25 of my favourite releases from 1981
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Polls
Forum Description: Create polls on topics related to progressive music
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=134590
Printed Date: March 10 2025 at 01:32
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: 25 of my favourite releases from 1981
Posted By: Logan
Subject: 25 of my favourite releases from 1981
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 10:52
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While I have plenty that I love from 82, I am skipping that year for now and going to a year that has many favourite albums. I am missing some big ones that I have cared about such as Rush's Moving Pictures, but that was a much more important to me album while in high school that it is now. I can only fit 25 in without doing "this or that" options, and I know some do not like that. I do plan to add more of these into a subsequent poll, so one will get Rush there and even Discipline despite not being one of my favoured KC albums (I much prefer the 1964 to 1974 period). Here is my longer list, I really wanted to have that John Carpenter in, but again maybe in a later poll. Please try to vote for five of these options if you can (more if you want to). Happy to hear about others not in the poll provided that you comment on the choices. This could be by voting and mentioning that or those in a post, saying that what you know does not appeal, or saying that you know know of the albums. And do bear in mind that I expect Moving Pictures and Discipline to appear in later polls so please have that context in mind if mentioning those here. Here is my current top 32 at Awesome Prog. As ever, the ordering is often based on whims of the moment, what I last listened to, and not to be taken too seriously (it's feature of the AP "polls" I am using). When I adore this much music, ordering it does feel quite ludicrous. I know some the 80s are weak, but this is a stellar year for me (and an Eider Stellaire year too). Actually, this is not a long list compared to various 70s years and more contemporary years coming from me. 1. Siouxsie and The Banshees - Juju (not in PA) 2. Glenn Branca - The Ascension (not yet in PA) 3. Eskaton - 4 Visions 4. Dün - Eros 5. Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Penguin Cafe Orchestra 6. Magma - Retrospektďw I-II 7. Fabio Frizzi - L'aldilŕ 8. Univers Zéro - Ceux du Dehors 9. This Heat - Deceit 10. Wha-Ha-Ha - Shinutokiwa Betsu 11. Art Zoyd - Symphonie pour le jour oů brűleront les cités 12. Tuxedomoon - Desire (not in PA) 13. Eider Stellaire - Eider Stellaire I 14. Present - Triskaidekaphobie 15. Kraftwerk - Computer World (Computerwelt) 16. Kultivator - Barndomens Stigar 17. The Residents - Mark of the Mole 18. Bauhaus - Mask (not in PA) 19. Phew - Phew (not in PA) 20. Art Bears - The World as It Is Today 21. Myrbein - Myrornas Krig 22. Klaus Doldinger - Das Boot (soundtrack, not in PA) 23. Patrick Gauthier - Bébé Godzilla 24. Codona - Codona 2 25. Magma - Retrospektďw III 26. John Carpenter - Escape From New York (soundtrack, not in PA) 27. Rush - Moving Pictures 28. Chakra - Satekoso (さてこそ) (not in PA) 29. The Lounge Lizards - The Lounge Lizards (not in PA) 30. Wipers - Youth of America (not in PA) 31. Rush - Exit Stage Left 32. King Crimson - Discipline To give me something really exciting to do on my birthday, maybe I will prepare the others 80s polls tomorrow.  At least two more personal 80s polls from me and maybe I will do one more covering the really popular stuff at PA instead of my rather more niche for PA tastes.
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Replies:
Posted By: Octopus II
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 11:09
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Tuxedomoon - Desire Kraftwerk - Computer World
The Residents - Mark of the Mole Bauhaus - Mask Siouxsie and The Banshees - Juju |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 11:37
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Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 12:28
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A great year in the history of music. I can actually say that I genuinely love at least fifteen albums here 1. The Residents - Mark of the Mole 2. Kraftwerk - Computer World (Computerwelt) 3. Dün - Eros 4. Kultivator - Barndomens Stigar 5. Univers Zéro - Ceux du Dehors 6. Eskaton - 4 Visions 7. Siouxsie and The Banshees - Juju 8. Wha-Ha-Ha - Shinutokiwa Betsu 9. Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Penguin Cafe Orchestra 10. Magma - Retrospektďw I-II (to be honest In only ever listen to Theusz Hamtaahk) 11. Fabio Frizzi - L'aldilŕ ] 12. Art Zoyd - Symphonie pour le jour oů brűleront les cités 13. This Heat - Deceit 14. Eider Stellaire - Eider Stellaire I 15. Codona - Codona 2 16. Present - Triskaidekaphobie 17. Art Bears - The World as It Is Today 18. Bauhaus - Mask 19. Patrick Gauthier - Bébé Godzilla 20. Myrbein - Myrornas Krig Can't really remember much of these, but I've heard them once - maybe even twice, and think positively about them: Glenn Branca - The Ascension, Phew - Phew, Magma - Retrospektďw III Not heard: Klaus Doldinger - Das Boot, Tuxedomoon - Desire It's interesting that you're not really a Discipline-fan. Ten additional albums that would have been considered/included in a poll by me: ELO - Time Okay Temiz - Zikir Bill Evans - You Must Believe in Spring Video Liszt - Ektakröm Killer New Order - Movement Fra Lippo Lippi - In Silence (Rune Grammofon's band) Eurythmics - In the Garden Akiko Yano - Tadaima. Nya Ljudbolaget - Nya Ljudbolaget Nekropolis - Musik aus dem Schattenreich |
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 12:40
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Art Zoyd – Symphonie Pour le Jour oů Brűleront les Cités Glenn Branca – The Ascension Fabio Frizzi – L'aldilŕ Patrick Gauthier – Bébé Godzilla Kraftwerk – Computer World Univers Zéro – Ceux du Dehors ------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 12:46
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^ Nice. ^^ It is a fabulous year, thanks for such efforts. I love Eurythmics but have not listened to full albums (maybe one full one in the 80s in the car travelling from Whistler to Vancouver, memories, sweet vague memories). And I hope to give that Okay Temiz album a listen at some time. I don't recall hearing more than his Oriental Wind before, which is terrific. I do plan to spin Discipline again. I don't actually own the album and not have given it as much of a chance as I probably should -- one or two full spins, and sometimes I have to be in the right mind and headspace, lacking distractions. I sometimes to have listen at the right time, and in the right part of my music journey. Not an album I would say I disliked when I tried it, but not one that really resonated with me either. |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 13:16
Das Boot is on zee other foot as Klaus Doldinger's soundtrack is the only album I know in the poll. 
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Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 14:25
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^ Das Boot is quite special to me (pronounced more like the English "boat" for any who might not know). While it would not be until years later that I heard the soundtrack on its own, I saw the movie release of Das Boot in the cinema and adored it. I have since seen fuller/ longer versions. It was the first film I saw in the theatre with subtitles, and for considerable years non-English subtitled films were my preference. Non-English language releases are still a major part of my diet when it comes to film and TV. My wife and I have been trying to train ourselves recently to watch TV without subtitles or captions. Anyway, I think Doldinger came out with a wonderful soundtrack for it. I do love that time for much soundtrack music, including things like Vangelis, Giorgio Moroder, John Carpenter... SCTV did a parody of Dad Boot that was not aboot (as some rather pronounce "about" in Canada) a U-boat, called Das Boobs. One might find it on the boob tube. EDIT: I did find your joke funny, by the way, in case this post comes across as a too serious response on the whole. |
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 14:30
 ------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Psychedelic Paul wrote:Posted By: Gentle and Giant
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 15:27
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Bauhaus - Mask, my own personal favourite of theirs ------------- Oh, for the wings of any bird, other than a battery hen |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 15:59
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Damn that's a phenomenal year, need a think ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 16:09
| ^ This I think is begging for an AwesomeProg list. |
Posted By: rik wilson
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 16:22
| Tuxedo moon;Eskaton ; Present; YMO; kING cRIMSON |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 20:00
I'm showing Present as 1980 but I'm post it anyway. Muffins - <185> is listed as 1980 on AP though it is 1981 and would be in my top ten if I could list it there. 1. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=1366#tag=%20%7bap:1454%7d" rel="nofollow - Univers Zéro - Ceux Du Dehors [ https://universzero.bandcamp.com/album/ceux-du-dehors-1981" rel="nofollow - BC ] [ https://open.spotify.com/album/1J0tUfb0y6YHoKF4uGCOzA" rel="nofollow - SPO ] 2. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=5646#tag=%20%7bap:17038%7d" rel="nofollow - Eskaton - 4 Visions 3. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=4658#tag=%20%7bap:10345%7d" rel="nofollow - Present - Triskaidekaphobie [ https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/triskaidekaphobie-expanded-remastered" rel="nofollow - BC ] 4. https://awesomeprog.com/releases/77938#tag=%20%7bap:77938%7d" rel="nofollow - Art Zoyd - Symphonie pour le jour oů brűleront les cités [AP Prog] [ https://open.spotify.com/album/05qIo9ETHpDmeiHSTHDFQX" rel="nofollow - SPO ] 5. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=12040#tag=%20%7bap:8835%7d" rel="nofollow - This Heat - Deceit [ https://thisheat.bandcamp.com/album/deceit-2" rel="nofollow - BC ] [ https://open.spotify.com/album/17Xqs4Uwtrj30TXkJ6z2x0" rel="nofollow - SPO ] 6. https://awesomeprog.com/releases/77933#tag=%20%7bap:77933%7d" rel="nofollow - Glenn Branca - The Ascension [AP] 7. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=3552#tag=%20%7bap:1608%7d" rel="nofollow - Dün - Eros [ https://open.spotify.com/album/1hN5JK7ET6vw4gQR5fnmj7" rel="nofollow - SPO ] 8. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=3604#tag=%20%7bap:980%7d" rel="nofollow - Art Bears - The World As It Is Today 9. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=1914#tag=%20%7bap:14320%7d" rel="nofollow - King Crimson - Discipline [ https://open.spotify.com/album/2p53eKYYG1kCcjIyjS7pOc" rel="nofollow - SPO ] 10. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=5157#tag=%20%7bap:6251%7d" rel="nofollow - Kultivator - Barndomens Stigar [ https://transubstansrecords.bandcamp.com/album/barndomens-stigar" rel="nofollow - BC ] [ https://open.spotify.com/album/5xBO89A0hQexyN5UaZMSCp" rel="nofollow - SPO ] 11. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=21826#tag=%20%7bap:23693%7d" rel="nofollow - Patrick Gauthier - Bébé Godzilla 12. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=3312#tag=%20%7bap:2554%7d" rel="nofollow - Magma - Retrospektďw I-II (disc 1) 13. https://awesomeprog.com/releases/69488#tag=%20%7bap:69488%7d" rel="nofollow - Siouxsie and The Banshees - Juju [AP Prog] [ https://open.spotify.com/album/5OEum65e1HMGX51Ifu51Wb" rel="nofollow - SPO ] 14. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=13409#tag=%20%7bap:18317%7d" rel="nofollow - Eider Stellaire - Eider Stellaire I 15. https://awesomeprog.com/releases/20116#tag=%20%7bap:20116%7d" rel="nofollow - Motörhead - No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith [AP Non-Prog] 16. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=16784#tag=%20%7bap:16161%7d" rel="nofollow - Black Sabbath - Mob Rules [ https://open.spotify.com/album/2P5gxeAtl48VpihBehjrzK" rel="nofollow - SPO ] 17. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=12926#tag=%20%7bap:2729%7d" rel="nofollow - Iron Maiden - Killers [ https://open.spotify.com/album/5REF2imQI3lMAmeWcDXE3D" rel="nofollow - SPO ] 18. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=9777#tag=%20%7bap:14413%7d" rel="nofollow - Nick Mason - Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports [ https://open.spotify.com/album/186h8hclIvxHoMR8q1x8Qq" rel="nofollow - SPO ] 19. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=13644#tag=%20%7bap:21452%7d" rel="nofollow - Massacre - Killing Time 20. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=13154#tag=%20%7bap:11641%7d" rel="nofollow - Fred Frith - Speechless 21. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=26961#tag=%20%7bap:29383%7d" rel="nofollow - Serge Bringolf - Vision 22. https://awesomeprog.com/releases/2939#tag=%20%7bap:2939%7d" rel="nofollow - Saxon - Denim And Leather [AP Non-Prog] 23. https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=3076#tag=%20%7bap:18469%7d" rel="nofollow - Rush - Moving Pictures [ https://open.spotify.com/album/2xg7iIKoSqaDNpDbJnyCjY" rel="nofollow - SPO ] ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: Mellotron Storm
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 21:33
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What a list! I felt like a kid in a candy store who just pigged out. Sorry, I picked seven, could have gone ten. No order but... Tuxedomoon- Desire Magma- Retrospetiw I&II Eider Stellaire-I Kultivator- Barndomes Stigar Dun- Eros This Heat- Deceit Eskaton- 4 Visions The only two not on your list I'll mention is Serge Bringolf's Vision and a related album by the Alain Eckert Quartet that is self titled. Both albums have at least three of the same members, maybe four. If I was allowed just one vote, I think it would be Kultivator. ------------- "The wind is slowly tearing her apart" "Sad Rain" ANEKDOTEN |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 07 2025 at 22:20
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^ Thanks. I have and like Serge Bringolf's Vision and the Alain Eckert Quartet, so if those are eligible for the years, then those should be listed as faves of mine. ^^ I will double-check then I can change The Muffins release date and I too knew The Present as 1980. Yep, it's 80. I will change both dates at awesomeprog. |
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: March 08 2025 at 00:09
I think there's a good chance you'll enjoy In the Garden. It's closer to Art Pop/New Wave and Dream Pop than the Synthpop that gave them huge hits a couple of years later. Annie Lennox ice cold yet strangely warm vocals has never sounded more haunting. It's actually produced by Conny Plank and recorded at his studio in Cologne. Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit + DAF-drummer Robert Görl guests on several songs (Blondies Clem Burke is the main drummer though. I've always liked his style anyway). Here's their first ever single, video and minor hit. Featuring Jaki's motoric beat, Holger on french horn and a lovely flute solo by Annie. In the 1970's she studied at the Royal College of Music, and flute was her instrument, so she knew her stuff: |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: March 08 2025 at 03:04
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Eider Stellaire I with Retrospektďw III close behind. ------------- 
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Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: March 08 2025 at 08:11
^ Thanks, and thanks to all who responded.
Thanks, I had not heard that. I love it! She is wonderful, and Jaki Liebezeit and Holger Czukay are of course great. For those that don't know, bot Jaki and Holger were involved with Phew in this poll. I've just been scanning through the album, will give it proper listen later, but I really am enjoying what I am hearing. |
Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: March 08 2025 at 11:21
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Very nice find, I wasn't aware Holger and Jaki had done some work with Eurythmics. Re the poll, very hard. I love at least 10 of these. Will vote for Tuxedomoon, Kraftwerk, This Heat, Art Zoyd, Eskaton. Should really also have voted for Dun and Univers Zero, but five is enough.
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Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: March 08 2025 at 13:20
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Great list(s)! I voted for five. My own list looks like this: 1. RICKIE LEE JONES Pirates 2. KING CRIMSON Discipline 3. JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL, ALEXANDRE LAGOYA, and MICHEL LEGRAND Pastorales de Noël 4. ANTHONY PHILLIPS 1984 5. ANDREAS VOLLENWEIDER Behind the Gardens - Behind the Wall - Under the Tree... 6. ESKATON 4 Visions 7. PAT METHENY & LYLE MAYS As Falls Witchita, So Falls Wichita Falls 8. BRIAN ENO & JON HASSELL Fourth World Possible Musics, Volume Two: Dream Theory in Malaya 9. U2 October 10. TOM TOM CLUB Tom Tom Club 11. THE POLICE Ghost in the Machine 12. JOHN MCLAUGHLIN Belo Horizonte 13. JOHN MARTYN Glorious Fool 14. TANGERINE DREAM Thief OST 15. BRUCE COCKBURN Inner City Front 16. LOS JAIVAS Alturas de Machu Picchu 17. SBB Memento z banalnym triptykiem 18. GENESIS ABACAB 19. CAMEL Nude 20. VAN HALEN Fair Warning Those entries emboldened represent albums in the PA database. ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |