80s Albums

Patrick Moraz is a Swiss musician, film composer and songwriter, best known for his tenures as keyboardist in the rock bands Yes and The Moody Blues. After playing a role in the success of Yes' Relayer album in 1974, Moraz launched a solo career and became one of the more celebrated keyboardists of his age. During the '70s, when Moraz reached his prime as an artist, the keyboard was still a new and complex instrument. Technology was still evolving in the age before the personal computer. For this reason, Moraz's trailblazing keyboard work startled his audience. He practiced a new and exciting sound that was ahead of its time, owing a bit to the era's prog rock sound…

First among many ensembles in different genres that have chosen the name Air, this trio specializing in collective improvisation grew directly from the membership of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Throughout 11 albums that appeared over a span of one dozen years this group operated in modes comparable to that of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and at times some of Albert Ayler's early trio realizations. Its inception occurred in 1971, when saxophonist Henry Threadgill agreed to fulfill a request from the theater department at Chicago's Columbia College to devise modern arrangements based upon ragtime compositions of Scott Joplin (a concept borne to fruition by Anthony Braxton and Muhal Richard Abrams in 1976). Threadgill joined forces with bassist Fred Hopkins and drummer Steve McCall, and named the trio Reflection…

Georg Deuter is a German New Age composer known for his innovative blend of acoustic and electronic instruments, ethnic influences, and nature sounds.
Like many artists in the contemporary instrumental realm, Deuter mixes acoustic and electronic instruments, ethnic influences, and sounds from nature - only he's been doing it since the early '70s. His style is characterized by gentle melodies and joyful rhythms that render his music accessible even as he presents an intriguing blend of Eastern and Western styles…

This is a two-album-on-one-CD release from the U.K.'s branch of Hi Records. Out of the two albums here, Precious Lord is the more staid and religious. Recorded in Nashville and engineered by country producer Billy Sherrill, it's Green's most traditional gospel statement. Standards are abound, with the title track, "How Great Thou Art," "Rock of Ages," and a warm "In the Garden." Although the performances are felt, the country-style production and lack of veering from the script made the effort come off not as moving as one might think. The contemporary original "Morningstar" displayed more of what Green is capable of doing. The blend of Al Green's style and his inherent charm seemed to inform the majority of I'll Rise Again…

All six of the albums Hanoi Rocks made in their original incarnation – Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, Oriental Beat, Self Destruction Blues, Back to the Mystery City, Two Steps from the Move, and All Those Wasted Years – are packaged together, one album to one CD, in this straightforward six-CD set. There are no extras, just the albums as they were originally released, though there's a 12-page booklet with a solid history of the band and numerous (if small) reproductions of sleeves from their original releases. It's too much at once even for many fans, but for the more dedicated of that lot, it's a handy encapsulation of their primary recorded work. Hearing all of it does make it clear that, although they're often classified as a heavy metal band, they might be more accurately pegged as a hard rock band with substantial traces of glam and pop (and even some bar band blues-rock) along with the metal.