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It’s not a stretch to say that the genres of pop, rock, R&B and rap music all changed forever in 1984. In a decade racked with all-time classics and some of the most important songs in the history of modern music, 1984 remains rather undefeated. From Madonna’s chart-topping Like a Virgin to some of the greatest soundtracks ever made to the Replacements, Minutemen, the Cure and Cocteau Twins making some of the greatest records of their careers, it’s hard to argue with the 100s of albums that came out in the middle of the 1980s. Whether it was a catalog-defining entry or a show-stopping debut, the proof is undeniable.
We polled the Paste staff and writer cohort for this list, and we’ve opted to withhold live albums from the final ranking (sorry Stop Making Sense). With that, we’ve compiled our ranking of the 30 greatest albums of 1984...
For a band that only made four albums yet became so legendary, every album has to kick ass—and the Manchester indie pioneers delivered a myriad of poetic musings against traditional masculinity and the blissful riffage of Johnny Marr when making their perfect debut. The Smiths isn’t necessarily the Smiths as we know them; it’s grittier, with flashes of post-punk that paint a much darker sound in some of the tracks. While Morrissey’s characteristic droney lullabies deliver some of the most painfully honest lyrics in music history, there is an uncharacteristic edge to the melodies—but I think that debut rawness is what drew people in. There is something I always find funny when bands write lyrics that are so torturous but, then, pair them with the most danceable rhythm. Like on “Pretty Girls Make Graves,” with the chorus being “I’m not the man you think I am / And sorrow’s native son / He will not smile for anyone,” played over Marr’s groovy riffs. “Miserable Lie” proved that this was a band, not just a singer with background musicians.
With the beginning of the track keeping the soft rhythm of the aesthetics of many The Smiths songs, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce burst through with a high-tempo rhythm that is uncharacteristically punk. “This Charming Man” (which was only available on the cassette printing of the record in the UK) is about young Morrissey grappling with his sexuality in overt sexual encounters: “Will nature make a man of me yet? / When in this charming car / This charming man,” he sings about the act of cruising, which was a common yet unspoken activity during the time. That’s the thing I love about the Smiths—the unapologetic expressions of sexuality and asexuality that even endure now with lines like “Does the body rule the mind, or does the mind rule the body? I don’t know.” —OA
https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/greatest-albums/the-greatest-albums-of-1984
We polled the Paste staff and writer cohort for this list, and we’ve opted to withhold live albums from the final ranking (sorry Stop Making Sense). With that, we’ve compiled our ranking of the 30 greatest albums of 1984...
3. The Smiths: The Smiths
For a band that only made four albums yet became so legendary, every album has to kick ass—and the Manchester indie pioneers delivered a myriad of poetic musings against traditional masculinity and the blissful riffage of Johnny Marr when making their perfect debut. The Smiths isn’t necessarily the Smiths as we know them; it’s grittier, with flashes of post-punk that paint a much darker sound in some of the tracks. While Morrissey’s characteristic droney lullabies deliver some of the most painfully honest lyrics in music history, there is an uncharacteristic edge to the melodies—but I think that debut rawness is what drew people in. There is something I always find funny when bands write lyrics that are so torturous but, then, pair them with the most danceable rhythm. Like on “Pretty Girls Make Graves,” with the chorus being “I’m not the man you think I am / And sorrow’s native son / He will not smile for anyone,” played over Marr’s groovy riffs. “Miserable Lie” proved that this was a band, not just a singer with background musicians.
With the beginning of the track keeping the soft rhythm of the aesthetics of many The Smiths songs, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce burst through with a high-tempo rhythm that is uncharacteristically punk. “This Charming Man” (which was only available on the cassette printing of the record in the UK) is about young Morrissey grappling with his sexuality in overt sexual encounters: “Will nature make a man of me yet? / When in this charming car / This charming man,” he sings about the act of cruising, which was a common yet unspoken activity during the time. That’s the thing I love about the Smiths—the unapologetic expressions of sexuality and asexuality that even endure now with lines like “Does the body rule the mind, or does the mind rule the body? I don’t know.” —OA
https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/greatest-albums/the-greatest-albums-of-1984