The 80s..the worst era for prog.

IMO Eloy's best came with their first 3 of the 80s - Colours, Planets, and Time to Turn

The 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s were pretty bad for prog. 

there where a couple of good albums in the 80s like 

Yes, you nailed that one right.

More necrophilia.

Lindsay Lohan wrote: So i was just wondering if anybody knew any band that made their best prog album in the 80s. (Except for Queensryche)

dennismoore wrote: Lindsay Lohan wrote: So i was just wondering if anybody knew any band that made their best prog album in the 80s. (Except for Queensryche)   Cindy Lauper & The Stray Cats            Did somebody say RUSH???   WTF???    1980's was a decade of transition in studio recording. Drum machines and sequencing, in the most redundant and simple mechanical patterns were basically mandated.  I am not sure it was technically possible to make a good album in that decade.    U2 ruled the 1980's.  What else can be said?  The Musical Dark Ages for sure.   Then....   Hail 1990!.  Hail Eric Johnson - Ah Via Musicom!  The Renaissance of modern recording.

Lots of RIO/Avant, and related (for instance, Zeuhl ones and some in Eclectic) bands made their best album in the 80s.  Univers Zero was great throughout the 80s, and I don't think UZ has released any poor albums even though I like some more than others, but for me UZ's best one was the 1977 debut.  Present, I think, which released its first album in 1980 but continues strong, released two really great ones in 1980 and 1985.  Included in Zeuhl, Shub-Niggurath's slf-titled and le Morts vont Vite from 1986 are terrific.

I revived this long-dead thread about a year ago mentioning Art Zoyd, which I think was terrific in the 80s, as well as in the late 70s, and I love later albums -- especially Haxan and Faust from the 90s.  Generation Sans Futur which was released in 1980 I have proclaimed before as my favourite album by any band in PA, and Art Zoyd is about my favourite band with lots of releases I love.  Les Espaces Inquiets from 1983 is another particular favourite of mine by Art Zoyd, but I love the band throughout that decade.

Hell, I even mostly love the much reviled Magma album from the 80s.

And the Samla/Zamla/Von Zamla conglomerate relased my favourite album of thos in 1980 with Zamla Mammaz Manna's Familjesprickor (though some don't consider 1980 to be the start of the 80s, but not me).  And then there's plenty of great Progressive Electronic albums from the 80s.

Incidentally, one of my favourite 80s bands is After Dinner from Japan.

I really can't think of a bad decade when it comes to music, and that goes for eras of prog, especially if one considers a wider umbrella, too.  For me the 80s is really strong since there are so many PA-category worthy albums from that decade that I frequently return to, and have for years.  I don't meant to sound pedantic and silly, t but I actually don't really think of the 80s as an era per se when it comes to prog even though one talks about 80s music.  It's an extension of the late 70s which is an extension of the mid-70s etc.  mnay of my favourite 80s albums came from bands and artists who were already active and making similar music in the late 70s.  One can debate if it's the worst decade overall, for me no, but it's not a really defined era for me.  Lots of fashions that prospered in the 80s, and fashions changed during that decade.... But I'll stop there before I ramble even more.

MattGuitat wrote: Script, Permanent Waves, and Moving Pictures are some of my favorite albums ever. So I guess the 80's were alright. Sadly, Rush went downhill, and Marillion has never matched Script. Though, I was born in the 90's, so I'd have no idea what it must have been like when all the prog bands just stopped.

Yea - as a big Rush fan, Signals and Permanent Waves really invalidate this claim. 

Lindsay Lohan wrote: So i was just wondering if anybody knew any band that made their best prog album in the 80s. (Except for Queensryche)

Rush, Marillion, Kate Bush, Art Zoyd, Talk Talk, King Crimson, Fates Warning, Peter Gabriel all released albums that might be counted among their best in the 80s. 

Prog as such was not a force in the mainstream but perhaps that is also on account of rather inflexible notions of prog (without meaning to fuel the prog v/s progressive debate again)? 

Seriously, the 80s had Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Swans, Police.  The 80s was surely the most important and defining decade for metal.  On the jazzy side, Alan Holdsworth and Donald Fagen unleashed their solo careers.  I believe Metheny had a very fruitful 80s too, though I am not familiar with his 80s albums.

I wonder what it is that makes people focus on the Madonnas and Spandau Ballets of the 80s but not the Eagles and Olivia Newton Johns of the 70s or the Celine Dions of the 90s or the Shakiras of the noughties, etc.   But the notion of 80s being a wholesale abomination has taken root so firmly now that it seems to be unshakable.  Pity, because there were many wonderful artists who released great albums in that decade as well.



Edited by rogerthat - March 02 2012 at 21:34