Out of the Blue

Let's go to the mall!! Sounds like roller skating.

If the 80s was one album, it would be this album. This should have made it to the list.

Chock full of good pop songs, like a more wholesome version of Madonna. Impressive that she wrote everything on this album herself and helped produce. Probably not something I'd listen to again, but it was enjoyable overall. 3 stars.

Wikipedia says this went triple platinum and when it came out I was smack in the middle of high school in the rural Midwest so it must have been UBIQUITOUS but I have to say nothing was really familiar - I mean the sound and style were all immediately familiar, and I certainly remember Debbie Gibson being A Thing, but none of these songs had that instant recognition factor for me like a lot of songs of similar provenance would (Walk Like an Egyptian, I Wanna Dance with Somebody, I Think We're Alone Now...). I've got nothing against this, but nothing particularly for it either, it is highly polished white girl pop of its era. It was a very peppy jam for my evening workout. After this I listened to somel late-stage Nico, so that was a contrast.

Ok I've never heard this (or even heard OF it) before, but here's a quick couple of predictions based solely on the album cover: 1. pop music (duh) 2. frustratingly wholesome (call me nostradamus) 3. horribly dated (you don't say) Really branching out with these predictions. I mean, in Australia we had Kylie Minogue and this isn't far off the same sound, vibe, era etc. It might have been fun if I'd grown up with it? I was never huge on the teen girl pop thing, even back when I was that age. But listening to this for the first time, as a 40-year-old man in 2024, just makes me uncomfortable. Like I'm a grown man hanging around outside a primary school and the staff are about to call the cops. One of the tracks has 32mil plays on Spotify, so I was hoping I'd recognise it, but nup. I wonder if Debbie ever looked back and thought "actually, that wasn't the biggest heartbreak of my life after all", lol. After this album I listened to a few of her other, later (adult) songs as well, just so I didn't feel like such a creep, but the music didn't improve. Her most famous song has 128mil plays and it was completely unfamiliar. Gotta pay some respect to her for never having "teen star goes wild" phase, though. Looks like she went from a wholesome teen to a wholesome broadway revue singer. But Out of the Blue gets a 2/5.

Bro this is so good 4 for now

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Only in my dreams, Red hot, Shake your love, Play the field

Hadn't heard of her previously, and thought this was a joke entry, however as soon as this started I could picture the hairstyles and dancing which this took place to. This had personality which crucially more modern pop just does not have. Had a smile on my face all the way through and isn't that what this is all about?

Great album but is it so 80's. It's bubblegum pop at its finest really, you listen to this and then fast forward 10 years to Brittany spears and see that things didn't change a lot really.

My little 8 year old self loved this album so much! I'll admit I still seek it out from time to time! Aside from the nostalgia, it's super 80s & impressive she was so young when writing it. Good album pick, it belongs here!

One thing I've learned from this list is that not all albums, and in fact few, may qualify as the one album you would have if you were stranded on a deserted island. But in the sense that this is upbeat.. and it's not five Bjork albums. The pop melodies are catchy and it provides a good representation of 80s pop.

Some brave soul put this out there… I expected the reaction to be more negative. In college my roommate Don was the world’s biggest Debbie Gibson fan, and I didn’t take to that very well. I’ve become less judgy in my old age, and now better appreciate a young artist who does her own thing - even refusing to cover her focus-pulling knee and starting a face-knee trend. A bit on the sweet side, but hey… there’s room here for sweet.

I appreciate this more now than when it was fresh. Respect!

Pop is valid. I enjoyed this nostalgic visit to the 80s and the likes of some music I haven't heard in a long time. I love that Debbie Gibson wrote all the songs. A great change of pace!

Unexpected pop banger from the 80s!

Pop.

Surprising to me there weren't more 80s pop efforts on the initial 1001, so this felt like a breath of fresh air. The compositions are vibrant and lively, Gibson's vocals are rich and well-positioned in the mix, and the whole thing feels like a more well-suited use of the 80s' sense of indulgence than another New Wave or glam rock LP. Could definitely use some fat trimming (most tracks can't help but run one chorus too long), but a fun listen and again something that felt new after ~1200 albums.

Standard toe tapping 80s fare

Good that Debbie writes the pop songs and ballads herself. Nowhere near as good as Madonna’s late 80s pop albums. Quite forgettable albeit with catchy choruses and completely inoffensive without any edginess. Scrapes three stars because it’s so wholesome!!!

Decent enough pop music, especially given the fact that Debbie Gibson wrote and produced this album at 16. The lyrics seems a bit too all knowing for a 16 year old, but jokes aside, this is quite an achievement. I’m not sure it belongs on this list though I do hear the seeds of later 90s and early 2000s pop here.

Perfectly pleasant, hooky bubblegum that doesn't really do much for me. I was about a year younger than Gibson when this album came out and I didn't care for it then either. I will say this for her: She has a nice singing voice and her best songs show a real talent for songcraft. I don't hate it, but now I need to go listen to something else. Fave Song: Only in My Dreams

The first user recommended album that came to me. Where have I gone wrong in my life?!? But actually I kind of liked it. Probably biased because 15 year old me had a crush on her when the album came out!

Well made 80s pop. Nice voice. Rating: 3 Playlist track: Foolish Beat Date listened: 04/10/24

This is such an out of pocket selection, I really did not expect it. Debbie Gibson, that you? Did you do the 1001 albums challenge? Good for you girl! I see you're keeping the hustle going, making sure we all experience your brand of syrupy 80's pop. I like the 80's, so this is fine. But, Madonna Cyndi and Whitney all did it better... so. There's no reason to try and revise history.

This is the most 80s album I’ve heard in a long time. Mainline, unadulterated Olivia newton-john type 80s pop. Shake your love was my fav.

An interesting choice. It's from the start of completely artificial pop, and the scene hadn't become completely formulaic at this point, which means this album makes some odd, but delicious choices.

Not opposed to this. Definitely give her some credit for the time putting together her own music when we have otherwise seen so much (especially recently) of hitmakers writing for a pretty face/voice. There's a few catchy tracks, and the rest is pretty inoffensive other than the general weird feeling I get of listening to 10 tracks about a young girl's perspective on relationships & love.

why would you add this to the list?

Kudos to Debbie Gibson for being a singer/Songwriter/performer/arranger, which is a massive achievement for anyone but even more massive for a woman in the period. But sadly this doesn’t make the music good.

Having grown up during this album’s release, I don’t particularly remember this artist. It is pretty decent 80’s pop music. Nothing to complain about here really. Solid at what it does.

This was some lame 80s pop music. The repetitive lyrics and Richard Simmons feeling production had me wanting to skip some of these songs. Not the worst thing I’ve listened to but definitely not my speed. It was pretty meh throughout and won’t be revisiting this. 3.9/10

80's music really doesn't age well!

A very light pop, very much for young girls of the time. I couldn't find a track that seemed explosive enough for a radio repeater, I think it's more of a run of the mill among all the good pop that there was in the eighties.

Damn, I think I lost all glazing from my teeth.... Bold suggestion, but an album I would never ever voluntarily listen to.

Way too poppy for me. It ain't bad, but would not want to put this on voluntarily

Nah

I'm actually a little impressed that Debbie Gibson wrote and co-produced a good part of this but it's definitely not my thing and it wasn't in 1987 either.

Dance-pop, teen pop. Pufff. Un 2.

The fact that Debbie (co)wrote most of these songs while only sixteen does not excuse her for putting the annoying Shake Your Love on repeat in my head for weeks.

Someone is really living out their best 80s bubblegum pop dreams by recommending this album

I wasn’t aware of Debbie Gibson before today, so not sure why this is any better than the 80’s pop albums already on the list. My UK bias would have Kylie on ahead of this, but 80’s pop isn’t really my thing.

Family Guy cutaway music. Props to the guy who submitted this though.

The most 80s mall pop to ever do it. I give credit that she wrote her songs though. A fun, short, dated bop that I'll never listen to again.

This must have been an album played a bunch when someone was growing up because I'm not sure why else it would be here. Nothing bad, just a basic late 80's pop album. It doesn't move the needle any which way but it has that 80's charm.

wth, why is this on the list, HORRIBLE

Cute. Not for a best album list, but cute

Over produced and under written, although she was a child at the time. That 80s gated drum sound means it sounds really dated. Fine as far as pop goes, and it is an oddly underrepresented genre in the book, but this is not the best example of (good) dance-pop

And here I was thinking that those records by Nik Kershaw, Avicii, Jimmy Eat World and Arctic Monkeys were poor choices for this second list... I stand corrected. Far worse choices are actually waiting for us all, lurking just around the corner. "Out of the blue" indeed. If only this was an attempt to troll the other users, this could be funny at least. Alas, I'm not so sure this is what really happened here... Besides, a Rick Astley album would have pulled off that trick in a far funnier fashion anyway. Most of us here have probably been "rickrolled" online once or twice in their lives. That's part of the man's legend now. 😉 As another reviewer aptly pointed out, you only need to look at this laugh-out-loud ridiculous album "artwork" -- doing everything one *shouldn't* do in that realm -- to predict how cheesy and appalling the music's gonna be. The font used for the artist's name and album title is especially on point. Bad taste is not a criminal offence, fortunately. But you sometimes wish it is. I could have stopped there and not listened to the music. Honesty and curiosity made me listen, though. That's a half-hour from my life that is not coming back. Yeah, I know, that's only 30 minutes out of the 40 this album lasts. To be honest, I *did* skip to the next song before one was over once in a while. I have a couple of kinks, but self-harm is not one of them. 0/5 for the purposes of this list of albums you must listen to before you die. 3/10 for any purposes whatsoever related to the appreciation of good or at least *decent* music. In more details: 3 points because Debbie wrote *all the songs* in the album at the tender age of 16, which is indeed worthy of praise, I'm not gonna deny that. Then 5 points for stuff such as musical competency, large popular impact in the US (not elsewhere, crucially), "professional" production values, etc... To which I retracted half a point for *each* track. Because each and every one of those ten songs is an insult to the very concept of artistry itself. Pop music can be good music. But not when it's only mind-numbing, blatantly childish dross like that. So where's the "0" button here? Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 4 Albums from the users list I *might* include in mine later on: 7 Albums from the users list I won't include in mine: 11 (including this one)