1980 Fashion

David Bowie returned to relatively conventional rock & roll with Scary Monsters, an album that effectively acts as an encapsulation of all his '70s experiments. Reworking glam rock themes with avant-garde synth flourishes, and reversing the process as well, Bowie creates dense but accessible music throughout Scary Monsters. Though it doesn't have the vision of his other classic records, it wasn't designed to break new ground – it was created as the culmination of Bowie's experimental genre-shifting of the '70s. As a result, Scary Monsters is Bowie's last great album. While the music isn't far removed from the post-punk of the early '80s, it does sound fresh, hip, and contemporary, which is something Bowie lost over the course of the '80s.

Doomsday (1979). Gravestone play somewhat somber Progressive Rock of a rough nature. This is a re-release of their 1979 album on the Garden of Delights label. The music is at times jazzy and bouncy, and there are hints of blues throughout, and the majority of the tracks are instrumental. There is a lot of improvisational blues styled stuff going on here. The guitars are the main lead instruments, although there is an organ tickling the background, the guitars are full front, screaming in true psychedelic fashion on the latter tracks of this album.
War (1980). In the eighties, Gravestone from Illertissen, Swabia, became quite famous as a hard rock and metal group. What many people don’t know is that they initially - and with a different line-up - released two LPs with progressive rock and critical lyrics, namely “Doomsday” from 1979 and “War” from 1980, in small editions of 1000 copies each…

Doomsday (1979). Gravestone play somewhat somber Progressive Rock of a rough nature. This is a re-release of their 1979 album on the Garden of Delights label. The music is at times jazzy and bouncy, and there are hints of blues throughout, and the majority of the tracks are instrumental. There is a lot of improvisational blues styled stuff going on here. The guitars are the main lead instruments, although there is an organ tickling the background, the guitars are full front, screaming in true psychedelic fashion on the latter tracks of this album.
War (1980). In the eighties, Gravestone from Illertissen, Swabia, became quite famous as a hard rock and metal group. What many people don’t know is that they initially - and with a different line-up - released two LPs with progressive rock and critical lyrics, namely “Doomsday” from 1979 and “War” from 1980, in small editions of 1000 copies each…

Queen had long been one of the biggest bands in the world by 1980's The Game, but this album was the first time they made a glossy, unabashed pop album, one that was designed to sound exactly like its time…

A classic example of a second album delivering more of the same, at least on the surface, Absolutely does benefit from the kinetic energy of being recorded quickly in the aftermath of Madness’ immediate success with One Step Beyond. Absolutely does motor ahead on breakneck ska rhythms, but it never quite feels as raw as its predecessor, and that hint of gloss serves the three big hit singles very well: the schoolyard nostalgia of “Baggy Trousers” has a bit of a sepia-toned lilt with this extra dose or production, the terrific “Embarrassment” slides by so smoothly it’s possible to not realize what an expertly crafted piece of pop it is, and “The Return of the Los Palmas 7” has a nice element of swinging ‘60s lounge cinema.

Queen had long been one of the biggest bands in the world by 1980's The Game, but this album was the first time they made a glossy, unabashed pop album, one that was designed to sound exactly like its time. They might be posed in leather jackets on the cover, but they hardly sound tough or menacing – they rarely rock, at least not in the gonzo fashion that's long been their trademark…