2025 X-Wave Journal Vol. 1

*Ministry - With Sympathy. 1983 Arista (MC). I originally obtained this on LP with the 2019 80's collection buy but decided to take the profit, even though I had a solid rating for it. This relisten resulted in a +1, so I'll keep the next LP I find (if I find it...). To be honest even after that first listen some six years ago, I thought this was a different Ministry from the band I knew from the late 80s and early 90s. In fact I thought this band was British and then broke up. Haha. My confusion is common of course. Starting out in Chicago, Ministry hopped on (or was pushed on depending on your source of truth) the synthpop bandwagon. Apparently the duo's heart turned dark and they created a new world for themselves - that of industrial metal. A very angry music indeed. You would never know that by the jolly and upbeat tones of With Sympathy. The interesting thing about Ministry, in retrospect, is just how good they were at New Wave music. It's far more complex and involved than your garden variety dance pop group. A fascinating beginning to a fascinating band. I'm sure at some point I will find their metal albums, one of which I owned on CD many years ago but sold off. (Feb)

Steve Hackett - A Doll That's Made in Japan / Just the Bones. 1984 Lamborghini (12" single). At 13 minutes it's really an EP length. As with all of Hackett's Genesis contemporaries - all obvious prog guys - this single belongs to 80s music. A) side is a mix of Japanese music (novelty level), glossy 80s with synthesizers and digital drums, and a nice guitar solo. B) side is similar but leaves off the Japanese angle. Not so bad really, just such a disappointment that none of the Genesis guys would acknowledge their heritage during the 80s. (Feb)

Modern English - Ricochet Days. 1984 Sire (MC). Here's a good test of a band I revere from a nostalgic perspective (After the Snow, an LP I own), who released Ricochet Days during that strike zone (early 80s), but I don't recognize anything from it. Does it hold up and is it collection worthy? Yes and no. For example A3 and B2 are rewrites of 'I Melt With You' and there's this persistent feeling that there isn't much more under the blanket from a creative viewpoint. Elsewhere there's a distinctive turn towards The Beatles baroque psych pop of 1966-67. Englishness as it were, living up to their name at least. All of which is inoffensive but not inspiring either. A reasonable follow-up to their classic work, yet lacking in something. Authenticity perhaps? I like it but won't keep it. (Feb)

*Missing Persons - Spring Session M. 1982 Capitol (MC). I've had this on vinyl before but didn't take notes. Thinking it was part of that 2019 80's buy. I did decide to keep their next effort Rhyme & Reason. So let's get a fresh take on their debut full-length. Right away I notice a more aggressive hard rock guitar attack throughout, something they most certainly softened on subsequent releases. These guys were from the Zappa camp, so musicianship was not an afterthought. As I continue to say (too often, just in this post alone), these 80s albums work best when I get a nostalgia pull, especially the early part of the decade while still in high school. And there's a few tracks here that bring back that unique period of time. Yea, I'm keeping this, and like with A-ha below, will replace it with the LP whenever I find it in the wilds (this one still goes for cheap). (Feb)

Madonna - True Blue. 1986 Sire (Canada) (MC). I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the first two Madonna's. I was able to appreciate both the nostalgia aspect as well as her artistic abilities from an objective standpoint, now that we're 40 years on from the lightning rod opinions that surrounded her in the early 80s. By the time of True Blue, my nostalgia meter falls off (just in general this is the case), as by then I was deep diving into the European prog underground of the 70s, and not paying much attention to contemporary pop culture. In addition, it's clear the creative well is running dry for Ms. Ciccone. 'Papa Don't Preach' and 'La Isla Bonita" are the two tracks I recognize from here and both I enjoy. Much of the others (not all) sound like filler to support the next tour. I'm interested in hearing her other albums just to see what triggers. Remember that Mrs. UMR was a big fan when we were newly married (hard to believe that was 28 years ago), and she owned a Best Of, which we listened to often in the car on road trips. Today she could care less about Madonna, but I'm still intrigued. Funny how that works. I also found a near perfect LP copy late last year at a thrift shop, and now I can safely move that to the record show boxes. (Jan)

*A-ha - Hunting High and Low. 1985 Warner Bros. (Canada) (MC). Well... finally. Despite buying multiple 80s collections and thrift shop dumps in the last six years, I have yet to run into a single A-ha album - in any format. I know this Norwegian group better from their super obscure 60s retro band Bridges (which doesn't even get mentioned in their Wikipedia entry) than I do for their obvious hit records. First track is 'Take on Me', which is mid-80s MTV college bullseye material right there. This is exactly the kind of synth pop I enjoy. Energetic, danceable (not that I'm doing that), and melodic. As I often say, these albums tend to work for me when there's a nostalgia play, and that's what we get with Hunting High and Low. I'll hold onto this tape until I eventually find their LP. (Jan)

Bangles. 1983 Faulty (MC). Before the gals became a hit sensation, they released a single and an EP on private and small labels. Known originally as The Bangs, they shifted on this EP to simply Bangles (one can imagine the double entendre problem). The music here is different than what they were to become. A mid to late 60s garage girl styled group sound emerges. RYM refers to this 80s movement out of Los Angeles as Paisley Underground. Not bad at all. (Jan)

Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion. 1993 Sire (CD). This album is the highly rated follow-up to their lauded classic Violator. Even for a non-fan like me, I kept that CD. But this title didn't stir up much reaction. Whereas I saw Violator as the bookend of the synth wave movement, I hear Songs of Faith and Devotion as a tired retread of ideas with a purposeful move to alternative rock, which is definitely not my music of choice. Given its popularity with the general public, I just have to accept it's good for the style and leave it at that. (Jan)

Camouflage - Greyscale. 2015 Bureau B (CD). Just like with Surface 10 that is on the DiN label, there's no way I'm passing up anything on Bureau B for a couple of bucks. I had no idea who Camouflage were, but they apparently were legends from the synth-pop scene in Germany going back to the 80s (of course). And that's exactly how I heard this album without any pre-conceived notions. In fact I just pushed it into my car CD changer without even looking at it, and had forgotten they were on Bureau B, trying to figure out why I bought it in the first place. The label's description is telling: "Their music brilliantly combined the icy coolness of Kraftwerk, the pop of OMD and the melancholy gloom of Depeche Mode.". The latter group is what entered my mind first, and funny to see that I just covered OMD. In fact, I think I did find these together last year at the same shop. The vocal tracks are too much of the original scene, as noted below, and that only works with me if the recording is from that era. The instrumentals, however, are more exciting, including one Krautrock styled flute driven number. Much better than OMD's attempt below, but a long way from collection shelf space. (Jan)

OMD - The Punishment of Luxury. 2017 White Noise (CD). I didn't even realize these guys were around much past the 80s. And after hearing this CD, they haven't really moved on from the synth pop style. Sounds dogeared to me. Not quite sure how you can advance this style too much, though I guess I could say the same thing about straight ahead thrash metal. Anyway, nothing here for me to hold onto. Music like this only works for me if it's from the 80s, and as a pure nostalgia play. (Jan)

* - Keeping for the collection

2022 X-Wave Journal Vol. 1 - Complete

Martha and the Muffins - Metro Music. 1980 Virgin (LP). Picked this up at a local thrift shop (Dec). A little heavy on the alliteration I think. I remember this band but I don't know why. Even thought they might be progressive (Muffins word association of course). Anyway this is a Canadian sextet led by two female keyboardists and vocalists named Martha. Early days New Wave / Synth Pop is what you'll hear. Seeing a lot of comparisons to Blondie, but not really capturing that ethos. Less sexy, more musical. Nothing grabbed me though - good for the style and nothing else. Surprised to see this album is a cheapie. Albums like this tend to do better in today's marketplace. Must've sold bucketloads back in the day.

Manzanera - K-Scope. 1978 Polydor (LP). I'm not a big fan of genre hopping - especially on solo albums - and that's exactly what K-Scope is. Some art rock, new wave, fusion, folk, and whatever else comes to the mind of the Roxy Music guitarist. Sometimes albums like this produce a couple of seriously great tracks that make you want to hold onto it. I didn't catch any on this listen, though it was good on the whole. Not enough room these days to keep albums like this though. (Dec)

David Sylvian - Gone To Earth. 1987 Virgin. 2xLP. Thrift shop find. I remember this album from college, but never purchased it. The music is a very pleasant and soothing type of slick 80s ambient music with New Wave additives. I hear elements of David Torn, Mark Isham, Robert Fripp (who is all over this album), and late era Roxy Music. At times it can be trance inducing but overall it's not the type of album that I'll want to go back to. (Sep)

After The Fire - ATF. 1982 Epic (LP). I spoke of this band's debut last year: "I never believed them. Never believed who? The catalog dealers 25-30 years ago. They were the first to proclaim that After the Fire's debut album was progressive rock. In those days, sellers seemed desperate to make everything either psychedelic or progressive, when oftentimes they were neither. Not even close. So the group who put out 'Der Kommissar' were really a prog outfit? The track that pretty much defines the early 80s MTV sound? Oh stop... ...They were a prog band. It's true." I saw this mint copy in a thrift shop, and thought what the heck, let's hear it. I've been in an early 80s new wave kick the past year, and I do like the goofy 'Der Kommissar'. Ehh... naa, this is too much early 80s. Sounds like video game music from that era along with other robotic dancey pop. It's not bad at all, but I can't keep stuff like this anymore, and I own better examples. When this group shed its prog roots, they weren't kidding around. The album itself is a compilation of tracks from the preceding three albums plus the megahit. This is also one of the few 80s albums of its ilk to still be worth less than $5. I paid retail lol. (Aug)

Peter Gabriel (1/Car Wash). 1977 Atco (LP). Recently picked up Peter Gabriel's first four albums on vinyl on the cheap. I've always liked the 4th one known as Security, but never warmed up to the first three. Well that was many years ago, and given my new predilection for X Wave, I figured these would go down a storm at the UMR. Bzzzt. The debut is typical of many 70s solo albums in that it lacks any kind of consistency. There's the old proggy Gabriel mixed in with a multitude of other styles, guaranteeing to frustrate all but the most eclectic of buyers. (Mar)

Peter Gabriel (2/Scratching). 1978 Atlantic (LP). More of the same from Gabriel. One can tell he is predicting the sound of the 80s, but he's not there yet. Even ardent fans of Gabriel will tell you this one can be skipped. (Mar)

Peter Gabriel (3/Melting). 1980 Mercury (LP). Of the three I was keen to revisit, I figured this was to be the one I'd gravitate to. It's 1980 and Peter Gabriel was such a natural fit for the decade, and he proved that only two years later. But not so much here. In fact, I liked this the least of the three! 'Games Without Frontiers' is awesome, but most of the rest I can do without. And he seems somewhat self-righteous here to my ears. Oh well, at least I managed to get Security on vinyl. These three will sell at the next show (yep - and I decided to sell Security on vinyl too, happy with the CD), so I'll get my money back plus a few extra dollars for the trouble. (Mar)

Planet P. 1983 Geffen (LP). Now here's the kind of album an early 80s street cred metalhead like me used to trash to anyone who would listen. Planet P of course is none other than former Rainbow keyboardist Tony Carey's band. And Planet P sounds absolutely nothing like that. This is AOR / New Wave music for 1983, wearing it on their sleeves shamelessly. But is that so bad? No - not at all. I would wish for a more Saga like attempt, since Carey does throw in more than a few art rock segments. But the Billboard Charts keep calling their name, and the band reverts back to standard radio fare all too often. My first listen had this one sailing towards the $5 bin (it's definitely a commodity, even these days), but the second side captured my ear, so another run through gave it a spot. I have a small section carved out for X Wave LPs, so when that fills up, I'm not sure I will expand it - so this might be an early purge item (and it was actually...). (Mar)

*Berlin - Pleasure Victim. 1982 Geffen (LP). This is the second time for me to possess this album in the last three years. The first time was part of that 300 piece 80s collection I bought that ultimately ended up in us expanding the Purple Peak Records business. I was anxious to maximize my profit for that purchase as I wanted to use the proceeds to acquire some rare prog albums (and I did so in great fashion). But now I'm in nostalgic early 80s mode, so let's give it a more serious listen. Certainly not the great lost New Wave album of our time, but I did enjoy a +1 listen, enough to keep. They played up the sex kitten angle more than usual for the genre, a little bit like Missing Persons I suppose, though completely different vocal style. (Mar). In 2024 I found the first pressing on M.A.O. solidifying its place in the collection. 

Duran Duran - Seven and the Ragged Tiger. 1983 Capitol (LP). Well didn't this end up being a disappointment? Here I am getting all nostalgic for X Wave music, and I really enjoy Rio, so how can I possibly go wrong here? Looks like it was released during my first semester of college. I don't remember a thing about this album, even though it has a cool title. In hearing it, none of the songs registered. Not that I need a hit single to enjoy a record, but this album is borderline "contract obligation". Side 1 is particularly boring. Side 2 is much more interesting but not enough to save it. I'd call it good on the whole, but that certainly isn't going to cut it. Garden variety New Wave. Misses the energy and punchiness of Rio that's for sure. (Mar)

*Madonna - Like a Virgin. 1984 Sire (LP). There's a lot I could write about Madonna, arguably the most successful female pop artist of our generation. I'll lay off the thesis, but her cultural impact goes way beyond her music. Her first two albums represent yet another soundtrack to my late teen years. I never really paid too close attention to the music, beyond her hits (primarily because of my wife's interest many years later). But real time, Like a Virgin didn't irritate me like so many MTV acts of the day did. I was intrigued, but not challenged. Today it pulls all the nostalgia strings, in a good way, and there are some hidden gems on here too. Easy keeper, and it sits next to the debut that I picked up about three years ago for the same reason. Willing to go further in my exploration too. (Mar)

Battiato - L'Arca di Noe. 1982 EMI (LP). I've been into X-Wave music of late, and certainly I enjoy Battiato's early experimental/prog works, so I figured I would enjoy this one. Not common to find in the wilds here in the States, but I thought it was worth the risk. But this one didn't excite me much. Sort of basic new wave sounds, with nice Italian vocals, and excellent guitar from none other than Alberto Radius (Formula 3, Il Volo). Good, but not really my thing. (Feb)

*Heavenly Bodies - Celestial. 1988 C'est La Mort (LP). Yet another pleasant surprise. Along with Encyrcle, this was the other gem discovered in the 25-cents-each haul from late last year. Different music entirely though. Heavenly Bodies is made up of 4AD artists, and the music is similar. I'm now referring to this part of my collection as X-Wave. I'm having my own "wave" of nostalgic remembrance of the 80s - both the early part of the decade (high school) and later part (post college). This falls of course to the latter. This one has been tagged with Ethereal Wave, which sure OK, whatever. I like it. As for this portion of the collection, I see some growth coming. Here is what I said on my RYM list about the genre: "I was never a collector of any of this real time. New Wave / Synth Pop was all the rage when I was in high school. I chose a different route: Heavy Metal. From Judas Priest in 1979 to Metallica in 1983 (and all the great NWOBHM groups in between), that was what I liked. Along with the AOR of the day, and a new fascination with this (cancelled) genre called progressive rock. In the college days from 1983 to 1987, I further distanced myself from the era in which I lived, beginning my deep dive into 70s Euro Prog that somewhat defined who I was to become, while maintaining a healthy love of metal. But Duran Duran? Be serious. Now I'm getting all soft in the middle, and finding these albums in thrift shops and bargain bins has been a blast. While also discovering some new cool sounds I completely missed the first go round. Nostalgia has kicked in, though it was always background radio and movie soundtracks for me. You know all those movies that portray 80's boys with poofy hair, lipstick, and eye liner? Yea, I remember them too. That wasn't me." (Feb)

* - Keeping for the collection