80's Music

There was some great and frankly revolutionaty Metal in the 1980s - everyone seems to forget that.

What's wrong with Spandau Ballet?

Don't get me wrong.  Compared to the rap-infested swill that's being passed off as music these days the tunes of the 80s sound like the golden age of melody!

Although there was a helluva lot of dire music around in the 80's. There were a good few gems IMO. I loved A Flock of Seagulls. I would even go so far to describe them as progressive pop if there is such a thing. Back then I was mainly in to heavier music but most of it hailed back to the 70's. I think bands like Rush & Yes produced great albums in that decade but they seemed to go with the flow of music of that time..   My wife has tons of 80's pop compilations which drive me nuts.

Oh yes, I don't deny that the 80's was devastating to prog, but I still think there was plenty of worthwile Non-Prog music that came out of it.

Edited by thellama73 - June 05 2006 at 12:40

Having spent the 70s as a musical participant and the 80s as an observer my objectivity is definitely skewed but I still have to consider the 80s as a decade of confusion for music.  While the 70s saw music running freely down every conceivable path and trail seemingly without restriction, MTV seemed to channel all creativity back into a pigeonhole of marketing and visual appeal.  Perhaps that was inevitable because the end of the 70s saw the rise of punk and new wave that flew in the face of what music had evolved into.  For progressive rock, however, the 80s seemed to strangle the genre by forcing it to adapt to the 3 minute video that overwhelmed the industry.  I'm not sure it ever fully recovered but I'm pleased that the prog spirit carries on due to websites like this one.

I think the 80s are known as the decade that taste forgot (or was that the 70s?)