When this movie came out, somebody noticed some of the spaceship fighting scenes were the same as Battle Beyond the Stars. And somebody noticed the score was the same too. Remarkably, despite those hilarious facts, this is not among the worst movies ever made. SPOILERS?
Tag: 1983
Carnival Magic (1983, Al Adamson)
There are some terrible movies that are technically awful and might have actually been saved by some budget. And there are some terrible movies that are bad for story reasons, in addition to some other issues (the cast, the script…). This is one of the latter, presumably a product of the animal craze caused by …
The Game (1983) by Ken Dryden
I grew up in a baseball family, my dad was concerned with teaching us how to play baseball, we watched baseball and we heard about old baseball players. I collected baseball cards, including those of players who had retired or died before I was born.
Touch (1983) by Eurythmics
The distinguishing characteristic about the Eurythmics that makes them more accessible to me is that, unlike most synthpop bands from their era, they believe in instruments other than sythesizers and sequencers and the like.
Colour by Numbers (1983) by Culture Club
I thought I hated Culture Club. And then I heard Kissing to Be Clever, which just shocked the hell out of me. Not the singles but the rest of the album, which was far more diverse and brave than I ever would have imagined from the singles.
Head Over Heels (1983) by Cocteau Twins
My only experience of the Cocteau Twins before this record was Blue Bell Knoll, a record that both sounds very different from this one and quite similar. Listening to this, knowing now where they came from, I think I should have rated Blue Bell Knoll higher, because I never would have guessed that it was …
Melissa (1983) by Mercyful Fate
Can you imagine a metal band naming an album Melissa? Neither could I until I learned of this record. And then I just assumed there was going to be some kind of bizarre Allman Brothers cover or it wouldn’t actually be metal.
North of a Miracle (1983) by Nick Heyward
I know literally nothing of Haircut 100. I first heard about them in a Billboard chart book I had growing up, and that’s as far as it got. I don’t know what they sound like, as I think they were one of those UK bands which just never translated to a North American audience. So …
Infidels (1983) by Bob Dylan
The conventional wisdom is that this is the first Dylan album after his weird trip to the Christian Music wilderness to really be worth listening to. I have deliberately avoided his late ’70s work because of its reputation, so I have no idea if this is his best album since Desire (1976) or not.
Uh-Huh (1983) by John Cougar Mellencamp
A number of times in the last few years I have put on a Mellencamp album with the intention of talking about it on the podcast and come up with some reason not to talk to about, so I’ve never given any of them the full three listens I want to give any record before …
Soul Mining (1983) by the The
My main complaint against synthpop is that the majority the bands decided to entirely or mostly drop conventional instruments in favour of synthesizers and drum machines. I have never been a huge fan of either instrument and so it’s an uphill battle for me when an entire album is performed with instruments I don’t like. …
She’s So Unusual (1983) by Cyndi Lauper
I have heard “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” way too many times and seen the video way too many times. I can’t say I’ve ever liked the song but at some point it became annoying. (And it doesn’t help that Weird Al’s “Girls Just Want to Have Lunch” is on the lazy side.) And, …
Can’t Slow Down (1983) by Lionel Richie
He’s just putting out so much music, with an album every two years. It’s incredible. You can’t stop him and he won’t stop himself. Ahem…
Shout at the Devil (1983) by Mötley Crüe
I have managed to avoid Mötley Crüe for most of my life, beyond their biggest songs, and I can’t say I was looking forward to this. But I find myself…. not pleasantly surprised but at least not horrified. For all their reputation as a “hair metal” band, on this record at least they still sound …
Sports (1983) by Huey Lewis and the News
Imagine recording a song denigrating no wave and new wave in New York and hair metal in Los Angeles (not that I care about the latter) and who knows what else, and celebrating the music of your youth instead – kids today! – but recording that song with terrible ’80s keyboards and a shitty heartbeat …
Future Shock (1983) by Herbie Hancock
I thought Herbie Hancock made this!?!?! What’s a jazz musician doing embracing emerging culture?!?! Sacrilege!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
An Innocent Man (1983) by Billy Joel
On this album Billy Joel makes me think he’s the pop version of Aaron Copland (in his most Americana phase) – an eminently talented musician who thinks that the best music is the music the people like, not the music he is fully capable of writing if he were more of a snob. I side …
The Waterboys (1983)
Note: The version I listened to on Google Play was the remaster which, as others have noted, adds bonus tracks, not on the end, like a normal new edition, but in the middle of the album, so I have heard a slightly different version of this record than that which was released in 1983.
Fire Dances (1983) by Killing Joke
I have heard Killing Joke’s debut a bunch of times but somehow skipped over their second and third albums. I guess they almost broke up, lost a member and then recorded this.
Madonna (1983)
Though I am speaking with the benefit of hindsight, it feels to me as if it would have been easy to imagine in 1983 that Madonna was going to be around for a while. Even at this early stage, she’s a compelling performer and it feels like she’s surrounded herself with the right people.
You and Me Both (1983) by Yazoo
I went to review You and Me Both, having not listened to their debut, Upstairs at Eric’s, since 2017, and I found on RYM that a lot of fans regard this record as a “contractual obligation” album for Yazoo, and that they believe it’s obvious Yazoo weren’t into the recording merely from listening to this …
Suicidal Tendencies (1983)
Before listening to this record, I have only ever listened to a “best of record” by these guys. That impressed the hell out of me, but it’s worth noting that they definitely changed significantly over the years, and what we have here is something much, much rawer than what I was expecting.
Texas Flood (1983) by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
When I was first becoming a really serious music fan, Stevie Ray Vaughan was just one of the guitar greats. It was just assumed but it was hard to really question it. If you talked to more knowledgeable (inevitably male) music fans about which guitarists to listen to, SRV was always on the list. I …
Mama Africa (1983) by Peter Tosh
Tosh has apparently switched up his guitar for a clavinet (though I guess this happened a while ago) and there seems to me a corresponding change in sound from his late ’70s record, but maybe just haven’t listened to enough.
Learning to Cope with Cowardice (1983) by Mark Stewart + Maffia
I have long meant to listen to The Pop Group but somehow it seems I’ve just never gotten around to doing it. Because of that I lack the knowledge of the connection between this music (made by its lead singer) and the earlier music. Maybe this would make more sense to me with that context.
Back to Mystery City (1983) by Hanoi Rocks
The term “hair metal” was thrown around a lot in the 1980s, often at bands that little or nothing to do with it – like the Gunners (too bluesy), Def Leppard (not metal enough once they were successful, too British, and not really of that scene at all), or Queensyrche (too proggy) and any number …
Holy Diver (1983) by Dio
I have only heard one Dio-era Sabbath album, and I can’t say I loved it. But it was a few years ago and I can’t really tell you specifically what it was that rubbed me the wrong way; maybe it just seemed out of step with the time.
Piece of Mind (1987) by Iron Maiden
Sometimes I’m listening to an album, and reading about that album, and wondering why I seem to be hearing something different than other people do.
Power, Corruption and Lies (1983) by New Order
I was pretty disappointed by New Order’s debut. If I can recall, I believe I was expecting something along the lines of the little I knew about New Order, and what I got was Joy Division minus Ian Curtis. Yes, that’s basically the band, but I was not expecting that. I was disappointed.
Hootenanny (1983) by The Replacements
This is a bizarre, jokey mess of a record, as much of a transition record (in hindsight) as any record I’ve heard by an American band.