Soft Cell - this Last Night in Sodom
Going off the rails and off most of the charts, I always had a like of this album. The big hit is "Soul Inside," but "Where Was Your Heart (When You Needed It Most)," the experimental "Slave to This," "Meet Murder My Angel," and "The Best Way to Kill" are possibly among the fan favorites of those who want to remember them as the Electronic Duo who went beyond the norm.
EMF - Stigma - Critical favorite, but still hardly remembered at all beyond that, this was the one where The 'Mef go strange on us. If it can be called a hit, "They're Here" is possibly the best known. The whole album is damn good - Cinematic Electro Pop through Hell.
a ha - Memorial Beach - Compared to their hits and better known albums, this was a moody one, beyond the few tracks that tried to lighten up the show. Favorites, "How Sweet It Was," "Turn to Stone" (an epic for them at that time), and "Locust." This was the point where a lot of people counted Norway's Pop titans out before the Late 90's return, although there's still one mention in a best of 1993 (in Q I think it was) to remind me that there was someone else listening.
Madness - Mad Not Mad - The Nutty Boys get all reflective and moody after Mike Barson left them after Keep Moving, but they way they did it was still with some sharp humor and style. "Yesterday's Men," "I'll Compete," "Mad Not Mad," and "Tears You Can't Hide" remain top songs. Kind of loses it's grip on side Two, but I got this back in '86 in the Cut Outs, and I still have that well-played copy.
The Monkees cult following has turned the Head Soundtrack into a classic album, but I first heard this back before the re-issues, knowing a time when it was not so cool to rave about the album to the film that at one time hardly anyone saw (which now, of course, many have).
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