
Interesting stuff that I'd never heard before. The style is not for me though - it felt too precise and controlled, over-produced and kind of tinny. It was a huge relief when some proper bass and drums kicked in on one of the later tracks.
synthowe studium milosci i duszy czlowieczej
perfect way so nice!
Wish I could hear the vocals more. The mix is almost unlistenable.
AI, generate generic 80s thrash pop
Delightful 80s synth pop. I suspect spending time with it I'd find a whole lot more going on lyrically.
When I had looked at the band’s bio before listening to the album, I found out this is a Welsh band with influence from joy division and Gang of Four. I figured, okay, so this will be kind of gothic politically driven oddball type music. Imagine my surprise when I click on the first song and REGGAE starts playing? Honestly I’ll give them points for the creativity and surprise lol!! The second song and pretty much rest of the album flows more into your stereotypical 80s sound, it was groovy for sure! I was pleasantly impressed with the sound.
First impression is they are the most formulated 80s band of all time. Little techno fills and wannabe iconic lines. Also why does he try and make his voice sound like that, can’t be natural.
3/10
I think this is one of those albums that people love because they feel nostalgic about it. Like, you had to be there to get it. I wasn’t there, so i clearly don’t get it.
This is he had another example of why the 80s are the worst decade music. Yet another synth pop record that is both repetitive and uninspiring infected with reggae beats that would make Bob Marley turn in his grave.
6/10… new wave / synthpop / *1985
Had surgery recently, not listening to music while I cook. I'm falling behind.
Yeah, it's okay.
Just not my thing. Dying for a bit of edge or impact and I don't like the vocals
Not really anything mindblowing, but some well crafted songs in here! "Perfect Way" got a verse melody that's sticking in my head!
Production feels very Michael Jackson inspired , but none of his charisma or songwriting. No thanks
doodle...doodle... Does me no harm but so meaningless to me. Sounds like George Michael for the poor ;) So many question signs what qualifies this album for the list! 1,5
Bland.
during the first half i was thinking of giving this a 3 and that maybe everyone was being a bit too harsh... nah this gets really boring by the second half, was annoying me by the end. just the same song over and over.
At first, I thought my review would be something along the lines of “Bit boring. Generic pop for the time; inoffensive but lacking the oompf of their contemporaries”. However the second half hit and that side of the album was fun and I really liked it.
This one's pretty fun! I have a soft spot for 80's synth music, so this one appealed to me right away. It seems that this album is a bit of a deep cut, but it really feels like this album helped set the stage for music that is being made even today. Favorite track: "Absolute"
Way fuckin better than the most of the fuckin average britrock shit.
I really disliked this. New wave synth slop. This is only on here because its British. Yet again. But I can appreciate its decently made.
*1985. Synth-pop. *This is so quintessentially mid-80s synth pop... it's so on the nose that it almost feels like a spoof. *Dave walked in while I was playing this, and he immediately knew who the band was... I've never heard of Scritti Politti, but I guess they were a thing? *It was a fun-ish listen, but I'll never revisit. RATING - 6/10
Oh HELL no what kind of white bread nonsense is this? I've had mayo sandwiches more interesting than this. Albums like this make me seriously question why I should consider this 1001 albums list worth my time at all. It's almost like whoever "curated" the list just grabbed anything that happened to chart in the last 50 years, assuming that makes the album worth listening to. It really doesn't. There's been some good stuff on this list here and there but then this? Come on, man.
So 80s .....
2,5
This is super low-energy for an 80s pop album.
If Powerline were a real band ... this would be their album
80s pop. Idk. Didnt hear anything special that i recognized or would want to hear again
So much 80’s cheese on here! But I didn’t mind it. Most of it didn’t age well, but when it hits, it hits! Wood Beez is the best song in here for sure! I’d give this more of a 2.75. But we’ll round it up to a 3.
Jazzy 80's muzak. Gotta love it!
Spotify shows credits now, including mixing engineer where available. Since there is a mix engineer credited on some tracks, I am sure the ones without such a credit simply didn't have one. Some of the levels here are bafflingly severe. The 2022 remaster is sonically better, but there's only so much that can be done to this production. Aside from that, my favorite parts were the instrumental sections. 15 albums in, I am realizing the point of the 1001 Albums journey is not to hear 1001 great works of timeless art, but to become well versed in the difference between good and bad music.
Great vibes overall. Really got into a jam listening to this one.
Very 80s
Lol I was gonna give this a two but the I listened again. A lot of people say this sounds like a worse version of George Michael, but I think it sounds like a worse version of the Communards! I’m not opposed to this style of music but there’s nothing exciting about this album. Also most of the band’s Wikipedia page is about how the dude’s a sellout.
Idk what to say about this except for "meh." I generally like this kind of music, but I kept forgetting this was playing. It's fine, maybe inoffensive, but not something I'd seek out again.
This was fun and chock-full of some of the best 80s pop sounds. It's perhaps not deep or insightful or complex, but does it all have to be? But, to be entirely fair, I'm not sure why this is on the list: it seems to be the most formulaic and generic an 80s pop album could be—almost like it was assembled after the 1980s as a collection built as a challenge to pack as much nostalgia into it as possible. You could drop in Human League, Janet Jackson, Cindy Lauper, etc. on vocals and it would all sound like it was perfectly natural.
Sounds like pretty standard 80's pop to these ears. They're like a low-energy Michael Jackson, but not objectively awful. 2.1
what is this all yt huh small talk is better its not bad but its been done better by other people
Prince like Absolute Wood beez
This almost sounds like a British Michael Jackson who didn't care about selling records.
A bit samey, doesn't leave a major impression either way
This is pop turned up to like 11. Never heard of this group before, so I guess I wasn't exactly expecting this. It's almost uncomfortably poppy, if that somehow makes sense. Everything kind of sounded the same as a result too.
Feel like it took me a little while to warm to the vocal performance on this one. It's maybe a little too quiet and whispery, but it does mean the production gets a chance to shine. On it's face it feels like standard 80s pop fare, but there's a certain weirdness to the choices that feels a bit more considered. Not sure how much I actually like this, but it's pretty fun in places.
I had this album in high school, and I still love it.
Poor album. Not one outstanding song among the mediocrity but borderline enjoyable.
I'm feeling bad about giving the Style Council one star now, because this is clearly worse by some quite large measure. I hate the weedy vocals on it so much.
i loved this as a youngin. now it bores me. this is too much of a prince rip-off, and i was probably less bothered by that decades ago. "perfect way" is still pretty good, though. "flesh and blood" is some pretty good brit ska
I don't know what this is
Solidan album, pevač ima glas 14-ogodišnjaka, super je. Ocena je 4
I hope it is culturally significant because it is typical of the 80s sound. Like, there is a reason stereotypes exist.
I've never listened to this album before, but I've heard it a million times. Standard 80s pop filled with drum machines and surprisingly little synths. hum-drum
2/3
inoffensive, but 80s music. eeh.
Truly one of the worst albums I've ever heard. It left a bad taste in my mouth that will take some time to go away. So sickly saccharin and bland, so commercial at the expense of any artistry, just a pop vehicle for someone with negative talent. I read the Wikipedia article, and it seems this guy had a post punk band with a vision, but his vision changed so that he wanted to make safe pop-pap music for the masses and that's exactly what he did. It felt like this chap sold his soul for limited and short-term success. The one song I remembered was the "Aretha Franklin" track, and that was just awful, exactly as bad as it was when I first heard it. That was also the high point of the album, which speaks volumes. I actually dug out an early Scritti Politti session from the late 70s and it wasn't at all bad, far more interesting than this dogshit. One star.
This was good for what it is, but absolutely none of my business really. Absolutely 80s, but nothing really amazing about it. Cronky drum machine and effeminate vocals. Perfect Way surprised me as I was familiar with Miles’ version, but I was left underwhelmed.
I’m a very open minded music listener but this was so bad I almost quit the 1001 albums. Rate it a zero if I could.
getting back on the horse with doing this project is much harder when your first album back is this absolute fucking drivel
Proper 80s stuff, loved it
I was expecting much better from this list. This is awful.
Probably my baseline for a 3 star album
Smooooth, in between Prince and MJ. Well-crafted, I really like this! Wish I'd heard it in 1985... 4
I was looking forward to this album because I remember the ‘world girl’ track I used to love back in the day. Unfortunately, I think I was experiencing nostalgic deafness because I couldn’t even begin to understand how I could have liked such an awful song. Lyrics and music alike just awful. The rest of the album was just as bad and perhaps a little worse. It was like listening to sugar.
Struggled through this album - the only thing that got me through is I missread the band name as 'Scrotti' and had a little giggle about it A bit like Temu Michael Jackson
Damn, why I thought this was some anarchist punk band? Wonder where that confusion came from.
Hey I recognized one of these songs, "Wood Beez," an innocuous dance track that I used to hear on the radio that obviously didn't really get my attention since I wouldn't have been able to tell you what band it was at the time. This stuff isn't terrible, just uninteresting to me, maybe a bland version of Michael Jackson. Meh, 2 stars
This was a very generic 80s album--nothing really stood out for me and honestly, seems like this music hasn't stood the test of time because the monthly listeners on Spotify is pretty low. With so much great, worthy 80s music in this project I wonder what led to this album's inclusion.
Ochentoso pero bastante pete bro, no hay algo que destaque. No le pongo un uno porque si está de fondo no molesta.
This album is one of the 10,000 Hells on earth. We may imagine that listening to this album serves only a few wicked purposes. One of those purposes is to remind us of what is playing in the background of Jean-Paul Sartre's play No Exit.
And here we have another one of the 20 lowest rated albums on the 1001 Albums website. It's always... interesting to see what these sorts of albums are like. Sometimes you get albums that really are that terrible. The only issues that I have with Kid Rock being in the bottom 20 is that his album isn't rated lower. But other times, you get albums that aren't nearly as bad as the populous of this website would lead you to believe. Fortunately, this Scritti Politti album here is the latter. No way in hell is this one of the bottom 20 worst albums on this list. You all are overreacting. Is the album good? I don't think I could really call it that, but I'm not particularly comfortable calling it bad either. It's just a generic and occasionally kinda annoying 80s pop album. That's it. There's nothing abysmal here, but also nothing special. It exists and that's about it. The production is pretty dated, but some parts have a good bass line or something. The vocals are kinda annoying, but they could be much worse. That's really how I feel about the album. It could be so much worse. Like, as far as the whole "aging poorly" thing, you could really only argue that in a musical sense. The writing is just fine. There's nothing wrong with a song like "Absolute" or "Perfect Way" from a lyrical perspective. Hell, there isn't really anything particularly wrong with them from a musical perspective either. Those are two of the better songs on the album. This album doesn't really make me feel much in general, but the good thing about that is that it didn't make me feel anything bad. I definitely can't call Cupid & Psyche 85 a bad album. It had some groovin' moments, dare I say. However, it's also not special in any way. It's pretty average. Low 3/5.
I just gave Michael Jackson's Off the Wall 2 stars because I didn't think it was good. If we start there and penalize Scritti Politti one star for blatant fraudulence then we are done here. No thought required just morals and math.
More New Wave?!?! Music critics are dumber than usual over 80s music. This has to be a joke. This is like the song created for Teen Titans Go! Or like if AI was asked to create music created by a terrible white 80s R&B band from the UK. These lyrics make Color Me Badd look like Bob Dylan. This is the worst 80s R&B. This has no business on this list and whatever critic put it on there should not be allowed near any form of music. These guys might have done the entire soundtrack to Short Circuit. Wood Beez, these guys suck at everything. This is white knock-off New Edition. I like cheesy 80s R&B and this sucks. El DeBarge...that's why it reminds me of Short Circuit! The homeless man's El DeBarge.
This is not the worst thing I have ever listened to but it most certainly is not anywhere near the best. Fine for the era/what it is. This is also giving me Casio keyboard preset vibes, haha.
Whoa! Loved this! Never heard of them.
Reminds me of Prince - nice!
Fun album, totally 80’s. Not my favorite, but certainly of its time and a joy to listen to.
unmistakeable 80’s band
Painful to revisit this hallmark sound of the 80s.
You don’t need Prince and MJ. We have Prince and MJ at home. There was a time before this album came out. It was a better time
Solidly produced pop music. But I have to admit. This doesnt do much for me. I would not change the channel on the radio, but I would also prolly seek out this album actively.
This has aged really badly… and I don’t think it was very good before the decay of time.
Shitti Politti more like. An abysmal album of soft rock/pop tinged with faux funk and reggae syncopation, wham-esque vocals, and some of the worst excesses of the 80s all thrown into the pot. A horrible use of samples and synth patches with an attempt to provide what I presume to be ‘texture’ to the songs but made it sound clustered and clash with itself. Listen to the breakdown 3 minutes into ‘perfect way’ and explain to me how the hell this managed to make its way onto this list. Fuming.
like if michael jackson and WHAM! went on a tropical vacation together and played upbeat video games the whole time instead of focusing on the album 3/5
kinda weird but good looking men on the album cover...
This sounds like the soundtrack of a 1980 b movies. Didnt pass test of time. Sounds outdated and boring.
An odd little album. I really did not enjoy the vocals but the music was kind of fun.
80s commercial music
Something interesting and unexpected! This was extremely 80s Pop but also a bit ska?? Or, what's the progenitor of ska, maybe tu-tone....reggae? I had a nice time
More New Wave?!?! Music critics are dumber than usual over 80s music. This has to be a joke. This is like the song created for Teen Titans Go! Or like if AI was asked to create music created by a terrible white 80s R&B band from the UK. These lyrics make Color Me Badd look like Bob Dylan. This is the worst 80s R&B. This has no business on this list and whatever critic put it on there should not be allowed near any form of music. These guys might have done the entire soundtrack to Short Circuit. Wood Beez, these guys suck at everything. This is white knock-off New Edition. I like cheesy 80s R&B and this sucks. El DeBarge...that's why it reminds me of Short Circuit! The homeless man's El DeBarge.
Als mensen zeggen dat ze niet van de jaren 80 houden denk ik dat ze dit horen. De synth stabs zijn zo luid, de hele tijd, en niet voor het effect, want dit zijn de meest cookie cutter 80's pop liedjes die ik in tijden heb gehoord. 3/10
This album sounds like a Mega Drive game and that makes it feel extremely nostalgic, despite me never actually hearing it before. Musically it's really nothing interesting but I'll give it 3/5 just for the reason stated above.
61/1089 2.4439* The epitome of 80s music when you think of neon, 80s comedy movies that include light sexual assault (sixteen candles, revenge of the nerds and the like) or 80s movies with a running motif of a skateboarding gang, surfing gang or roller skating gang. They did their thing and created music but I didn't feel any emotion. Synths and bass are the backbone of this album Hits...perfect way
Meeeh
very sappy, very 80’s. not bad but nothing special,,
This album is so boring that I pondered hurting myself a little just to escape its masturbatory dullness. By the way, I recommend reading their Spotify bio - you can really picture Green Gartside trying to suck himself off after writing each line. Amazing!
Cheesy 80s music at its worst.
The singing is a choice - sounds like the voice I use to repeat back something stupid someone has said in order to mock them. Lyrics save it, pray like Aretha, rich get what's coming to them in a love song I think I heard? No war but class war, son.
3.5/5
Not for me. It's too pristine and sparkly to my taste.
J'ai pas trop aimé, l'album n'est pas mauvais mais j'ai trouvé la New Wave très ringarde, qui a fait son temps et qui maintenant n'est juste pas très agréable à écouter. Pas pour moi.
I’m not a fan of 80s synth pop and this didn’t convert me
Kinda sleepy but I enjoyed
Fun album, 80’s pop. I thought I would have loved it more.
Surprisingly good album!
46/100. The instrumentation itself is honestly fine. Polished and very much of its time. ut there’s just something about this record that I really can’t stand. I think it mostly comes down to the vocals. They have this whispery, overly delicate quality that reminds me of a Michael Jackson impression turned down to half volume.
pass
"Perfect Way" definitely gave immediate Super Mario vibes, and then searching shows yeah that's a thing.
Could be the music of any movie of Eddie Murphy in the 80’s
WHY IS THIS LIST OBSESSED WITH LOUSY BRITISH POP
I found this to be pretty enjoyable in comparison to some of their contemporaries. Probably a 3.5
This went from sounding like really bad tiki bar music to someone doing a terrible George Michael impersonation. “Perfect Way” had some airplay back in the day so I guess that’s what landed it on this list, but man that’s a low bar. Rounding down out of respect for the 2.5’s that got rounded down. 1.5/5
When someone asks you to play them something good that is quintessential 80s, this not it. Yes it checks all the cheese boxes from that era, but it was a painful listen then…and pretty much remains that today. It’s repetitive and not at all memorable. Except for Perfect Way, which actually came on the radio just the other day. To which I quickly turned the dial.
This made me yearn for deafness. Like a shittier version of music that sucks.
Very 80s. But was missing that thing that makes great 80s songs great. I don’t know what it was but this just sounded very thin and trite. 1.75
Didn’t absolutely hate it, but pretty dull and repetitive. 2.25/5
I don't know how many 80s British "post-punk to bubblegum pop" bands I can take. I got Orange Juice's Rip It Up yesterday, which I enjoyed and gave four stars, but this is just noxious. Give me some dour, anxious, angular music!
this is the most mediocre thing i’ve heard from the 80’s…. it’s like a bad copy of things done in a much better way. is this hallmark’s version of the 80’s? why is this on the list? a question i’ve asked myself many times on this project so far. i did find myself rather enjoying “absolute” but i couldn’t help it. 1/5 - i’m in a harsh mood ⭐️
One or two ok tracks, but mostly bland
Klarer ikke like deeet! Pappa har prøvd før
Haven't heard of them and the band name already pissed me off. What sort of shit 80s pop is this, I think this is something NOBODY should hear before they die. I could've been listening to Duran Duran instead 1/5
Wanted to like it because it is fun, but not a lot of substance
Catchy, but very bubblegummy pop. I found his voice so high that it was a bit annoying. Every song kind of felt like “Cheerleader”. Not bad, but not really my thing.
Ah, an album from way back, when artists suddenly had all sort of new buttons to press, knobs to twist and pedals to, err, pedal. And this artist decided to try them all. Way back then, I might have rated this higher than I am going to today, but it hasn’t aged well at all. It now just sounds like a soppy electronic mush.
Absolutely Sssssssssmooooooooooooooooooooooth. I had forgotten about this bunch until I heard the singles. I brought back the 1980's in a 'Golden Flamingo Milton Keynes Nightclub' sort of way.
I don’t like this it sounds like I should be doing one of those 80s workout classes
C'est de la soupe je ne suis pas allé au bout de l'album ! Next!
nicht meins
not many streams
Glossy, hyper-smart pop that smiles while quietly melting your brain. Rating: 4.6/5 Short Review: This album is sugar-coated theory. Bright, sleek, and absurdly polished, with hooks that feel effortless and ideas that are anything but. Favorite Track: Perfect Way. Pure pop geometry, still sounds futuristic.
Album is not very good, but Perfect Way has a melody that sounds like it's out of a Mario game.
I really enjoyed this. It’s fun 80s pop that, to me, isn’t that deep but is enjoyable. Probably wouldn’t go back to it, but I did have a good time listening to it.
13/01/2026 This was very weak, there was nothing to it. It was lucky to get 2 stars. Spotify listeners: 104.3k
tremendamente de su época y adelantado a su época. suena a duran duran pero también a toda la banda que quiere sonar a duran duran con nostalgia postirónica. protovapor? traía ganas de oirlo desde que vi que lo puso a.g. cook como su pitchfork perfect 10, y luego de ver que era de los peor calificados de toda esta lista pensé que iba a ser algo más raro, y sí está raro pero no el tipo de raro que esperaba, así que entiendo el rechazo (y a la vez no? me intriga mucho que a la fecha cause una reacción tan fuerte, algo tiene). pa mí está bien chido
Deserves less, but still didn't bore me do death as some (Arcade Fire, looking at you). It was pretty awful though, saved by some funky basslines or synth work. 1.5 should be more appropriate.
Synth-pop unbearable to me. Nothing here, sorry.
I was a fan of Scritti Politti in the 80s. They didn’t really fit a mould.; they weren’t pop or New Romantic all that dreadful phase of jazz pop that was so prevalent in the mid 80s. I’m not sure how often I’m gonna listen to them again but it was a pleasant nostalgic trip. And their lyrics were always a little bit kooky which was fun.
Boy, did this not appeal to me.
For the life of me, I always assumed this was a punk band, just judging by their name—a name I always hated, btw. There is a ton of interesting stuff going on here, but boy that '80s production keeps me at arm’s length. And I’m not sure about that singer. Still some very cool chords and sounds. I’m intrigued if not swayed.
this is painfully mid and infuriating at times. i don't understand how it got on this list in the first place. absolute is the only actually listenable song
Nope
Not for me
Reminded me a lot of The Jackson Five and MJ
cut rate MJ
Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from a band with this name. Something political, weird? Not really, funky, beautiful music and perhaps something that sounded amazing from my new headphones. I am not sure about replay value, but this is great music.
3.5
Fine enough pop, but dated.
I had no intention of disliking this. But it made it damn hard. I trying clinging to the melody’s and if it had one ounce of something resembling bite I would have perhaps warmed to it. I don’t think the songs are bad but the sound… After having a bit of an attitude change personally to 80s pop, from historically distaste to actually, mainly by being on here, a new found appreciation. But This album is everything that I originally disliked. It is every 80s pop troupe, every production line of the time, but with the emotion and feeling dialled down to less than zero. It’s like this Gartside person is some emotional music vampire sucking the essence out of everyone’s music idea he collects to make his own lifeless pure 80s “sound”. He obviously listened to what was happening and distilled them into this weak, feeble, puny sound. And by it seems enlisting all the top US session musicians to come up with this, WTF. Yeah it should be on the list, then you can say I have heard the nadire, the lowest of how a generations pop music can sound. The reggae beats are barely on life support, the US soul inspired sound is devoid of any form of even basic personality. The vocals are as wimpy as is humanly possible. The keyboards as bleep beep as possible. Resulting in an overall sound that is teeth rotting saccharine. God this is such a limp record, it makes others of the time sound positively hardcore. Its pure limp sugar pop. That there is supposed (wiki says) legitimate lyrical content, if you can stomach the syrup to tell, your of a stronger constitution than me. Again if this is 5 Star to you, good, that’s fine - but I just found the sound on it truly awful, the poster child of the essence of what was bad about 80s pop, this is that album 1.5 Star, and rounded up because I do think there are songs here, it’s just that production, that sound.
No clue why this is on the list. Boring synth pop from the 80’s.
I thought the idea of this project was to experience the 1001 under appreciated albums that are a must-listen to?? If that is too tough of an assignment, maybe we should just listen to the top 101 albums and leave out the 900 that suck. If Richard Marx had started a boy band in 1985 it would be called Scritti Politti. This is awful music. A breathy, soft-spoken guy singing about a love he’ll never find, nine separate times over 38 minutes. The only thing that could possibly make this album/band better would be Will Ferrell on stage with a cow bell.
As suggested via another review, this feels like the soundtrack to an unmade Police Academy movie. I would much rather have listened to an hour of the Police Academy guy making cool sounds than this soft-core sonic sodomy.
Not as bad as I feared, there were actually a couple songs I almost enjoyed.
Fun nostalgia but definitely of a time.
Not for me.
Uh boom boom nap, a tappy tap tap. I didn’t like this.
I reeeeeeaaaaaalllllllyyyy didn’t like it.
Not really my thing, but great for super 80s vibes
Never heard, never will again.
ni
One of my favorite albums of my Teenage years. So glad to see it made The grade.
Buena vibra, divertido
Very nice. Very much of the era.
Not what I expected for the third time in four albums. Expected spikry post punk. Got Michael Jackson lite. Perfectly nice for an 80s fan like me but nothing I found particularly memorable.
took me one minute to realise i wasn’t gonna like this. took me 20 minutes to realise i wasn’t gonna come around on that.
I think I had this group and milli vanilli merged into one band. When I realised I thought that must be an insult to scritti... But this was rubbish, so I'm not sure. It was like listening to a guy who wanted to make a Michael Jackson album, but with the voice, songs or production value. I vaguely remember a bit early on in the album that might have been worth commenting on, but it wasn't a positive thing and it was all so forgettable I've even forgotten my complaint. Apparently their early stuff was a Marxist punk band. I think that would have been much better.
Another boring 80s jangly gay-sounding pop garbage.
Meh
Really can't find any enjoyment in this. Boring 80s vocals, poppy synth, very low energy.
4/10 Best: Wood Beez Worst: All these songs sounded the same to me This album is embodies how I imagine 80s music exactly. Loads of synth, gated drums, men singing in high pitched whispery voices I would never listen to this on my own initiative but I’m glad I did, it gave me loads of nostalgia of listening to the 80s Top of the Pops reruns on MTV with my dad when I was little. However in saying this, It’s not really my thing and I probably won’t listen to it again.
Not bad. Something kinda relaxed to listen to while getting through chores. Probably would listen to this again.
This one just sounded like a generic 80s pop album to me. Clean production, synths everywhere, and nothing that really stood out or grabbed my attention. It wasn’t bad, just forgettable. By the time it ended, I couldn’t tell you a single moment that stuck with me.
Started thinking it sounded like bad Prince. Ended thinking it sounded like alright Prince.
For people who wish the QI theme song were longer.
Maybe I'm in a bad mood but I'm so sick of the 80's chud on this list. Awfully dated, redundant and forgetful. Occasional shred of melodic prowess but lost to some stupid 80's musical trope.
Started off didn’t like it. By the end I felt I needed to give the first half another shot. Surprising myself and giving this a 3 because something’s pulling me back to give it another chance.
Prince without the prrrrrr Though this confirmed I really do like a Britpop reggae-style track!
😖
ok i guess...
Generic mid 80's pop, not my favourite but I appreciate the tight base work, 2.5 so will give a 3
I didn’t enjoy this one bit
Very "of the time" pop, which didn't make it bad, but it certainly wasn't great.
I enjoyed this. Like an artsier Tears for Fears. The melodies and chord progressions were all so sophisticated. I immediately clocked the influence of these guys on modern bands like Wild Beasts, Dutch Uncles etc. Sure there is some absolute corn on here, but it’s got good songwriting and sounds throughout. Must-listen #268.
Of all the 80's slop on here, this has to be the worst. Uninteresting tracks and using the same synths as everyone else in this decade makes it hard to stand out. At least it was over quick. It has some surprising earworms though, Wood Beez got stuck in my head really fast.
One of the most 80’s records of all time
Mind was empty the entire time I listened throughout this album. A veritable mediocre smorgasbord of pop.
So when this thing came out it supposedly was at the height of what could be achieved with production and samples. Sadly that also dates it and doesn't mean it will continue to stand out when a decade later a bunch of other artists make similar sounding stuff. Oftentimes better. The lyrics don't help in that regard, they only describe romances in flowery languague. Ultimately forgettable but inoffensive.
An album I actually own, really just for two songs. Good production and good music.
Very meh
Classic 80's pop. And the name too! If that's what you want this is good
Point off for being British
Ducky remembered this from the '80s but I didn't. . It was fine
Hated everything about this. Everything that’s bad about 80s pop all rolled up into one terrible package
Don’t mind it. Simpsons: No
Was happy when it finished.
Shit but good shit? They’re having fun.
I bopped to it but I probably wouldn't listen again
Oh my lord what a pity.
Ridiculous, cringey and embarrassing
The most bland 80’s British pop album to every bland 80’s British pop
Objectively bad album. It’s the stuff of 80’s montages, synthetic slap bass, and vocals inspired by Milli Vanilli and Michael Jackson’s worst day. I have no idea why this is on the list; hopefully it’s a message to never repeat it, but I’m afraid there are more surprises. 0.3/5